Last Sunday was Epiphany Sunday, the Sunday on which we remember that Jesus was revealed to the Magi, to Gentiles as the promised Savior. This Sunday we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. We move very quickly from the earliest years to the beginning of his ministry at the age of thirty. Now, let me ask you something? Have you ever wondered- why was Jesus baptized? Doesn’t it seem strange to you that he would do this? Consider for a moment the meaning of baptism. In my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, the minister will state the following, or something similar to it, prior to the baptism of an adult convert or the child of believing parents:

"Baptism is a sacrament ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a sign and seal of the inclusion of the person who is baptized in the covenant of grace. Teaching that we and our children are conceived and born in sin, it witnesses and seals unto us the remission of sins and the bestowal of all the gifts of salvation through union with Christ. Baptism with water signifies and seals cleansing from sin by the blood and spirit of Christ."

Now, I know that is a mouthful, but the main points are clear. Baptism is connected with the fact that we are sinful. We need forgiveness. We come to Christ to receive that forgiveness and baptism is the sacrament that signifies and seals that forgiveness. But what does any of that have to do with Jesus and his baptism? He had no sin, and therefore no need for forgiveness. He receives none of the gifts of salvation, for he is himself the bestower of those gifts. If none of the reasons why we are baptized apply, why then was Jesus baptized?

I think we can answer that question, but before we do, I want to take you in another direction. We’ll get to back to the question, but we will do so in a round-about way. Joan and I just got back from leave. We took about ten days, drove about 3000 miles, and visited my family in North Carolina and her family in Philadelphia. My father is not doing well and we wanted to get the grandchildren there to see him one more time. While in North Carolina, we joined with my brother and his wife for a New Year’s Eve party. I know that comes as a great shock to many of you. I think we can all imagine Chaplain Mike turning into a party animal, wearing a party hat and spinning a noise maker. But me? Now that’s a real stretch!

Let me make a confession to you. The first ten years we were married, Joan and I celebrated New year’s by sitting at home, watching Dick Clark’s rocking New Year and waiting for that silly ball to drop- a singularly boring enterprise. This was especially painful for Joan, the extrovert half of this couple. Then two years ago my brother invited us to join him for a party at the Hilton. Joan, being the low-key, low pressure type she is, gave me the option of going to the party or being beat senseless. We went. This year, we drove into Chapel Hill to the Omni Europa. There we feasted on a buffet dinner, danced to the music of the Alan McDonald band, and brought in the New Year in a manner most out of character for me! The highlight of the evening was the big guy who walked onto the stage, grabbed a microphone and informed the whole crowd that he knew all the words to "Wild Thing." The little fellow on the bass guitar considered his options, and then wisely decided to strike a chord and let this guy sing.

It is the burden of the introvert to be reflective, so even as I joined in with the merry-makers, I also pondered the deeper questions about what was taking place around me. What is there about New Year’s that makes people want to celebrate? No doubt, the tenderloin of beef was an attraction, and the chilled jumbo shrimp and crab claws had their fans as well. The band was not all that bad, and the dancing was a lot of fun. Most ladies like to dress up occasionally, to put on the sequins and sparkle- and there was a lot of sparkling New Year’s Eve.

But there was something more basic at work here. There was something about the NEWNESS of New Year’s that beckoned to us. Frankly, we have all taken the last year and worn it out. And, truthfully, much of what we did last year was a mess. 1994 for most of us was a year not only of victories, but defeats; a year not only of accomplishments, but failures. 1995, however, looms before us untainted with failure. There are no blemishes on 1995, so we look forward to this new year- a year of new opportunities and fresh starts.

That’s what is behind all those silly resolutions. We remember 1994 and the things we didn’t do. Remember those last few pounds you didn’t shed? the letter you owed your best friend and never got around to writing? Remember the places you didn’t visit, the shelves you never reorganized, the antique you failed to refinish, the leave you were going to take and never did? Well, now we have a brand new year and you can start all over again- You have a clean slate and there are no strikes against you! So, we all sit down and write resolutions to amend our behavior, and then march boldly off into the newness that is 1995.

There is something about the human spirit that cries out for renewal. Ever since the fall, we have been under the curse of sin. Sin brings with it ruin and destruction. Ultimately sin brings death. No wonder we seek to find some avenue for renewal, some method by which we can stop the headlong rush into oblivion. In the midst of creeping death we seek to affirm life and we do so by a raucous celebration, burying that which is past and grasping for that which is not yet come. Yet, the sad truth is, the same people will be back next year once more trying to bury the failures of the past and reach for the possibilities of the future. This yearly bacchanalia demonstrates the undeniable need of the human heart for renewal. It also teaches us that our own efforts, ultimately, leave us empty and unfulfilled.

Perhaps you are thinking to yourself, maybe the chaplain partied a little too hard on New Year’s Eve. What does any of this have to do with the baptism of Jesus? Well, it has everything to do with the baptism of Jesus. Now we noted at the very beginning the peculiar fact that Jesus was baptized. We also noted that none of the reasons we are baptized seem to apply to Jesus. Indeed, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized, but the Baptist hesitated to baptize Jesus. Then Jesus told him "it is necessary to fulfill all righteousness"- and so John baptized Jesus.

You see, as T.F. Torrance, a Scottish Presbyterian puts it, "in humbling himself to receive the baptism unto repentance, Jesus identified himself with sinners in obedience to the Father’s will that he should make righteousness available for the many." Jesus linked his baptism in the Jordan with his death on the cross and interpreted his entire life and ministry in terms of a baptism. When the disciples asked to sit at his right hand and his left hand, Jesus asked if they could undergo the baptism with which he would be baptized. You see, Jesus was Immanuel- God with us. As God, he also became man. "He received the baptism meant for sinners. In our human nature he received the divine judgment upon sin; in our human nature he made atonement, and in our human nature he rose again from the dead." That is what we mean by our sermon title, Christus pro nobis means, Christ for us!

For Jesus, baptism meant that he was consecrated as the Messiah, and that he, the Righteous One, became one with us, taking upon himself our unrighteousness, that his righteousness might become ours. For us, baptism means that we become one with him, sharing in his righteousness, and that we are sanctified in him as members of the people of God, brought together into one body of Christ. There is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. Christ and his Church participate in the one baptism in different ways- Christ actively and vicariously as Redeemer, the Church passively and receptively as the redeemed community. He is the agent of baptism as well as the recipient- and our baptisms have meaning only as they participate in his vicarious baptism for the people of God.

For us, there is a real newness that comes in our baptism. Titus 3:5 reminds us "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior." The truth is that Jesus Christ does for us something that we cannot do for ourselves, He brings about genuine renewal. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. All the old things have passed away, all things have become new." You see, it is not Susan Powter with her "Stop the Insanity Program" that brings about renewal. You do not find newness of life in a Soloflex Machine or a Popeil Pasta Maker. You cannot even find newness of life in that once a year bacchanalia we call New Year’s Eve. The only way to put the past behind you and set out with a clean slate is through Jesus Christ.

That is the significance of baptism for us. He truly had no need for baptism. But as our representative, as the one who took upon himself our nature, he offered up himself in true repentance and faith to be baptized for us. It is this and this alone that makes your half-hearted repentance, your doubting faith, and your flawed baptism have meaning. It is this that gives me the promise that all my failures are forgiven, gone, washed away. Now, you may not know everything; you may not even know the words to "Wild Thing." But you can know this, when you were baptized, that was God’s promise to you that you were his dear child, that you have entered into newness of life. That promise depends not on the depth of your faith, the consistency of your life, or the sincerity of your heart. Rather it depends upon the one who, in your stead, was baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Christus pro nobis.

There is an old Italian custom associated with New Year’s Eve. As midnight approaches, there is no traffic in the streets, no pedestrians, not even a policeman to be found. Then, at the stroke of midnight, the windows of the houses fly open. To the sound of laughter, music and fireworks, each member of the family pitches out old crockery, detested ornaments, hated furniture and a whole catalogue of personal possessions which remind them of something in the past year they are determined to wipe out of their minds.

For you who have been baptized into Jesus Christ, this day, remembering the baptism of Jesus, is a day of joy and laughter. For the promise that Christ has been baptized is the promise that you have been forgiven for his sake. So, open wide the windows of your hearts. Toss out your doubts and fears; throw away those petty sins that keep you from walking in newness of life. Join in the laughter and joy that says this one baptism is not what we do, or what the Church does for us, but "what God has already done in Christ, and through His Spirit, continues to do in us and to us!" Christus pro nobis. Amen.

Preached at the Main Post Chapel, Protestant Service, Fort Riley, Kansas