Sermon – 01-12-25 – Baptism of Our Lord – Cycle C
Scriptures: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29 and Psalm 139; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Sermon Title: “For God’s Glory!”

My perception of God the Father is different than my perception of Jesus the Son. God the Father is in charge. One of the aspects of God the Father is that he possibly made us simply for His own glory. I would not use “humble” as a descriptive word for God the Father. The word humble seems to fit better with Jesus the Son. Let’s look at the baptism scene in the Jordan River. John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus, baptized many people in that river. He pushed the idea of repentance – being sorry for our past actions and resolving to do better from that time forward.

Now Jesus comes along as planned and with John the Baptist knowing the plan. John emphasizes that he only baptizes with water when a person repents. John declares that Jesus will have a different kind of baptism – one with the Holy Spirit and water. Not just water.

Did you catch the pronoun problem. In this passage about John and Jesus, John is saying that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit AND with fire. What about this fire? Where else have we heard about fire. One place is at Pentecost when the little flames of fire come upon the disciples in Jerusalem. The flames represent the Holy Spirit. But John the baptist goes on to say that “his winnowing fork is in his hand.” Who is “his?” Does ‘his” mean Jesus or the Holy Spirit? Do you know what a winnowing fork is? Winnowing means separating. Chaff and wheat? Worthless and worthy? You are probably way ahead of me. That is us! We are not talking about vegetation – about plants. We are talking about live flesh, as in us! Which do we want to be? Chaff or wheat? And how did we get into this story anyway?

We are in this story because Jesus loves us. We are in the story because God the Father loves us. The Father and the Son are both giving us the opportunity to be Wheat instead of Chaff. Are we cooperating? The term “unquenchable fire” catches our attention. We are watching and listening to the saga of the unquenchable fire right now in the United States. Was the lack of water an avoidable circumstance? It did not rain for months and months. That does not seem to be a human problem. We expect God to care for the water on this earth and in the air.” Does God look at it that way?

In our first lesson today, Isaiah is bringing word from God the Father to the Israelites whom God has manuevered to Babylon. God the Father uses enemy leaders to take the Israelites captive to Babylon and then later to Persia under Cyrus. Because the Israelites finally see the the light and understand the reason for their being in Babylon AND are turning back to God, God is speaking nicely and is making all kinds of promises and word pictures to his children, the Israelites.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. God had already done that for the Israelites. Think the parting of the Red Sea. There were other times when God parted or lowered water so the Israelites could pass through. I am having difficulty as I write thinking of a time when God protected people from fire.

We certainly could use that protection now as we listen to and see the terrible devastation that is happening in our country. It would be awful if it were happening anywhere in the world. But these extreme happenings do not just happen to evil people. It is so tempting to think that God is fed up with Hollywood, with the lavish living, with movies and TV programs that promote shooting and other ugliness. Electronic games that are designed around shooting. We have lost respect for life, So we are now in a state of constant killing. We don’t know why people who live righteous lives are caught in various kinds of fires. We are not supposed to know. That is the tree in the Garden of Eden. God is saying to Adam and Eve, “All of this is yours except that tree. You may not know all that I know.”

In Psalm 139, David is saying to God, “Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding, much more than I could ever imagine.”

Let us draw back. Let us retreat. In Isaiah 43: 4, God is saying, “You are precious in my sight . .. . and I love you.” Let us listen for God to speak those words to us. In Psalm 139, David is saying to God, “You know everything about me.”

This hymn speaks to my heart. Perhaps it will speak to your heart also. These words are written by J. Edwin Orr.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart today; try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me; cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin; fulfill thy Word and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame; grant my desire to magnify thy name.”

We glorify God. God calls us by name. Then God says, “. . . bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth – everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” We are God’s children, we are children of the heavenly Father.”

Please turn to page 3 in the bulletin. When everyone finds it, let us say it togetherl

“Lord, take my life and make it wholly thine;
Fill my poor heart with thy great love divine,
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride,
I now surrender, Lord, – in me abide.”