Sermon for Baptism of our Lord
January 11, 2009
Mark 1:4-11
Pastor Curt Dwyer, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Lafe AR

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Friends,

   (This morning, instead of focusing on one particular verse or even one particular lesson, I want to draw a line through all three lessons; to find a common thread. Just thought I would warn you.)
“And God said, ‘Let there be light.’” Familiar words, aren’t they? God spoke, and something happened. Day after day in the creation story God speaks and calls something into existence. Light. Earth. Sky. Sun. Moon. Stars. Plants. Trees. Fish. Birds. Animals. And finally, people. If you go back to Genesis you will notice a patter to all this creating. God said, and there was; then ‘God saw that it was good.”

   That little word, ‘good’ carries a lot of weight in the Genesis story. We use the word ‘good’ to mean nothing more than that something is OK, passable, that it meets the minimum requirements. For us, ‘good’ isn’t perfect, or outstanding, or excellent. Good is a 3.0 GPA out of 4. “I feel good” means I’m not sick or otherwise incapacitated, but not necessarily operating at peak performance. For us, good can always be ‘better.’

   But in Genesis, ‘good’ is as good as it gets. Everything is in place. Everything works exactly right. Everything fits according to plan and functions together precisely. In Genesis, ‘good’ can’t get any better.
That’s the tragedy of the fall. Even though everything was good, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to want something better. And in striving to grab hold of something better, they lost the goodness of God’s world. That’s sin; rejecting God’s ‘good’ for some imaginary ‘better.’
That’s how we operate now, isn’t it? We aren’t happy with the good that we have been given by God; we want something better, so we do whatever is necessary to get whatever we think is better. The things we have aren’t good enough, so we lie, cheat and steal to get better things. Our spouse isn’t good enough, so we look around for something better. Church isn’t good enough, so we find better things to do with Sunday mornings. We do what we want to get something that we think is better, and in so doing we often reject those good things that God has given and loose His good favor.

   That’s called sin. And because of sin, none of us are good anymore, much less ‘excellent’ or ‘perfect’ or ‘outstanding.’ Because of sin, we have lost God’s good favor; we have lost His blessing.
Then Jesus appeared, walking along the banks of the Jordan on His way to see John. He took His place alongside all those other bad people who knew their badness and were sorry for their badness. He walked down in the water to be baptized, and as He was baptized the Father spoke from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

   God didn’t use the same words, maybe. But God spoke in much the same way about Jesus as He had about creation in the beginning. He was “well pleased’ with Jesus. Jesus was good. He was right. He was perfect and without sin. And yet there He was, taking His place alongside sinners like you and me, people who by our very nature are not good, and with whom God is not well pleased. And Jesus didn’t stop there at the Jordan. He continued to seek out those who were not good; He spoke with notorious sinners, and even ate with them and took some as His disciples. He touched men and women who were obviously not good because they were afflicted with repulsive diseases and disfigurements. And finally, He was hung to die on a cross between two other men who had made a lifestyle out of rejecting God’s good by grasping for something better; two thieves. God’s good Son became like one of us; God’s good son willingly surrendered His good status, to die a sinner’s bad death. And that’s where Paul picks up the thread. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

   In other words, by our baptism, God has declared us ‘good.’ Our baptism connects us with Christ’s baptism; the water that covered Him covers us as well. And just like Jesus, we come out of those waters to hear the voice of our God say, “You are my son. You are my daughter. With you I am well pleased.” In baptism, we have been given a new life, a good life. Because of our baptism, we no longer need to sinfully strive after the fantasy of something ‘better’ because we have everything good from God, who calls us His good children.

   As God’s good children through baptism, Paul calls us to live in this new, good, life. Instead of pursuing our own sinful way in search of something ‘better’ than what God gives us, Paul reminds us that as God’s good children we follow God’s good ways. We all make mistakes, we all sin. But Paul reminds us that one mistake is not an excuse for more. Rather, our mistakes, however many, have been punished in Christ’s death and buried with Him. Our sin is gone, washed off of us in baptism. We have a new life, and we are to walk in this new life. We have been called ‘good.’ And that is how God helps us to be from this point on; God’s good people. We are forgiven, we are made right and we are empowered to follow God’s good way in our lives.

   God created everything, and saw that it was good. When it went bad, he sent His good Son to re-create it. And now, through our baptism, God calls us ‘good’ and leads us in a good life of worship and service.

In the beginning; good. (but sin)
Jesus came; God declared ‘good; well pleased’ but died like sinner
In baptism, connecting us with Jesus, we are declared ‘good’ ; dead to sin, alive to God.