With You I Am Well Pleased!

sermon by Torin Eikler
Isaiah 43:1-7   Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

You may not realize it, but the scripture Nick just read – and its counterparts in the other three gospels - have caused quite a bit of conflict in the Christian Church.  It seems innocuous enough – Jesus getting baptized.  It ought to be a source of celebration and joy, if anything, since it is the reason that believers have been baptizing one another for millennia.  Yet, across the years it has been at the heart of many a theological argument and quite a few church splits.  It has even been the catalyst for the creation of at least two denominations that I know of … (and I think you might know which two I’m thinking of.)

The question that has stirred up all of this hubbub is why.  Why did Jesus get baptized in the first place?

As far as I know, there is only one answer for that in the scripture, and that is found in Matthew.  The story as he tells it has John objecting on the grounds that he is unworthy to baptize Jesus.  And Jesus responds, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

That’s an answer that is about as clear as the mud stirred up in the waters of the river Jordan all those years ago.  It seems to imply one of two possibilities: Jesus was baptized simply to check off one more fulfilled prophesy or Jesus really needed John’s baptism – a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

Neither one of those options is very compelling to me … though … if I am honest, I would prefer the second.  It might mean that we have to give up the image of Jesus as being without sin, but that's not so hard … at least for me.  It makes him seem more human … fallible, and I can actually relate to that better than I can to the perfect Jesus.  It gives me hope that I might be able to follow in his path more fully if he was as susceptible to temptation and failure as all the rest of us … if he had to pass through some of that fire and water that Isaiah was talking about.

The other interpretation – the one where Jesus is just checking off a to-do list – leaves me feeling empty.  Empty because it strips baptism of the power that I have found in it.  Empty because it portrays both Jesus and God as concerned with little more than fulfilling prophesy as if we needed more proof than Jesus life and teachings to accept him as the Messiah.  Empty because it challenges much of my understanding of who Jesus was and what he was about.  …  Empty.

 

But leaving behind the question of righteousness which, honestly, no one but Matthew and the community he wrote may ever really understand, this story also rests at the heart of the discussion of Jesus’ divinity.  As someone brought up in Sunday school in the past couple of weeks, Jesus never claimed divinity.  He never claimed to be the son of God.  And there is no other place in the gospels where the case is made so clearly as when the voice from the heavens says, “This is my beloved son.”  (or, in this case, “You are my beloved son.”)  So, whether God intended this to be a statement of Jesus’ divine heritage or the gospel authors added this as a way to compel belief in those who would read their writing, this is the scripture has engendered a lot of discussion among Christians, and it stands at the heart of our doctrine of the Trinity.

Many other discussions – theological discussions – that revolve around these scriptures, and they are endlessly fascinating … at least to me.  But there is another possibility that comes to mind if we leave theology behind in favor of a less esoteric and more human perspective … a perspective that we can all understand.

 

What if Jesus just needed some reassurance?

I say, “just,” but take a moment to think about it with me….  After a spectacular birth and a childhood that included an escape to and return from Egypt as well as at least one very notable visit to the Temple, perhaps Jesus had reached the point in his own spiritual growth where he was acutely aware of his special relationship to God.  Perhaps some of his motivation, then, was that he felt the need to identify himself with all the people he hoped to lead into a deeper fellowship with God.  And perhaps, in part, he needed to find reassurance … reassurance that he had understood his role in the grand mission correctly … reassurance that he was not … would not be alone in the midst of his trials.

Imagine how it must have felt to hear the words recorded by Luke.  I don’t mean “You are my beloved son.”  I’m thinking of “With you I am well pleased.”  I think that would have been just what Jesus needed to hear.  It would have relieved all of his doubts.  Had he learned enough?  Was he good enough?  Was he worthy of the mission God had given him?  Could he do what was asked of him?  … All of his questions answered with those words ….

I expect that would have made Jesus feel pretty good to hear God say, “With you I am well pleased” … to know that everything that you had already done was more than sufficient.  It was good.  To know that God accepted you as you were … wanted you to be just like you were … was with you just as you were … and would be there for you wherever you went and whatever you did.  It’s hard to imagine what that would have felt like … what a difference that might have made.

 

This morning I’d like us to try.  I want to invite you on a journey of imagination. I wish to take you back, back to your beginnings, your earliest memories, have you image how your world might have been different had you heard these words: "With you I am well pleased."

We all have a first memory - that first moment that we can remember as a child. Those memories are fixed in us as the moment when we first realized our separateness from the others. That first memory may be one of delight, of pure joy, or it may evoke sadness or anger, bewilderment or - the list is really endless….  Imagine, if you can, that in the midst of this situation, this memory, the first words spoken by the other are these: "With you I am well pleased".

Then imagine, or remember, your first day of school - that first moment away from a parent when you immersed into a world of other children, one or two adults, and the structure of learning. Imagine yourself hearing from that teacher, as the first words out of his or her mouth – “with you I am well pleased.”

Imagine your first time at an afterschool program like brownies, cub scouts, or some other place where children gather to form bonds and learn to work in groups towards a common goal. Imagine that the adult leaders pull you all together and says, "With you I am well pleased."

Imagine you have just arrived to try out or audition for the school team, choir, band, or some other extracurricular activity, and the first words from the coach or conductor to everyone, regardless of whether or not they will be choose is: "With you I am well pleased."

Imagine the first day you held a child of your own with all the worries and doubts that come with new parenthood, and as you look into those clear, squinting eyes, you hear a voice from heaven say, “With you I am well pleased.”

 

Take the relief and the pride and the hope that filled you in any one of those moments and multiply it by 10 … 100 … maybe even 1000 times, and you might get close to how it would have felt for Jesus.  Called to save the world … stepping into the river Jordan to be washed clean as he took his first steps down the road to the cross, he received a powerful gift.  It must have been an experience unlike any other, and we’ll never know how much of a difference it made in Jesus life. 

But we can know the difference it makes in our lives….

This week, a colleague of mine shared a story on email.  She told us about a service that she had been part of some years ago – a baptismal renewal service, and as she reflected on that service, she said, “That day that I dipped my hand into the baptismal water years ago … was the very day when I first heard that I was a beloved child of God ... and I was 40 years old. That day of baptismal renewal within our church was a life-changing day for me.”

My deepest hope is that most of you heard or felt those words on the day of your baptism or your confirmation, but I know that those days are often so full of distractions and anxiety that it is hard to hear the love of God speaking to us.  So, I’d like to invite you all to participate in an anointing this morning if you are so led.  If you have been baptized, I encourage you to think of this as a renewal of those vows.  If you haven’t made that commitment yet, you are welcome to come forward to receive the gift of a renewal of your spirit….