Sermons Online ...
Sermon: The Baptism of our Lord (A) - 9th January 2011
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping 8:30 am
Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17
We respect powerful leaders. Leaders who carry an aura of power are more likely to attract votes. This is the problem women have in politics in particular. They constantly have to project a super-tough image to retain support. Notice that as soon as Julia Gillard became Prime Minister she addressed the opposition leader with the words, “Game on, Tony.” Immediately, she was concerned to sell a tough image.
Look at the attraction to power in the NSW Liberal party. Prior to the State elections of 1999 the party was led by the moderate, Peter Collins. But he was not regarded as tough enough. So he lost the leadership to Kerry Chickarovski. Again in 2005 John Brogden was replaced by the tougher Peter Debnam. And now as we face another election, with the party led by another gentleman, Barry O’Farrell, will the party machine deem him as too soft and replace him with someone with a tougher image? I don’t want to beat up on the Liberals. The same story could be told of the Labor Party where they’ve had to install a revolving door on the office of Premier.
Each side wants to present the image of toughness and strength. The person of moderation seems to have no place. Many of our radio presenters push this idea. They constantly promote the idea we are in a crisis. It seems like there’s a new crisis each week. And the only solution is a tough government with a tough leader who can fix the problems.
This was the same message preached by John the Baptist 2000 years ago. He announced that the Messiah was coming and he was going to be tough. His message was “Repent!” Because when the Messiah comes his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. This Messiah will come with judgment and with fire. So the crowds were expected to line up for their baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming of this tough Messiah.
But then the story takes a strange twist. John looks down the line of the penitents and finds Jesus standing among the crowd. Surely this is all wrong! Jesus seems to be identifying with these penitents rather than coming in all guns blazing ready to begin his judgment. Jesus presents himself as one of the people rather than as their judge. John attempted to point out that it was all back-to-front. Jesus is one who should be doing the baptizing, not John. But at the very beginning of his ministry Jesus is giving us the key to understanding where he is going. He is giving us a clear sign to the direction of his ministry. John’s job was to announce Jesus’ coming. But he didn’t understand what it was Jesus would do when he came. And what Jesus did was nothing like what John had expected.
We get the same message from our reading in Isaiah 42. Those who put the lectionary together very wisely included both Isaiah 42 with Matthew 3 on this Sunday. Isaiah 42 is one of the servant songs in this prophecy. They have long been regarded as a description of the Messiah. But they are also a description of the revived and renewed Israel. And the description is remarkable. Here is God’s ideal servant. He will have God’s spirit and he will bring justice to the nations. This is the special role of the Messiah.
Yet how does he behave? He doesn’t shout or cry out. His use of power is not what we are used to. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” This is one of those unique situations where he demonstrates his power by how he treats the weak and vulnerable. Then as the prophecy proceeds, it is clear that these qualities are not for just one man. They are to be the characteristics of all of Israel. God will keep his promise to Israel. He will be their God and he will keep his covenant, but they are to respond to that love by being God’s faithful people and they are to express that faithfulness in their gentleness.
Yet these blessing are not just for them. Just as God has blessed them, he wants them to be a blessing on all people everywhere. Israel is intended to be a light to the Gentiles. So often Israel looked down on their neighbours. They saw themselves as superior because they had received the promises and the blessings of God. But it was because God had blessed them that they were supposed to be a blessing to the world, a light to the Gentiles.
What God envisages is a future time of blessing for all the world – not a time of judgment. Verse 7 goes on to say that Israel’s work in the world is to open the eyes of the blind, to free the captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. Now we may wonder what all this is about. Is this about prison reform? Or is it about going around the jails and letting everyone go free. It really doesn’t mean that. Earlier in the chapter God is looking to an age of justice. His point is that those in power use that power for their own ends. They will put people in prison who don’t deserve to be there.
We have seen around the world people jailed for political reasons. Just recently we saw the release of Aung San Juu Kyi from house arrest. But in the last 20 years she has spent 15 years in some form of detention. And her only crime was to win the elections in 1990 in Burma. But there are no end of examples of the abuse of power either now or in the past. But God, who is the ruler over all, will give the world justice.
But how will he do it? John the Baptist had his idea. But Jesus took a different approach. He would be like the servant of Isaiah 42. His ministry would be exercised in gentleness and service – not in the exercise of raw power. Just a few chapters later Matthew highlights the essence of Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon we get the flavour of Jesus approach to service. So in 5:38 re read,
“You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
These are amazingly gentle words from a leader considering the world Jesus lived in. Under Roman rule, the Romans had all the rights and privileges. Roman law was a wonderful thing but only the Romans could benefit from it. Roman soldiers, in the lands they occupied, had a reputation for brutality and bullying. They felt they could behave any way they liked. They were the victors. They believed they deserved all the privileges. The natural response was to meet violence with violence, armed resistance, and this was tried many times in Israel and it resulted in the nation being wiped out in 70AD.
We can feel the same way. When others hurt us its easy to hurt back. When we are pushed we naturally want to push back. But where does this take us? We can enter into a deepening circle of violence. When I first began teaching, I taught boys who were state wards. They were a rough and difficult group. One teacher warned me. He suggested I not try being tough with these boys. He wanted me to consider the violence and brutality they had already experienced in their young lives. He said that no matter how tough I was with them, it would be nothing to the violence they had already endured. I needed another approach. I needed to think through how to work with these boys from a position of gentleness.
This was Jesus task. He came to Israel at their worst time under their worst oppression, suffering the worst of violence. He had to work out his ministry along the lines of Isaiah 42. “He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets, a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
Yet this was not the soft option. This form of leadership is the toughest of all, it is the most costly, it takes everything. Jesus gave his life as a ransom for all. The cross shows us true leadership, just as it shows us true love. And this leadership is an example for all. Israel was called to be a light to the gentiles. Jesus commanded his disciples to be the salt of the earth. But discipleship is costly, it can be painful. It demands from us the same kind of love that God has shown to us. That’s the kind of leadership we need. That is the kind of discipleship we need to live.