Isaiah and Isaiah: A Baptism Sermon

 Isaiah 6:1-8, Matthew 3:1-2, 12-17

It seemed appropriate tonight to choose the reading from the prophet Isaiah on the night in which we are baptising Isaiah. So why this reading, and what might it say to us about Isaiah’s baptism?

This reading from Isaiah plays an important part in the liturgical life of the church. The term liturgy is viewed a bit negatively by some Christians, but what it simply means is “the work of the people.” It is the thing that we do when we get together, regardless of whether we think about it in these terms or not. Here together we are doing the work of the people in response to God.

The work of the people—how we gather as community and worship God—has been shaped for centuries by this reading from Isaiah.

In this reading, we see a process unfold as the prophet Isaiah is gathered into the presence of God with the heavenly host, praising God.

Then, in God’s presence, Isaiah realises that he is not perfect. He confesses his unworthiness, and God shows mercy.

God speaks a word that invites Isaiah to be part of what God is about in the world. In response Isaiah says, “Here I am; send me.”

At the end of all that occurs—though we do not hear the whole story tonight—Isaiah is sent back into the world with a message to bear. This has been a basic form of how Christians have gathered and worshipped for centuries:

we gather in praise

we confess

we listen for God speaking we respond, and

we go out.

This is why the preaching happens before the baptism and communion, because baptism and communion are part of our response to God’s speaking to us through the Scriptures and the preaching.

Now, the reading helps explain what we are doing in worship, but it also helps us understand the importance of our worship—the work of the people—within the context of our daily lives.

The context of the reading is given as the year in which King Uzziah died.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.”

Why is this piece of information important?

What does it matter? What does it tell us?

It says to us that there were great and tumultuous events occurring in the world. There was a transition of a kingship. I am not going to go into the whole history of the end of Uzziah’s kingship but suffice it to say that it was an event of significance.

To get a contemporary sense, you could say, “In the year that Donald Trump became president,” or “the year COVID arrived”, or “the year Queen Elizabeth died,” or “the year JFK was assassinated,” or “the year Artemis 2 circled the moon.” Any of these events remind us of our earthly existence and of the historical moments that shape it.

As world events unfold, whether in the ancient world or the modern one, people’s lives are affected in all sorts of ways, from the great and powerful to the poor and lowly. And, as these tumultuous things occur in our earthly existence, the worship of God continues in the heavenly court, with seraphim and cherubim singing God’s praise.

Whatever our personal context or experience of life, wherever we are located in time and space, the praise of God goes on. Later in our communion liturgy, we will join the song of praise sung by the heavenly host:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord

God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

When we say these words, we join the heavenly chorus. We humbly acknowledge that we too are coming into God’s presence with Isaiah.

And because these words are common to most communion liturgies, we join our voices with Christians through time and space. There is a kind of timelessness in this moment.

This brings me to the other reading set for this evening: the baptism of Jesus, found in Matthew’s Gospel. When we look at our baptism order of service—our baptism liturgy—we are saying that Isaiah will be baptised into the same baptism into which Jesus was baptised.

As the church has reflected on baptism, we have come to understand that baptism into Jesus’ life is baptism into his life, death, and resurrection. More than that, in Christ God was renewing the whole world, reconciling the whole world to himself. As it says in Colossians, “Christ is all, and Christ is in all”.

I read a helpful reflection during the week from Andrew Thayer. He says,

“Baptism does not manufacture God’s presence. It reveals the presence that was already there. It is the community standing before the world and saying: this person, too, bears the breath of God. This person, too, belongs within the circle of mutual care, forgiveness, and shared life.”

Baptism draws a person into the community of God’s family to participate in that shared communal life of witnessing to the love which God has for all people and for the whole creation. Baptism is a movement towards being united with God and in the community of God’s people. But as Thayer asserts:

“Baptism was never meant to function as a spiritual border checkpoint separating insiders from outsiders. It was the doorway of public commitment into a new way of life together — a community attempting, however imperfectly, to live as though every human being truly bears the image of God.”

I think this says something important about how we understand Isaiah’s baptism. God’s presence is already at work in Isaiah’s life before we come to the font tonight. Does something happen in baptism? Yes. In baptism, Isaiah is welcomed into the family of God and invited to share in the calling given to the prophet Isaiah, and indeed to all of us: to bear the image of God in our lives and to make God’s love and communion more deeply known in the world.

Prior to Isaiah’s baptism I had a conversation with the parents about when we baptise someone, and whether infant baptism is appropriate. We baptise infants because baptism is a sign of God’s grace and God’s love for all people. Baptism signifies that God is already at work in our lives. The words of the baptismal prayer from the French Reformed Church capture this wonderfully: “for you, little child, even though you do not know it.”

Remember what Paul wrote to the people in Rome: “Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.” Here is the message of the good news: grace comes before repentance. Mercy and forgiveness come before the prayer of confession.

Even though, in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, we see that process unfold in a different way, we also remember that God says in the Psalm, “I will remember your sins and iniquities no more.” Even in the Old Testament, God was saying to the people of God, “I do not hold your sins and iniquities against you. What I desire is that you come into communion and relationship with me.”

We have, then, an invitation and a challenge to live that gift of grace out as a community of faith. This is important for Isaiah’s sake and for all who are baptised. When we come to the baptism, a question is asked of the congregation.

I will say:

“Friends in Christ, will you promise to maintain a life of worship and teaching, witness and service, so that he [Isaiah] may grow to maturity in Christ?”

We have a vision of Isaiah growing as a lifelong disciple of Christ, which is the vision of this congregation. And this is what you will say:

“With God’s help, we will live out our baptism

as a loving community in Christ,

nurturing one another in faith,

upholding one another in prayer,

and encouraging one another in service until Christ comes.”

What defines us as the church community is our baptism. Our baptism draws us into a relationship with God and each other that transcend all other boundaries of relationship we might have.

First and foremost, our identity is as people who are baptised, people who have our lives hidden in Christ and Christ’s life in us. We are drawn into communion and community with God and with each other. Our baptism means our lives now transcend our biological boundaries.

Let me say that again: our lives now transcend our biological boundaries.

When we say yes to support Isaiah’s baptism, we make promises to one another and to all people: to learn each other’s names and value one another, to teach each other about Jesus, to walk together through joy and sorrow, to share meals, and to remain with one another long enough for our lives to become deeply intertwined, as they already are joined in Christ’s life.

We are called to be a sign of God’s love in the world. What is true of Isaiah is also true of every person: God’s presence is already at work before we ever come to the font.

So, we respond yes. The parents will make their promises, and we stand with them as a community of mutual care. We affirm that God’s love comes before our response. Grace is unconditional. Love is unconditional. God is present in all things.

Tonight we celebrate both sacraments: baptism and communion. We are also sustained at the table. As we eat the bread and drink the wine, we say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” The one who comes is Jesus.

That Psalm, which we also hear on Palm Sunday, reminds us that Jesus comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. In bread and wine, and in Christ’s presence among us, we are sustained for the journey and called to show God’s love more deeply to one another.

It is a privilege to gather around this family tonight. We have remembered, since the time of the prophet Isaiah and long before, and we will remember in our own time and long after we are gone, that God loves us and desires us to come close.

So, as we hear the liturgies and make our response together, we remember this truth: we love because Christ first loved us. Tonight we celebrate that love at the font and at the table, with and for one another, and on Isaiah’s behalf. We come with joy and expectation. As the prophet said, so we too shall respond, “Here am I, send me.”