Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the Baptism of the Lord 2022. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Text of today’s homily below.
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Homily for the Baptism of the Lord – Saturday 1/9/22
Readings: Is 42:1-4, 6-7, Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10, Acts 10:34-38, Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
Lk 3:15-16, 21-22 (American Standard Version)
15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ; 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not [a]worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you [b]in the Holy Spirit and in fire.
21 Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Friends, they say “Love hurts.” But really only distortions of love hurt, like lust, desire, possessiveness, puppy love and unrequited or one-sided love. These cause all manner of problems in our lives -- arguments, fights, disputes, self-harm, jealousy – you know, all the drama, upset and catastrophe we’ve seen depicted in stories from the Old Testament to Shakespeare to modern reality TV shows. Particularly painful and dangerous is the situation in which one person loves the other but are not loved in return. For the loved party, this can lead to deep feelings of guilt and misplaced obligation. To the unloved party this can feel like dying, like drowning, like being lost at sea.
In the flood story, when mankind does not love God properly, the waters rise and drown the world in the oceans of chaos. Only Noah and his family, who love and trust God, are spared. Their seed is the seed of the human race. In Genesis 8:12, Noah releases a dove from the ark. When it does not return, he knows the flood waters have receded. Probably Noah follows the dove in the direction of dry land, a common practice of sailors in ancient times.
Noah and his family’s properly ordered love for God – symbolized by a dove – leads them out of the seas of chaos to the dry, stable land. A married couple at a fancy wedding may release a bevy of doves to symbolize their properly ordered love for one another. A husband and wife’s true love – filled up with respect, caring, patience and devotion – leads the family through the stormy seas of life to dry and stable land also. And when the children love the parents in return? When the family loves the church, and the church loves God? This is the bedrock of society.
How fitting it is that the Holy Spirit should descend on Jesus in the form of a dove after he’s baptized by John. The lost dove that guided Noah and his family in Genesis has returned to bless the perfect love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father. The waters which destroyed a sinful humanity receded for Noah and have become the saving waters of baptism. The mortal dove of Noah has become the dove of the Holy Spirit.
You see now my friends, that if the properly ordered love of an earthly family is capable of great things, then the perfectly ordered love of the Holy Spirit is capable of miracles untold!