Expectations

Today I am thinking about expectations,

What do you expect when you come to worship on Sunday morning?

What do you expect when you visit someone’s home?

Yesterday Ian and I went to a family gathering, we were expecting 30 people. One of Ian’s cousin had gone to the hall and set up a long table with 30 chairs … and 50 people turned up.

Many families have expectations about behaviour and involvement in activities.

The people of Israel had expectations of the Messiah, the one who would come and save them, just like Moses, but this time from the Romans rather than Pharaoh. The one who would be king, like David.

The people were waiting for the one who would rid them of the Romans and lead them as King and Shepherd.

John the Baptist is also waiting for the Messiah, and we hear in this passage the kind of Messiah he is looking for; the one who will come with judgement and condemnation.

Jesus does judge and condemn, but he condemns the self-righteous, not those who did not fit in the religious structures of the time.

I wonder what we expect Jesus to be like?

At times in my life I have been told about Jesus and God who has judged and condemned me

Who keeps track of my failings.

For many years I thought God only loved the me I could be, if I was better and like Jesus, not the person I am.

I know better now.

[picture 1]

When we look at the expectation we have of Jesus and then listen to John the Baptist calling for repentance and calling the religions leaders of the day ‘a bunch of snakes!’, I can understand why for some people judgement is a big part of their view of Jesus.

When we look at what Jesus did, and how Jesus lived and died, which we will do over the coming months, I wonder if the image we have will still be one where judgement predominates.

In many ways, John sounds like an Old Testament prophet,
repent,
go back to God,
live in ways that show God is in charge.

We have looked at some of the prophets in the past few months, and we have heard that God looks for justice,

For care for the poor, the widow, the traveller in your land, and

make sure justice was done.

‘He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?’ Micah 6:8 NRSV

When John called the Pharisees and other snakes, he tells them: Do something to show that you have really given up your sins.

John is saying here, that repentance is not just a word. Repentance leads to change and is shown by the fruit in our lives.

“What God really wants from all of us: to bear fruit. To live lives that bear fruit in this world, and in the world to come.”[i]

That will show

In the way we offer hospitality,

In the way we show care for people who are grieving

In the way we think about others before ourselves.

I am guessing many of you have heard the phrase, God has no grandchildren, in the reading we heard this morning, John reminds people that just because they can prove they are descendants of Abraham, doesn’t mean anything in the kingdom of heaven.

Then we get to the part where John and Jesus talk about baptism.

[picture 2]

While in the gospel of Luke, John is identified as a cousin of Jesus, Matthew makes no connection between them.
John sees something in Jesus
John recognises the one he has been waiting for, or at least hopes Jesus is the one, later we will read how, when in prison, John asks if Jesus really is the one that Israel has been waiting for.

John is baptising people in the Jordan, and Jesus asks to be baptised. John says no-way, you are more important than me.

Jesus talks about fulfilling righteousness, doing what is ethical.

Jesus choosing to be baptised, for me, is a wonderful sign of the incarnation. The divine became human, and experienced life as we do.[ii]

[picture 3] and as Jesus comes out of the water, this wonderful declaration that Jesus is beloved and pleasing to God.

[picture 4] here is an image of the story so far today, but I want us to also be aware of what happens next; being pronounced as God’s son and being loved, does not mean an easy life.

[picture 5] just after the section we heard today, Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days - which sounds like Moses in the wilderness for forty years.

He is sustained by God

[picture 6]

So, what does this all have to do with us?

I wonder what we expect of Jesus.

Do we expect to be loved
cherished?

Forgiven?

Condemned?

Do we think God is impressed by-

our religious pedigree?

        Our Biblical knowledge

        Or our love for others

What will be condemned for?

        Swearing?

        Eating too much chocolate?

        Injustice and lack of mercy?

In Mathew 25 we hear about Jesus separating the nations, the sheep and goats, those who met Jesus in the people around them, and those who ignored Jesus in the people around them.

         

….

This morning we will baptise Siale, and in baptism God says

you are loved,
you are cherished,
you are mine.

God already loves Siale, already cherishes her. Baptism is a sign.

One thing John was railing against was people paying lip-service to faith.

Yes, I believe in God

Yes, I will follow Jesus

When their lives showed otherwise.

Now none of us is perfect,

In this passage I hear a call for us to be honest,

with ourselves and with God.

A call to be real about our lives.

About our priorities

How we treat people.

Baptism is a sign, leading to a life of love and service.

where is God challenging you today?

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[i] http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/2877?fbclid=IwAR34MXzLydFYpOGNHgbm9xbOXRyvfJVSTz6Qz5ymy3MQ4XgZeeZYCx6fCNg

[ii] http://johndobbs.com/you-brood-of-vipers/?fbclid=IwAR29uQQR1fOG9ht3VV2Ilv2aZHx04_f00LV6eUeAOlXS6v3-b7z7zFbqlVo

Baptism and Identity

this 'sermon' is an introduction to a liturgy for reaffirmation of Baptism. i hope the experience and prayers will speak to people's hearts in ways that words do not always.

In Baptism, the identity and call of Jesus was affirmed. The next chapter of Mathew is about the temptations in the wilderness.

In our baptism, our identity is affirmed, as children of God. That doesn’t mean that until we are baptised we are not known or not loved by God.

Baptism is a sign of grace, a reminder of what already is.

Baptism is not an insurance policy.

Baptism is not armour against temptation, or illness, or difficulty.

Baptism is not a guarantee that we will be better people.

Martin Luther, was one of the leaders of the reformation.  

When Luther himself was hold up in a castle translating the Greek Bible into German so that for the very first time somewhat regular folks could read the Word of God for themselves, well, while he was doing this he struggled mightily with doubt and discouragement from what he understood to be the devil. And he was known to not only throw the occasional ink pots at whatever was tormenting him and causing him to doubt God's promises, but while doing so he could be heard throughout the castle grounds shouting "I am baptized".[i]

Not I was Baptised, but I am Baptised.

Baptism is a sacrament, a sign, a symbol – not a sign of anything we have done, but of what God has done and will continue to do in our lives.

Sometimes it is easy to think of baptism as something that happened, a once off; but just as a wedding marks the beginning of a marriage; baptism marks the beginning of the life of discipleship.

This morning there is the opportunity to reaffirm our baptism, our commitment to being disciples of Jesus Christ.

For you who have not been baptised, I encourage you to think about your relationship with God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Also, if you are not baptised, and would like to have a conversation about that, please let me know.

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[i] Nadia Bolz-Weber, https://sojo.net/articles/how-say-defiantly-i-am-baptized