you are not a monster - baptism of the Lord C 2019
Today we end Christmas. Perhaps some of us have ended Christmas earlier. But the church ends it today with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Why? Because the church wants us to understand what it means when we profess in faith that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus became man for us, what does that mean fully?
It means that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus inserted himself into a human family, his father was a carpenter, for a time Jesus was an immigrant and experienced the difficulty of leaving home and country, he underwent the rituals of his faith as a Jew, he got lost for 3 days, he has a home in Nazareth where he grew in physical strength, in wisdom and in virtue.
Lastly, Jesus showed that he is one with all human beings when he submitted himself to be baptized by John the Baptist. This is what his baptism at the Jordan teaches us - Jesus lined up together with tax collectors, prostitutes, soldiers, with the people of Israel, to show that he was one with them in their effort to convert, that he is one with them in their struggle to rid themselves of their selfishness, that he joins them in their desire to break away from their sinful past. Jesus did not put on flesh just for show. He embraced the consequences of being human including our sickness, our pains and our mortality; including our weakness that makes us selfish, including our struggle to become loving, including our human frailty that makes it difficult to rid ourselves of pride, anger, lust and envy. Jesus may not have sinned, but he knew how it was to be tempted. Jesus may not have fallen, but he knew how it was to struggle in order to remain faithful to God the Father. Today in his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus reveals fully the full extent of his incarnation, and thus the full extent of the Father’s love for us.
Last week I was privileged to watch the exhibit at the Morgan Library entitled It’s Alive. The exhibit celebrates the 200thanniversary of Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, a classic in world literature, a masterpiece of horror and the first science fiction novel. What is beautiful about Mary Shelly’s work of fiction is that it is so adaptable and capable of so many interpretations. Dr. Victor Frankenstein was so obsessed in discovering what makes people alive, the so-called life principle, and so experimented by gathering and sewing together pieces of bodies of the dead and with electricity. And then one night, after several attempts, the yellow eyes of the creature finally opened to stare at Victor. When Victor saw the monstrous form of his creation, he was so horrified, so much so that he ran away afraid of what he had just created. He could not look at him. He could not love what he created. He could not give him even just a name. Because of this Dr. Frankenstein has created a monster.
Today we are made to recall our baptism. In contrast to the monster Dr. Frankenstein created, we are reminded that when God created us, he called us very good and even when we sinned God did not relent but sent us his Son to become our savior, to be like us in all things but sin, to suffer with us. In baptism the ritual starts with a question, what name do you give this child? You are given a name, an identity - all these so that God can look at you in the eye and say, you are wonderfully made, you are loved, you are God’s beloved sons and daughters, you are not a monster. So be loving, be caring, be kind for our baptism gives us an identity, it defines who we are.
So don’t end Christmas early. In the baptism of our Lord we may still discover the greatest gift of all, our identity.
Comments