Sermon at Farley All Saints’ Parish Church, - Baptism of Christ – Sunday 12th January 2025
Isaiah 43:1-7; Acts 8:14-17; Luke
3:15-17,21-22
Today we
celebrate the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan; but as
well as being such a celebration we are still in the Season of Epiphany – that
time when we remember the coming of the wise men or “kings” bearing three
prophetic gifts to the infant Jesus – gold to represent his kingship,
frankincense to represent his holiness or divinity and myrrh, that perfume with
which the dead are anointed to represent the great sacrifice he would later
make for all.
However, in
these readings we are reminded that not all kings come bearing such gifts. It has been suggested that John the Baptist’s
reference to Jesus, the one who is to come, the Messiah, with a winnowing folk
in his hand, to clear the threshing-floor and burning the chaff is a veiled
reference to Herod Antipas, who although probably a shadow of his tyrannical
father, the old King Herod, is nevertheless probably a danger to modern
prophets as John himself would soon find out.
The two New
Testament readings, one from Acts and one from Luke’s Gospel, are rich in
lessons for us today. In our epistle reading from Acts we read, straight away,
that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God. Historically, the Samaritans and the Jews had
been at logger-heads – distrusting each other. Just like many divided
communities today, they had each built up over many generations a hatred for
each other. In very simple terms, it
arose because of fundamental religious differences – like so many conflicts we
see in the world now. Samaritans
believed that their form of worship was the “true Jewish religion” because
Samaritans had remained in the land of Israel during the period of the
Babylonian Exile whereas those who went into exile and returned had had their
religion tainted by leaving the Holy Land. It is true to say, therefore, that
both Jew and Samaritan believed in God but not necessarily where the Word came
from. Now we read that following on from
Jesus’s ministry they truly believed the same as those early Christians. Christianity as a global phenomenon was being
established.
This is why
the words of John are so important. Up until the time Jesus began his ministry
– which was on the day that he was baptised by John, those who wished to accept
the New Testament of God acknowledged and accepted this by being baptised in
the Jordan – baptism of water. A
symbolic act to wash away the old life and begin the new – what John called
“metanoia” or repentance; an acceptance of the new way. We do this today. However, with Jesus would come the Holy
Spirit to all who wanted it – “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and
Fire” – in other words not only will you be changed through the cleansing of
your body as a symbol of washing away the old tainted ways, but you will also
have something brand new bestowed upon you.
We read
towards the end of the passage in Luke how this was revealed to the people.
After Jesus had been through the ritualistic baptism with water, Heaven, we
read, was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form like a
dove. You will all recall that it was
also the dove which came back to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch in its beak to
indicate that the cleansing of the world, by the Great Flood, was now over and
a new world can begin; it is also the dove which for generations has been the
symbol for peace and the messenger of peace throughout the world; a symbol of
new beginnings and of understanding between all peoples.
With the
Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus, he was able to share that spirit with all
who came to him and sought and followed his ministry and, as we know following
his death, resurrection and ascension, at Pentecost the Spirit descended upon
all who sought it. That is precisely
where we find ourselves today. The Wise
Men came bearing gifts to the infant Jesus, Jesus himself, through his
ministry, death and resurrection has bestowed the greatest gift of all, the
Holy Spirit, free and unconditionally to all who seek it. Actually, there is one condition, and that is
that having received it you do not grieve it – that is do not renounce it or
denigrate.
I believe
the world is, today, hungrier for the Holy Spirit than at any other time. Sometimes we get so caught up with our own
little worlds that we forget that we all live in one greater world; but it is
not all that great. We are all living on
a planet, a spaceship which is less than 8,000 miles in diameter in the
vastness of a cold and hostile universe, billions and billions of light years
across – if it has any boundaries. It is
the only home we have and really one which we can only ever have this side of
the grave. Jesus, we are told by John,
came into the world to save the world not to condemn it.
We read this
morning and we have just discussed how he brought with him that greatest of
extra-terrestrial gifts – the Holy Spirit; that is the presence of God here on
Earth. These last few words I have spoken remind me of the words of the 1930s
and 1940s film comedian Will Hay – star of “Oh Mr Porter” – who, as William T.
Hay, was an accomplished amateur astronomer – when he said “If we were all
astronomers there would be no more wars”.
Similarly, a
few years ago I watched the movie “Don’t Look Up” starring Jennifer
Lawrence, Mark Rylance and Leo DiCaprio.
It is a little wacky but the essence of it is that in today’s modern age
we spend a lot of time looking down at our devices and accepting what social
media is saying, or not saying, and not enough time looking up and around us
and discovering reality for ourselves. In the case of this film there is a
large comet heading straight for Earth which will destroy the planet in six
months’ time. The politicians and media people don’t seem to care, worrying
more about mid-term elections and the love lives of celebrities. In fact, social media and politicians start a
campaign doubting the existence of the comet despite the scientists’
assurances. Does that ring any
bells?
In fact
since I watched that film in 2021, it seems that its relevance to what we see
going on in 2025 is greater than ever! I
heard a lawyer remark, on the radio on Friday, with regard to the news stories
surrounding our Prime Minister and the “grooming gangs” debacle, that people
are listening and relying more and more on the “15 – minutes on social media
experts”, rather than the true experts in the field who have been studying
these cases over 15 years. In fact, the result of repeating lies and disinformation
is leading to the re-traumatising of some of the historic victims.
Sometimes, I
think that those of us who know the true nature of God’s love and compassion
for Humankind are crying in the wilderness just like John, but cry we must
otherwise we have no chance of being heard at all if we totally give in or give
up.
I am
reminded of a notice displayed at Auschwitz I Concentration camp in Poland
written by Pastor Martin Niemoller which reads
“First
they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out Because I was not a
Communist
Then they
came for the Socialists and I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists and I
did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they
came for the Jews and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me and there was no one
left to speak out for me.”
John the
Baptist spoke out and encouraged those around him to repent – metanoia; to look
at things afresh. To wash away the old and tainted and to step out clean,
refreshed and into a new world with Jesus Christ as our king and saviour. As
true Christians we should honour the pledges he made on our behalf – to move
forward with the aid of the Holy Spirit, never grieving it but upholding it,
promoting it and its powers and making disciples of others.
God bless
you all in your continued fellowship and ministry here in Farley over the next
twelve months and may you too have the courage to speak out and proclaim the
Good News of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit here alongst us now..
Amen
MFB/211/07012025
(An updated version of Sermon 168
delivered in 2022).
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