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Mark 1:4-11 The Baptism of Our Lord
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see the Broadway musical Wicked when it came to the Fox Theatre. Since I had the chance to catch up on some reading over my recent vacation, I decided to start reading the book that the musical is based on. The book is also called Wicked, the untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. For those of you who don’t know, this book was written a few years ago and its meant to tell the back story of the Wizard of Oz, what happened before Dorothy blew into town in her house, landing on the Wicked Witch of the East and going down the yellow brick road. Without ruining the story, but to give you a taste of what I mean, the author explains why the Wicked Witch of the West had green skin and that she and Glinda, the good witch of the north were actually roommates and friends in college. Wicked casts the tale in a much different light, telling the story from the Wicked Witch’s point of view. The story also struggles with an interesting question that relates to our gospel lesson today, and really the entire season of Epiphany. The basic question that is the foundation for the book and the musical is this, “Are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?” Are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? According to the updated version of the story, the author is trying to say that you can’t necessarily blame the Wicked Witch for being wicked, that there were a lot of factors that went into it and that it wasn’t really her fault that she was so bad. Well, I know you came here today to hear about Jesus, not the Wicked Witch of the West, so here is how the two relate. We Christians can answer the author’s question fairly easily. Are people born wicked? According to the Bible, the uncomfortable answer that we don’t always like to hear is, “Yes, people are born wicked.” In fact, all people are born wicked. Romans 3:23 – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 1 John 1:8 & 10 – “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make Jesus a liar and his word is not in us.” And from God’s promise to Noah after the flood, after the cleansing of the earth, God says in Genesis 8, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth…” These are just a few of the answers that the Bible provides for us. We don’t need to have wickedness thrust upon us – we already have it. It’s called sin, evil, death, brokenness, the absence of God – whatever you want to call it, we have it. It is an unfortunate part of who we are and has been since the day each of us was born. It is this tendency towards evil and sin that people were repenting from when they came to John the Baptist. People from all walks of life were trying to change their wicked ways as they made the trek from Jerusalem out into the wilderness to receive baptisms from John. John would then take them into the flowing waters of the Jordan River and baptize them as a sign of their repentance. John was always very clear, however. There was someone else who was much greater than he who was coming and his wouldn’t just be just a baptism of water, but of the Holy Spirit. And we know who that someone else is – he is Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the living God, Savior of the World. Wickedness is not thrust upon anyone, but when Jesus Christ baptizes us with water and the Holy Spirit, each one of us does have goodness thrust upon us. And it is this goodness that is thrust upon us which we celebrate today and everyday. We celebrate and rejoice because even though we are born wicked and sinful, God thrusts his goodness upon us. His water floods our deserts. His light blazes into our darkness. His life raises us from the dead. It is cosmic and it is personal at the same time. In Jesus’ baptism, we see how God treats us at our baptisms. The heavens are torn apart, the spirit descends upon us and God says to each of us, “You are my beloved child. With you I am well pleased.” Goodness is thrust upon a wicked world and something new begins. This is the theme of the Epiphany season. Today and for the next eight weeks we will be recognizing all the different ways that God through Jesus Christ has brought his goodness to us and to the world. It began in a very unique way for the world when Jesus was baptized and that goodness begins for each one of us in our baptisms. This is why you’ll be hearing a lot about baptism the next several weeks. Because baptism means entry into God’s family, it is how God’s goodness is thrust upon you personally. We will be moving the baptismal font to the entrance of the sanctuary to remind us all that God’s goodness & grace was given to you in baptism and it is in the water where you were welcomed you into his family. Our confession of wickedness and the forgiveness of that sin will be centered around the font. And we’ll be doing an affirmation of baptism both today and on the last day of Epiphany to remind us to embrace the goodness that God has given to us in our baptisms. God has entered into our world through Jesus Christ and he has allowed us entry into his kingdom through our baptisms. I hope you find the Epiphany season to be a joyous time as we celebrate this entry of God’s goodness into our lives. It is supposed to be one of the more cheerful seasons in the church year as we begin to understand and appreciate what Christ’s coming has meant to the world. Epiphany is a time of celebration and I’m reminded of the unforgettable scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy first lands in Oz. The munchkins are celebrating because they think that evil has gone away. Dorothy IS the goodness thrust upon their world. The Lollipop Guild and the Lullaby Guild greet her with open arms and there is much singing and dancing. Poor Dorothy, while excited, is just trying to understand it all. This is a lot of what Epiphany and our baptisms are all about – lots of singing, dancing, rejoicing, and even some confusion about what it all means. And perhaps the most important comparison to Dorothy’s entry into Oz is that that scene just marks the beginning of a life-changing journey for her. Dorothy still has a long way to go and will face many dangers as she travels down the yellow brick road. Likewise, our baptism is just the beginning. Jesus, following his baptism, was immediately driven into the wilderness and his ministry began. And I’m sure if you ask him, Jesus would say his ministry was many things, but easy probably wasn’t one of them. In the same way, our baptisms mark the beginning of our ministries. We immediately are driven out into the wilderness, out into the mission field to begin our ministries, to bring the goodness we have been given out into the desperate world. And our individual journeys won’t be easy either. Thankfully, we have each other. Of course, we at Hope Lutheran Church are entering a new season in our life together as well. Our corporate journey to bring God’s goodness to world promises to be challenging for the next several months. The way we do ministry will be transforming, beginning at the congregational retreat in a few weeks. Our building will be changing as we shift our focus further beyond our walls and more to the community. In other words, God has chosen this time, this season to begin expanding Hope’s horizons. Baptism, like epiphany, is only the beginning of our journeys of faith and that is why you’ll be passing by the baptismal font on your way out of the sanctuary as well. As you do this, I encourage you to dip your fingers in the water and mark yourself with the sign of the cross. I know, some of you will scoff at this and say, “That’s too Catholic.” Well, guess what, the Catholics are on to something with that whole baptismal remembrance thing. It’s always a good thing to remember the grace of God, to remember how much God loves you, to remember that God calls you by name and calls you his beloved child. Its always a good thing to remember that God has wrapped you in his loving arms and sealed you with the promise of the Holy Spirit and of eternal life. Your brokenness and wickedness has been embraced by goodness and love. And God is with you as you leave this place. Most of us have seen the Wizard of Oz and know what happened to the Wicked Witch of the West when she embraced the wickedness inside of her. She became even meaner, murderous, and ultimately she died because water was thrown on her. We’ve all seen real life examples of people who have chosen to embrace wickedness and it is never good. It only leads to one place – death. My friends, because of God’s grace, through faith we have the opportunity to embrace the goodness that has been thrust upon us. This goodness is the only thing that leads to true joy and eternal life. We can live only BECAUSE water has been thrown onto us. God’s goodness doesn’t melt us – it saves us. When you reach into the waters of this font, when you remind yourself that you are marked with the cross of Christ forever, remember that God’s goodness has been thrust upon you. You are his child. You are loved and you are called to embrace that goodness and bring it to the rest of the world. Amen.
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