Rev Helen preached this sermon on Sunday 12 January 2025. Here it is for you again:
‘Do not fear, I have redeemed you! I have called you by name. You are mine!’. What a powerful phrase it is one of those that when you hear it sends a chill up your spine. Hearing and feeling God saying those words to you especially during times when things are a bit tough or you are genuinely nervous or afraid. I can remember when I was going off to my BAP Panell, which is a series of meeting when the Church of England decides if they will allow someone to train for ordained ministry, my boss, Ruth, gave me a card to open when I got there and that phrase was written on it and I held onto those words through a gruelling few days. It’s more than a personal relationship with God, intimate. Think of that phrase ‘I have called you by name’ that is very personal, it isn’t just a ‘Oy you I have something for you to do for me’ this is a personal summons, there is nothing more intimate than someone using your name and then at the end ‘You are mine’. It’s a beautiful thing, it really is isn’t it!
Having that intimate and personal relationship with God is something that I always really think about, not just at the baptism of Christ but any Baptism you get that feeling of an adult or a child are being brought into the fold and having a personal relationship with God. I’ve been asked a few times and it’s something I have wondered myself, what is it about Baptism that creates that personal relationship with God?
I guess one of the first questions you could ask is why are Christians baptised, having water thrown on you or being submerged in it make a commitment with God. I guess the simplest answer to all of this is the reason Christians are baptised is because Jesus was, I do worry I use that answer quite a lot when answering theological questions but that really is the case here. Jesus signalled the start of his ministry when he was baptised by John in the river Jordan and we have heard an account of what happened that day in the gospel reading. We have John the Baptist (perfect name for the job here) who baptises Jesus and as Jesus comes out of the water he is marked by God as special not only by the Holy Spirit appearing as a dove but God’s voice making that declaration from the heavens ‘This is my son with who I am well pleased’. So Jesus was baptised and after this he and his disciples started to baptise other people and it is a tradition that has continued throughout the generations and we still do it today.
There is also a baptism in todays reading from Acts, this is the early christian ministry from not long after Jesus has left. You see Peter and John baptising someone and there is something key going on here as they aren’t using water as a symbol of baptism and bringing this person into the fold they are using something else. The other thing that was present at Jesus baptism, it appeared after he came out of the water as a dove and that is the Holy Spirit. If you think about it the Holy Spirit is the third part of God’s Holy Trinity, the three representations of God’s direct intervention with humanity. The first one that created it, the second one that saved it and the third one that continues to sustain it and be with it today, keeping us on the straight and narrow. If you find the trinity complicated, just think of it like that for a moment.
There is something about this baptism with the Holy Spirit that you see in Acts because there isn’t any water there and I guess we are in a world where there are water shortages, some people don’t have access to clean, drinkable water and what they have is precious so they wouldn’t want to be throwing on someone or filling a baptism pool with it. What was really needed for the disciples to baptise is the presence of the Holy Spirit being there, God is there literally taking the person into the fold, God wanting a more personal relationship with you. I have called you by your name, you are mine!’ Being brought into God’s service by God’s own presence as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s presence is symbolised in the baptism service by Holy Oil which is put on the forehead in the sign on the cross once or twice during the service. It’s this mystical coming together of water and the Holy Spirit that make a baptism. I’ve brought with me the stole I wear for Baptisms, which was given to me by a very good friend of mine, and as you will see on one side it has the water and on the other it has the Holy Spirit the two things that bring us into the fold. The two things that marked Jesus out as special and signalled the start of his ministry, he came out of the water and the Holy Spirit descended onto him, the start of his service to God and to save humanity.
So let’s go back to that question, what is it about Baptism that brings us into the fold of Christianity. We’ll the answer that Jesus did it is defiantly part of it but there’s more going on than that here. It’s about God’s Holy Spirit claim you as one of his own, that you are now entering into a close and personal relationship with God. God being present at your baptism, making that promise to always be there and to care for you. ‘Do not be afraid I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine’ so go out and be his. Amen
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 