Epiphany I – C
Baptism of Our Lord – January 10th, AD 2010
Meadowvale Lutheran Church
Pastor Peter Lisinski
“LETTING GO”
(Texts: Psalm 29; Luke 3: 15-22)
Once upon a time – when doesn’t really matter; it could have been any time – there was and old woman who lived in a certain land – where doesn’t really matter; it could have been anywhere. What does matter is that the woman loved her homeland so much that, when the time came for her to die, she had her children carry her outside and set her down in the rich, fertile garden she had so enjoyed tending over the years. With the last ounce of strength she could muster with her dying breath she grabbed a handful of her precious soil and held on to it as tightly as she could.
When she arrived at the Pearly Gates, St. Peter was waiting. “Welcome into the joy of Heaven,” he greeted her. But, as the old woman approached the threshold, he held up his hand to stop her. “Before you can com in,” he said, “You must first let go of the soil you have in your hand.” The woman refused! “I’ll never let go!” she replied, and stepped back from the open door. St. Peter, sadly, walked away.
A short time later, the Lord Jesus himself came to the gates of heaven and held open his loving arms to embrace the old woman. The glory of his presence so overwhelmed her with joy that, as she reached out to receive him, her hand opened and the precious soil to which she had clung to so desperately drifted away in the gentle breeze of his Holy Spirit. As she stepped across the threshold with empty hands she was surprised to see, stretched out to the horizon in every direction, the very homeland in which she had been born and raised, gardened, grown old and died!
* * * * *
Receiving the new, abundant and eternal life God promises all his precious children means letting go of every part of our old, earthy and mortal life – no matter how much we may enjoy it; no matter how desperately we try to hold on to it! The theological word for letting go is ‘repentance’. And, in the baptism of Jesus, we see what it means to repent – to let go – in all of its costly fullness.
Though he was without sin, in his baptism Jesus repents! He lets go of his legal right as firstborn son and heir to his family’s property and business. He lets go of his social right to get married and have a family of his own. He even lets go of his religious right to assert authority over John the Baptist. In his baptism, Jesus lets go of all human rights to earthly life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for himself, in order to pursue eternal life, liberty from human bondage to sin, evil and death, and happiness for all of God’s beloved children – for you; for me; for us; for the whole human race.
But more than that!
In the letting go of Jesus of Nazareth, we see the divine repentance of God himself! In Jesus Christ, almighty God lets go of the divine right to judge and condemn sinners. In Jesus Christ, God lets go of the divine right to control and manipulate people. In Jesus Christ, God lets go of the divine right to be worshiped and praised, allowing his glory and majesty to be subjected to the public humiliation and mockery of crucifixion! Yes, in the baptism of Jesus Christ, almighty God lets go of all his divine rights to justice, power, and self-respect, in order to restore the lost dignity and integrity of his own divine image in all the sad and sorry human lot of this indifferent and ungrateful world through the self-sacrifice and self-giving love of his only-begotten Son’s death and resurrection.
And yet there is still more!
For in the sacrament of Holy Baptism, you and I share – we participate in – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With him we die to our old life of self-centredness; and with him we rise to a new God-centred life of discipleship. And under the discipline of God’s Word and Sacraments, we are called, as Martin Luther teaches, to daily repentance – and, by the grace of God, day by day we learn to answer God’s call to let go of everything that stands between us and God – to let go of our guilt and fear, our mistakes and failures, our regrets and resentments; to let go of our pride, our honour, and success – certainly the idolatry of wealth, and all that money can buy. True repentance means letting go of our earthly life as it has been in order to receive, with empty hands, the divine gift of eternal life as God imagines, wants, and promises it will be for us and for all his beloved children in the glorious presence and loving arms of our Lord Jesus Christ!
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2)