• "The Water of Christian Baptism is an Outward Sign of the Holy Spirit"
• Sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
• January 18, 2004
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

In the gospel, Jesus is revealed as the Son of God in the waters of baptism. The voice of the Father is heard from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus to show that he is the Messiah, the one anointed by God to save Israel.

The baptism of Jesus helps us to understand our own baptisms. The water of Christian baptism is an outward sign of the inward gift of the Holy Spirit, through which we are born again and become children of God. As Romans says, "You have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God." (8:15).

There is a crucial distinction between the baptism of Jesus and our own baptisms. The baptism of Jesus reveals what he always has been. Jesus is the Son of God because he was begotten of his Father before all worlds. He was born into this world as the Son of God.

When the Virgin Mary questioned the angel Gabriel concerning the biology of the conception of Jesus, Gabriel said, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).

By contrast, we are not born into this world as children of God. Yes, mankind was created originally in the image of God. But the original sin severed the paternal bond. We are born, as 1 Corinthians says, "in Adam" (cf. 1 Cor. 15:22, 47-49) as sons and daughters of the fall of man.

Baptism restores to us as a gift, by grace, that relationship with God that was lost by sin. That is why the Bible describes baptism as being "born again." As Jesus said, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). And again, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

Because he was conceived directly by the Father of the Virgin Mary, without spot of sin, Jesus is, by nature, the Son of God. Because we are children of the fall of man, born with sin, we need to be washed clean of original sin and given the gift of the Holy Spirit to become God's adopted children. One way we express this is to say that what Jesus is by nature, we become by grace.

Baptism conveys a status and a vocation. In one sense we have become children of God in baptism. But in another sense we are becoming children of God. Sometimes Christians don't look like children of God, just as an acorn doesn't look like an oak or a little child doesn't look like a mature adult.

If a planted seed is watered and fed, it will become a tree. If the child is fed and trained he will become a mature adult. The baptized person, nurtured in the faith and fed by the Word of God and the Bread of Life, will grow up to be Christ-like. The process is natural, but, of course, it is not inevitable. This is why perseverance is the test of true faith. The one who perseveres in the life of prayer and grace allows the natural process of spiritual growth to continue.

The Eucharist is the continual feeding of the life that begins in baptism. We come once to the font where we are adopted by God as his children. We come again and again to the altar to renew that relationship, to recall Christ's sacrifice, to be cleansed of our sins anew, to say again boldly, "Our Father."

But the Christian life is not only to be understood in the negative sense of being cleansed from sin, or having evil removed from us; the Christian life is also to be understood in the positive sense of receiving a new vocation, of the new things we are to do in service to God in Christ.

The epistle (Romans 12:6f.) talks about spiritual gifts. It says that we have "gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us." God gives each believer the common gift of the Holy Spirit. But God gives each believer certain manifestations of the Holy Spirit to use in service to others. As 1 Corinthians says, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the good of all." (12:7). Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we share in the messianic ministry of Jesus. He was anointed to save Israel. We are anointed, we are given gifts of the Spirit to participate in his ministry of redemption.

We are saved in order that we may serve. Too often in our culture salvation is seen in self-centered terms, as a kind of personal insurance policy against hell, which enables us to go on living life on our own terms. When people try to "find themselves" they often engage in excessive introspection. The whole exercise becomes self-centered. But part, perhaps the essential part, of begin a child of God is that our focus shifts away from ourselves and towards God and others.

The Son of God did not remain in heaven and bask in the eternal glory of his relationship with the Father. He came down from heaven to live and die for us. So, we who have become children of God by grace, are called to serve others in him with the gifts he has given us.

Not all, or even most, of the things that God calls us to do require signing up for something at church. For example, if you have the gift of exhortation, which means to give encouragement, you should be about the business of encouraging. There is no sign-up sheet for the ministry of exhortation. Much, even most, of the ministry of the church takes place outside of the church. We gather as a body to be fed with word and sacrament, to remember that we are children of God. We then go out into the world to represent Christ to the world in our spheres of influence, to do the good works God has prepared for us to walk in.

What is begun in baptism will be completed on the day when Jesus returns in glory. Now we make gradual progress against sin. Now we grow in our sense of Christian vocation. Then we shall be holy and perfected in our service to God and others. As St. John writes, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2).