John the Baptist Sermon ~ first person

Repent! For the Kingdom of God is near! Why are you here? What is your purpose for having gathered together here today? I will tell you my purpose. My purpose is to prepare a straight path for the Lord. Many of you know me as the baptizer, but those close to me call me John. I was invited here this morning to explain what it means to be baptized and to enter into a covenant with God.

Let me begin by telling you a bit of information about myself. Your pastor tells me that you heard the story of my birth on December 24th. How my aunt Mary came to visit my mother Elizabeth while they were both pregnant. Until her death, my mother loved to tell me the story about how I leapt in her womb when Mary, who was pregnant with my cousin Jesus, arrived at our house. During my childhood, I spent many summers with Jesus and his family, but as my parents were very old, they passed away just before my 10th birthday. Because my father was a priest, he had special connections with a religious group known as the Essenes, a well known but separatist Jewish community. I was sent to live with them until I was able to care for myself.

While I was with the Essenes, I lived a meager, humble life, filled with religious training. We slept under the stars and lived far from major cities. When we were not studying, we scrounged for food, where we mostly ate locust and wild honey. It is not a very satisfying diet, but it helps us remember that everything we receive comes from the Lord our God.

When I was in my late twenties, I left the community who had raised me and began to fulfill the role which God had planned for me. I was to clear a straight path for the Lord, baptizing those who repented of their sins and desired to live a pure and Holy life before God. Crowds would come and find me on the banks of the Jordan River, preaching on the books of Moses and from the words of the prophets. Many who heard my voice were struck with the fear of the Lord and came into the river to repent of their sins.

After a year or so of doing this, some of the Pharisees came down to the river to hear what I was saying. They came to me and argued that because they were descendants from Abraham, that God had a covenant with them, and repenting their sins and being baptized was pointless. I told them that being a descendant from Abraham was nothing, they are a dime a dozen. God could raise stones to be his descendants, but instead wants us to repent from our evil ways, that we produce fruit that is ripe from our repentance. Of course, they scoffed at me, but I kept on preaching, knowing in my heart that I was fulfilling the work of God.

Then, one day, as I was preaching alongside the river, baptizing all who desired to repent, I saw a man still standing on the side of the river, waiting for all others to leave. Once everyone had left, he walked into the water towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. Once he got closer, I knew at once that it was my cousin Jesus. We had not seen each other in many years, but I could remember his eyes as if we had seen each other only yesterday. As he approached me, I had a feeling that it was Jesus who the Lord God had sent me ahead of. That it was my cousin Jesus who was sent by God to save the world. I felt completely unworthy, that Jesus was asking me to baptize him, clearly, it was him who should be baptizing me. Jesus simply smiled and told me that I must be the one to baptize him. Suddenly the feeling of unworthiness was gone, and I agreed.

I took Jesus next to me and put one hand behind his back and the other on his chest. I brought him down into the water, keeping him down until he was nearly out of breath. I lifted Jesus out of the water and as he gasped for breath, time seemed to get slower, seeming to almost stop. At that very moment the heavens seemed to open up and the Spirit of God came down in a dove and said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Just thinking about it gives me the shivers.

I went on baptizing others who repented of their sins, but nothing ever came close to that same moment, when new life was given to Jesus. When your pastor asked me to speak to you this morning, I immediately asked myself why me? Why would you want a baptizer to speak on a day that most people understand as preparation for communion. That’s when I opened you’re book of worship to the ceremony for confirmation, it is very interesting document. If you look closely, the title is Confirmation AND Affirmation of baptism. It seems to me that we all tend to overlook the second half of the title.

Since my death, baptism seems to be taken for granted by some. When I first learned of people being baptized as infants, I almost lost my head. Then I realized that this act of confirmation is really a day in which you stand in front of the church, remember your baptism and recommit to that covenant. But what exactly does covenant mean?

Through the action of baptism, you are saying that you choose to belong to God. I must ask the question, how do you go about into the world letting people know that you have been baptized? Perhaps we could pour water on our heads every hour, walking around with wet hair. Or, it is my understanding that you receive certificates when you are baptized, I guess you could go around showing others that paper, but that doesn’t seem very practical. When I was baptizing, we had no such way of identifying others as being baptized, which is why it is so important to be in a church, in relationship with others who have been baptized, so that we are able to be in the presence of others who are united with Christ, are cleansed by his saving work, and enter into the fellowship of the church with those are called into a life of faith and willing obedience.

Alex, Brianna, and Zach, you have all taken an important step in your journey of faith. The ritual of the affirmation of your baptism is not one to take lightly. You have presented yourself before God and before the members of this church to affirm your belief in God as your Creator, in Jesus as your Savior, and in the Holy Spirit as your sustainer. You have pledged to turn away from sin, evil and selfishness in your thoughts, words and actions, serving God all the days of your life. This is by no means an easy task, but those who are here today have also covenanted with you to help you do those things. Use them, as God has put them in your life for a reason.

Before I leave you today, I was hoping that we all might take a walk down to the Delaware River and take a moment to remember our own baptism, but since I’m really the only one with clothing that can get wet, I think we will pass on that idea. Instead, it is my hope that everyone in the congregation will come forward as the final hymn is sung, taking a moment to place their hand in the water and bringing a drop to their head, remembering your own baptism, and what it means to be a Christian, baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.