Preacher's Post: Baptism of Jesus

The Word

 Isaiah 43 and Luke 3

"all were questioning in their hearts..." 

Headline Words

Terrorism is Back

New Airline Security Measures

Al Qaeda cells in Yemen

Guantanamo-Yemen Connection

Quotable Words

 "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and you are mine." ~~Isaiah

Preachable Words:

A few thoughts heading toward Sunday, on how the Headline Words and the Word might come together:

As we head into the season of Epiphany--aka 'revelation of hidden things'--we know that all the headlines of late are about security searches and security breaches, airline safety, Yemeni terrorist cells, knowing who's who, who's safe and who's not. Our national fear level since Christmas Day has been ratcheted up to bright red. Fear, ever in the background, is back on center stage.

Into the midst of this red-level fear comes the story of Jesus at the Jordan with John, where Jesus gets his job description, his identity, and we also get a glimpse of ours. 

The preacher's task would be to get at this identity business: who is this One at the Jordan that John baptizes?  Can he be the One that everyone is waiting for? How does Jesus receive his new vocation as one Beloved, and put that together with John's words about winnowing and threshing and fire? And how about all the rest of us, standing on the riverbanks while Jesus is at prayer? Whom are we waiting for? If Jesus is beloved in his baptism, are we not also beloved?

The people, Luke tells us, are filled with expectation, with "questioning in their hearts" about the identity of the Promised One who will redeem them from all the world's evil and all their personal ills.We might imagine their expectations and their questioning. Don't we always look for that one who will save us from the evil at hand--especially when times are tough, economies are down, and tomorrow is laden with uncertainty? Whom do we trust? Can we hear that voice from Isaiah?: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have call you by name and you are mine."

Can we hear our own vocation as people who are called not to fear, but to love? How might we be people of hope in a time of red-level fear? What is hidden in our midst that might be revealed?