Epiphany 1

There was a Baptist minister who wrote an advice column in his local newspaper, sort of like Dear Abby. One letter said, “Dear Preacher: Do you worry about pond scum in the baptismal font? Signed, Wondering.”

The pastor wrote this reply: “Dear Wondering, No, I’ll baptize anybody.”

Speaking of pond scum, some of you have seen the film, The Shawshank Redemption. An innocent man, Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is sent to prison for the murder of his wife. Even after evidence emerges that would clear him, the corrupt warden of the prison keeps Andy incarcerated for his own purposes. Two decades go by.

During this time Andy, who was fascinated with geology in his former life, chips away at the rock in his cell with a tiny geologist’s pick and fashions an escape tunnel. The tunnel leads to the main sewage pipe of the prison complex. On the night of his escape, aided by a loud thunderstorm that masks his movements, Andy crawls through raw sewage. The sewage pipe is 500 yards long. Can you imagine? Five hundred yards of sewage. That puts pond scum to shame.

When Andy finally emerges, he’s standing in an open cesspool. But it’s still raining from the thunderstorm. For a moment, Andy stands there in that blessed driving rain falling from heaven while the water washes away the sludge and the stench and the fatigue from both his body and his soul. Andy is free! For the first time in twenty years, he is free! You can see that driving rain as a representation of Christian baptism.

Some of us need to be set free from our old lives. Some of us are unhappy with where we are in our faith journey. Some of us have made grievous mistakes along the way. The waters of Christian baptism symbolize the opportunity every child of God has to make a new beginning – to be set free.

Jesus came from Galilee to the river Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist. Remember, John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. John knew that Jesus, who was John’s cousin, did not need to repent. He feels so strongly about this that he tries to keep Jesus out of the water. He says to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

That’s beautiful. What would your cousins, or perhaps your siblings, or the people you golf with or work with, say about you? How would they react if they knew you were coming for a baptism of repentance? Would they say, “It’s about time.” Or would they say, “I wonder what she’s hiding?” Would any of them try to keep you out of the water because they thought you were so sinless that you didn’t need to repent?

No matter who we are or where we are on our faith journey, new beginnings are possible. Today really is the first day of the rest of our lives. We can chart out a new direction, set new goals, renew our relationship with God to give us the support we need to be what God has called us to be.

What does it take to make a new beginning?

First of all, we must be a willing to change. That may sound obvious, but this is the biggest obstacle for many people. They’re in a routine, you might even call it a rut. They really do not want to change.

There’s that old joke: How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

• Pentecostal: Only one. Your hands are already in the air.
• Baptist: At least ten. One to change the light bulb, and a committee to approve the change and decide who brings the tuna noodle casserole.
• Amish: What’s a light bulb?
• Episcopalian: Eight, one to change the light bulb and seven to say how much they liked the old one better.

Well, Episcopalians are not the only ones who resist change. In fact, this is the condition that vexes many of us, if not most of us. Physicists speak of inertia – the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.

Many counselors say that most people change only when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change. We’re so afraid of change, so slow to accept new possibilities, so reluctant to embrace new opportunities. But we must be willing to change.

And we must also be willing to confront issues we’ve avoided in the past. If we’re going to make a new beginning, we cannot avoid looking at old problems. This may include personal habits. It may include how we relate to our spouse and children. Repentance isn’t just feeling bad about our shortcomings, it’s taking stock of our situation – personal attitudes and habits, relationships, the direction of our lives – and then taking action to remedy those areas that need improvement.

Marianne Williamson writes, “When you ask God into your life, you think God is going to come into your psychic house, look around, and see that you just need a new floor or better furniture, and that everything needs just a little cleaning – and so you go along for the first six months thinking how nice life is now that God is there. Then you look out the window one day and you see that there’s a wrecking ball outside. It turns out that God actually thinks your whole foundation is shot and you’re going to have to start over from scratch.”

Only you know what needs to be changed in your life. Are you willing to change? Are you willing to face up to issues you’ve ignored in the past?

We must be willing to live out the meaning of our baptism. We are those who have been baptized. We have a challenge to live up to and a resource upon which to draw – our faith in Jesus Christ.

A woman was shopping at Wal-Mart with her six-year-old daughter. It was pouring outside. This mother and daughter stood with other Wal-Mart shoppers under the awning, just inside the door of the Wal‑Mart. They waited for the rain to stop so they could make their way to their cars.

The little girl said, “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”

“No, honey. We’ll wait until it slows down a bit,” Mom replied.

The child waited about another minute and repeated: “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”

“We’ll get soaked,” Mom said.

“No, we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she tugged at her mother’s arm.

“This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”

“Don’t you remember?” said the persistent child. “When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!’”

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. She knew this was an important moment in this little girl’s life.

She replied, “Honey, you’re absolutely right. Let’s run through the rain. If God lets us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing.”

Then off they ran. The other shoppers stood watching, smiling, and laughing as they darted past the cars and through the puddles. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few of the others who had been waiting for the rain to stop who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

Do you need washing? Have you been living up to your baptism?

Jesus made a new beginning when he was baptized by John in the Jordan. There was no cause on his part for repentance. But he was starting his public ministry and he wanted to set an example for us.

You know how the story ends. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” Deep down, that is what we would like to hear God say about our lives, “This is my son, this is my daughter, whom I love; with whom I am well pleased.”

Time to make a new beginning – today.