Epiphany I

The Baptism of Jesus

Today, the first Sunday after the Epiphany, is the day our attention is focused on the baptism of Jesus.

I found the following blessing at the end of sermon notes for this day:

May the water of Baptism enliven you;
may the faith of Baptism strengthen you;
may the community of the Baptized support you;
and may Christ who was Baptized for you keep you in the love of the Father.
We cannot pull ourselves up by our own boot straps, we cannot change our hearts, and we cannot give ourselves life. So, O Holy Spirit, we look to you. Amen.

And here's something about the baptismal vocation from a sermon by Sarah Dylan Breuer:

On some level, I think that we all know that the world as our worldly powers have ordered it is not working, is not giving the human family abundant life as we were created and still ache for.

And I believe this is part of the Good News of our Baptism. If some part of you believes that the world as it is on the front page of the newspaper is not the world as it was meant to be, you're not crazy and you're not just a starry-eyed idealist; you are feeling God's call in Baptism. If some part of you wants something more than the chance to achieve enough to feel pressured to achieve more or to defend what you thought you won, you're not just greedy or lazy or odd; you're feeling God's call in Baptism. And if you feel at times that the world and the life you're aching for is more than you could bring into being by your own achievement, even if you wanted it only for yourself and those you care about (and who can restrict caring to just a few?), you haven't run into the thing that makes the dream impossible; you just might be hearing the call of Baptism.