Sermon Title
Scripture References
Isaiah 43:1-7
Israel’s Only Savior
1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Romans 6:1-11
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Luke 3:15-22
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Sermon Script
Heads Or Tails
If you enjoy watching football, over the last few weeks you have thus had the opportunity to witness a lot of coin tosses. At the beginning of each game, the captains of both teams will gather at the center of the field to determine who will get the ball first. Heads or tails… a flip of the coin will decide.
Using a coin toss has been a good way to determine arbitrary decisions for quite some time. Have you ever determined an outcome with the flip of a coin? Heads you do this, tails you do that. Do we dine in or take out? Do I mow the lawn or take a nap? Toss the coin to find out. Quickly narrowing two possible outcomes to just one.
As I began studying the scripture readings for today, I got to thinking about that coin toss. All eyes in the stadium are focused on the referee as he flips that single coin in the air… turning over and over until it lands. For a moment, the anticipation dwells on one side of the coin being distinctly different than the other side… seemingly losing sight of the fact that it is just a coin.
The value, shape or size does not change. If that toss would be under further review, a slow-motion replay would reveal, heads… tails… heads… tails… as it makes just one sound when it lands.
Epiphany
As you are sitting there wondering where this flip of the coin is going… Let’s turn our focus to the fact that today we begin the season of Epiphany. Epiphany is where we transition between the great festivals of Incarnation and the Resurrection.
Now, if you bear with me and use your imagination… This is where on one side of the coin we see Jesus as man, and on the other side we see Jesus as God.
That is the focus on the Sundays of Epiphany where it is a time to make the connection of the gift that was given to us through a babe in swaddling clothes… from the humanity portrayed in the Son of Man… to the Son of God… and how God works through both sides of that imaginary coin, reminding us that Jesus is God and Man… the same coin… by revealing Himself through the Trinity, namely His Son Jesus.
Baptism Of Our Lord
Today we find ourselves in the center of the field as we kick off Epiphany with the “Baptism of our Lord.” This is why we read in the Gospel Lesson today in the third chapter of Luke the account of John the Baptist in the Jordan River. We learn there are people traversing across the wilderness from all parts of Judea to be baptized by him and were wondering if John is the Christ.
This is interesting, because when the Magi come from the east, there was a star guiding them. The infant who become known as the King of the Jews was not a secret, whom we know the shepherds were guarding and the angels sang. However, since the time when Herod wanted to seek Jesus out to kill Him, the carpenter’s son from Nazareth has been hidden rather well.
So, the word has been circulated that there is a Christ, the Messiah, the one sent from God to save them… but there was confusion on what He might look like and what exactly He would do for them.
Preparing The Way
So, that is why John the Baptist was proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins… “preparing the Way” as was prophesied in Isaiah. Preparing the way for the Son of Man to be recognized as the Son of God.
John tells the crowd who was gathered in verse 16, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Now, if I direct your attention back to the metaphor of two sides of that coin, we can add water to one side and fire to the other, or fire and the Holy Spirit. How do those go together…? Hold onto that thought as we look at what John continues saying about Jesus… “His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
That makes more seemingly opposite sides to consider… wheat and chaff… Ok, let’s take a quick 30 second time out.
Wheat is a viable seed which is alive and can grow or you can eat it. It gives us life. Chaff is what comes out of the back of the combine. It is dead, tossed out as waste. What do we make of all these paradoxes? Paul’s letter to the Romans adds paradox fuel to the fire in the Epistle lesson. We read from verses 3-4, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Hmmm. Ok, now we can now add life and death… Once again, the question arises… How do these all fit together into one proverbial coin?
Baptismal Play List
Since our focus is on Baptism today, I would like for you to take a good look at this Baptismal playlist… Baptism is fire… Baptism is water… Baptism is burning the chaff… Baptism is saving the wheat… Baptism is a physical act with water… Baptism is a spiritual act by the Holy Spirit… Baptism is death with Christ on the cross… Baptism is life through Christ in the resurrection… As you can see, all these things are directly related to the same thing… Baptism…
I know that is a lot to process, and it might be a good time for the ushers to toss you a hot dog. However, we must digest all these things as we reflect on this day where we commemorate the Baptism of our Lord… knowing there is an Epiphany connection to our own Baptism.
If we could rewind the tape and examine the replay, we know that John’s baptism was one of repentance… but that is not what Jesus was there for.
When Jesus steps down into the baptismal waters of the Jordan, He soaked up the sins of the world. God the Father sent His Son to bear all sin which He thus said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is baptized into your sins and mine so that our Baptism will be into His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins.
Baptismal Grace Coin
Our Old Testament lesson today in Isaiah 43 helps us to understand how this is to be true. In verse 2, Isaiah writes this beautiful passage about God’s protection… “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
We are all so very blessed to have these spiritual gifts rotating over and over in our lives. Our Baptismal grace coin if you will…
Two Headed Coin
But when it’s third and long in the trials of our life, we are faced with more two-sided options. The one I want you to visualize now represents you and me. In fact, our picture is on both sides of this coin. One side shows our old self… the other our new one. The old self is our sinful desires and corrupt thoughts… Our new self is the one created in the likeness of God.
This reminds me of when I was Christmas shopping a few weeks ago and run into one of my diesel mechanic friends. I was telling him about a payloader I have in the corner of the shop that needs an engine overhaul.
My contemplation was that the overhaul was going to cost me 12 K, and the payloader in working condition is only worth 15. I brought this up to him to see if by chance he knew of any practical options. He says he has a washer he flips to make arbitrary decisions tailored for situations just like this one. On one side of the washer, he wrote “fix it.” On the other side he wrote “scrap it.” The answer thus was how the washer lands.
Are you prepared to “fix it” when your spiritual coin lands on the side that reveals your old self? Johns’ baptism was one of repentance. Is that tool polished and ready to use? Paul tells us if we are to live out our baptismal grace, then we should put off our old self. The old self who follows the worldly mentality of “heads I win, tails you lose…”
Will you be prepared to make heads or tails out of the setbacks and adversities blowing in the wind of a new year? That New Year’s resolution I made just the other day finds me failing already. Do I fix it, or do I scrap it? Does it even matter?
Not The End Of The Game
Paul addresses these same questions with the Epistle lesson in Romans chapter six… “What shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin so grace may abound?” He quickly responds, “By no means.”
Heads or tails, the devil is going to work against us. He tempts us to forget about our new life in Christ by reminding us of our sin and accusing us of the sin our old self has committed.
The Evil one wants us to reject God’s will and abandon His way. He wants us to think only of ourselves and that we are somehow better than others.
Yes, Satan wants you and I to forget that we are Baptized children of God. He even wanted Jesus to forget that He was Baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit as the devil subsequently tempted Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days. Of course, we know how that turned out. Jesus was tested and proven to be God’s Son, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed one.
So, when Satan delighted in what he thought might be the end of the game during Jesus’ humanity… suddenly found out the clock reset and was in fact just the beginning. The Son of Man becomes the Son of God to change the world with the onset of Jesus’ ministry. The game plan all along… That is the reason he come as a babe in swaddling clothes. That is why He was sent from heaven to dwell with us in the flesh.
Heads We Win, Tails Satan Looses
The Son of Man who was anointed by God, who suffered and died on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven… now sits at the right hand of God. All this because of His never-ending love for you and for me.
That is what makes Baptism such a game changer. It is the beginning of Christ’s mission within us. To be the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
As I mentioned earlier, this is the season of Epiphany. A time to reveal to us the mission of Jesus in our life which makes things anew between God and man. To reflect the perfect sacrifice that rescued us from sin, death, and the devil.
To open that door for us to proudly stand before God and call Him our Father. To pray, worship, and share in that mission with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…
Through our Baptism and faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we can boldly tell Satan “heads I win, tails you lose.”
And when the clock runs out in the fourth quarter, we have His promise that the game is not over. We will become heirs to His Kingdom, risen with Him in eternity, dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. My friends, that coin is priceless.
Heads or tails, it does not matter. We are one with Christ. The victory is ours as God tells you and I, “you… are… my…. Child… with… whom… I… am… well… pleased…”
Amen