Isaiah 42:1-9 Acts 10:34-43 Matthew 3:13-17 Psalm 29

All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.  [Acts 10:43]

My friend who died recently had a treasured and fascinating nativity scene collection.  On her mantle above her living room fireplace each Christmas, centered around the tiny creche, was an ever-growing menagerie of animals.  There were sheep and cattle and a donkey as we would expect, but gathered there in addition to these traditional animals were tiny replicas of a giraffe and an elephant and a pig to name a few.  These were souvenirs of years of travel around the world.  It seemed that every imaginable animal was represented there – all gathered with the shepherds and wise men to pay homage to the newborn baby Jesus.  Even a warthog – surely one of the ugliest and most humble of animals with the most unpleasant name; a warthog has nearly no neck and has to kneel on its front legs in order to root for food on the ground.  Nevertheless, the warthog was gathered there to pay homage along with his more physically appealing fellow creatures from all over the world.

In our first lesson for this day on which we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord and our own baptisms through which we are marked as Christ’s own forever, the prophet Isaiah is speaking the words of God to the people of Israel.  By this time in the 8^th century BC, God’s people had been scattered for decades, exiled in Babylon (modern day Iraq), forever a war-torn area of the world.  The forty-second chapter of Isaiah is the beginning of what scholars have labeled “The First Servant Song.”  The identity of the “servant” is left to speculation as to whether it is a nation or an individual or both.  Regardless this identity, the message is indisputable; it is a message affirming the promise of hopefulness and comfort that this servant will bring to the exiled people of God.

Isaiah speaks, [vv. 1, 6-7]

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights…

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.

This servant will open the eyes that are blind; through this servant God will gather to him, bringing into the light, those imprisoned in darkness.  The Lord has called this servant to be a light to all nations, guiding them home.  From wherever we or they may be, God will gather us and bring us home.

Peter echoes this message in his speech to the Apostles in these early years following the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.  The earthly mission and ministry of Jesus Christ is now laid upon these apostles to carry forward as Jesus had commanded – to preach and to testify that Jesus Christ was ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead – and, that through faith in Jesus Christ, all are forgiven of sins.  Through him, all that are blind are taken by the hand, out of the dark dungeons of hopelessness; through him, they are gathered into his light – no partiality; everyone who recognizes God’s authority (expressed here by the word “fear,” which tends to mislead us); everyone who desires righteousness is acceptable to God.  Peter preached this message to the earliest apostles.  We, now, are the apostles who are to hear and heed.

As Jesus was baptized, so we, too, are baptized.  As baptized believers, in covenant with Jesus Christ, [BCP p. 304-5] we proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; we seek and serve Christ in all persons; we strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.  We will renew these promises of serving Christ in all persons and respecting the dignity of all people as we renew our Baptismal Covenant in a few short moments from now.

Our Gospel lesson account of the baptism of Jesus best affirms the gathering of all people to God.  Prior to our verses assigned for today’s Gospel reading, we read in verses 5-6:  The people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him [JTB], and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him.  – “All Judea and all the region along the Jordan;” through baptism, all were gathered into the light of Jesus Christ.

Then, we read, Jesus, himself, came to be baptized by John.  As Jesus was baptized, scripture tells us that the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him [v. 16].  From this description, we sense the surge of self-understanding and certainty that comes to Jesus at this moment.

There are far too many who have not heard with certainty the message of the Good News that gathers us all within the light of Christ.  There are far too many who remain willingly blind to the message.  And, worst of all, there are far too many for whom the message has been distorted – far too many who have been forced into exile by the Church’s obsession with an elitist distorted message.  These are the “dones,” those in most need of hearing from us the hopefulness of Isaiah’s prophecy and the insistence of Peter’s proclamation.  To these especially, we are called to exemplify the self-understanding of being marked as Christ’s own forever in our baptism and the certainty of the presence of the Holy Trinity through which we are all taken by the hand and restored to God’s keeping, gathered from the prison of darkness into the light of Jesus Christ.

We are all warthogs at one time or another – snorting and rooting and unpleasant in appearance.  And, yet, in my late friend’s scene of the nativity, we cannot help but acknowledge that it is the warthog who is kneeling before the Christ Child – gathered into the kingdom amongst the menagerie of all creation.  All believing; all forgiven of sins; all taken by the hand of God and gathered into the light of his presence; all marked as Christ’s own forever.     Amen