"The Baptism Jesus Offered"


Meditation Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – January 8, 2012

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 29; Mark 1:4-11

 

    This morning we will be discussing the earliest remembrance of Jesus’ baptism from the first Gospel that was written.  The Book of Mark was written in 65 AD, shortly after Peter’s death.  This was only 32 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.  Mark’s Gospel is a record of Peter’s messages about Jesus. His Gospel was used by the writers of Matthew and Luke as their basic outline when they composed their manuscripts.  

    What we will focus on today is the difference between John’s baptism and the baptism that Jesus offered.  John declared to his listeners, “I baptize you with water, but the one coming after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”  Why did John understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit as being different from his, particularly when the four Gospels make no mention of Jesus ever baptizing anyone?

    John the Baptist’s message was straight forward, “Turn away from your sins, be baptized and God will forgive your sins.”  Other Gospel writers expanded on what John preached, but their words are not among Mark’s remembrances.  Whatever John was preaching along the banks of the Jordan River, it was enough to inspire a good number of people to realize that they had not been living wholesome lives. John’s preaching held a verbal mirror in front of his listeners many of whom got the message.  People carry the weight of their past mistakes even though they may not recognize that they do.   

    On Wednesday morning when I took my morning walk to Belvin’s Variety Store to buy the Gazette, the young man behind the counter told me about the armed robbery of the gas station attendant in Flatts.  We had a discussion about the increased brazenness of people to engage in such crimes.  He said, “No matter where they go or what they do with the money, they will always know that they got it by terrorizing people while they were stealing it.” 

    There are times when we believe that some people have no conscience.  They go through life taking what they want as though they are immune to feeling any sense of guilt.  However, the autobiographical movie we create within us stores every moment of our lives until we die.  Sometime later in life, an incident will occur that triggers these memories making them keenly aware of how often they missed the mark with their life-decisions.  John the Baptist had this effect on people.

    A couple of years ago, I received a telephone call from a woman living in New Orleans. She told me that she was close friends with a member of my church and she asked if I ever performed baptisms for people who are not members of my church.  I told her that I did.  She told me that her husband’s father who lived near our church had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  After learning of his cancer, he became terrified of God, of death and of the possibility of living in Hell for all eternity.

    Once the appointment was made, her husband flew from New Orleans to bring his dad to the church.  I put on my robe and the three of us went into the sanctuary.  I lighted the candles on the altar.  Normally, baptisms are short ceremonies, but on this occasion I did not read anything from the United Methodist ritual.

    I asked him one question, “Tell me about your decision to be baptized?”  He began confessing his shortcomings, many of which I’m sure his son had never heard.  Sensing that his father needed to be alone with me, the son withdrew and sat on the first pew some distance away. At the end of his confession he said, “I am so afraid.  I have been a disappointment to God.” 

    I put both of my hands on his shoulders, looked into his eyes and spoke to him about God’s love.  I read the parable of the Prodigal Son and the passage from Romans which concludes with, “For I am certain that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.”  (Romans 8:38)

    He knelt and I baptized him.  As I was concluding with prayer, I placed my hands on his head.  He began to shake and finally he was sobbing uncontrollably. When I was finished, he stood up and took hold of me in a bear hug and just let loose emotionally.  The experience was like hundreds of painful memories had suddenly released his spirit and left his body.  After expressing their gratitude for my time with them, the two men left the church.

    About six weeks later, the woman called from New Orleans again.  I had no idea with whom I was speaking because she was very emotional.  Finally, I remembered who she was.   She told me that her father-in-law’s terminal cancer had inexplicably gone into remission and he had become a very different man. 

    Her husband had brought his father to New Orleans to be with family until his death.  She said that he now smiles and laughs.  “He is grateful for everything and helps with chores around the house. He is an absolute joy to be around.  None of us ever knew this new man that has surfaced. Whatever you did, it was a miracle.”  I said, “Believe me.  I did nothing but share a point of view about God that was different from his. It was a decision your father-in-law made that caused him to change his life.” 

    This is the kind of baptism that John the Baptist administered.  John said, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized.  You will experience God’s forgiveness.”  Experiencing God’s love for the first time can be extremely overwhelming for many people.

    After listening to such a dramatic baptismal experience, what are we to think about John the Baptist’s words, “The one who is coming after me will baptize with the Holy Spirit”?  We have to remember that this is not a reference to the Pentecostal experience.  What Jesus brought was something more powerful than a group of people speaking in strange languages. 

    During our Tuesday morning Bible Study, we are studying John’s first letter.  John perfectly described the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  He wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us.  God’s love is made perfect in us.  We are sure that we live in union with God and that God lives in us because God has given us his spirit.” (I John 4:13)  

    This orientation toward life was a new teaching, never before uttered or written before Jesus’ ministry.  It was this knowledge that God dwells within us that Jesus gave to his followers. 

    In his book entitled, Mistreated, Ron Lee Dunn wrote an interesting story about two altar boys.  One was born in 1892 in Eastern Europe and the other was born three years later in a small rural town in Illinois.  What the boys had in common was an experience they shared.  Each had been assisting the parish priest during Mass.  Their responsibility was to hold the chalice that held the sacred blood of Christ, according to Roman Catholic tradition.  Ironically, both spilled some of the wine on the carpet.

    The priest in Eastern Europe, upon seeing the stain, slapped the little altar boy across his face.   He ridiculed the boy for being so clumsy and stupid while handling the precious blood of Christ.  He ordered the boy to leave the altar area immediately after publicly humiliating him. The angry voice and actions of the priest were witnessed by the stunned congregation. 

    The priest in Illinois saw the stain on the carpet and he knelt down to be on the little boy’s level.  While looking into his eyes he said, “That’s all right, son.  You’ll do better next time.”  He placed his hand upon the lad’s shoulder and said, “Perhaps some day you will become a fine priest who will touch many people with your words and spirit.”

    These two young boys evolved in quite different directions.  The altar boy in Eastern Europe grew up and became Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito, the communist strongman who remained dictator from 1943 until 1980.  The other young man grew up in Illinois and became Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, whom my father and I watched together during the late 1950’s when this Roman Catholic bishop had a television presence.  That altar boy grew up to influence the “many people” his understanding priest predicted.  Wherever the spirit of love is, God will be in the midst of the experience.

    When we choose to remain a light in darkness, we know that being in darkness is not a pleasant experience.  However, if God is ever going to bring light into the dark places of life, it is we who have to take it there, just as Jesus did.  Jesus did not flinch in the face of personal betrayal by one of his chosen disciples, or in the face of injustice, or in the face of lies, or in the face of political manipulation or in the face of dying on a cross for a capital crime he did not commit.  Clearly his light was taken into a very dark place.

    Do some of us believe that we are deeply so rooted in the sense of God’s presence within us that we can stay planted when challenges come?”  If the truth were known, it does not take very much to uproot us when aspects of our material world encroach into our personal space.  Often such an intrusion evokes strong emotional responses.

    Several years ago, I received a cell phone call from friend of mine who was driving while icy rain and intermittent sleet were falling on the roads.  This is what Kevin said:

Dick, I have my family with me and I am calling to see if you can answer a theological question.  We have been in creeping traffic for two hours and we have only gotten to the other side of the Roosevelt Bridge. My children are watching and listening to me so I want to be a good role model here.

 

I am currently driving in the slow lane because my exit is one mile away. However, there are other drivers that are going to take the same exit and they are driving in the faster lanes with the intent of breaking in line just before the exit by using the magic of their turning signal.  As a result, my lane has stopped moving.  Do you get the picture?

 

Right now, I am looking at a driver who has his turning signal on. He wants me to let him come in front of me.  Here is my question, what would Jesus do in this situation?  Right now, I feel like turning my wheels toward this guy’s car and mashing on my accelerator! I am so ticked off at these guys. However, my daughters and wife are waiting to see what I will do.

    I heard considerable laughter in their car.  With a smile on my face, I simply asked him, “What does being a light in darkness feel and look like to you?  Have elements in the external world started scoring on your emotions at will?”   There was more laughter.

    Of course, this conversation was all in fun, but this episode illustrates the kinds of frustration we face with every day temptations to shroud God’s presence within us. We do not want traffic bullies to continue their behavior.  Gratifying our need for justice, however, can become an emotional recipe for road rage.

    The baptism of the Holy Spirit teaches us that love accepts people just as they are. This has always been God’s response toward all humankind. There is no need for the behavior and attitudes of others to pull us into their web of competition lest we become like them.  How can we ever teach others to follow Jesus if the lessons he taught do not appear to be working in our lives?  We must content ourselves by being the vehicle of God’s spirit.  Our role is to guide others to a better place, not judge them. 

    Once the word spread over the air-waves that another large herd of whales was charging the shoreline -- hundreds of volunteers mobilized to render assistance.  When whales began beaching themselves, there were countless touching scenes as people began dealing with these large sea mammals. They were petting them, pouring water over them and asking them to use their energy to assist in getting them back into the water before the tide retreated. 

    One camera crew approached a woman sitting by a whale that was near death.  They captured a very fragile moment between this woman and the whale. She was choking back tears as she asked, “Why do you do this to yourselves?  You are such beautiful and noble creatures. I want you to know that I love you. How I wish I could become one of you so I could understand and assist in leading you back into the ocean where you belong.” 

    With God’s spirit within us, we can become such guides for others whom we find beached on the sands of anger, desperation, despondency and hopelessness.  We have the power to heal the world just by showing up and allowing love’s presence to reveal itself. God always handles the details that we are unable to see or understand.  Go into the world and be such a guide.