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Matthew 3:16-17: When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
As I've said in the sermon, Jesus' baptism is the "one baptism" in which all believers share by our baptisms. What happened to Jesus in His baptism happens to us. We become part of a heavenly people; we come to share in the Spirit; we are commissioned to fulfill all righteousness; we are declared sons and Servants in the Servant Son.
Worship is a weekly renewal of what happened in baptism. Baptism is for the remission of sins, and each week we confess our sins and are declared clean and righteous in God's sight. This is not a new baptism; this is a reiteration of what God said and did to us at baptism.
Each week, the Lord speaks to us in His word, and instructs us in the way of righteousness. Our baptisms, which are to fulfill righteousness, are being renewed as we are commissioned to live in righteousness. Each week, we gather as the temple of the Spirit, and the Spirit descends to lift us to heavenly places to join with the angelic choirs in worship. Each week, the heavens open, and the Spirit descends as the Spirit of new creation to hover over us to remake us as the people of God.
Each week, we are invited to come to this table, the table of the Father, as the family of God, because we are beloved sons of God in Christ Jesus. We don't hear a voice from heaven every week, but every week the Father spreads this table for us to assure us that we are included in the family of His love. We come to this table confidently, knowing that by sharing in the baptism of Jesus, we are all cleaned up, ready for a feast.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at 08:07 AM
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