The Yoke of Baptism | July 9, 2023 Sermon

This was a very special service for me, as I got to baptize Jonah, my two month old son! We had a previously scheduled joint worship service in the park with both of the congregations I serve, so this was the perfect day to welcome Jonah into the Body of Christ. 

The Scripture readings for this service are Romans 7:15-25a, Psalm 145:8-14, and Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30. I’m grateful to Pr. Kjersten Sullivan for her reflection in the ELCA World Hunger Sermon Starters email.

No audio or video since we were outside in the park this week.

Grace to you and peace from the One who was, who is, and who is to come, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

I’m going to start today with a quick confession. Most of you know I’ve had some time away for a while—this is my second week back after parental leave—and it’s been quite the week for Christ the King with Bob’s funeral on Friday, and then for my family with my Grandfather’s funeral yesterday.

We’re having this celebratory joint outdoor service, along with Jonah’s baptism, and so I have made the executive pastoral decision to skip today’s assigned first lesson from Genesis, because I don’t want to unpack the story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. I’m sorry, but it’s just not the tone we’re going for today. You can read it on your own at home and maybe we’ll dig into it in three years when it comes up again.

Instead, this morning, we’re going to focus on the theme of baptism, and especially the difference being baptized makes in our lives.

On a basic level, baptism means two things. First, baptism means belonging to Christ, being adopted into God’s family, finding your identity as God’s beloved child. And second, baptism is about being welcomed into the church, into the body of Christ as part of the Christian community.

Now, I really want to tell you that being baptized washes you clean from sin and once you’re baptized, you are raised to new life, and everything changes! And in some sense, that’s true. Baptism is important, and it does make a difference.

But baptism is not some sort of magical solution to fix everything broken in your life. Most of you know that, because you’ve been baptized, and you still aren’t perfect. You still don’t have everything figured out (at least I don’t). And this church community isn’t perfect either.

Baptism is about identity, being claimed as God’s beloved, knowing who we are, but we are also still human and we continue to go astray, over and over and over again.

The apostle Paul puts it like this: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”

He knows what he’s supposed to do. He knows who he is as a follower of Jesus, and he wants to be faithful, he wants to do the right thing, but as hard as he tries, he keeps sinning, keeps going against God, keeps acting selfishly, rather than doing all things out of love for God and neighbor.

He says, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” And even when he does something right, there’s some self-interest in it. “When I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.” That’s true for all of us for our entire earthly lives.

Baptism declares the truth of God’s love, the truth of who we are, but even as we are saints claimed by God, members of Christ’s body, we are still sinners.

I am not naive enough to think that after Jonah’s baptism, he’s going to somehow magically be perfectly behaved, or start sleeping through the night after this.

But baptism does make a difference. As he grows up, baptism will be a moment of truth in his life for him to point to. Baptism is a moment where Jesus promises to show up. This ordinary water becomes a means of God’s grace, a channel through which Jesus claims us as God’s own beloved children.

When we find ourselves wandering lost, overwhelmed at the brokenness in the world, or frustrated by our own sinful actions, we can point back to baptism as a foundation, a marker of our identity.

Even at funerals, we point back to baptism as a moment where God promises to claim us as beloved, and we hold on to the promise that not even death can end God’s love for God’s people.

Knowing we belong to God, following Jesus gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

As you live your life as a Christian, you can ask yourself every day: Am I doing better at following Jesus today than I was yesterday? Am I more kind, more generous, more caring, more of all those fruits of the Spirit? Am I living into the life God intends for me, living out of my true identity as a baptized child of God?

Sometimes, the answer is yes. Hopefully more often than not, we do reflect God’s love. But even when we do our best, no matter how hard we try, there are times when we fall short. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Paul wrestles with this until finally, in desperation, he cries out, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

How do I get out of this hole I’ve dug for myself? If I can’t get my life together no matter how hard I try, how do I move into the future God promises?

And then he shares the answer he’s found, the truth he’s come to know: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Our older son Micah has recently learned about punctuation marks, and he’s been finding great joy in pointing them out in his books. Look in the bulletin and notice the punctuation at the end of the Romans reading: It ends in an exclamation point. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!!!

God has done what we can’t do! Jesus has rescued us from death, broken the chains of sin, freed us from our selfish captivity to our own sinful natures! Hallelujah!

Infant baptism is the perfect illustration of this. A two-month-old cannot decide to follow Jesus. Jonah cannot decide to get his life together and repent and turn from his sin. He can’t even reliably get his hand into his mouth.

But baptism doesn’t depend on what we do—it depends on what God does. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!!!

That’s why we’re here this morning. We are gathered here together because God has claimed us. The Holy Spirit is moving in our lives, calling us to follow Jesus, calling us to live Jesus’ way.

As baptized children of God, we are given a purpose and a mission. You and I are trusted with the message of hope for the world, a living hope found in Christ the King (see what I did there?). We are given things to do in this world.

One of the promises we make when we’re baptized—either ourselves or as parents promising on behalf of children—one of our promises is to “care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.” That’s a big promise!

But this mission, this purpose, this calling is not meant to be a burden, at least not a burden for us to carry on our own. Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

You know what a yoke is, right? It’s the thing oxen wear when they’re plowing. I think I first learned about it from the Little House on the Prairie books. If we had a screen out here, I’d show you a picture. The yoke lets the two oxen work together, sharing the weight. Together, they can pull a load that would be impossible for just one of them to move.

As God’s people, we have a lot of work to do, but we’re not doing it alone. We are stronger together. This is a picture of community, the baptized supporting one another, but it’s more than that.

Pastor Kjersten Sullivan says, “The yoke of Christ makes the work easier, by spreading the effort across a second set of shoulders. And not any second set of shoulders, but Jesus’ own shoulders.”

Jesus comes alongside us, inspiring us through the Holy Spirit, giving us strength to do the work of faith, the work of seeking justice, proclaiming peace, offering hope, spreading the good news of God’s love. Jesus’ yoke is not like the burdens the world puts on us, setting standards we can never reach, pointing to our failures, telling us we’re not good enough.

Instead—as our Psalm said, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, full of compassion.” Faithful. Gracious. Holding us up when we fall, raising up all who are bowed down.

God lifts us up when the burdens of the world drag us down. We are in this together, supporting one another as children of God.

And God is with us every step of the way, in every stage of life’s journey, giving us rest when we grow weary, rescuing us from our own sinful nature when we go astray, washing us clean and raising us to new life.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!!!