Over Shadowed

This is my sermon text for January 13, celebrating the Baptism of Our Lord, and focusing on the Gospel text from Luke (Luke 3.15-22).

Have you ever lived in the shadow of someone?

Have you ever been known as “so-and-so’s brother or sister?” Or “Aren’t you what’s-his-name’s kid?”

Has your identity been wrapped up in your relationship to someone else?

It has to be incredibly frustrating. It’s bad enough when you have to live with what you have done and the reputation you have earned based upon your own actions. But when you have to try to live up to, or not live down to, what someone else has done, that is a challenge.

As an only child, I didn’t have to deal with that, but I can imagine the frustration if you’re one of the youngest in the family, and on the first day of school, the teacher refers to one (or several) of your older sisters and brothers. Whether good or bad, you realize that you aren’t being looked at for your own merits, but rather, people’s perception of you is colored, shaded or altered because of your family. It might be good; your last name may open some doors, or get you the benefit of the doubt. On the other hand, it could cause problems. People won’t see you for you; they have pre judged you. They are anticipating you will act and do things in a certain way, just because of who certain members of your family were.

For example, I’d like to the Manning family. Archie Manning was the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints in the Seventies and early Eighties. He was a very good quarterback on some really horrible teams. During his career for the Saints, he played on one team that had a .500 record; they won as many games as they lost. The rest of his time, his teams had a losing record. His son, Peyton, had an outstanding college career at Tennessee, finishing as runner-up for the Heisman Trophy to Michigan’s Charles Woodson, and has had an excellent career in the NFL, winning four MVP awards, winning Super Bowl 41 and having an incredible comeback season this year for the Broncos.

Peyton’s little brother, and Archie’s youngest son, Eli, is also an NFL quarterback. He didn’t have as great a college career as Peyton, and struggled at the beginning of his career for the Giants. He’s considered to be a very good quarterback, but not one of the all time greats, like his brother. But Eli has won two Super Bowls.

It must have been a challenge for both Peyton and Eli as they grew up, having to have themselves compared to their dad. Then as Peyton began to excel, Eli had to face ANOTHER set of comparisons. Now, Peyton has to answer questions if he can match his brother’s second Super Bowl title.

Individually, each of the Manning’s has had remarkable careers. Each of them finished in the top five in the Heisman voting. Each of them has had a long NFL career. But none of them will be judged on their own; they will always be compared to one another. Archie, the father, who had a very good career, may actually be thought of as the least of the three of them. It is the ones who came after him who were more powerful quarterbacks.

Such was the case for the subject of most of today’s Gospel lesson from Luke: John the Baptizer.

It was John who was the big deal. It was John’s whose preaching and teaching caught everyone’s attention. It was John who everybody thought was the Messiah. John drew the attention of the chief priests and elders. John drew the ire of Herod.

The crowds asked if he was the promised one, the one they had been waiting for. They thought John could be the Messiah. He told them he was not. But, that the Messiah was coming. However great and awesome they thought that John was, wait until they see the true Messiah.

John knew he was living in the shadow of the Messiah. He knew his role was to prepare the way. While he knew the starring role was his, it did not mean that he was going to shrink from the spotlight. He preached and proclaimed his message, right up until the time he got arrested for doing just that.

While we know him as John the Baptist, he may better be known as John the Testifier or John the Good Newser, because it of his preaching, especially against Herod, that got him arrested. We don’t know exactly when it was that he was arrested, but by the way Luke writes, it sounds like John did not baptize Jesus. Luke, who spends so much of the first two chapters of his Gospel writing about John and his miraculous birth, does not even let John the Baptist do the baptizing. Luke writes that Jesus was baptized “when all the people were baptized.”

So John, who had the spotlight, moves into the shadows, not even getting to have the honor, according to Luke, to do what his name claims. So, if John didn’t baptize Jesus, who did?

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.” We don’t know. Luke doesn’t tell us who helped Jesus into the water.

But the passage I just read tells who handled the important part of the baptism, and it is someone else used to being in the shadows. “The Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.” The important part of the baptism for Jesus is that the Holy Spirit came to Christ. That was the important thing about Jesus’ baptism; the Spirit came to anoint him, to be with him, to sustain him and support him.

That is the important part of baptism for each of you. That is the important part of baptism for everyone. The important part of the baptism for all of us is that the Holy Spirit comes to us. Now, we don’t get to see the Spirit coming to us looking like a dove, but in our baptism, when we have the water poured over us, when we are anointed, we DO receive the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes to us by the gift of the grace of God. It doesn’t come because we accept Jesus or the Spirit. It doesn’t come because we invite the Spirit into our lives. The Spirit comes because it is sent by God. It is not because of anything we do. The Spirit comes because God decides to do so.

That is why Luther and the other Reformers advocated infant baptism, and why we practice that today. Receiving the Holy Spirit in baptism comes from God, not from what we do. That is why we baptize babies. As cute and wonderful as they are, they have not done anything to earn God’s favor or love. God gives us grace because that is what God does. Our God is a god of love, a god of mercy. In our baptism, God sends the Holy Spirit to be with us, always, as a sign of God’s grace and love, forgiving us in advance for our sins, washing away our wrongs before we have even done them. Like Jesus, in our baptism we are called and claimed as one of God’s own, one of His beloved.

The Spirit comes to strengthen and sustain Jesus for his ministry. The Spirit will be with him throughout his life, and will be with him onto the Cross, where he gives up the Spirit, showing how much God will do to show us how much we are loved.

The Spirit comes to strengthen and sustain us as we live out our baptized lives. The Spirit will be with us throughout our lives. The Spirit can give us the power and will to do God’s work, proclaim God’s love, grace and mercy, show God’s love and care, to be God’s representative on earth.

Martin Luther had a tradition that whenever he washed, he would pour some water on his face or head and remember that in his baptism he was claimed as a child of God, strengthened for service. Remember that as well. You have received the Holy Spirit. You are a beloved Child of God. You have been called to serve God, doing God’s work with your hands, never to live in the shadows.