When you were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, God had a message for you. God said to you, "You are my own beloved child. You are worth the death of my Son. You are my own precious creation, with which I am well-pleased" (Gen. 1:31). And with that, God called you into ministry. And God called you into a life of prayer, through which you would be anointed with the Spirit and empowered for battles with evil and for ministry in the world.

No - this message has not been delivered to you by mistake. God's message is the same for every person whom God has made his own in baptism. "You are worth the death of God's Son, and you are called and empowered for ministry by the Holy Spirit." We know this, at least in part, because the baptism of Jesus teaches us something about our own baptism.

Of course, when Jesus was baptized, it was not because his sins needed to be forgiven. Rather, Jesus was baptized in order to identify fully with "all the people" who were also being baptized (Lk. 3:21). Jesus was going to share the human experience in every way except for sin, and his baptism was a part of that sharing. Since Jesus is, indeed, a model for the godly life, we learn from his baptism about the need for and the value of prayer, about the need to be anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and about the place of baptism in preparing us for our battles with evil and for the work of ministry in the world.

First of all, as with Jesus, baptism gives us our identity as children of God who have been covered over with the righteousness of Christ and who share in both his death and resurrection. It is just as our service for Holy Baptism says: "We are born children of a fallen humanity; in the waters of Baptism we are reborn children of God and inheritors of eternal life" (LBW, p.121). Obviously Jesus' identity is somewhat different from ours - after all, he is the Son of God! However, this identity is confirmed and made clear at his baptism. In our case, it is an identity that is given to us at baptism, where we are reborn - born again - as children of God.

At the same time, Jesus' baptism reminds us of the importance and the power of prayer. Did you notice that it is while Jesus is praying that the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends on him like a dove? Actually, this is a theme throughout the whole gospel of Luke - Jesus is always spending time in prayer, which leads his disciples to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray (Lk. 11:1). It is prayer that seems to be key in the coming of the Holy Spirit, too. In the reading that we heard today from Acts, Peter and John pray for the people in Samaria and lay their hands on them (8:14-17 ). In this way, these people receive the Holy Spirit following their baptism.

It is no accident that we do the same thing as part of our baptism service. The laying on of hands and the prayer for the Holy Spirit is a part of every baptism, and is repeated when somebody affirms their baptism, as well as when somebody is ordained. It is hoped that with each prayer the power of the Spirit becomes more and more evident in that person's life. However, the same thing is also true with our own personal prayer life. The more time that we spend in prayer, opening ourselves up to the power of the Holy Spirit, the more likely it is that the same Spirit will be very active in our lives, empowering us for lives of ministry and service.

Now, once again you might be thinking that the power of the Spirit is only for some people, and maybe not for everybody who believes in Jesus Christ. However, the prophet Joel makes it clear that God is not particularly exclusive in pouring out the Holy Spirit. Through Joel, God says:

Hands up, anybody here who is not part of "all flesh"! Even male and female slaves will be included! The Holy Spirit is not just for certain people who are called to special service. Rather, the Holy Spirit is for all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, for we are baptized, not just by water, but by water and the Spirit (Jn. 3:5). And the Holy Spirit is given to us for a reason !

Once again, we can learn from the baptism of Jesus. For Jesus, the descent of the Spirit was both an anointing and an empowering for his earthly ministry. We know this because of the verses and chapters that follow in the gospel of Luke. Now, although an anointing might sound pretty scary to you, it actually just means being set apart for a particular kind of service. In Jesus' case, we find out in Luke 4 what his particular ministry is going to be. For, in Luke 4, Jesus walks into the synagogue at Nazareth, opens up the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and reads the following verses:

Then Jesus tells the people that these verses have just been fulfilled as they have heard them. These verses are talking about Jesus.

We also are anointed with the Holy Spirit, but obviously not as the Messiah and the Saviour of all people as Jesus was! Instead, we are set apart for service, for all those who belong to Jesus Christ live in imitation of his life of service. Remember the new commandment that Jesus gave? - "Love one another as I have loved you" (Jn. 15:12 ). We are called and anointed to follow Jesus, living in the covenant that God has made with us in our Baptism.

In case you might have forgotten, exactly what this means is spelled out in the service for Affirmation of Baptism. Here is what we are called to do:

Sounds easy, right? Not! And yet, every person who is confirmed says "yes" to these things, and then asks God for help and guidance.

In fact, God gives more than this. God gives the Holy Spirit! For it is only through the Holy Spirit that we are able to do all of these things. And it is also the Holy Spirit who empowers us in our battles with evil. Once again, we learn this from Jesus' baptism, as he is led out into the wilderness soon afterwards in order to be tempted by the devil. We are told that Jesus is "full of the Holy Spirit" at the time (Lk. 4:1), and that afterwards when he returns to Galilee he is still "filled with the power of the Spirit" (Lk. 4:14 ). Obviously the power of the Spirit is of the utmost importance in giving Jesus the ability to withstand the devil's temptations, and the power of that same Spirit is just as important for us when evil starts to creep into our lives.

The good news is that we are not left as orphans, with a God who is way out there somewhere (cf. Jn. 14:18 ). Instead, we have a God who came to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ and who continues now to be present both within us and among us through the Holy Spirit. Through that same Spirit, God calls us to himself, calling us to be baptized and to believe in Jesus Christ. Through the power of prayer, God anoints us with the Holy Spirit, empowering us for our battles with evil and for ministry in our world. This is what it means to live as a believer in Jesus Christ. This is what it means to have hope - not only for this life but for the life to come. This is what it means to be a baptized child of God. Thanks be to God for this gift of new life which is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.

The Baptism of Our Lord (C) Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 January 11, 2004 Acts 8:14-17 St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church

? 2004 Lynn Hutchison All Rights Reserved