Come to the Water!
John the Baptist thought Jesus was so holy that he had no
need of being baptized. But Jesus said God required baptism. Washing away our
sins – past present and future - is all a part of being baptized. Baptism is a
symbol of our being cleansed, corrected, and connected.
Jesus, being in the flesh like us, needed cleansing since he
was surrounded by the filth of this world. The world’s dust and dirt have a way
of clinging to us and even getting inside of us. We need to fill our lives with
good and positive sights and sounds that can wash away the grime that is on the
outside and saturate our minds on the inside, so we can stay focused and
faithful. There are some things our eyes
cannot easily unsee and our ears cannot quickly unhear. We need to be filled
again and again with the living water of the Holy Spirit that cleanses us.
A woman, who appeared 20 years younger than her age, told me
that she gave up a two-pack-a day cigarette smoking habit after reading in Prevention magazine that nicotine in
your body was like a mighty magnet, pushing and screaming out for more nicotine
and causing cravings to smoke. If you drank enough water, the article
suggested, you could eliminate the nicotine and thus eliminate the cravings,
and that is exactly what this woman said worked for her.
The Holy Spirit works the same way. As we are filled with
the Holy Spirit, the dirt and destruction that gets on us and in us, is diluted
and eliminated.
God required that Jesus be cleansed. God also required that
Jesus be corrected. The bible tells us
that he learned obedience through the things he suffered. We learn if momma
says, “Don’t touch that pot!” and we touch it and it hurts, we too have learned
the value of obedience by what we suffer. The Holy Spirit corrects us so that
we can avoid doing damage to ourselves and to each other.
God required Baptism as a symbolic reminder that Jesus
needed to be cleansed, that he needed to be corrected, and finally, God
required that Jesus be baptized as a symbolic reminder that Jesus needed to be
connected.
Like all of us humans, Jesus had connections with friends
and family when he needed them. At other times, he felt very much alone. The
Holy Spirit connects us so that we are conduits of love, bringing out the very
best in each other. But, even when no one is around, whether we are rejoicing
or suffering, God’s love still flows through us, to us, in us and around us.
Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit as our constant companion, our
teacher, our comforter.
The waters of baptism are symbols of God’s holy and soothing
presence. Baptism celebrates the consistent, calming, companionship of our
comforter. Jesus needed that and so do we. God wired us to depend on human
companionship as well as God’s companionship!
Jesus told the disciples that those who believe in him would
flow with living waters, waters that are lively and life giving. If we believe in him, we accept that Jesus is
who he says he is, the lover of our souls, the one who loves us – not to death
– but to life. It is good to believe and
trust in that which brings life. When we observe a chair and believe it will
hold us, we make a decision to sit. When we decide to follow Jesus, we make
conscious decisions throughout our lifetime. We gather around Allison today in
hopes that she too will choose to have faith in Jesus and to find rest in his
care for her.
Today and every time we baptize, we are made conscious that
we are surrounded by holy waters flowing in us and through each of us. Today,
we affirm that we have come to the water trusting that God is here and loves us
enough to cleanse us, correct us and connect us. Amen.
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