WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:02.799 Reading from Isaiah. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:10.480 Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:12.720 I have put my spirit upon him. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.679 He will bring forth justice to the nations. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:22.160 He will not cry or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:28.559 A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.760 He will faithfully bring forth justice. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:40.159 He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his teachings. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:54.799 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it, I am the Lord. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:57.200 I have called you in righteousness. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.320 I have taken you by the hand and kept you. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:12.400 I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:14.799 I am the Lord. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:16.319 That is my name. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.560 My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:26.319 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:30.159 Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.319 The word of the Lord. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.519 A reading from Acts, Peter began to speak to them. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:49.680 I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:54.959 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:56.400 He is Lord of all. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:02.480 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:13.039 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:18.479 We are witnesses to all that he did, both in Judea and in Jerusalem. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:33.039 They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:41.280 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:50.800 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name, the word of the Lord. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:52.879 Thanks be to God. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:57.680 The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Matthew. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.319 Glory is to you, Lord Christ. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:04.800 Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:11.039 John would have prevented Jesus, saying, Well, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:18.240 But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:20.240 And then John consented. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:30.639 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:36.479 And a voice from heaven said, This is my son, the beloved, with whom am I well pleased. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.039 The gospel of the Lord. 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:41.280 Praise you, Lord Christ. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:54.879 I'm going to ask as we walk through this season of Epiphany that we not only consider Epiphanes we're invited to, but actually Epiphanes for Jesus Himself in the stories. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:58.080 And lest I bore you, let me give you an introduction. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:07.120 I'm going to give you the 2,000-year history of baptism today, and we'll talk about what that might have meant for Jesus and how we ourselves might live into it. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:13.520 So to begin with, you have to imagine a different mentality than we are used to. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:24.480 About 150 years before the time of Jesus, there was this very deep conviction that there were spiritual germs in the world, and I think that's the best way to explain it. 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:28.720 Sure, we all know about sin is when we do something wrong that we shouldn't do. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:30.800 This is not that kind of germ. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:39.920 This is the kind of impurity like when you touch yucky stuff and it amalgamates in your person and can have really bad effects. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:51.040 Like, for example, if you acquire enough of these kinds of germs, you might end up with leprosy or blind or bent over. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:57.040 There was the conviction that if you were sick, you deserved it for one reason or another. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:03.279 Maybe you weren't a sinner, but you had acquired ritual impurity. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:05.600 Now maybe you're wondering, how do you get that stuff? 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:12.160 There's all kinds of laws, like wearing a garment made out of two different kinds of fabric. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:18.240 It's not really a sin, but it can affect your spiritual well-being. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:23.279 Bad news for you all, those cotton polyester blends you're wearing today. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:26.000 Ritual impurity. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.079 Touching a dead body. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.399 That includes meat. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:32.160 That's dead. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:34.240 Ritual impurity. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:39.600 Being touched by somebody who touched a dead body. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.240 Ritual impurity. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:47.439 Like these things can be on you without you even knowing. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:06:00.000 Unless you think we don't believe in that today, let me tell you, when I was five years old, my mother carefully explained to me that when I went to a public restroom, the thing I needed to do was put paper on the seat. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.800 Now I want to tell you there is zero scientific basis for that. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:09.120 However, we believed in, frankly, the cooties. 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:11.360 The cooties. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.279 And think in the childhood version. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:15.920 There were these cooties you could get. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.480 And how do you get rid of them? 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.519 The answer, about 150 years ahead of Jesus, were ritual baths. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:29.360 These are called mikvas, and we find them all over the place archaeologically. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.240 Sometimes they're underneath homes. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:38.319 They're supposed to be filled with living water, which is code speak for water that moves on its own. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:42.079 That's rain water, that's rivers, streams. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.000 You're not really supposed to go fill them with a cistern. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.000 Cisterns are filled with living water. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:48.959 Does this make sense? 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:58.800 So you fill it up with living water, and then you would immerse yourself in general five times a day to wash off your spiritual cooties. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:06.240 Now we all know that if you continue to do this, the hygiene of the water goes down with each dunk. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:11.839 But this is not about real germs, it's about spiritual germs. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:22.079 John the Baptist was somewhat of an innovator because he came out of the wilderness and said, we're going to do this one time for the rest of your life. 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:23.040 Once. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:33.120 Circle, circle, dot, dot, you get your cooti shot in the River Jordan. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.839 But it also is a baptism of repentance from sin. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.959 So you get rid of both things. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:45.120 Now Jesus shows up and he's like 30. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.120 Maybe he's 27. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.199 Somewhere in that range. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.120 And he wants to get baptized. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:08:00.000 Now look, our prayer book tells us Jesus is like us in every way, but without without sin. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:07.839 So why on earth is Jesus showing up to have ritual cooties washed off him and in repentance for sin? 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:19.439 Well, I want to put it to you to consider that even if Jesus didn't commit any moral action, he certainly was shaped by a culture that did. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:30.959 So I told you last week that around the age of four, my daughter started classifying people not by the color of their garments, but by the color of their skin. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.039 Jesus was born in a culture that told racial jokes. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:47.200 Jesus was born in a culture that experienced ageism. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:49.840 By the way, we get it in clergy. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:55.279 I've been told that in the Diocese of Texas, once you get over 50, your job prospects go down. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.679 Because you're too old to lead young people into the church. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:01.600 I'm just 40. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:04.080 Thank you all. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:07.679 I mean that as a joke, but listen, it's in every career. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:10.960 It's in every career, especially in tech careers. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:13.759 Ageism is a real thing. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:19.200 Doesn't matter whether you participate in it or not, it exists and it affects you. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.159 Women at the time of Jesus were shadows. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.000 They belonged to their fathers. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.279 They were given, sold to their husbands. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:35.200 I know that's a terrible thing to do, a terrible way to frame it, but their husband paid the bride price, so the father gave her away. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:39.919 Jesus was steeped in that. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:53.440 He comes to the river Jordan not only to wash away touching dead bodies and being in the shadow of Gentiles, but to wash that off so that he can start anew. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:01.519 Now, water in the Bible, everybody gets we needed to grow crops, but water is very, very capricious in Israel. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:02.720 It's a desert. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:05.519 If you haven't been, it's a lot like San Diego. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.679 And I don't mean irrigated San Diego. 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:12.000 I mean like go into East County San Diego where there's little scrub brushes. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:13.600 And that's where people live. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:15.440 And if it doesn't rain, you die. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.039 So water actually in the Bible is a symbol of chaos. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.000 Borderline evil. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:36.799 And John takes people and he says, let all that evil chaos wash the evil and chaotic elements of your life away so you can come out and live a new life. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:43.200 And Jesus, don't you see, needs to do that just like we do. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:47.759 Before Jesus gets baptized, he's a day laborer or a carpenter. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.000 He does that for 27-ish years. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:55.120 Please notice he is changed when he comes out because he starts teaching. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:57.679 He takes on disciples. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:05.840 We don't know what he did exactly before, but we sure do know that afterward he touches women and accepts them as his students. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:10.480 We know that he eats at the homes of tax collectors and sinners. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:19.519 We know that he says things like, God did not make human beings for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath is for human beings. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:26.240 We know that baptism changes the way Jesus lives his life. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:34.559 Now, for the first couple hundred years, baptism was for adults only. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:42.240 And it's maybe helpful for you to know that the word baptism only exists in the English language because of King James. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:48.000 Baptism is a Greek word, just like lots of other Greek words you may or may not know. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:55.279 Like pneuma means spirit, and uh, you know, pharaoh, which means to bear or to bring. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:01.600 These are all Greek words that your Bible translator has rendered into English for you, but baptism they didn't do that. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:04.559 Baptism means to dunk or submerge. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:08.159 It really means what you do with fabric when you want to dye it. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:13.440 You don't sprinkle it, you shove it under the water. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.159 When did we quit doing that? 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:18.320 We quit doing that after St. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:18.879 Augustine. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:19.120 St. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:27.519 Augustine of Hippu, bishop in North Africa, decided that the reason we're baptized is because there's something inherently wrong with us. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.799 We call that original sin with a capital O. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:36.960 Please hear how that's different from being into a cultural world that has sin in it. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:42.240 Augustine said we're genetically bad. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.360 And what fixes original sin? 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:46.559 Baptism. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:51.759 That's how you wash off the sin gene. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:13:04.639 Now, it did not take very long for mothers and fathers, especially when infant mortality was like 25%, to demand that their children get baptized. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:08.000 Otherwise, their children would die and go to hell. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:10.639 So this was a major change. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:17.120 Now, I don't know if you realize this, but submerging your infant is not a good idea. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.960 If you know someone who does this, please, please, you should be very concerned. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:27.200 In fact, this is like a CPS investigation, people who submerge their infants. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:28.559 It's not safe. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:33.039 So this is when the church started sprinkling. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.759 By the way, we still do that in the Episcopal Church. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.159 We do. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:37.360 We sprinkle. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:48.720 It happened so long, and they got the word baptized that when King James's translation came out, he didn't call him John the Immerser or John the Dunker. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.159 That's how it reads in Greek. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:55.039 No, to protect the practice that people were already doing and believed in, he's John the Baptist. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:55.840 Don't you see? 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:59.440 It's a Greek word that just means dunker or immerser. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:09.840 I don't know about you, but I will tell you myself, I am 100% sure my children were born just fine. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:11.519 I mean it. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.840 There was nothing inherently wrong with either one of my kids. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:21.360 In fact, I'll tell you there still is nothing inherently wrong with either one of my kids. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:23.440 When I'm tired, I may say something different. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.240 But in general, I'm very positive of this. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:29.120 So why do we baptize now? 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:33.440 It isn't to wash away original sin. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:49.600 I want to put to you, we're baptized for the same reason Jesus was, to wash off whatever it is that separates us from being with one another and accepting God's presence with us. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:54.559 The other thing we do is try to receive a baptism of new birth. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:04.000 So, hey, all of these things that we're born into that are life-taking, God, would you please remove that from us? 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:10.480 Now, I'll tell you, John Wesley, Anglican priest to the day he died. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:12.240 He never was a Methodist. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:13.279 That's okay. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:20.720 Wesley said the reason we baptize infants, and this may sound a little harsh, is because they don't have a choice. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.639 This is why we do it. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:27.039 Because neither do we have a choice about whether God is present in our lives. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:30.000 Wesley called this prevenient grace. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:38.879 God's grace is present whether we want it, whether we accept it, whether we choose to believe it, it's there. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:44.240 And that's why Wesley said, we baptize infants. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.639 And of course, we know the infants won't remember. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:52.159 But we will. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:57.600 And I want to put to you, I think this is why we continue to do the practice today. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:03.360 It's not just about grace, it's about good practice. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:08.639 So I want you to consider that we are hardwired as mammals. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:18.559 This is part of our evolutionary DNA, unless you're a sociopath, to care for the young, for babies and puppies. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:24.639 If you don't like puppies and babies, there's something different in your DNA because this is how we evolved. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:26.639 Mammals take care of the young. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:31.360 And I've got to tell you, it's one thing to say, oh yes, you're all beautiful children of God. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:36.000 But man, it's so much easier to see it in a baby or a puppy. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.559 Oh, they're so cute, they're so wonderful. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:47.039 That's I think part of the reason we do it publicly, because you can say, yes, look, there is a beautiful child of God. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:55.519 And then having practiced that, we can see the beautiful baby child of God and the people that drive us up the wall. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.360 And maybe you're wondering about shells. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:08.720 You know, the Jordan River actually is fresh water, so there's not any kind of significant mollusks or um or shellfish there. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.640 The shell came into baptism, and we've got one. 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:13.839 Maybe you've seen this before. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.240 A lot of priests use this to baptize. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:18.880 They scoop water and will pour it. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:20.640 We have a bigger shell than this. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:21.680 I like that one. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.519 Um this came into the church in about 600. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:26.960 600. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.920 And it didn't come from the River Jordan. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:38.160 It came because one of the oldest church pilgrimage routes there is, many of you still know it, thanks to the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:41.119 It's called Santiago de Compostela. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:49.119 So it's a pilgrimage that begins somewhere in France and it goes over the Pyrenees, and you end up in Spain on the coast. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:56.400 And it was thought at that time that Spain was on the edge of the world, like in a flat map. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.640 If you go off Spain, you will sail off the world. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:02.319 And not in a good way. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:06.160 So pilgrims made this huge journey. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:09.359 Depending on how you do it, it's more than 400 miles. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:16.799 And because they'd come to the edge of the world, they brought back a souvenir, which to this day is a shell. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.640 When you go the way of St. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.640 James, you bring back a shell. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:27.440 And they brought them back to their priests and said, Look, here's a shell from the edge of the world. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:39.279 And some clever priest realized you could use that symbolically to say, here you go, off the edge of the world, into God's great horizon. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:44.720 We did even better than those pilgrims because this shell went into outer space. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.160 So it really is out of this world. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.799 But I want to suggest to you that's why the shell has stuck with us. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:58.480 The whole point of baptism is that we can live out of this world. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:05.039 That we can live not in ordinary ways, but in extraordinary ways. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.160 Now, you know there's a couple other thoughts, and these matter. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.680 Anybody ever seen the painting, The Birth of Venus? 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:14.319 Maybe in high school. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:23.200 Venus is born out of a out of a shell, and you know, when you hold the baby up behind that shell, boy, that's the image, isn't it? 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:29.119 Look what God is giving birth to, a citizen of heaven right there in front of your eyes. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:39.920 With a shell that big, it's really easy to imagine that our little infants are pearls in God's oyster, isn't it? 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.599 That's the image. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.799 Now Jesus gets to hear something that we often struggle with. 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.640 So, you know, I'm going to tell you, everything I said makes totally sense to me. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:56.880 It's very priestly and very great. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:02.799 The challenge for me, though, is to think about what happens after Jesus is baptized. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:15.359 After he's baptized, by himself, the heavens open up and the Holy Spirit comes down, and he hears a voice say, This is my child, the beloved, with him I'm well pleased. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.000 Alright? 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:27.279 Now, our book that we're studying, Liturgy of the Ordinary, makes this a very, very interesting point, which is up to this point, Jesus has done nothing. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.119 In Matthew, he got born. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:38.480 The Magi came, he just laid there, his parents took him to Egypt, he didn't pick that. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.799 He has not healed anybody, he hasn't preached anything. 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.480 We don't even know what kind of crafts he made. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:21:07.200 When the junk that he's born into is washed off of him, he is able to hear, possibly for the first time in his own life, that God is pleased with him before he's done anything. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:17.200 Now I'm going to tell you, usually I hear God say, This is my son with whom I might be pleased. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:21.839 God might be pleased if I turn in my pledge card. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:26.720 God might be pleased if I'm really nice to that annoying person at work. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:29.200 God might be pleased. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:35.599 If I say 40 Hail Marys and six our fathers and drink some holy water. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.200 God might be pleased. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:38.000 No, no. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:45.119 God says to Jesus, I'm already pleased. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:57.039 I'm gonna tell you one of the biggest lies I buy into in all of my significant relationships is that one day I might really please the other person. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 Like the biggest edge I have in my marriage. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.480 Is that my wife's gonna love me more if I'll just do blank? 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.759 As if love was some kind of commodity to be earned. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:15.119 Actually, that fear is what creates most of the tension in my marriage. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:24.480 When, on the other hand, I'm able to have some holy water run over me. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:29.440 And I think, you know, my wife might actually love me. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:32.160 There might be something wrong with her, but she does. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:39.440 I'm actually much more able to be the person I want to be anyway. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:47.759 When I'm afraid she won't love me unless I blank, it doesn't usually work. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:54.799 And in general, what it does is creates a lot of resentment that she doesn't already love me like I am and I'm not good enough. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:08.240 I want to suggest to you that baptism is this opportunity for us to see in ourselves that God has called us beloved just like we are. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:10.400 This may take some practice for you. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:25.039 And I would suggest one way to start is by looking in a mirror and staring yourself down until you can hear God say, especially when you accentuate your crows' feet and your frown wrinkles and your really long eyebrow hairs. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.880 This is my son, this is my daughter, the beloved, and you. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:30.319 I'm well pleased. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:37.519 Now listen, you may be in front of that mirror for a while, and mirrors are really a spiritual challenge for me. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.359 Sometimes in my life it'd be better not looking at them. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:46.640 But I want to suggest this as part of Jesus' own epiphany that we get to walk into. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:53.359 Jesus gets to have this epiphany that God already loves him before he starts. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:59.519 That in fact, God's not going to love him anymore after he's done. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:04.319 And God's not going to love him any less if he gets upset. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.119 That's a tough teaching for me. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:18.240 But I do want to suggest because I think Jesus makes that connection, he's able to touch those dirty people because they're no longer dirty to him. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:26.079 When he can accept his own limitations, he can accept the limitations of others. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:33.359 When he can accept the spiritual gifts God's given him, he doesn't have to be jealous when he sees other people have some. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.200 He can be grateful. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:40.960 And I want to suggest that we can only love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:47.279 And that this is the beginning epiphany for Jesus' whole life and whole ministry. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:54.559 And that's why we do baptism in public, and that's why we say the baptismal covenant. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:02.720 Because what we say when we do that is, hey, I don't even know if I remember that, but here's what I do remember: God loves me like I am. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:09.599 And hey, I hear you saying that you are really disappointed in your supervisor. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:11.519 How can you love that person more? 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:21.200 That's what we're supposed to do when we covenant together, is hear one another being downtrodden and burned down and disappointed and say, I've covenanted with you. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:22.880 We will grow in this together. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:23.759 Let's do it. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:26.559 Instead of, boy, I hate that person too. 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:32.799 That's why we do this together, so we can say, look, I know you're not seeing it right now. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:34.559 You're focusing on the show. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.200 But listen, God's pearl is in that person. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.319 To be honest, I can't see it either. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.359 But sonar says it's in there, so let's hold that out. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:50.160 I mean, this is how we do it as a community, as we say, we can do this. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:52.640 We can do this. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:54.880 We can. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:02.559 And my prayer is that as epiphanies of Jesus come and come and come, that we'll be formed by this initial one that we'll spend time. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:06.720 And listen, if this is the only one we get this year, I think it's really worth getting. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:12.640 God wants to wash away all the things that remove us from ourselves. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:30.559 So that God can also wash away all the things that remove us from our parents and our children and our co-workers and the church and our priest and the barista at Starbucks and the RoboCollar. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:34.400 God wants to remove that stuff. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:39.680 God wants the waters of chaos to take all that chaotic stuff out of our lives with it. 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:43.680 And that's why, in just a few minutes, I'm going to sprinkle you with some water from the Jordan River. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:48.720 Now I'm going to warn you, if this is a concern about getting in your eyes, you can cover them. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:27:00.480 I won't be flinging a lot, but I invite you as this water touches you to take a moment and be refreshed and hydrated and nourished by it. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:11.680 And let it roll down and wash away whatever it is that is worrying you enough from being present in your life and in those you love and from receiving God's love in you.