Photo credit: Johnny Gios, used with permission via Unspalsh
As we mentioned last week, the season of Epiphany give us the opportunity to take time to notice how God is showing up in the world – how God is manifesting in the world. That is what the word Epiphany means – a manifestation – a showing up.
As we enter into what we expect to be a tumultuous year, we are grounding ourselves by taking as our starting point – our first thing – looking for what God is doing in the world. We are grounding ourselves each day – not in the vicissitudes of the moment – but in who God is. And so last week, we looked at some practices for beginning each day – grounding ourselves in the new life that God is bringing into each new day. New Life for a New Day – that’s our Epiphany theme.
We started last week with thinking about who God is. And this week, we turn to think some about who we are – and specifically who we are in relationship to God – even more specifically, who we are in Christ. What better way to do that than to think on baptism – the baptism of Jesus and our own.
This morning’s scripture is the story of the baptism of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Luke.[1] Now, each of the gospels tells the story a little bit differently, with different emphasis and different nuance. We’re back in the world of the Gospel of Luke – you remember, a world of layered power-over – a world Jesus enters to turn the world rightside up. Where we left off in December, in chapter 2, the angels were announcing this Good News – and folks like Mary and Zechariah and the shepherds were responding – “God is lifting up those held low and bringing down the powers and filling the hungry with good things.”
By chapter 3, Jesus has grown up – so has his cousin John the Baptist – and that’s where the story opens this morning. John the Baptist comes first, with his fiery message announcing a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” He calls for a turning. The world is about to turn. The valleys will be filled in – the mountains made low – a levelling of power – and “all flesh” – all flesh will see God’s liberating work. And they will see it... in Jesus.
Now, John uses some vivid imagery to get his point across. The axe is at the root of the tree. All that fire imagery that is so hard to hear today – that’s all metaphor – announcing big change – complete change – an end to the powers that harm and oppress. The world needs to turn, and so do we. John’s message... well, it’s intense and direct.
But here’s the thing... it doesn’t drive the people away. It draws them near. The people come. And keep coming. And that’s where the Scripture that Lindsey read this morning begins. Look who’s there... oddly drawn to this message of complete change... the tax collectors, the soldiers, those who have plenty... John’s message draws in even those implicated in the systems he is denouncing.
And they all ask the same question – which John the Baptist answers with a series of imperatives... commands... not-so-easy commands.
· The people ask, “What then should we do?” “Those of you who have two coats share with those who have none.”
· The tax collectors ask, “What should we do?” “Stop cheating people. Don’t exact more money out of the poor than you are assigned to collect.”
· The soldiers ask, “What should we do?” “Stop breathing your threats of violence and extortion. Stop it.”
To each and all: Stop. Stop your participation in these evil systems. Do right. Share what you have. Stop the violence. Turn. Change.
And the people can’t get enough of this. The people are “filled with expectation”because what they hear is Freedom. And they ponder all this in their hearts – just like Mary pondered the strange message the angel brought – this strange message of world-turning liberation.
And then John says, “One is coming who is more powerful than I.” He points to Jesus... and then, interestingly, Luke escorts John the Baptist off the stage. Luke jumps ahead and reports that Herod will ultimately arrest and imprison John the Baptist. John exits, and Jesus enters... or I should say re-enters... and where we find him is standing in the waters of baptism.
Now, I want us to take some time to take in this image. There Jesus is, and he’s not alone. I don’t know about you... but when I think of the baptism of Jesus, it’s just Jesus and John the Baptist – there in the water – all the focus on them. But not in Luke. Luke says: “When everyone was baptized and Jesus too...” There Jesus is... with everybody... with everybody... standing together in the waters of baptism. In Luke, Jesus’ baptism is “reported as part of a general baptism”[2] – not a solo act – everyone together.
Jesus is there, with everybody, in the waters of baptism, and he’s praying, and the heavens open. Now this is huge.[3] The heavens open. In ancient cosmology, the sky was like a vault stretched above the earth – the heavens were up there, with all that is divine – and the earth was down here. But in this moment, the heavens open... and there is no separation – all that is God opening up to all that is human.
And the Holy Spirit descends – as Luke says – in bodily form.
And a voice says, “You are my Son, the Beloved. In you I am well pleased.” Jesus is named and embraced: “the Son of God,” the “Beloved.” And it’s not just a familial claim – that’s the type of claim like a royal birth announcement. Son of God... that’s a claim that Caesar makes. But here, Jesus standing in the midst of the people is named, claimed, and raised up above every power – Son of God. Jesus is empowered with the Holy Spirit to turn the world rightside up, as a part of this shared moment of baptism.
Pause for a moment – and take this scene in. Jesus and everybody standing there in the waters of baptism. All around them this world of layered power rages. But here in this moment... in the center of all that... here, they stand together in the waters.
There is this leveling of power – no power-over – no one held low, no one less than anyone else.
There is no separation – no separation between heaven and earth, spirit and body, tax collector, soldier, rich, poor.[4]
There is a world, standing in these waters, where soldiers have ceased their violence, where extortion gives way to mutuality. A world where the one with two coats shares with the one who has none. A world where all are raised up into a new kind of sovereignty that respects the dignity of all persons. Sons and daughters and children of God. Beloved.
While the powers and systems rage all around, we receive the gift of this image. In a tumultuous world, this is where we can ground ourselves.. hold on to that... we’ll come back to that. We’ll need to come back to that.
But let’s think now some about our own day, our own world.
We, too, live in a world of interlocking, interconnected systems – fraught and full of layered, complicated power. We’ve talked a good bit about that layered power – so today, I want to talk about one more dynamic in all that – one of the ways that power-over holds its power over us.
If we likened our world to a family, we might speak in terms of “family systems theory.”[5]That’s where we think of our lives as more than just individuals living individual lives. We think of ourselves as individuals living in a complex system of interconnected people. We are interdependent. Our lives are connected – not just politically and economically and socially – but emotionally. Our actions impact each other. We seek and we crave relationship – we reach out – and we respond to each other – sometimes in healthy ways, sometimes in not healthy ways.
There are a lot of ways that a family system can be unhealthy – one of those ways is when one member of the system demands an out-sized role in our emotional life, which too often can result in an out-sized share of power over others.[6] That person can have an out-sized view of their own importance, which can blind them to the importance, the dignity, and the needs of others. They can tend to seek attention and admiration at the expense of empathy. And at an extreme, they begin to distort reality to fit their inflated sense of self; they can react with rage and contempt; they can tend to lash out and belittle others, particularly the vulnerable.
All that would be harmful enough on its own. The thing about a family system, though, is that the other parts of the system react – they can get sucked into that. We are interconnected. And soon, all of the emotional attention is flowing – without really thinking about it – toward the one who demands it through their outrageous behavior. That happens at the expense of healthier ways of living – at the expense of those in the system who most need the attention and tender care of others.
Now, I don’t have the professional competencies to offer a psychological diagnosis. But I do have the competencies to describe what I have observed, and to name spiritually healthy and unhealthy behaviors.
In a few days, we will return to the office of presidency one who demands an out-sized role in our emotional life and who will have an out-sized share of power over others. He demands our attention all the time. He makes outlandish claims with no regard to truth; he lashes out; he attacks; he belittles; he rages; and so on; and so on.
And we get sucked in. We do. I do. At great cost. Let me speak concretely. This week, when the president-elect said that he would not rule out military force to annex Greenland,[7]every second I spent thinking about that absurdity – But we have a treaty! That’s insane! What about our allies! What about peace! Every second I spent on that was a second not spent on this sermon, not spent on care of my family, not spent on you. When fires ravaged Southern California, and the president-elect could only muster the energy to call the Governor silly names – when the nation pays attention to that – that is attention that we give to him, and not to the people who are suffering most.[8] This is an unhealthy, costly dynamic. We have to stop.
Now, I get the irony there. I am doing the thing that I say we need to stop – giving his antics and his raging one bit of our attention. But we have to name it, and own it – so that we can stop it. This is how we get sucked in and mired down in our world of power-over. This how we stay stuck. We’ve been here before. We cannot go there again – because we know that in the days to come – the vulnerable will become more vulnerable, and we will need to be about the work of justice, healing, and peace all that time. That work will demand our time. It will demand that we work hard to be a healthy, healing, loving people. We will need to be vigilant. That work will require our full attention.
While the world and one noisy person within it rages, this morning’s scripture – this image – gives us a solid place to stand. When the world whirls in tumult, I want to invite us to return to this image again and again.
This morning’s scripture gives us a glimpse of the world that God brings to life in Jesus Christ. And, the baptism of Jesus, reminds us who we are in this world –
all of us children of God; all of us beloved;
all of us created to turn and embrace this world of mutuality –
this world where we share what we have with all who have need–
this world where violence and the exploitation of people come to an end –
this world that knows no separation –
all that God is showing up in every bit of our humanity.
When all the people had been baptized – the crowd, the tax collectors, the soldiers, those who had two coats, those who had none – when all the people had been baptized, and Jesus too – Jesus prayed, and the heavens opened, and the Spirit descended – empowering Jesus – and everybody – and a voice said, You are my children, beloved. Remember. All flesh shall see the salvation and liberation of our God.
That’s where we ground ourselves.
And not too long after this. In chapter 4, Jesus rises up in the midst of the people and says:
The Spirit is upon me to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up the brokenhearted, to heal every hurt,
to proclaim release for the captive,
freedom for all who are oppressed,
to release every debt.
That is where we ground ourselves.
In the days to come, we will have work to do. That work will require our full attention. We do not have time for nonsense. We must focus on the substance of what God creates and calls us to do – focus on opposing and dismantling the systems and the policies that harm the vulnerable – focus on bringing justice healing and peace.
God in Jesus Christ brings new life for a new day, every day.
In a chaotic world, we begin each new day grounding ourselves there – with what God in God’s goodness is doing in the world. And then, we remember who we are – whose we are – in Christ – every person a beloved child of God – beloved, empowered, and free.
© 2025 Scott Clark
[1] For general background on this text and the Gospel of Luke, see see R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke,” New Interpreters’ Bible Commentary, vol. ix (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995); Sharon Ringe, Luke (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995): Justo L. González, Luke (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010); Emerson B. Powery, Commentary in Connections, Year C, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY; Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), pp.172-74; Matthew l. Skinner, Commentary in Connections, Year C, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY; Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), pp.174-75.
[2] See Ringe, p.54; see also Powery, p.173.
[3] See Culpepper, pp. 90-91.
[4] See Powery, p.173.
[5] See https://www.thebowencenter.org/introduction-eight-concepts ; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-emotional-meter/202311/understanding-bowen-family-systems-theory
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