The Feast of the Baptism of Jesus – God’s manifestation in Jesus and ourselves
Only the truth is revolutionary
Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.
On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.
Arundhati Roy
We cannot change the past,
but we can change our attitude toward it.
Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness.
Tear out arrogance and seed humility.
Exchange love for hate - thereby,
making the present comfortable
and the future promising.
Maya Angelou
Today’s feast of the Baptism of Jesus marks the end of the Christmas season but it really marks the beginning of the liturgical year. God’s promises that the one born in the flesh comes to bring justice and hope to a world in desperate need. According to Isaiah says the one endowed with God’s own Spirit will bring justice to all people, not by using force but with tender care for the weak and vulnerable.
Though we can focus on Jesus’ person and ministry, the readings also contain a challenge for us. Each of us is a unique creation. In the gospel today, Jesus emerges from the water where a voice declares, ‘You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.’ (Message Bible). These words are spoken over too –even before we have done anything. Though gifted with abilities we can forget or lose confidence in ourselves. Jesus’s baptism is God’s immersion into the life of the world, with all of its suffering and chaos in tow. No one is exempt or untouched by whatever the chaos around us.
Rowan Williams writes, ‘To be baptised is to recover the humanity God first intended…..that human beings should grow into such love for him and confidence in him that they could rightly be called God’s sons and daughters. Human beings have let go of that identity, abandoned it, forgotten it, or corrupted it. And when Jesus arrives on the scene, he restores humanity to where it should be.… Jesus….has to come down into the chaos of our human world. Jesus has to come down fully to our level, to where things are shapeless and meaningless, in a state of vulnerability and unprotectedness, if real humanity is to come to birth.’ (Being Christian).
Jesus’ essential message is to make people believe that they are marked by love as beloved sons and daughters of God. When we truly believe this as the deepest truth within us, everything changes in life. Remember that the affirmation of Jesus occurs before he has done anything. It is also important to note in terms of his ministry that the Spirit comes in the form of a dove not the fierce eagle – or bird of prey (power) – that symbolised the Roman Empire. The peaceful dove contrasts the bird of prey. Many institutions have adopted the latter where violence, domination and control are prioritised over care, tenderness and compassion. Christmas and the Baptism of Jesus reflect God’s downward mobility and show God’s solidarity with humanity. God’s enfleshed Word will rise up from the depths of our human experience rather than thundering from the clouds.
Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier write, “We live in a world where groups close up, thinking that they and their traditions are the best. They oppose others, either to bring them to the so-called truth or to take more land. It’s the reality of history. Jesus entered into this world to love people as they are. The heart of the vision of Jesus is to bring people together, to meet, to engage in dialogue, to love each other. Jesus wants to break down the walls that separate people and groups. How will he do this? He will do it by saying to each one, ‘You are important. You are precious.’ There can be no peacemaking or social work or anything else to improve our world unless we are convinced that the other is important. You are precious. You—not just ‘people,’ but you. And we have a call to make history, not just accept history. We are called to change things—to change the movement of history, to make our world a place of love and not just a place of conflict and competition.” (Living Gently in a Violent Word; The Prophetic Witness of Weakness).
So many people forget they are mean for human connection. They become fearful and withdraw by building walls around themselves. They might lash out at others. They might live in shame believing they are unlovable and failures. This loss can lead to a failure in living out the meaning of baptism by responding to God’s question to Cain, ‘Where is your sister/brother?’ or live out Jesus’ words ‘You did it to me’ when we fail to see him in his many guises. In all cases, God’s blessing has come upon them. In baptism, we were ‘filled with the Spirit’ and sent to bring both God's love, mercy, compassion, peace and fire into our world. It is a call to engagement with our world. God in Jesus is not aloof from us and not from the poor, the needy, the disabled, all those who wait for the liberation that will override the way the world is. This solidarity becomes the mission, and takes us to places we would rather not go. Our presence and our voice must critique whatever separates us from others, such as all forms of intolerance; the gap between the rich and poor people; the violent language that perpetrated by our religious leaders against LGBTIQ+ people; and the silence of our leaders, both religious and political in the face of genocide past and present; and, the neglect of the poor among us.
We have been given dignity but also fire – the Spirit. Baptism does not make us nice or respectable people but people who are prepared to risk rejection, abuse and ridicule for seeking peace through nonviolence by resisting any injustice.
To quote again from the book referred to earlier, ‘Jesus wants to break down the walls that separate people and groups. How will he do this? He will do it by saying to each one, ‘You are important. You are precious.’ There can be no peacemaking or social work or anything else to improve our world unless we are convinced that the other is important. You are precious. You—not just ‘people,’ but you. And we have a call to make history, not just accept history. We are called to change things—to change the movement of history, to make our world a place of love and not just a place of conflict and competition.’ May we humbly welcome the creative presence of God in all of us and in doing hear within our hearts that we are also the beloved children of God and that God is well pleased. God's love will only be credible if it goes hand in hand with justice. Faced with the temptation to keep our spirituality in the private sphere, the life of Jesus is a constant effort to make effective the liberation God wants for us. Authentic love is translated into deeds; and we well know that even with the smallest gestures of love, God multiplies them and they reach a scope that escapes us. From there, with the psalm, we sing: ‘God blesses people with peace.’
God of all life,
we give you thanks that you are ever with us.
In the turbulent deep waters,
in the ecstasy of love,
in the winnowing of our lives,
your grace is all-sufficient.
Alone and together, in community
your powerful love surrounds us
as we journey the path you set before us.
Remind us, Gracious One,
that we, all of us, are gathered in you.
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
OutinScripture