For those of us who have not had a chance to hear the Invitation to the observance of a holy Lent in the Prayer Book on pages 264-265, here’s the summary: Lent is the season in which we Christians observe Jesus’ passion and resurrection by penance and fasting. It is also the season of preparation for baptism or renewal of baptismal vows. There are two things at stake: Observing Jesus’ passion and resurrection and preparing ourselves for baptism or renewal of baptismal vows. These are not two separate matters. These are one. The foundation of our baptism lies in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In baptism, we die with Christ and rise with Christ. In baptism, we participate in Jesus’ death and resurrection. In this paschal mystery of Jesus, we Christians are never bystanders, but active participants.
Baptism has a lot to do with water. One is immersed in water. This symbolizes purification of self, and most essentially death of the whole being. Throughout the entire Bible, Old and New, water plays a role of washing away or purifying or sanctifying something. In the first lesson from the Book of Genesis, for example, we hear the story of Noah. The deadly flood apparently washed out the entire world. Only Noah’s family and pairs of animals that were considered ‘clean’ (meaning those that were acceptable for sacrifice) survived. That deadly rain lasted for 150 days. And Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, total 8 people were in the ark for about 370 days. All those outside the ark physically died. Noah and his family in a way faced their own death, though not a physical one but rather a spiritual one. Imagine being stuck in the ark for more than a year, not knowing what was really going on outside, or knowing for sure that the flood would wipe out the entire earth. St. Peter in our second lesson for today says Noah’s story foreshadows baptism. So, being immersed in water symbolizes death. It is saying goodbye to one’s old life that is filled with fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, pride, and hatred. Yet, this death is not the end of the story. Rising above water follows one’s rebirth. It is a new way of living. After Noah finally got out of the ark, God established the everlasting covenant that God will “never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Not only Noah and his family were about to begin their new life on earth but also God himself was about to begin anew with the covenant He established with all living creatures. In a way, during those 370 days, God himself was very much immersed in the water and was risen again. In today’s gospel lesson, we hear about the baptism of Jesus. Jesus’ baptism embodies God’s death and resurrection in the story of Noah. Jesus who doesn’t have to be baptized because of his sinlessness freely asks John the baptizer to baptize him. Jesus immerses himself into the Jordan river, which symbolically anticipates his death on the cross. And as he rises above the water, we hear the witness that tells us “the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven,‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” This voice from heaven brings us back to this past Sunday’s gospel lesson in which Jesus is transfigured and that same voice from heaven says, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him!” This voice from heaven, the voice of God the Father, foreshadows the resurrected Jesus who is also the transfigured one. It is quite interesting that the gospel lesson for the Last Sunday after Epiphany that is the last Sunday before Lent is about the transfiguration of Jesus as if we’re going to forget that Lent is the journey to the transfigured Jesus who is also the resurrected one. Jesus freely obeys the will of God for the sake of the world and drinks the cup of suffering, which is for us the cup of salvation as Jesus immerses himself into the Jordan river. His immersion into the Jordan river anticipates his suffering with those who are suffering. Upon his obedient free will of accepting God’s will for the life of the world, he is declared “the Beloved Son.” With Jesus, God is well pleased. And into this baptism of Jesus, we have been baptized. What do we take away from this nature of Jesus’ baptism in which we baptized? We follow the steps of Jesus. We walk with him. During Ash Wednesday Mass, there’s another phrase when ashes are imposed in the forehead other than, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” That is, “Believe in Jesus and follow him.” Lent not only urges us to remember our mortality but also renews our baptismal vows which we made in order to follow Jesus. We seek the face of Jesus who suffers with those who are suffering. We cry with those who are crying. We sit patiently, non-judgmentally, courageously with empathy with those who feel helpless and powerless. Rather than talking, we listen to them. Rather than giving them advice, we realistically reach out. This is how we Christians fast our meals of selfishness, indifference to our neighbors, or cynicism. This is how we pray for those in agony. This is how we give alms to those in need. And we can certainly do this because we are God’s beloved sons and daughters. We don’t do this to be loved. We do this because we’re loved. And we so often forget about our baptized reality in which we’re God’s beloved. We forget that we’re being unconditionally loved. We might not even remember the last time we actually felt loved or loving for many different reasons. We might not even feel like we’re being loved because no one around us hasn’t told us so. I think this forgetfulness of being loved by God is the biggest temptation that Jesus might have encountered. Immediately after Jesus is baptized, that is right after he hears the voice from heaven that “You are my Son, the Beloved” the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. We know that Jesus is tempted by Satan for religious, political, and economic powers which he resists. This is the wilderness that lures Jesus to believe that he’s no longer loved by God and that he must have power to be loved by the world. What compels him to refuse all those temptations, however, is the love that he receives from God. Love wins it all. Psalm 25:6b which we recited today says “Remember me according to your love.” We remember ourselves according to the love of God in Christ. As we observe Lent this year, we celebrate and remember that we’re loved. That we’re declared God’s beloved in our baptism can never be taken away. In this world that tells us we’re never good enough, that we don’t deserve to be loved if we’re not being useful or productive, let’s resist the biggest temptation that tells us we’re not loved or we can be loved only if we meet certain conditions or expectations. We are called to remember that we’re loved. We are called to remind each other of God’s love. We are called to show others that they’re also loved and tell the good news that they too are God’s sons and daughters, the Beloveds. We’re baptized into Jesus’ baptism to be the voice in the wilderness to proclaim God’s unconditional love to the world that proclaims a conditional love. During this Lenten season, may we boldly express our love for God and our neighbors. May we dare to start our godly protest against the world of violence and money that speaks, “This is your gun, the beloved; purchase it and shoot as you wish.” with the good news of Jesus, “You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.” In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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