Sermon at Grace Episcopal on Sunday March 1, 2009 by Lynette

Mark 1:9-15

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

God is love. God gives us life. We love because God first loved us. God's love for us was so great that He sent His only Son here to earth. Many thought that Jesus came to teach. Others thought that He came to heal. But thinking that Jesus came to only to teach and heal is like thinking that the main reason you have your car is to listen to music and run the windshield wipers. Those are good things but the main reason you have a car is to get places quickly and safely. God reached down into the world and sent His Son here to help us fight and to win a battle that we were constantly losing. But Jesus didn't use bullets or guns or knives. To really help us, He had to pull out all the stops and use the heavy artillery. Sometimes He taught, other times He healed, and He was known to give food to thousands of hungry people, but His greatest weapon was love. Not the kind of love like I love my horse or I love ice cream. When Jesus loved, He loved with the all out focus and holiness of God.

It was that love that led Him to the cross, where He suffered and paid the price for the wrong each of us would commit. And it wasn't nails that held Jesus on the cross. No, it was His love for us, even when our sins were being piled on His back. Three days later, His Father raised Him from the dead to show the world that God's love is even stronger than death and suffering. That cross and the empty grave was the way that God invited us to begin to have a relationship with Him.

Today, when we hear about sin and evil, and many people say, "I'm not perfect, but I don't really think I'm a bad person. I haven't killed anybody, robbed a bank or kicked my dog." So when we hear that Jesus died to take away our sin and by His forgiveness we can have a new life, it just doesn't get to our hearts.

But each of us knows how it feels when we are sometimes swimming against the current, beating our heads against the wall or feeling that things are hopeless and that our lives don't have any real meaning. Those feelings are the signs that sin has secretly robbed us of our joy because we are not in God's light in our daily life.

You all heard that Scotty left Moloka'i last Monday to pick up Amanda and Googie in West Virginia. His plane was delayed in San Francisco and he was hungry. Scotty bought a hot pastrami sandwich that smelled so ono. And because there is only expensive and junk food on airplanes, he decided to eat only half and carefully wrapped the rest for the red eye flight to Pittsburgh. On the way, he fell asleep only to be awakened by the wonderful aroma of pastrami. In his sleep he'd squished the sandwich. The whole plane was dark, and he didn't want to waste the sandwich but he also didn't want to turn the light on and bother anyone. So rather than opening the light, he peeled the wrap and tried to eat the greasy and slippery sandwich in the dark. After the first bite, the bread disintegrated and the meat fell everywhere. But the light would bother the folks in front who were sleeping so he kept trying to finish the sandwich in the dark. Soon mustard and mayo were all over his face and there was stuff on his shirt. He couldn't find the napkins. Why? Scotty still didn't want to turn the light on. Now he tried to wipe mayo off his face in the dark with his hands and lick his fingers clean. But his mouth was greasy from the pastrami. It was a pastrami sandwich mess. His seat, face, shirt, the floor and his hands all paid the price for his refusing to turn on the light. AND, to make things worse, he didn't even get to eat the whole sandwich because it fell apart in the dark!

Isn't that one of the best descriptions of the consequences of sin you've heard in awhile? Scotty didn't kill anybody. He didn't swear at a flight attendant. They did need his medical help on two flights but he didn't even threaten to hijack a plane. Still, his refusal to turn on the light made a mess out of everything. And that wasn't the end. He actually did end up turning on his overhead light. He could clearly see what a mess he had made. He found the napkins, cleaned up his face, his shirt, the seat, and the floor. Then he reached for an airsick bag, tucked it all in, folding down the flaps, and sealing it. He placed it on the floor, turned off the light and went back to sleep. There are consequences to the messes we make, but Jesus provides a way out. When we repent, He takes all our junk away as far as the east is from the west and He tells us to have a nice flight!

Jesus said that He was the light of the world that had come to take away our darkness. With the light of Christ in our lives, the messes can be prevented, or if we slip and fall they can be cleaned up and we can enjoy the ono stuff that God made for us to enjoy.

That's the background of what baptism is. When Jesus was around 30, He started His public ministry by being baptized Himself in the Jordan River by His cousin, John the Baptist. John was baptizing people as a call for them to turn away from their sin and get ready for Jesus so they could start living a life of holiness for God. Even though Jesus never sinned, He had John baptize Him.

It was kind of like the Star Spangled Banner being sung at the opening of the Super Bowl. You know, the singer sings, the jets fly over with a sonic boom and thousands of balloons or doves are let loose. Then the kickoff happens and the battle begins.

When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came down like a dove and rested on Him. Then God's voice boomed, "Here is my Son. I AM well pleased with Him!" Then the battle started. Jesus immediately went into the wilderness for 40 days where He fasted and faced all the temptations the devil threw at Him.

In case you didn't know, Jesus beat the devil 3 out of 3. He won the game and the set. If He couldn't beat Satan one on one in the wilderness, how would He fight the devil while carrying our sin on His back on the cross at the same time?

When Jesus took on our sin, He won the match on the cross. He literally killed the power that sin could have in our lives. Since there is no shame and no burden to carry, it means that a believer can start a whole new life. No matter what you have done, no matter how far you have strayed, God wants you back. We don't have to wait until we look or act good enough for God. We can never look good enough on our own. This is all about what Jesus Christ has done for us. He gave up His life so that each of us could start a new one, with Him.

Going into the water is like the old life dying and coming up is like the sign of the start of the new life with Jesus. And it's a sign that says to everyone, "I'm not going to be putting up with sin and death any more. I'm not giving up hope because I know that Jesus loves me and that He is in control." Whether by being dunked or by sprinkling, baptism is the sign that we have a new Father. It is a symbol that we have been born again as a child of God.

But we need to know 3 important things.
1. Just when we hear the music of God's love, evil wants to come out and start a life or death struggle. The evil one will not give up without a fight.
2. We don't have to be afraid because right next to us in the fight will be Jesus - and we know He already won the battle. What we need to do is hold on to Him and receive and use the love and power that comes only from Him and the battle will be won!
3. We are not perfect, just forgiven. We will sometimes lose as we struggle to start this new life and overcome evil with goodness and love. But Jesus knows how hard the struggle is. He knows that sometimes we can't seem to hold on and will let go. But when we see His hands it won't be to give us lickings for failing and falling. Instead, the Lord holds out His nail scarred hands to help us up and start fresh all over again.

That is why we are here today for baptism: the sign of new lives that have said "YES" to the Lord and are being dedicated to Him.

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