Continuing the Ministry of Jesus

Matthew 3:13-17
The Rev. Sara Fischer

This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.

Whenever I hear it, I always feel that today’s gospel is the Epiphany moment. With all due respect to the three kings following the star, today’s Gospel unveils who Jesus is, not just in relation to the one who speaks these words from above, but in relation to us.

Why was Jesus baptized? If Jesus were the Son of God, why would he ask to be baptized by John? (John the Baptist has the same question: and do you come to me?) Jesus’ identity is revealed in his baptism in two ways.

First, Jesus is named at his baptism—beloved, my Son, Son of God. So it is at our baptism that God calls us by name. Second, Jesus’ baptism reveals that Jesus is God with us, God baptized in the same water in which we are baptized. Jesus is baptized in order to join us in our baptism. When we step into the waters of baptism, we step into waters where Jesus has stepped before us.

Throughout this season of Epiphany who Jesus is, is revealed in each Sunday gospel. I hope you will listen carefully as we move through the next few weeks. This revelation—this manifestation of Jesus—reinforces our baptismal calling Sunday after Sunday.

Jesus leads us in baptism as he leads us in all things. Hence in our mission statement, we borrow language from other organizations in saying that our mission is continuing the ministry of Jesus.

Each of us has different ways of continuing the ministry of Jesus, and then there is the way we collectively continue the ministry of Jesus. This is quite simply what the church is all about. Not just St. John’s, but the Church universal, church-with-a-capital C. Continuing the ministry of Jesus means building the Kingdom of God.

As church, how do we follow Jesus? How do we continue the ministry of Jesus, begun at his baptism and at our baptism? How do we build the Kingdom of God? I guess the short answer would be that we take on the Epiphany message that we too are God’s beloved, and show forth God’s love to the rest of the world. But anyone who has ever spent much time with me knows that short answers are not my strong point.

When the Vestry met in September to review and renew our mission statement, we looked for language that reflected particular ways that St. John’s continues the ministry of Jesus. We looked at particular ministries that are not necessarily unique to St. John’s, but are important to us. We said that we continue the ministry of Jesus through invitation, affirmation, worship, and service. When we say invitation, we mean the specific ways that gospel hospitality is translated into St. John’s hospitality; and all of the ways that we strive to be even more welcoming and inclusive. When we talk about affirmation, we are saying that St. John’s is a place where you can come as you are, where your faith will find fertile ground to grow, and where your gifts are welcomed and incorporated into the life of our community. Worship is at the heart of everything we do, and is the way that we celebrate our common life in Christ, through prayer, music, and communion. When we talk about service, we talk about the particular ways that we put the teachings of Christ into practice here in this place, to meet the needs of others.

If you didn’t get all that, know that over the next few Sundays—barring unforeseen circumstances—I hope to talk more about invitation, affirmation, worship, and service.

We also incorporated into this new mission statement a vision: If who we are is an Episcopal faith community that invites, affirms, worships, and serves, what does that look like? How do we see ourselves living out that identity? Our vision is that we welcome all to God’s table, we share our blessings, and we nurture our Milwaukie community and beyond through service, hospitality, and faith formation.

My hope is that we can embrace this mission and this vision as a gospel vision, as a link between who we are as a community on this corner of downtown Milwaukie, and the good news Jesus came to proclaim.

Many of the Epiphany hymns and prayers link Jesus’ baptism and earthly ministry to his death on the cross. This week’s reading from Acts is an example. Peter starts out talking about the message of Jesus being all about peace, good deeds, and healing, and then quickly jumps to the cross. Jesus’ baptism marks the beginning of his public ministry, the public ministry that takes him to the cross. The cross always casts a shadow over the brightness of the Epiphany star. It does not blot out the light, but rather casts a shadow the way a telephone pole might….The cross is part of who Jesus is and part of our call to follow. Without the cross, Jesus is just a really great guy, and we are secular humanists. It is only with the cross that God’s great love for us is fully revealed.

So what does this mean for us? What does the love of God expressed by Jesus on the cross mean for us who strive to continue the ministry of Jesus? During this season of light, we are reminded that God’s love is present in suffering and in darkness. God loves us and calls us, whoever we are and wherever we are.

When we follow Jesus, through the waters of baptism and all the way to the cross, we become willing to love fully and completely, to see ourselves as God’s beloved and to see others—all others—as God’s beloved. The cross and the resurrection are about the intensity of God’s love for us. We are all God’s beloved, in whom God is well pleased. At the baptism of Jesus, Jesus is marked as God’s own forever, just as at our baptisms we are marked as Christ’s own forever, claimed by God and loved by God as God’s ministers in the world.