Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 12 January 2025.
Joachim Patinir: The Baptism of Christ (Photo)
• First Reading: Isaiah 43: 1-7 (‘Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine’)
• Epistle: Acts 8: 14-17 (Peter and John sent to Samaria)
• Gospel: Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 (John: I baptize with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus was baptized also)
The athletes train for the race and the most dedicated will be fit and practised for the coming contest. The person with the longest legs, the deepest breathing capacity and greatest stamina is likely to win the race.
It may be a matter of dedicated preparation and there may also be natural attributes of physique, the emotional determination to win, the sense of commitment to the sport. But none of this can be described as being ‘gifted.’
The same applies to the skilful writer, painter, speaker, or any other kind of human endeavour. Persuasive, successful and effective they may be but this is not the same as being gifted in the way that our lessons are leading us.
But then there is a different kind of endowment that is being shown to us, and it is there in all our lessons today.
In Isaiah, the starting point is God Himself. It is The Lord who is doing the talking, and who is making the choices.
It is The Lord who is taking the initiative, and who is preparing His people to do His work in His way. It is not as if He was winding up the people of Israel like a spring and letting them run on until exhausted and the spring has no more power.
And so He reassures them that He has chosen them, and not the other way around. It is His choice, His mission, His strength, His Spirit who is to empower and sustain them in their tasks.
And so He also starts by saying ‘Do not be afraid.’ Do not let your fears or imaginations run away with you. Do not be discouraged by the extent of your own numbers or the range of your abilities. Do not be distracted by the qualities that the mass or the social media seem to esteem.
It is beauty of spirit rather than that flawless appearance that matters. It is the wisdom of God that counts for more than any array of academic degrees, or the number of books or learned articles published.
But He goes on. Even when times and circumstances turn against them, the Lord is still beside them. Whether it is fire or flood, He is still there to give courage and to lead them in their missions.
But then in the baptism of Jesus we have the same thing.
His birth had been a normal human birth. As prescribed by the law, He had been circumcised at 8 days and presented to the Lord after 40 days. His coming of age would be on His 12th birthday, but even though He knew that He was of God and wished to be about His Father’s business, Jesus was still in His own, human strength.
He would still have more to learn, not to mention learning a trade and practising it. He would still have to negotiate adolescence and all the issues that it raises.
It was only as He was beginning His ministry that He made Himself one with the renewal, back to God movement that John the Baptist was leading, including making Himself one with the sins of His people and their desire to turn away from them into a new kind of life.
And so coming out of the baptismal waters, He entered a new life Himself. First there was His acclamation by God His Father: ‘You are My beloved Son. In You I am well pleased.’ Then the Holy Spirit came upon Him, visibly seen as a dove.
This was the power of God in all aspects of His ministry.
It was the discernment to perceive people’s thoughts and motivations; it was the wisdom of speech and action in responding to them.
It was the power to heal, to raise the dead, calm storms, multiply food in times of need, and above all it was the authority to forgive sins and to give people that assurance of sins forgiven.
These were things far beyond natural attributes or physical strength or technique. These were the power of God in action on the ground, for the benefit of the people before Him.
The Book of Acts shows that the same gifts of the Holy Spirit were not only present in the early church, but were expected to be there by its leaders.
They were a normal part of the ministry of the church. They may be extra-ordinary when seen by those outside the church but they were normal within in it.
And so when coming to Samaria, Peter and John found that the believers in Jesus had not received the power of the Holy Spirit. The infilling was not there, and there was no release of that same authority and confidence in personal faith and ministry.
What was true then is true now.
The release of the Holy Spirit does not make us morally better, and it does not suggest that its kind of Christian faith and life is better than another. It does not change our salvation.
But it does give a confidence in personal faith, an effectiveness in personal prayer. It does lead us into a desire for the deeper knowledge of the things of God which does not come from academic learning.
That is why we are encouraged to desire it, ask for it, seek it, and if necessary keep on knocking until we get it.
But Jesus’ promise is very clear that He will hear our prayers and answer them. And we need it in order to fulfil the ministries that He wishes us to pursue.
