Baptism of the Lord Sunday!
Prayer
Isaiah
63:7-9
1st Movement:
We have just
finished up the Christmas Season of the Christian Church year. The Christmas season, recalls the birth of
Christ through the Wisemen coming a few years later. Today is Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Baptism of the Lord jumps ahead and recalls
Christ’s baptism and the start of His ministry.
It is also a time of remembering our baptism, remembering what it means,
reflecting on our journey with God thus far, and recommitting our lives to draw
closer! We are also at a place in our
secular calendar where we are starting a new year. With that, we look back to the past year and
reflect on what has happened. Our text
from 3rd Isaiah fits into that mind set today.
2nd Movement:
Our text today
falls in a part of the book of Isaiah that Bible scholars call 3rd
Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66). 2nd
Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55) had been full of hope and promise while the people were
in Exile. One such passage is, AI will turn the darkness before them
into light.@ (Isa.
42:16b) In 3rd Isaiah, some have returned to their homeland, but
they haven=t found
fulfilled all of the promises of 2nd Isaiah. In regard to the darkness/light passage found
in 2nd Isaiah, in 3rd Isaiah the people lament, AWe wait for light, and lo! There is
darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.@
(Isa. 59:9b) So there is a state of
disappointment in 3rd Isaiah, a sense of prophecy unfulfilled. The purpose of prophecy is always to bring
the people to repentance and such is the case here. The prophet is trying to bring them to a
place of not blaming God but realizing their own needs for repentance, so the
prophet starts this section of scripture with our text for today. The prophet says, AI will recount the gracious deeds of the
Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done
for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them
according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.@
Isaiah says remember all that the Lord has done for us, remember all the
praiseworthy acts, remember the great favor God has shown us, remember God=s mercy, and mostly, remember the
abundance of God=s
steadfast love! Isaiah quotes God as
saying, ASurely they are my people, children who
will not deal falsely,@
but the people know they have failed God: they have dealt falsely! Still, God became their Asavior in all their distress.@
Then the real clincher for this passage is that it wasn=t a messenger or an angel that did all
of this, but it was God=s
presence with them that did all of this!
God was faithful! God hadn=t let them down!
3rd Movement:
What about
us? As we remember God=s mercy, what do we recall? God has helped some of us through times of
loss. God has helped some of us through
sickness or is helping us in times of sickness.
God has helped some of us experience Spiritual growth. God has helped others of us through times of
depression or sadness. God has helped
some of us start new directions in our lives, maybe to college or to a new
job. God has provided for
necessities! God has given us
shelter! God has provided our
needs! God has provided our church with
growth: baptisms, professions of faith, and membership! God has provided new people to do some of the
ministries in the church! God has sent
Christ: God has come to be with us! AFor he shall be called Emmanuel, which
means, >God
with us.=@ God has claimed us in our baptisms! God has been with us throughout our
lives! God has been faithful! God=s
steadfast love has endured throughout our lives, including the past year! What about us? Have we expressed our thanks for God=s provisions this year and throughout
our lives: for God=s
steadfast love? Have we always been
found faithful? What will we do about it
today? What will we do about it this next year?
Where will we go from here? Are
we dissatisfied with what God is doing in our lives? Then, there is no need to look any further,
the problem is not with God. God is
faithful! Isaiah writes to bring the
people to repentance. Do you need to
repent this morning?
As we encounter
Christ at the table, maybe you want to repent and come to Christ for the first
time; you can do that as you come this morning.
If you do make that first time commitment, let me know so I can help you
with your walk with Christ, and if you have never been baptized, we can talk
about your baptism. For all of us, maybe,
as you have reflected, you have found some things you need to put behind or
repent of and start out anew in this new year? You can do that as you encounter Christ at the
table!
After communion,
we will have a Congregational reaffirmation of baptism. This is not a baptism. For us who have been baptized, it is a
remembering of God’s faithfulness throughout our lives. It is remembering we are claimed by God! It is a reminder of our vows to God and the
church and a renewal of those vows as we begin a new year! It is a chance to say thanks to God who has
always been faithful, so, as we have a Congregational reaffirmation of Baptism
on this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, I invite you to pray a prayer of thanks and
rededication. I can=t think of a better way to start out
the new year!
Prayer
of Confession
Service
of Communion
Congregational
Reaffirmation of Baptism
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