Matthew 3: 13-17 In Baptism, We Become Co-Creators with Christ

 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

One of the deepest challenges my vocation affords me is to articulate “why I believe in church” to lots of people. On airplanes, in elevators, at parties, during Uber rides, even waiting in line at Walmart. Now, my usual audience is those who A. have never engaged a faith community OR B. got bored with the whole experience of organized religion, OR the most unfortunate, C. those who’ve been burned by the church or a churchy-person. Now, you are all sitting in a pew on a Sunday morning- so you’re not the most likely crew of folks to receive the “why church” conversation from me. But I suspect you’ve had your doubts too.

Here’s the truth: I have doubts of my own. 3 years ago this January, I found myself ready to give up on organized religion. I was ending my first ministry call to Columbia UCC, I was hurt and exhausted by the experience, disillusioned might be a good word.  As I faced a future with no ministry call in sight, I told AJ I might be done serving a church. In fact I considered taking a full-time faculty position at Presentation College. But here’s the thing, I never felt my call to ministry was over; yet spiritually drained and frustrated by layers of inner-church conflict, I was over organized religion. Or so I thought.

Now if you’re following my timeline in this story, that wasn’t too long before I accepted a call to be your minister. Here’s what happened in the six short months of respite I had from ministry. Even though my feelings told me to be done, I knew in my spirit that I was being called to give church one more chance. To say yes one more time to serving the body of Christ, brokenness and all.

Here’s why: I realized it doesn’t matter that we have baggage, (we all do, every church too); it matters how we manage it. Jesus is calling us all to own our brokenness and to sort it out together. No abandoning the work to someone else. No throwing our hands up and saying “We’re flawed, so we’re not worthy of grace, let’s just quit!” No, we own who we are, baggage and all, SO THAT we might enter into ministry with conviction of our need for Christ.

John the Baptist dismisses his calling because of his baggage too: “But Jesus, I’m flawed, you don’t want me to baptize you.” Jesus says, “Yes I do. I need your partnership; help me fulfill my righteousness on earth.” The big shift in John’s life sounds so subtle, “John consented.” That’s it! When he says YES and baptizes Jesus, the world is forever changed. People like John the Baptist, people like you and me are given the ability to become co-creators with Christ; That’s my answer to “why church,” because I want to say Yes to being part of God’s grand narrative, building a more loving world. Yes! Yes.

Isaiah foreshadows well this new world- and does so by citing how powerful God’s creative force truly is: “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations […] See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare!”

Being in worship is the place I’m most convinced that God is at work making me new again. Me, you, the church. We’re not done growing yet! It’s here, following God’s call on my life that I am best able to sort through my baggage and be reminded that God’s love is bigger than any of it. Little by little, as I release my failures in favor of God’s grace, my attempts to co-create a loving community with Christ become more faithful and fruitful. I become more whole.

And you, my friends, are a significant part of my journey. I hope this faith family is significant in your spiritual journey too. As we begin a new year, I wonder: What do you need made new again? What baggage do you need us to carry in prayer? Let’s celebrate that we are people of resurrection hope, and every new beginning is marked by an invitation to co-create a loving community with Christ.

As I think back to how much has changed for me over the past 3 years, I am amazed at the power Christ has to make things new again- like my enthusiasm for serving a church! 😊For real, I’m so excited about what God is doing here, that I now consider it a deep privilege to share why I believe in church with anyone who will listen! 😊

This call, though, this life of ministry is NOT only for those who have “pastor” in front of their name. When you love your neighbor as yourself, when you offer compassion, when you are quick to listen and slow to judge, when you support others through hard times- you too are saying YES to God’s church, where we affirm our baptism as Christ’s beloved siblings, with whom God is well-pleased.

So here’s what I want to know: what are you and I going to co-create with Christ this year? A new outreach ministry? Could we dive deeper into the mysteries of Scripture? Maybe we’ll double-down on feeding the hungry and providing support to those who are facing homelessness. You might personally find a renewed sense of purpose- and decide to pursue that idea right here in this church! I am more committed than ever to church, because I see the growth of spirit at work here. And that’s because of you. Because of us. Because of Christ calling us together as church. And whatever new ways we choose to live into our baptism, I’m 100% in. Let’s co-create something beautiful in 2020, in Jesus name, Amen!