“Heaven Opened” Colchester Federated Church, January 12, 2025, Baptism of the Lord (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22)

When I was a seminarian at Andover Newton, it was a big deal when I helped perform a baptism.  The church I served as a student minister in Wellesley, Massachusetts had a thousand members and five ministers on staff.  Every Sunday there were hundreds of people who attended this stone church that looks like a castle.  Every Sunday there was a grand processional down the center aisle during the opening hymn with the 30 plus member choir led by young acolytes and a crucifier bearing a golden cross.  At the time, the five ministers came forward to the chancel at the end of the processional and whoever was preaching that particular Sunday came in last.  It’s a church that appreciates pomp and circumstance—all the smells and bells of formal worship.  This is a UCC congregation that does that particular worship style well, and it is beautiful.

So keep this picture in mind because one Sunday there was a baptism.  The Senior Minister came forward with me (the lowly seminarian), and we’re going through the liturgy with the family to baptize an infant of the church.  And the baby was not having it—he was restless in his mother’s arms and on the verge of a meltdown.  Meanwhile, we were just trying to get through the theological statements and questions as well (and as quickly) as we could.  There’s a question that gets asked of the parents of the child being baptized in our UCC baptismal liturgy that goes, “Will you encourage this child to renounce the powers of evil and to receive the freedom of new life in Christ?”[1]  Somehow our Senior Minister misread that question and accidently asked, “Will you renounce this child?”  Then he stopped.  I looked at him wide-eyed (this was my first ever baptism as a student minister) and he looked over at the parents of the baby.  There was all this tension in the air.  And the mother of the fussy baby about to be baptized (without flinching!) answered her Pastor asking, “Will you renounce this child?” by saying, “Well, today I do.”  The entire congregation erupted in laughter, and it took all of us time to get composed and continue on with the liturgy to baptize that beloved child of God.

In our congregation here at Colchester Federated Church we have endearing stories about baptisms.  Perhaps especially the baptisms that take place in the Salmon River.  We have the American Baptists in our congregation to thank for having full immersion river baptisms as part of our tradition.  Some years it has been so cold for our river baptisms (that usually occur in May when it comes to our Discipleship Classes) that we’ve seen our breath in the air.  Yet in we go to the icy waters to baptize beloved children of God anyway.  It’s our CFC version of a Polar Bear Plunge!  The pictures that often get taken of our Discipleship youth coming up out of the water are sometimes quite a sight to behold. 

Just walking into the Salmon River is challenging with the slick and uneven rocks at the bottom plus the current that sometimes keeps the water moving faster than you might realize.  There was one baptism of an adult where we walked into the water and I lost my balance on those slick rocks and was about to fall completely into the river.  Our baptismal candidate reached out to grab my arm before I faceplanted, and we joked about who was baptizing whom anyway?  Sometimes there are truly amazing things that happen during our river baptisms because we are in God’s beautiful creation.  The Salmon River State Forest is gorgeous after all!  Some of us fondly remember when a bald eagle flew right past us as we were gathered on the banks of the river.  Because who needs to see a dove when we have bald eagles? 

Today is Baptism of the Lord, which is often celebrated on the second Sunday in January (after Epiphany has been celebrated).  On this day, we remember Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan River.  On this day, we also remember our own baptisms or the baptisms of those we love.  Or perhaps we haven’t been baptized yet, and we use Baptism of the Lord in the liturgical calendar to look forward to our baptisms with hopeful anticipation. 

Whatever the case may be, we can all remember and give thanks for the unforgettable moment of Jesus’ baptism when heaven was opened.  The Holy Spirit came down on Jesus in bodily form like a dove.  In the Gospel according to Luke we hear that there was a voice from heaven and the proclamation, “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”[2]  Another translation of this moment comes from The First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament.  That lovely version of our sacred story goes, “A voice from the spirit-world above spoke like distant thunder, ‘You are my much-loved Son who makes my heart glad!’”[3]

God found happiness in Jesus.  Jesus made God’s heart glad.  Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist marks the beginning of his public ministry.  It signifies the moment Jesus shows his full commitment to God and to the ministry before him.  Jesus shows his willingness to preach and teach, to heal and be present with those on the margins, embodying God’s compassion.  In some ways, all of what’s to come in Jesus’ ministry begins in the waters of baptism with his cousin John the Baptist.  This is one reason that we hold baptism to be so sacred in our Christian tradition.  Baptism is something that Jesus himself experienced, and that is something that we can celebrate today. 

Truth be told the baptisms that we experience may not be as dramatic as John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River.  When I reflect back on that first baptism I ever helped perform, I am so thankful that there was a moment of levity.  That moment was all the more powerful given the high church formality of that particular congregation.  Because sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves that these moments in congregational life have to be perfect.  But we are not perfect, and life is not perfect.  And sometimes God may just use the imperfect moments to connect us all the more to one another. 

Because sometimes babies are fussy.  Sometimes we fumble our words.  Sometimes the water is freezing cold.  Sometimes we almost fall into the river (or we do fall into the river).  Yet, beloved children of God get baptized and welcomed into the faith and family of Jesus Christ anyway.  Sometimes those seemingly imperfect human moments make baptism all the more tender.  It will not always be as dramatic as heaven opening and a dove descending and hearing God proclaim that God dearly loves us or finds happiness in us or that we make God’s heart glad. 

Though whenever and wherever a beloved child of God is baptized that person becomes part of a tradition that was there long before they were born and will be there long after they have taken their last breath on this good earth.  From the beginning of the Christian faith, baptism has been an important symbolic action to usher in new life for the one baptized with water and the Holy Spirit. 

As we hear whenever a beloved child of God is baptized:

  • Baptism is an outward and visible sign of the love of God. 
  • Baptism with water and the Holy Spirit is the mark of a person’s acceptance into the care of Christ’s church.
  • Baptism is the sign and seal of a person’s participation in God’s grace and forgiveness, and the beginning of their growth into full Christian faith and discipleship. 

          Thanks be to God for those sacred moments when we are named and claimed as God’s own.  Amen.

[1] United Church of Christ Book of Worship, Services of Baptism and Affirmation of Baptism, 137.
[2] Luke 3:22, CEB.
[3] Luke 3:22, First Nations Version.

Picture of Rev. Lauren Ostrout at the Salmon River State Forest in Connecticut.