It is easy to see why the church would choose today as one of the times in which to baptize people- the link with the life and work of Christ is inescapable. We heard about Jesus walking down to the water of the River Jordan to stand with his cousin John. Not too long from now the baptismal candidates and their sponsors will walk to stand by the water in the font. Baptism is a necessary beginning - for Jesus, and for us.

But our story starts well before these necessary beginnings.

John R. Donahue, Professor of New Testament Studies at St. Mary's Seminary, points out that this morning's Old Testament lesson from Isaiah is the first of the four great Servant Songs. Taken together, he says, these songs describe a figure chosen by God to proclaim justice through tenderness instead of by force. And what is the work of this servant? -To open the eyes of the blind, to free captives, and to bring forth justice.
"I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness."
But to whom is this calling addressed?

Scholars debate whether the servant in Isaiah is a prophet, a symbol of the suffering people, or a hoped-for royal figure. But Donahue indicates that identifying this servant figure with Jesus is one of the earliest New Testament theologies. Jesus is the one who begins to show the way in which men and women will be made right, or just, before God and with fellow humans, Donahue says.¹

This blossoming righteousness starts in the River Jordan, at the hands of John. But it moves from the river to the road. First there is the moment of commissioning - baptism - for Jesus and for us. But then, like Jesus, we are called to move into ministry and mission.

But we are baptizing babies today. How shall an infant move into ministry and mission?

The same way that they will learn to eat their food, tie their shoes, or read a book. Their community and their parents will teach them. We promise to do so right in the liturgy. But in order to teach children, we must have some knowledge and experience ourselves. We cannot teach what we do not know.

This is why we gather in this place- and not just for today's baptisms. We are here to practice sensing the presence of God. Week after week we hear the stories of God's actions in history. And if we look with open minds and hearts we will find that we begin to see the intersections of these ancient stories with the issues in our own life. If we practice listening, we will find that God is speaking to us- in the Apostle's teaching and in the prayers.

We come to re-enact the Last Supper every Sunday so that we might realize anew how far Christ was willing to go to help us find the way home.

We come for solace. We leave with strength. We ask for pardon, and we receive not only forgiveness but also renewal. We come seeking more than the world alone can give.
And we have come to the right place. We have come to the right person- Emmanuel, God with us.

We are invited into an ongoing corporate response, not a private journey.

We become Christians, through baptism, in a public ceremony. We gather for worship as a congregation. And we live in the context of social and civic relationships. We are surrounded with opportunities to act like people who belong to God and who don't just passively want a world that looks like God intended, but are willing to work and to risk so that others might find their way home- home to the kingdom of the servant king.

Baptism is the first step on a long road. We do not travel alone or unaided.
Jesus has already gone before us. Down into the waters, up into the sound of God's affirmation- through the valley of the shadow of death, racked on a cross but not defeated, and on into the light which the darkness can never overcome.

This is our heritage. Now God offers us a place in this light through a sacrament of water, oil, and words. When we rise up wet and glowing should we expect that life will be nothing but roses from there on out? No. And besides even roses have thorns. Real life holds great and breathtaking beauty but also times that will pierce our hearts or make us bleed. This was true before we entered the water and it remains true when we rise back up.

What changes through our baptism is who we are and how we understand what we encounter in life. In the ancient church baptism was often called illumination. Why? When we are sealed as Christ's own forever we are moved across the river and pointed in a new direction. This larger landscape is made available and visible in the light of Christ. When we stand on this new ground we understand that there is nothing that can defeat those who belong to God - not loss, nor persecution, nor all matter of challenging things. We become part of Christ. We share in what He accomplished and are empowered to continue His work. We enter into saving health through our baptism, not as though we have received a vaccination against life's challenges but as people who are now walking on the right road. It is the royal road built by a servant king who was willing to risk everything so that we might find the way to true life.

There is no true life without a willingness to change.
Righteousness is an attitude. Seeking justice is a decision.
Moving ever closer to what God calls us to be is the result of intention as well as grace.
This too is a corporate issue. It is not about mere personal salvation.
The world as we find it is not the way it is supposed to be.
We are very far from the garden God made,
and the peaceable Kingdom is miles before we sleep

But true life has its beginnings right here. Starting now. Whether we are one of those who will be baptized this morning or part of the crowd who will promise their support. We believe that we are being called into a different way of looking at the world - a different way of being in the world. We are called to be a new creation in Christ. We are called to labor for the coming of the kingdom- to work for justice and to learn to exercise a tender power that embraces and supports the weak and the helpless rather than casting them aside.

The sacrament of beginning is baptism. The water in the font is a sign- "it puts us in contact with an invisible reality and creates within us a longing for that which cannot be seen."² We stand on the shining edge, leaning forward. The light of the Christ candle reflects off the water before us.

It is the water of life, full of power and might.
It is a liquid and glorious possibility- heralding a world in which even bruised reeds need not break and even dimly burning wicks can be tended until they burst into brilliant illumination.

Come Holy Spirit, come light of Christ. Open the eyes of the blind and set us free.
Then send us out to declare to all nations who has done this thing.
Send us out to make disciples and to baptize them in the name of the Lord.

² Webber, Robert "A Theology of Sin" Worship Leader, Fall 2001