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Mark Wheeler
Mark 1:4-11
01/07/2024
“Bread, Bapt & Beyond – Sacraments and Worship 2”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
On the Thirteenth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me – Wait … what?! The Christmas Season does officially last 12 days – That’s December 25 thru January 6. On the Liturgical Calendar, the Church Year, we celebrate Jesus’ 8th day of life on the Sunday closest to the week after Christmas – this year that was last Sunday – when Simeon and Anna glorified God at the Temple because God had kept His promise that these two very old saints would see the Messiah before they died.
And then a week later Jesus is 30 years old, going to the Jordan River where His cousin John is Baptizing people for their faithful repentance and confession of their sin-nature. This is today’s theme. The day Jesus is Baptized in the Jordan River in His 30th year of life as God Incarnate.
Today is also our second Sunday in this between Christmas and Lenten series on Worship and Sacraments – what do we do on Sunday mornings, and why do what we do it, and how that impacts how we live every day! Bread, Bapt and Beyond!
Last week we talked about Communion – Jesus is the Bread of Life – we partake of this everlasting-life-bread every time we come to Jesus, every time we start to believe in Him.
Today we celebrate Communion and look at the Sacrament of Baptism!
Bread, Bapt and Beyond – a look at the Sacraments that demonstrate and perform the grace of God, and the worship that develops from them.
To invite us into that experience, Pastor Kathy calls us to worship from Psalm 29:
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4-6 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #157 … Good Christian Friends Rejoice –
7 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
8 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in this Sacramental Communion anthem: “Remember His Love”
9 Children’s Message
10 Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
11 Gloria Patri
12-15 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]
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17-20 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #165 – I Wonder as I Wander –
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For these next few Sundays we will be in the Gospel According to Mark – so as we begin this study here are a couple of important things to point out:
- Mark is the only Gospel that has no Christmas mention. Matthew and Luke tell the stories about the angels and the shepherds and the magi; John doesn’t really give a birth narrative, but he says that the Son of God became flesh and moved in with us. Mark does not say anything like that – Mark’s Gospel concentrates on Jesus as the Servant of God – Isaiah’s Suffering Servant prophecies – and, from that perspective – who cares about a Servant’s birthday? So he just doesn’t mention it. Instead, this Gospel begins simply with a description of the book – which is the second point;
- Mark is the only book in the Bible that announces itself as a “gospel” (Mark 1:1), “the good news, the gospel, about Jesus…” Again, there is no word in Mark about the birth or the youth of Jesus. He starts right in with this “good news” of Jesus’ Baptism as the beginning of his ministry. It is the fulfillment of the “messenger” promised by the prophet Isaiah 40:3; a promise stated again by John the Baptist’s own explanation of Jesus’ Baptism, that his Baptism was with water, but “Jesus will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8).
Let’s hear the Word of God, from Mark 1:4-11 …. —-
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4 John [the cousin of Jesus, the son of Mary’s relative Elizabeth and Zechariah] appeared, Baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being Baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have Baptized you with water, but He will Baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
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9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was Baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when He came up out of the water, immediately He saw the heavens being torn open and the [Holy] Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
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The Baptism John offers has two components — repentance and forgiveness (Mark 1:4). As John explains what took place with Jesus, he adds that Jesus’ Baptism is not only with water, but with the Holy Spirit. This is still true of Baptism today. The Baptismal liturgy marks the end of the old life (“Do you renounce your sin…? ”) and the beginning of a life lived in God’s grace and forgiveness. Then John adds a new component with the gift of the Holy Spirit, also part of our Baptism service (“ … you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit … ”).
Later on, toward the close of His ministry, Jesus Himself makes clear that Baptism leads to a new way of life. When the Apostles James and John ask to be seated next to Jesus in the life to come, Jesus points out that “the Baptism with which I am Baptized, you will be Baptized” (Mark 10:39). To be Baptized in Jesus is to follow him; to come to Him; to have the Bread of Life!
After Jesus ascended into heaven and His followers became the early Christian Church, they developed what Baptism means for us.
The process starts immediately at Pentecost, when God gives the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit to carry on this new life in Christ.
After his sermon on Pentecost, the listeners ask the Apostle Peter how they should respond, he answers with these same three components of Baptism: “Repent and be Baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
As we continue in the New Testament, our understanding of what Baptism means for us continues to unfold. It always follows faith — the faith of the person being Baptized (Acts 8:13,36), or the faith of the parents (Acts 16:15, 30-33; 18:8, 1 Corinthians 1:16).
Remembering that the Christmas celebration we just experienced points us to the death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus says in Mark 10 that in Baptism we die, as Jesus did, but we are also raised to new life, as Jesus was (Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12, Titus 3:5). This amazing truth has sustained Christians throughout the centuries.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in Germany during WWII, was led to his death, he said to one of the prison guards, “For some this is the end, but for me it is the beginning.” And there’s an old hymn that sings, “You can’t kill me, I’ve already died.”
We die in Baptism, but we rise up to new life in Christ!
Furthermore, Baptism is more than an individual act. In Baptism we become part of a people. The Apostle Paul emphasizes how “we were all Baptized into one body” (I Corinthians 12:13). Colossians 2:11-12 compares Baptism with the Old Testament rite of circumcision, by which infants were made part of the people of the Covenant.
The question about infant Baptism versus believer’s Baptism is a fundamental division among churches of the Protestant Reformation. However, both sides agree that Baptism is always done in faith — whether the faith of the person being Baptized or the faith of those who bring somebody to be Baptized. We also agree that children who have faith even before the age of their church’s Baptism rite are indeed part of God’s people because of their faith.
And as early as the late first century, or very early second century, the Church fathers told us about the Church’s growth and development of theology – a book called The Didache (a Greek word which means “Teachings” – we get words like “didactic” from this word). In The Didache there’s a section on Baptism which teaches full immersion, unless that is not amenable – then pouring or sprinkling will do; in living, flowing, water, unless that is not available – then standing, or even collected, water is OK. What is required is faith – in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God, our Lord and Savior, in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The main point of today’s text and the meaning of Jesus’ Baptism for us is that we are Baptized into something. A fundamental change takes place in Baptism, at whatever age. An adult who is Baptized after accepting faith is changed, and an infant Baptized into a family of faith will be brought up in that faith.
I have heard the argument that we don’t need to be Baptized because we are saved through faith. Baptism, this argument says, “is just a rite; it doesn’t save us.”
It is true, the criminal who died on the cross next to Jesus was never Baptized, and Jesus told him that Jesus would see him in paradise! But it’s also true that to have faith is to follow Jesus, and Jesus tells us to be Baptized, just as he was Baptized. He told his night-time visitor Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
In Baptism we become part of Christ’s body. Paul writes that “for by one Spirit we were all Baptized into one body” (I Corinthians 12:13) and that “as many of you as were Baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
In the letter to the Colossians we read “you were buried with Him in Baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:11,12).
In his last conversation with his disciples, Jesus spoke again about Baptism. He told them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
We often speak of Baptism as a “means of grace,” that is, one of the ways that God’s grace comes to us. Physically it’s only a small splash of water, or a quick dip in a pool or puddle, but it marks the beginning of a whole new life — of forgiveness, of the presence of God’s Spirit, of our union with Jesus, and our becoming part of the world-wide Christian church!
We celebrate our Baptism every time we come to Jesus – every time we believe in His name – every time we approach the Lord’s Table and partake of the Bread of Life.
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I invite our Communion servers to come forward. In our tradition – we invite anyone, of any age, and any level of faith development, everyone who has been Baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit to partake of the “feast” of the Lord’s Table – you do not have to be a member of this church or even Presbyterian. Come to Jesus. Believe in Jesus. The Bread of Life is for you.
As we prepare our hearts and souls for this ritual of Spiritual refreshment – proclaiming the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and declaring our faith in Him – announcing our Baptism – let’s sing our –
26 Communion Hymn #774 – Bread of the World in Mercy Broken!
27 Our Servers will bring you the bread and the cup – instructions for receiving and passing – and Pastor Kathy will lead us in this Sacrament of Holy Communion.
28 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.
Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
29-30 Expedition Song #297 – Spirit of the Living God!
31 Benediction:
May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
“May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”
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Announcements
- Potluck Lunch & Annual Congregational Meeting – Sunday, January 28, to receive Annual Reports, Elect new Church officers, listen for God’s call on us in 2024
- Furnace Fundraiser
Resources:
Rogness, Michael; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/Baptism-of-our-lord-2/commentary-on-mark-14-11-3.
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