Mark 1:1-13

Mark 1:1-13 = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; = “Baptized and Beloved”

Jan= . 11, 2008 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = By Rev. Kathy McDowell =

(Pour water into a ba= sin . . . .)

When you see water, w= hat do you think of?

Water is a powerful s= ymbol, necessary for life.

It is a powerful Chri= stian symbol too.

When you enter many c= hurches,

o= ne of the first things you notice is a baptismal f= ont,

o= r if it’s a Catholic church, a holy water f= ont, filled with a little water.

You may have seen Cat= holics dipping their fingers into the water,

a= nd then making the sign of the cross.

It’s a way of remembering their baptisms. &nb= sp;

In our Disciple tradi= tion, we use water - and a lot of it - in baptism.

But because of where = our baptistery is placed,

w= e may not even think of our baptisms when we ente= r the sanctuary. =

Yet baptism is one of= the two sacraments we practice as Christians

a= nd is rich with many meanings.

So today we are going= to learn about and remember our baptisms.

Our learning begins w= ith this story from Mark’s gospel.

The baptism of Jesus = occurs very early in this gospel, almost at the beginning.

Unlike Luke and Matth= ew, there are no infancy narratives in Mark’s gospel.

Instead the writer of= Mark gets right to the point, which is a hallmark of this gospel.

The beginning of the = good news of Jesus Christ from this author’s perspective is that Jesus Chr= ist is the Son of God and the fulfillment of prophecy.

John the Baptist is t= he messenger that has been sent

t= o proclaim this good news and to prepare the way = of the Lord,

t= o make his paths straight.

And proclaim he does,= in the style of the OT prophets.

Can you picture John = the Baptist

John dresses in camel= ’s hair and eats locusts and honey.

As he wanders the dry= desert wilderness of the Judean countryside,

h= is entire focus is on proclaiming the one who is to come.

He walks and climbs a= mong the dust and stones of the desert hills,

h= e calls out “prepare the way.”

Every traveling group= he encounters, he shouts to them, “Repent.”

When groups of people= from Judea, from Jerusalem,

c= ome to him, stirred by his compelling preaching,

h= e walks them down to the <= st1:country-region w:st=3D"on">Jordan riverside and baptizes= them.

He tells them that th= is is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.

It’s time to tu= rn away from sin and back to God.

And he reminds them a= gain and again:

&= #8220;The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me.

I am not worthy to st= oop down and untie the thong of his sandals.

I have baptized you w= ith water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This story of Jesus&#= 8217; baptism occurs in Matthew, Mark and Luke.&= nbsp;

It is from these and = other scriptures, and from Christian tradition,

w= e have come to understand some of the meaning of Christian baptism.

Baptism is a means of cleansing and purifying us= of our sins. <= /b>

Even ancient Jewish p= ractices associated water with

p= urification and consecration of the people when they had tu= rned away from God.

Besides cleansing, water is also a strong symbol= for creation. <= /b>

If we read the first = 5 verses of Genesis, we see that in the beginning there was water, and from those wa= ters - and from God - life emerged. (READ Gen 1:1-5) =

In baptism, water becomes a symbol for a new cre= ation, new birth. =

As we are baptized in= to Christ, we are reminded of the words of Paul in 2 Cor 5:

“So if anyone i= s in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away;

s= ee everything has become new.”

*Baptism is a symbol for the washing away of sins. <= /p>
*It is a reminder that in Christ we are a new creation. <= /b>

But these are not the= only meanings of baptism.

Mark’s gospel h= elps us focus on another important meaning of baptism.

In an extraordinary verse - verse 10 -

w= e get a visual that reveals something to us about= the nature of God.

Just as Jesus is comi= ng up out of the water, he sees the heavens torn open,

a= nd the Spirit descending on him like a dove. =

The ancient Celtic Ch= ristians in Ireland called these kinds of moments a thin place -

a= place where heaven and earth draw near, an intersection of human and divine. &nb= sp;

And at this moment in= time, in this thin place,

a= s Jesus is baptized with water and with the Holy Spirit,

Jesus is named and claimed by God.    =

He is named as God’s Son, and claimed as God’s beloved.

The same thing is tru= e of our own baptisms.

Those who are baptize= d in water have a new Spirit-empowered identity in Christ.

We are named and clai= med by God.   =

In Galatians 3 Paul w= rites,

“As many of you= as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.”

When God names and cl= aims us in baptism,

i= t is so significant that it changes what we look like. We put on Christ. =

The early Christians = took this very seriously.

They spent 3 years le= arning about the Christian teachings and the scriptures,

a= nd then early on Easter morning the catechumens as= they were called,

w= ould be immersed in a pool of water, often in a spec= ial building made for that purpose.

As they stepped out o= f the waters,

t= hey were literally clothed in a gown to remind them= that they had put on -

c= lothed themselves with - Christ.

In our own denominati= on, we Disciples practice baptism by imme= rsion.
We also practice what we call R= 20;believers baptism,” rather than infant baptism.

At the same time, bec= ause Disciples from the beginning have valued

Christian unity, we d= o not insist that ours is the only way.

Baptism is always int= o the body of Christ, not into one particular religious body. <= /p>
We are fully acceptin= g of other forms and ages of baptism

a= s practiced by other Christian traditions.

The strength of belie= vers’ baptism is that it occurs

w= hen we have gained some understanding of this sacra= ment of the church.

Yet, we who practice believers’ baptism

m= ust be careful not to think of baptism as our action.

Baptism is an outward= and public sign of God’s inward grace.

The grace of God alwa= ys precedes and makes possible our faithful response in baptism.

We are not saved by o= ur own works - and that includes baptism. <= /span>

We are saved by the g= ift of God’s love and grace.

At whatever age bapti= sm occurs, our faith and God’s grace are present.

Our other Disciple pr= actice, Baptism by immersion,

h= as helped me grow in my understanding of baptism.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

My own baptism was as= an infant in a Catholic church. =

It has only been as a= n adult and as a minister that I have waded in the waters

o= f baptisteries in Christian churches.
I have come to cherish this form of baptism

b= ecause of its strong symbolism.

You can’t miss the water when you are immersed. <= /b>

Baptism reenacts the death, burial and resurrect= ion of Christ.

As we are immersed in= that water we die to an old life

As we reemerge from t= he waters, we are reborn to a new life.

Fred Craddock, one of= our esteemed and favorite Disciple preachers,

t= ells a story where he remembered his baptism, <= /o:p>

w= hich took place a few weeks before his fourteenth birthday. <= /p>
In the service of bap= tism he remembered the words read by the minister

f= rom Colossians 3:

“Now you have h= aven raised with Christ, you have died and now you have been raised with Christ. Set your mind on thin= gs that are above.”

As he walked home aft= er his baptism, with his wet clothes wrapped in a wet towel under his arm, he trie= d to think what that meant. <= /o:p>

You know, after you&#= 8217;ve been raised from the dead,

y= ou don’t look the same, sound the same, talk= the same, do the same.

But what do you do? How do you talk? What do you sound like?

The next morning, the= memory was with him still.

He went to school tha= t Monday thinking,

“Is anybody goi= ng to know that I’ve been raised?

Should I dress up a l= ittle better from what I’ve been dressing?= It wouldn’t hurt.

Do I talk another way= ? Do I throw in a verse of scripture= now and then? <= /p>
What do I do at ball practice?

Are they going to say, ‘Well, looks like he’s been raised from the dead.” (Craddock Stories, p. 92)

(Walk to the water ag= ain and pour it . . .)

Can you remember your baptism?
However you were bapt= ized, as an infant, as an adult, as a child or teen,

i= mmersed or sprinkled, can you remember your baptism?

Some of you may not h= ave been baptized and may want to talk with me about that.

But even more importa= nt than remembering your baptism,

c= an you remember that you have been named and claim= ed by God himself?

Because we are named = and claimed,

t= here’s something different about the way we talk, the = way we walk, the way we relate.

F= or we are children of God, beloved by God.