Matthew 3, 13-17, 2026
\nYour Word, O God, comes to us in the translation of ancient scripture. Send your Holy Spirit to open our minds with understanding and our hearts with wisdom in the name of Jesus Christ, your Living Word. Amen.
\nAs we come together to worship this morning we bring into this space all of our lives
\nWe have had reasons to celebrate and be glad this week
\nThere have been goals set and maybe achieved
\nWe have met with family and friends
\nThese and other reasons to be happy are ours
\nAs well as the good in our lives there are also the things that bring concern
\nThose of us who watch the news are aware of world leaders who are more
\nconcerned about adding to their territory than they are to care for the vulnerable in their own land
\nWe watch what is going on, we pray, we wait, we pray some more
\nWith such anxiety we may wonder what the story of Jesus\u2019 baptism has to say to us
\nHow can an ancient happening have a message for us in the twenty-first century?
\nLet\u2019s look at that story together, as it is recorded in Matthew and see what the living word of God has to say to us<\/p>\n
In our gospel lesson this morning Jesus had the courage to make a public
\ndeclaration
\nWell not so much a declaration as a definitive action<\/p>\n
An action that would begin the life of ministry and would begin to give a glimpse of how Jesus viewed success
\nThis baptism that began Jesus\u2019 ministry did not mark him as one who was
\nconcerned with power, money or glamour
\nHis baptism was an act of obedience
\nWhen Jesus came to see John at the Jordan he had a reason for being there
\nHe wanted to be baptized
\nBaptism was a known practise in the ancient world
\nThere were various faith groups that used baptism as part of their initiation and affirmation ritual
\nJesus was to be baptized by John whose baptism was a one of repentance
\nHe himself said, \u201cI baptize with water for repentance, but one who is more
\npowerful than I is coming after me\u201d
\nJohn understood himself to be the one who would get people ready for Jesus
\nAnd one day Jesus showed up at John\u2019s spot asking to be baptized
\nThis was hard for John to accept
\nAnd it can be hard for us to understand
\nWhy would Jesus want to be baptized?
\nJesus had no need to repent, so why come to John for baptism?<\/p>\n
We read in our gospel lesson, verse 15, that Jesus submits to this baptism as a fulfillment of God\u2019s righteousness. Some believe this act was not only an act of obedience to God and the consecration of his coming mission,
\nthis baptism was also an act of being in \u201csolidarity with sinners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Standing in solidarity with those who often feel unworthy of God\u2019s love and grace is a powerful act that is vividly portrayed in this text and throughout the ministry of Jesus. (Karyn Wiseman)
\nBy this act of baptism Jesus was demonstrating that he is on our side
\nWe don\u2019t need to convince Jesus that he might want to like us a bit
\nHe knows we are frail, vulnerable and that we make mistakes and he chooses to stand with us anyway<\/p>\n
In spite of all this, John would have prevented Jesus from being baptized
\nJohn understood that Jesus was a great prophet
\nThe one who had been promised
\nThe person of promise that he, John, was introducing
\nAnd he felt that he was unworthy to baptize Jesus
\nThis act of baptism had less to do with John and his abilities
\nAnd more to do with what God did with that act
\nThe baptism of Jesus was the way by which God told the people who Jesus was
\nJesus was his loved son
\nHe was the one with whom God was well pleased
\nThis simple act of John baptizing Jesus with water became the means by which God proclaimed who Jesus was
\nThrough the revelatory events of this text, the opening of the heavens,
\nthe descent of the dove,
\nand the affirmation of Jesus and his coming ministry,
\nwe see that this is no ordinary baptism (verses 16-17)
\nThis baptism is different.<\/p>\n
In it we get a clear sense of who Jesus is as God acknowledges Jesus from the
\nheavens as \u201cmy Son\u201d (verse 17).
\nIt is a profoundly important moment as Jesus is about to encounter the testing in the wilderness (4:1-11) and the beginning of his public ministry (4:12-17).
\nWe hear the affirmation of Jesus, and witness the preparatory act for completing the tasks before him.
\nAnd we also hear God who says to anyone being baptized,
\n\u201cI love you,\u201d \u201cYou are mine,\u201d and \u201cI am pleased with you.\u201d
\nThese are powerful affirmations to receive from our Creator. (Karyn Wiseman)<\/p>\n
As God gives us these messages that we are his and he is pleased with us
\nWe can think of how this can be lived out
\nFor sure, if we know and believe that God is pleased with us, we will pass that on to others
\nFred Craddock had the following happen to him
\nIn a book called Craddock Stories, noted preacher and Professor of Preaching and New Testament Fred Craddock remembers preaching at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s church, sometime in the 1980s.
\nHe says,
\n\u201cJoe Roberts, the pastor, had invited me . . . and the service had moved to the point where I was to stand and speak.
\nI\u2019d moved to the pulpit and I had my New Testament (turned to Mark 8) . . . and was ready to read, when Joe Roberts, who was seated up there along with several other persons, began to sing.<\/p>\n
Just as I was going to say my first word, he started singing.
\n\u201cI feel much better now that I\u2019ve laid my burden down,\u201d
\nand then he sang some more.
\nThen the associates started singing,
\nand the musicians went to their instruments,
\nthe piano and the organ and the drums and the electric guitar,
\nand the people started singing.
\nI\u2019m standing up there with Mark 8, waiting.
\n\u201cThen, I suddenly realized, I\u2019m the one up front,
\nI\u2019m the leader of this, so I started clapping my hands and singing.
\nThen everybody stood up and started clapping their hands and swinging and singing, and it was just marvelous.
\nThen at a certain point the pastor, Joe Roberts, put his hand out, it got quiet, they sat down and I started preaching.
\nI could\u2019ve preached all day.
\nAfterwards I said to Joe, \u201cWell, that kind of shocked me a little bit.
\nYou didn\u2019t tell me you were going to do that.\u201d
\nHe said, \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t plan it.\u201d
\n\u201cThen why did you do it?\u201d
\nAnd he said, \u201cWell, when you stood up there, one of my associates leaned over to me and said, \u2018That boy\u2019s going to need some help.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 (p. 128)<\/p>\n
\u201cThat boy\u2019s going to need some help.\u201d
\nCraddock goes on to give a reflection on how that phrase might have also been used in heaven on the day Jesus was baptized<\/p>\n
He says \u201cI can just see The Father and The Spirit peering down from heaven onto the John the Baptist Revival Center and Riverfront Tabernacle down by the Jordan.
\nHere comes Jesus, determined to get started on his mission and full of vim, vigor and bright ideas.
\nAnd The Spirit turns to The Father and says, \u201cThat boy\u2019s going to need some help.\u201d
\nAnd The Father thinks about it a few minutes, looks out over the horizon and into the future and sees there trials and tribulations, sadness and sorrow, great adulation mixed with abject failure and frequent rejection.
\nAnd The Father nods sadly and says to The Spirit, \u201cI believe you\u2019re right.
\nThat boy is going to some help.\u201d
\nAnd then a slow smile spread across the Father\u2019s face and he said,
\n\u201cAnd guess what Spirit; you\u2019re it.\u201d
\nAnd so it was that just as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens split open and the Spirit of God came down in the form of a dove and
\nalit on Jesus\u2019 shoulder, and a mighty voice boomed from above,
\n\u201cThis is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.\u201d
\nAnd after that, the heavens closed and the bird flew off and only a few heard a faint voice whisper,
\n\u201cThere; that oughta do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
God used the small act of John\u2019s obedience to show to the world who Jesus was
\nThat boy needed some help<\/p>\n
And the help came from God
\nIt came from his mother Mary and Joseph who followed God
\nAnd it came from his cousin John who was obedient and who helped with Jesus\u2019 ministry
\nJesus made choices and we can too
\nAs Jesus took on our humanity, so we can share in his divinity
\nWe chose to be disciples
\nWe choose to live as those whose lives have been transformed
\nWe choose to reflect God in our living<\/p>\n
We live in a world where two realities live side by side
\nOn one hand there is the reality that people are weak and frail
\nThat we boys and girls need some help
\nThat we want to be good but we are afraid, we get sick, we make mistakes, we hoard rather than share and so on
\nOn the other hand there is the reality that in Jesus we have been redeemed
\nWe are made right with God
\nWe have the sign of baptism given to us to remind us of what God has done
\nThe words \u201cMy beloved\u201d apply to us
\nWe are God\u2019s dearly loved ones
\nWe are worthwhile
\nAnd we have the gift of baptism to remind us that we are to fulfill God\u2019s purpose not our own<\/p>\n
Maya Angelou has been quoted as saying \u201cWhile I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and
\neverything else are also God’s creation.\u201d
\nThis reminder that we are all part of God\u2019s creation is needed for us daily
\nI think one of the things we fear the most is that we will be overlooked
\nThat someone else will get what is ours
\nThat someone will receive more than enough and we will be left in the cold
\nWhen we realize that we are creations of God
\nThat I am a creation of God
\nThat you are a creation of God
\nThen you know that you are loved
\nAnd if you are loved by God that is all you need
\nAnd if you are loved by God
\nYou can love others and celebrate the good that comes to them, whether or not you think they deserve the blessing or not
\nRemember we pray for daily bread, that is we pray to have enough
\nAnd when we remember our baptism
\nWe are enabled to live freely
\nKnowing that we will get the help we need
\nKnowing that God will give us what is necessary<\/p>\n
Knowing that God will give us what is necessary, we are equipped to do the work of Christmas
\nBut wait, you may say, we have finished our Christmas celebrations for this
\nseason<\/p>\n
The decorations have been put away
\nThe talk of diets has begun
\nWe may or may not be thinking of the next holiday
\nBut the work of Christmas is a year round occupation
\nJesus who was baptized to stand in solidarity with us says \u201ccome follow me\u201d
\nJesus who showed in his living that
\n\u201cThe \u2026 planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately
\nneed more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind.
\nIt needs people who live well in their places.
\nIt needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world
\nhabitable and humane. \u2026.\u201d
\n(David Orr and Dali Lama)<\/p>\n
To come back to the question that I raised at the beginning
\nWhat does an ancient story have to say to us in the twenty-first century
\nIt says that God who has called us and commissioned us will also be with us
\nIt says that troublesome times do not mean that God has departed
\nAs Jesus was named as the beloved who walked with God
\nSo we are named as the beloved who walk with God<\/p>\n
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession (Leave a silence of 5 to 10 seconds after each petition before leading the response.)
\nLoving God,
\nyou invite us to bring to God our doubts and fears,
\nour joys and concerns, our petitions and our praise.<\/p>\n
We thank you that you are with us in every circumstance,
\nand that you walk with us through times of celebration and sorrow.
\nThis day, we open our hearts to you,
\nknowing your Spirit prays in us with sighs too deep for words.<\/p>\n
Where people are tired from work or weary with responsibility;
\nwhere time and resources feel inadequate and costs overwhelming,
\nsend your Spirit with strength and renewal\u2026
\nGod, in your mercy,
\nHear our prayer.
\nWhere people are facing danger or living under duress;
\nwhere people are persecuted for who they are or what they believe,
\nsend your Spirit with courage and comfort\u2026
\nGod, in your mercy,
\nHear our prayer.
\nWhere people have suffered the loss of love or purpose;
\nand where love seems complicated and challenging,
\nsend your Spirit to bind up the brokenhearted\u2026
\nGod, in your mercy,
\nHear our prayer.
\nWhere people are ill and worry for their future;
\nwhere people suffer pain or disability and long for healing;
\nand where people face the limits to life and options have run out,
\nsend your Spirit with healing and hope\u2026
\nGod, in your mercy,
\nHear our prayer.<\/p>\n
Where people seek a reliable friend, a true comforter or wise adviser; where the lonely long for company to cheer them,
\nand where isolation makes people doubt their value to others,
\nsend your Spirit of wisdom and companionship\u2026
\nGod, in your mercy,
\nHear our prayer.
\nWhere new life is beginning and hope dawns;
\nwhere there is laughter and joy, healing and positive change,
\nwhere there is good news to celebrate
\nand opportunities open up for the year ahead,
\nsend your Spirit with rejoicing and gratitude\u2026
\nGod, in your mercy,
\nHear our prayer.<\/p>\n
These things we pray in Jesus\u2019 name, giving thanks that we know our prayers will be heard
\nAmen<\/p>\n
Commission and Blessing
\nYou are God\u2019s beloved.
\nGo in the assurance of this love, to engage the challenges God sets before us with confidence.
\nAnd may God who is the Creator, Christ and Spirit,
\ngo with you, and give you joy and peace, now and always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Matthew 3, 13-17, 2026 Your Word, O God, comes to us in the translation of ancient scripture. Send your Holy Spirit to open our minds with understanding and our hearts with wisdom in the name of Jesus Christ, your Living Word. Amen. As we come together to worship this morning we bring into this space … Continue reading “Sunday, January 9th 2026 Sermon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t