LIVE WET!
A Sermon By Debbie Pitney
January 8, 2012

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove one him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  Mark 1:9-11

So here we are, after all of the beauty and pageantry of Christmas, standing knee-deep in the muddy waters of the Jordan River with John the Baptist, locust wings and wild honey still dripping from his beard!  Here we are right back with John the Baptist, wondering whether we should dive into these baptismal waters head first or make a quick retreat to the safety of the shore. 

I love the stories of baptism.  Many years ago when I was baptizing Katie, her three-year-old brother, Peter Anthony saw the pitcher of water and spent the entire baptism asking for a drink.  When it was over Peter Anthony finally got his drink.  Before we could stop him, he picked up the pitcher in both hands and brought it up to his mouth, the waters of baptism spilling all over his Sunday best.  When I was baptizing Hannah she leaned so far over during the baptismal prayer that soon she was splashing the water all over her own head and everyone else who was in range.  When I attended the baptism of our Boise neighbor’s daughter, Claire Marie put up such a fuss that her cries were the only thing we heard and her embarrassed parents rushed her out of the sanctuary as soon as they heard the “amen.”  And I am told that at Jackson’s baptism last week, he let it be know that the waters of baptism can be anything but soothing! 

I love the stories of baptism.  They remind us of the implications of inviting God’s Spirit to invade our lives.  They remind us of the forgiveness and the challenge that come with being followers of Jesus Christ.  They remind us that, at one and the same time, divine order is coming out of the chaos of our lives and divine chaos is coming into the order of our lives.  I love the stories of baptism.

Baptism reminds us of the power of God’s forgiving Spirit.  After all, when John the Baptist was standing knee-deep in the muddy waters of the Jordan River he was announcing God’s forgiveness.  Speaking for myself, I need that forgiveness – A LOT!  Each and every day I find myself coming up short in my attempts to do no harm and to do good and to stay in love with God.  I suspect you do to.  We all might feel embarrassed and want to rush out of the sanctuary when our even with our Sunday best we fall so short of living as God intends for us to live. We need the forgiveness that is offered in the waters of Baptism.  We need to let that water spill all over us, quenching our deep thirst for God’s grace.

Someone has said when you forgive someone you recreate him…  you recreate her.  She is remade… he is remade in your memory. In baptism, we are remade.  In baptism, we are forgiven… the wrongs we have done are washed away and we are recreated in God’s memory.We start all over again.  We begin again to live as the people God intends for us to be.  As we remember our baptism today, we have the opportunity to lean in toward the water and splash and play in God’s forgiving love.

I love the stories of baptism. In my reading this week, I came across the story told by a pastor of his young daughter.  He described her as having “an almost unnatural interest in things religious!”  When other children might being “playing house,” she apparently was “playing church!”  On one occasion, when she was particularly quiet in her play, he went to check on her and as he passed the bathroom, he heard the toilet flushing repeatedly.  Standing outside the closed door, he listened and heard her saying the words she had heard him say in worship, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and…” – and here she started to improvise – “and Down the Hole You Go!”  With these last words she would flush the toilet and begin the next baptism!  “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and Down the Hole You Go!”  Apparently she was a bit confused about baptism!

Or was she?  Listen again to the account of Jesus’ baptism in Mark’s Gospel:

At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him.  Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”  At once, this same Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wild.  For forty wilderness days and nights he was tested…  Wild animals were his companions, and angels took care of him.”                      Mark 1:9-13

Sounds a lot like “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and Down the Hole You Go!” doesn’t it!  Sometimes the waters of baptism are less than soothing and the only human response is to put up a fuss!

When John was standing knee-deep in the muddy waters of the Jordan River he was announcing God’s forgiveness but he was also announcing God’s sometimes frightening, always challenging claim on our lives.

We come up out of the waters of our baptism, forgiven and made new.  God announces that we are chosen and marked by Divine love.  But we also come up out of the waters of our baptism dripping wet, shivering with the reality of life before us.  We come up out of the waters of our baptism and, like it or not, we are challenged to live faithfully in the midst of real life… to live as God intends for us to live.  We are challenged to live wet!

Living wet… this is my baptismal metaphor for being the hands and feet and heart of Christ.  Living wet is all about living as Christ would have us live…immersing ourselves in his ways of love, of justice, of humility, of grace.  When we remember our baptism and the questions we were asked or were asked on our behalf, we remember what it means to live wet.  We remember that we are called to trust in the unconditional love and grace of God in our lives, believing that this love and grace is available not only to us but to everyone, no matter what.  We remember that we are to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ… not just when we feel like it or when it fits our needs… not just on Sunday but every day.  We are to live according to the teachings of Jesus Christ in everything that we say and everything that we do.  When we remember our baptism, we remember that we have been given the power to act with justice, to love tenderly, to serve others, and to walk humbly with God.  When we remember our baptism, we discover once again what it means to be a child of God, loved beyond measure and trusted to love deeply and fully and completely in this life that God has given us.  When we stand knee-deep in the waters of baptism we often find ourselves wondering whether we should dive in head first or make a quick retreat to the safety of the shore. 

When I remember the stories of baptism, I cannot help but think of the many times as a young child when our family would go to the beach for the day.  Living as we did in Southern California, it was a wonderful experience.  My brother and I would spend hours playing in the surf… jumping up and over or diving under the waves.  I remember those times when a wave would catch me off guard, forcing me under the water and tossing me around.  Disoriented and a bit fearful… holding my breath and, for a split second, wondering if I would survive the dousing, I would finally find the sandy bottom under my feet and push myself to the surface, where I would experience a sense of buoyancy in my new claim on life.  And then, of course, I would start the process all over again… jumping over and diving under until another wave would catch me off guard and down the hole I would go… tossed again in the turbulent sea.

When I remember my own baptism I find myself holding my breath and wondering if I will survive the dousing but then I remember the firm ground of God’s loving grace under my feet and when I come up out of the water, I experience a new sense of buoyancy, ready to live again as God intends for me to live… dripping wet!