2026-01-12
Brooke Strong
Sermon Text...
Matthew 3:13-17 – Baptism of Jesus from “The Message”
13-14 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”
15 But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.
16-17 The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”
Sermon 1/11/2026 by Rev. Susanna M. Kawolics
I want to start this sermon about Baptism with a disclaimer. In my humble opinion, I believe there has been, and probably still is, some very bad theology out there around this sacrament. There was a time when the early church believed that only those who had been baptized could go to heaven, because baptism washed away original sin. For this reason, babies were baptized as soon as possible in order to avoid the risk of their dying before they could be, and ending up in a place called Limbo. One of my foundational beliefs is that since we have been created in God’s image, a God of love, we are born not with original sin, but rather with original belovedness. When we baptize babies, we are not doing so to wash away their sin, but rather to make visible the deep and unconditional love that God has for them, and to welcome them into the Christian family.
In addition, I want to emphasize that as I preach on the gifts of baptism this morning, this in no way means that those who are not baptized do not receive these gifts. Baptism is a sacrament, and a sacrament is 'an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” However, Sacraments are not the only way that invisible grace can be experienced.
So that said, here is what I do believe about the sacrament of Baptism. One of the gifts of this sacrament is that it acknowledges in a visible, public way the invisible grace that affirms that we are beloved by God. Just as when John baptized Jesus, the heavens opened and a voice was heard to say:“This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life” so too do I believe God’s spirit of love flows into every person being baptized, declaring “You are my child. You are chosen and marked by my love. I delight in you.”
The story of Jesus’s baptism takes place before we hear any stories of Jesus beginning his ministry. Before Jesus has done anything, he is named as “God’s beloved.” For Jesus, and for us, baptism names our existing and unending belovedness. We do not have to do anything to earn this love. It is pure gift, freely given, poured out upon us.
In this world where we are so used to being judged by our achievements, our monetary worth, our roles, this is a very counter-cultural message: to receive such a profound, immeasurable, unfathomable gift of God’s love without having in some way earned it. But that is how God works, loving us without our having to prove ourselves in any way.
So for me, that is the first gift of the sacrament of baptism, an acknowledgment of our own eternal and unconditional belovedness. The second one is that we are baptized into a community. I don’t remember my own baptism, but here is what I know about it. I was nearly three years old when I went to Europe with my parents. They had both grown up there, and this was the first trip they took together where they would meet each others’ families, and introduce me, their first-born. My mother’s father, my grandfather, was a minister in Switzerland. So during this trip, I was baptized by him at his church.
I was baptized in a church where I knew no one, except my grandparents, godparents and own parents. And yet, when we are baptized, we are baptized not into a specific Christian church, but rather into the whole Christian community. When I was confirmed in my Methodist church in my teens, I did not have to get re-baptized. Later when I converted to Catholicism in my thirties, I did not have to be baptized again. My baptismal certificate just needed to be shown, and translated, as it is in German! When I then joined Federated Church in my forties, I again did not need to be re-baptized. Baptism is a one-time sacrament that unites us with people all over the world, throughout distance and time. All those who ever were, or who are baptized, are part of this global Christian family.
I love that in this sacrament, a unity is achieved among so many churches. Back in 1982, Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic leaders participated in writing a paper called “Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry” published by the World Council of Churches. Here are a few beliefs agreed upon by all members of this ecumenical body regarding Baptism:
Baptism is administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is the sign of new life through Jesus Christ… Through baptism, Christians are brought into union with Christ, with each other and with the Church of every time and place. Our common baptism . . . is thus a basic bond of unity. Baptism is an unrepeatable act. 1
Throughout my life, I have been a part of a variety of communities that have nurtured my faith. I have grown in my faith because of them, whether through good experiences or not so good ones. I love remembering that we are on this journey of walking in the way of Christ with so many others. Those who have gone before serve as a great cloud of witnesses, on whose shoulders we stand. Those who are members of the body of Christ are our spiritual brothers, siblings and sisters. While there may be times when we want to disassociate with some of those in this wide, varied, often dysfunctional Christian family, we are nevertheless, whether we like it or not, family. So when remember our baptism, we remember that identity, that each of us is a member of the body of Christ. And as such, we are not left to weather the storms of life alone. We have a community to support, encourage and uphold us.
Here’s the third I want to say about baptism. In reflecting on the baptism of Jesus, we understand that baptism was not the end or completion of a relationship with God, but rather a beginning. In the verses just before the ones we heard, John was baptizing people in the Jordan river. He proclaimed: (From The Message translation) “I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.” The main character is, of course, Jesus, the one who changes us from the inside out, calling us to turn our lives around, inviting us to a new start. Our baptism reminds us that we are summoned to follow in his footsteps, to walk in his ways.
In a sermon preached at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Albany, NY, Reverend Kathy Donley said this: “That day, when as Jesus comes up out of the water, the Holy Spirit shows up, in some kind of tangible form, something that people can observe, and God claims Jesus as God’s own. This is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the inauguration of his calling. This is the point when Jesus knows that he is held by the power of love. And it forms his life. Sharing that love, serving as a vessel of that love, becomes his purpose, his passion, his life’s mission. In his baptism Jesus identified with humanity. Through our baptisms, we identify with him.”2
That spirit from the heavens declared Jesus as God’s own, God’s beloved, God’s delight. It was that same spirit who then summoned him into the desert, and into his ministry. So in identifying with Jesus, we are not only held in that unending love, but we are called to offer that unending love to others, and be vessels of that love, the way that Jesus was. We are called to follow in Jesus’s footsteps, which often lead to places where people are on the margins. They lead to those who are hungry and in need of feeding, those who are homeless and in need of shelter, those who are treated unfairly and in need of justice. They lead to loving God with our whole being, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. And often they lead to uncomfortable and even dangerous places and situations.
When we, in response to our baptismal call, walk with Jesus, we are not promised safety, security or success. I remember one of my professors telling the story of parents who were distraught and couldn’t believe that their child was going to serve people in a place that they considered dangerous. His comment was – “Well, what did they expect? They did have their child baptized after all.”
Baptism calls us to participate in the healing of our broken world, wherever that takes us. But God promises that we are not alone. We are held in God’s love, supported by the love of others in the Body of Christ, and accompanied and strengthened by the Spirit.
I love that the sacrament of Baptism uses water to reveal God’s love. Water is life-giving, the one element we cannot live without. We use it to wash, to cook, to drink. Not a day goes by when we do not encounter water in one way or another.
Our baptism is done with water, and done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father, or Creator, reminds us that we are unconditionally loved and cherished. The Child, Jesus, reminds us that we are part of his Body, a member of the Body of Christ. And the Spirit reminds us that we are called and empowered to be healers in this broken world.
What would it mean for us if, each and every day, when we first encounter water in the morning, we might remind ourselves of these aspects of our baptism? If we said these words to ourselves – or out loud – as a part of our morning ritual. For example, when we wash our faces it could be: Splash. “I am God’s Beloved.” Splash. “I am not alone.” Splash. “I will follow Jesus.” Or when we drink our water, tea or coffee it could be: Sip. “God delights in me.” Sip. “I am part of the Body of Christ.” Sip. “I will be led by and accompanied by the Holy Spirit of love.” While we do not believe in re-baptism, we do believe in remembering and commemorating our baptism, and how powerful would it be if we found a way to remember it daily.
So in remembering our baptism, may we always know God’s unending, unconditional, eternal love saturating our entire being. May we rejoice in the connection and support that flows among us in the Body of Christ. And may we commit our lives to flooding the world with God’s love, peace and justice, now and always. Amen.
1Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry document available here: https://www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/Document/FO1982_111_en.pdf
2https://www.emmanuelalbany.net/sermons-full/2020/1/18/11220-beloved-isaiah-421-9-matthew-313-17