{"id":650,"date":"2013-01-13T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=650"},"modified":"2019-11-19T13:34:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T18:34:41","slug":"by-water-and-the-spirit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2013\/01\/13\/by-water-and-the-spirit-2\/","title":{"rendered":"By Water and the Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear the full service.<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear the sermon only.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Good morning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let me first begin by thanking Bob Hill for the opportunity to be with you today as your preacher.\u00a0 The dean is away this week, and I pray for traveling mercies as he returns for the first Sunday of the new academic term next week.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, in Luke\u2019s gospel we hear the story of Jesus\u2019 baptism in the river Jordan by his cousin John, and we are called to remember our own baptism.\u00a0 Like Jesus, we are baptized by water and the Spirit.\u00a0 The ordinariness of the water is an outward sign of the extraordinary inward working of God in each of our lives.\u00a0 In hearing and recalling Christ\u2019s baptism, we recall our own baptism and seek renewed relationship with God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Students, staff, and especially faculty are well aware that this week marks the beginning of the Spring term of the academic calendar here at Boston University.\u00a0 To all of you, welcome back from break and welcome back to school.\u00a0 However, you may not be aware that tomorrow also marks the beginning of a new season of the church\u2019s liturgical calendar: \u201cordinary time.\u201d\u00a0 Rarely do the rhythms of academic life and liturgical life align, but today we celebrate Jesus\u2019 baptism and with it comes the end of the church\u2019s celebration of the Christmas season. \u00a0To those still recovering from Christmas, welcome back to ordinary time.\u00a0 We celebrated Jesus\u2019 birth less than three weeks ago, and tomorrow the church returns to \u201cordinary time\u201d to focus on Jesus\u2019 life in ministry.\u00a0 Reflection on Jesus\u2019 first thirty years is condensed to just three short weeks in the church calendar.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 birth, the visitation by the magi, and his baptism as an adult, which we celebrate today, are all part of the Christmas season.\u00a0 Next week, our weekly lectionary gospel texts return to attestations of the signs and miracles of Jesus\u2019 ministry.\u00a0 Soon, we will remember Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana at the behest of his mother.\u00a0 However, this month-long period of remembering the signs of Jesus\u2019 ministry is just a brief interlude before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, in mid-February, or in academic lingo, mid-terms, followed by an all-too quick lead up to finals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we transition from the Christmas season into ordinary time, we change our vestments from the white and gold of the Christmas celebration to the more plain, green vestments.\u00a0 Certainly there is nothing commonplace about the miracles recounted in the gospels, but the church recognizes that there is something especially special about the miracle of Jesus\u2019 baptism, which we mark today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just as the church keeps the celebratory vestments of the Christmas season out for this Sunday which celebrates Jesus\u2019 baptism, we are called to remember that our own baptism is significant and special.\u00a0 Sometimes, however, the church does not do a good job of communicating the specialness of the sacrament, the fact that we are baptized by both water and the Spirit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This past week my wife and I had the opportunity to vacation in Puerto Rico, and spent most of the week in Old San Juan.\u00a0 The walled city is 500 years old, and has a particular affinity for the Epiphany, the visitation of the magi to the young Jesus, perhaps in part because the city was spared an English invasion on that feast day more than 200 years ago.\u00a0 By January 1st<\/sup>, US retailers remove their Christmas regalia and Christmas music disappears from the airwaves.\u00a0 The Christmas season is over, as far as the American retailer is concerned.\u00a0 But in the church calendar it is still Christmastide, and in San Juan, Christmas is still in full swing.\u00a0 Christmas lights are everywhere, and the Spanish-English radio stations favored by our taxi drivers are still delivering a variety of Christmas music.\u00a0 Instead of milk and cookies, children leave grass for the pack animals of the magi in hopes of receiving presents from the three kings on Epiphany.\u00a0 The familiar, bearded Santa Claus who poses for pictures with children is replaced by three bearded men in royal attire.\u00a0 This Christmas season fervor culminates on the Epiphany last Sunday with an island-wide party; many businesses are closed, and the Monday following is a state holiday.\u00a0 Yes, it seems that another religious holiday is commercialized in Puerto Rico, but in Puerto Rico, this special emphasis on the Epiphany makes it readily apparent that we, and the church, remain in the spirit of the Christmas feast through this week.\u00a0 Your tree might have dried out weeks ago and you might have put it out for pick up on December 26, but how can we as the church here in the US mark the fullness of the Christmas season and mark the transition back into ordinary time on this feast of the baptism of our Lord?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While my wife reads four languages, Spanish is not one of them.\u00a0 I took a Spanish course or two, or three, in college, but together we still sometimes had a difficult time navigating a menu or navigating the city.\u00a0 Nevertheless, we managed to visit each of the historic churches in the old city, all but three are Roman Catholic.\u00a0 The others are Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and Methodist.\u00a0 As a United Methodist clergy couple, it was delightful to see the vibrancy of the Iglesia Metodista as the cross and flame greeted us on the side of many churches as we traveled throughout mainland Puerto Rico and the island of Culebra.\u00a0 In one church in the old city, whose denominational affiliation shall remain nameless, just inside the entrance was a large, stone baptismal font.\u00a0 Its mouth was over a meter wide, and it was covered in centuries-old elaborate carvings.\u00a0 But inside, the font was not brimming with water but contained what appeared to be a small brown doggie dish with just a bit of water.\u00a0 The grandness of the font, which was designed to remind the viewer of the importance of baptism and the presence of the Spirit, was dwarfed by the lowliness and ordinariness of what it contained.\u00a0 The doggie dish did not call to mind the life-changing nature of baptism.\u00a0 The majesty of the font seemed to be reduced to a few ordinary drops of water in a very ordinary container.\u00a0 Now, I am not trying to enter the debate about the amount of water necessary for baptism, sprinkling or full immersion, marble font or backyard swimming pool.\u00a0 This is simply to say that baptism sometimes seems to be just ordinary, just another part of ordinary time, not a part of the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And unfortunately the importance of baptism seems to be lost in many of our churches today.\u00a0 This last Sunday of the Christmas season ought be a special time to remember the sacrament, an opportunity to reaffirm the vows of our baptism or the opportunity to explore receiving the sacrament for the first time.\u00a0 Baptism marks a transition in the liturgical season because it is a sacrament which equips us to live our day-to-day, \u201cordinary\u201d lives as Christians.\u00a0 Today, I encourage you to renew your commitment to walk with God or to think about making a new commitment to living a renewed life through Jesus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 time, there were many people preaching forgiveness of sins and baptizing people, or at least using water for ritual purification purposes, which is one possible explanation of the practices of the Qumran community.\u00a0 John, himself an ordinary man, baptized a great number of ordinary, observant Jews, but in Jesus\u2019 own baptism, as our gospel author recounts, something extraordinary happened: \u201cthe Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus\u201d and Jesus was recognized as God\u2019s Son.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 baptism is about much more than water and welcome into a community of faith; it is about God\u2019s promise of the divine presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now I have been to a great many baptisms in my life and I have yet to see the heavens opened and a dove descend on the individual being baptized, but we, as a Christian community, have faith that in the outward sign of baptism, namely water, we are affirming God\u2019s love for the individual and each and every one of us, and God\u2019s promise to be with us.\u00a0 John Wesley, the 18th<\/sup> century reformer of the Anglican Church, upon whose teachings the Methodist Church would later be founded, affirmed the Anglican sentiment that baptism, like communion, is \u201can outward sign of inward grace, and a means whereby we receive the same.\u201d\u00a0 John Wesley\u2019s theological heritage lives on in countless churches and institutions in America and abroad, including here, Marsh Chapel and Boston University.\u00a0 We believe that in every baptism, no matter how ordinary it seems, something extraordinary happens.\u00a0 We may not see it, but we believe that the Holy Spirit is fully present with everyone baptized in the name of Jesus and that in baptism an individual is recognized as a beloved child of God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In baptism, we recognize all three modes of God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 We need not see a dove descend on an infant whose head is sprinkled with water because we affirm God\u2019s love for us and desire to be in relationship with us even before we recognize God or seek to be in relationship.\u00a0 This prevenient grace is God\u2019s presence with us, through the Holy Spirit, from our birth to our death.\u00a0 Baptism itself is a means of justifying grace, a sign of new life in Christ.\u00a0 It is an expression of our desire to be in relationship with God and God\u2019s continued commitment to be in relationship with us.\u00a0 Finally, baptism also invites the community of faith in which an individual is baptized to be in intentional relationship with the person as he or she is perfected in faith and perfected in love for God and one another.\u00a0 Sanctifying grace is God\u2019s transformative gift to us through which we become better people.\u00a0 Baptism marks an individual\u2019s initiation into a life-long process of sanctification, upheld by the prayers and presence of a community of believers, like this chapter community here at Marsh Chapel. \u00a0\u00a0Baptism equips us for the life of faith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The last several decades have seen a revival of the sacraments and of a sacramental life among Protestants.\u00a0 Here at Marsh Chapel in recent years, especially under the leadership of Dean Hill, there has been a renewal of devotion to sacramental life as well.\u00a0 Baptisms have become more regular, and for several years, communion has been offered weekly while academic classes are in session.\u00a0 Among the opportunities to receive communion is a 7-minute liturgy, Common Ground Communion, on Thursday afternoons at 12:20 on Marsh Plaza, which will resume this coming Thursday.\u00a0 It offers an opportunity for students to receive the sacrament and tangibly experience the presence of God and God\u2019s grace between afternoon classes.\u00a0 But the opportunity is not limited to students.\u00a0 The communion table here at Marsh Chapel is open to all: students, staff, faculty, people unaffiliated with the university, straight and gay, United Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian-curious, and un-churched alike.\u00a0 The opportunity to experience God\u2019s presence and grace through the sacrament of communion is always available at Marsh Chapel.\u00a0 Should you wish to receive, and there is not a communion service planned, contact a chaplain or a member of the ministry staff, and we will be more than happy to provide the opportunity to receive the sacrament.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unlike the sacrament of communion, which the church urges us to seek regularly, if not constantly, baptism is a one-time only occurrence.\u00a0 It marks, as I said, a change in our lives, a commitment to be in relationship with God and a commitment from a faith community to be in relationship with us.\u00a0 It marks a turning point in our life-journey.\u00a0 For many this is a conscious decision we make as youths or adults, but for many others, baptism was a commitment made by loved ones that we would be nurtured in the church and guided to accept God\u2019s grace for ourselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In either case, we are asked to earnestly repent of our sins and seek God\u2019s forgiveness and the forgiveness of our neighbors.\u00a0 Moreover, in baptism we commit to seek better patterns of life, that we might be closer to God and neighbor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We seek a baptism by water which washes us clean of sins, a baptism by the Holy Spirit in which we commit ourselves to God and recognize God\u2019s relationship with us, and a baptism by the fiery passion of God\u2019s grace which frees us to new life through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Wesley taught that in baptism a person was cleansed of the guilt of original sin, initiated in to the covenant with God, admitted into the church, made an heir of the divine kingdom, and spiritually born anew.\u00a0 A lot is going on in the few moments of baptism.\u00a0 We receive absolution from sin while also committing ourselves to new relationship with God and neighbor.\u00a0 Moreover, we only need to do it once.\u00a0 Certainly we need to reaffirm the relationship with God we recognize in baptism, but that relationship never leaves us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sometimes we don\u2019t realize the full wonder and mystery of the sacrament.\u00a0 Sometimes we need the visual cues of the church to help us identify the importance of our actions and the stories of the scripture.\u00a0 Like the etched-stone, baptismal font I encountered this week in Puerto Rico, sometimes it helps us to have a visual or tactile sign of the mystery of the sacrament.\u00a0 Sometimes it helps us to identify the specialness of the sacrament and to remember the moment of our baptism to touch water or remember being enveloped in water.\u00a0 This week, if you are sitting in the nave of Marsh Chapel, you see a large clear bowl filled with water sitting on small wooden table at the front of the nave.\u00a0 I encourage you during our prayer time following the sermon or during the offertory to come forward and touch the water and remember your baptism.\u00a0 Or perhaps you are sitting on the cape, sipping your coffee.\u00a0 Later this afternoon, take a stroll on the beach, and run your hands in the water. \u00a0\u00a0Perhaps you are driving home from your own Sunday morning service: I encourage you to recall the wonder of water, perhaps a beautiful beach or a wondrous waterfall.\u00a0 I think of La Mina waterfall near El Yunque in Puerto Rico, where my wife and I swam in the cool mountain water as the thirty-foot, strong falls washed over us or Playa Flamenco, a horse-shoe white-sands beach with warm, gentle waves.\u00a0 Remember a time when you were immersed in the wonder of water and remember that you are similarly wrapped in God\u2019s glory and clothed in the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We trust that in the Spirit, whose presence we accept in baptism, God will be our constant companion and supporter.\u00a0 God does not abandon God\u2019s covenant with us, even if we wander from it.\u00a0 The Spirit remains steadfast, chasing after us as a tireless friend even when we turn away.\u00a0 The church provides opportunities for us to remember our own special relationship with God.\u00a0 While I was preparing this sermon this week, my wife quipped in the Dunkin Donuts-desolate land of Old San Juan, that \u201cAmerican runs on Dunkin, and the Church runs on dunkin munchkins.\u201d \u00a0Now, of course her remark was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but at the heart of the mission of the church is telling the story of Christ and offering opportunity for women and men of all ages to develop deeper relationship with God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps you wish to renew that relationship with the God today.\u00a0 Perhaps you wish to think more about accepting the gift of relationship with God for the first time.\u00a0 If you have not received the sacrament of baptism and feel moved to closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and seek to experience God\u2019s grace through the sacrament, I encourage you to speak with me or another member of the chapel staff following the service or to call or email the chapel office this week and ask to speak with a member of the ministry staff about receiving the sacrament.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those who have received baptism and who wish to renew their relationship with God, I invite you to renew your baptismal vows now and to come and touch the water during our prayers of the people. I invite you to recommit yourself to God and to accept the presence of the Spirit in your life anew.\u00a0 If you have a United Methodist Hymnal in front of you, you may wish to turn to page 34 to read the vows of baptism.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brothers and sisters in Christ:<\/p>\n

Through the Sacrament of Baptism<\/p>\n

We are initiated into Christ\u2019s holy Church.<\/p>\n

We are incorporated into God\u2019s mighty acts of salvation<\/p>\n

And given new birth through water and the Spirit.<\/p>\n

All this is God\u2019s gift, offered to us without price.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Through the reaffirmation of our faith<\/p>\n

We renew the covenant declared at our baptism,<\/p>\n

Acknowledge what God is doing for us,<\/p>\n

And affirm our commitment to Christ\u2019s holy Church.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you:<\/p>\n

Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,<\/p>\n

Reject the evil powers of this world,<\/p>\n

And repent of your sin?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If so, please respond, \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you<\/p>\n

To resist evil, injustice, and oppression<\/p>\n

In whatever forms they present themselves?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If so, please respond, \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior,<\/p>\n

Put your whole trust in his grace,<\/p>\n

And promise to serve him as your Lord,<\/p>\n

In union with the Church which Christ has opened<\/p>\n

To people of all ages, nations, and races?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If so, please respond, \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the grace given to you,<\/p>\n

Will you remain a faithful member of Christ\u2019s holy Church<\/p>\n

And serve as Christ\u2019s representative in the world?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If so, please respond, \u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We remember our baptism and are thankful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May the Holy Spirit work within us,<\/p>\n

That having been born through water and the Spirit,<\/p>\n

We may live as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ<\/p>\n

And be assured of God\u2019s love for all people.<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~Soren Hessler, Chapel Associate for Leadership Development<\/em><\/p>\n

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Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Click here to hear the full service. Click here to hear the sermon only.   Good morning.   Let me first begin by thanking Bob Hill for the opportunity to be with you today as your preacher.\u00a0 The dean is away this week, and I pray for traveling mercies as he returns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2486,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650\/revisions\/2486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}