In this season of Epiphany after Christmas, the tradition is to retell the stories in the Bible about Jesus’ childhood, then move to the story of Jesus’ baptism and the launch of his ministry.

The story of Jesus’ baptism is so important to his life and to the lives of his followers through history, that the Gospel of Mark, one of the four Gospel accounts in the Bible, starts the story there. The Gospel of Mark doesn’t bother with the story of Jesus’ birth or childhood. Instead, when the curtains rise, a wild holy man who dwells in the wilderness bursts onto the stage, demanding that people change their lives to get right with God, and taking anyone who is willing and plunging them into the river to mark this change. When John baptizes Jesus in this way, the propulsive urgency of the story only increases. The Spirit bursts in on Jesus and drives him into the wilderness, where, according to the other gospel accounts, he faces and overcomes the temptations to seek comfort, power, and status. When he emerges 40 days later, he wastes no time telling people that that the time is now to change their hearts and their lives, for the Realm of Heaven is here.

Is this need just as urgent now as then? Yes.

Now is certainly as good a time as any to remind ourselves of the vows one takes when one is baptized in to the Way of Jesus.

So, let me remind us of the baptismal vows, according to our United Church of Christ’s Book of Worship:

Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able?

Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith and to be a faithful member of the church of Jesus Christ, celebrating Christ’s presence and furthering Christ’s mission.

At the end of the baptism liturgy one receives this blessing:

Eternal God of all life, give to the newly baptized: strength for life’s journey, courage in time of suffering, the joy of faith, the freedom of love, and the hope of new life, through Jesus Christ, who makes us one. Amen.  

Through baptism one enters into a new phase of life centered on God in Christ. But it is not at all a one-and-done kind of thing – it takes regular renewal and refreshment, strength and growth, relying on the grace of God, through the challenges of life.

Maybe some of us are feeling some of those challenges right now?

There are so many forces in this world and inclinations within ourselves that can push us off the mark of living into these vows.

Being Christian means holding oneself and others and the world to very high standards.

This means it is important to honor the ways that we can feel disappointed- morally – in our fellow human beings, including at times ourselves.

You ever feel like that? Have you felt that way at all lately?

Are any of us at all familiar with that? 

It is important as Christians to honor the deep sense we can have that, C’mon y’all, we can be better than this, can’t we?

To put this positively, it is important to honor the feeling we can get when we witness someone being good and doing good for others, that feeling of rightness, of moral satisfaction, when we see people acting out of compassion or moral courage, honoring and caring for the inherent worth and dignity of others.

These are all glimpses of the presence of the realm of heaven on earth.

Yet it is hard to live like this, let alone all the time. We inevitably fall short of the high standards of the indiscriminate and universal love embodied by Jesus. We need God’s grace, we need to receive a heart of mercy when we confront the moral limitations of ourselves and others.

This must not mean that we get to let go of those ethical demands – this is a temptation, to get cynical and disgusted, to get mean or numb or corrupt, to give up morally. This is not the Way of Jesus. The Way of Jesus means that we keep returning to our ethical standards, with the support of God’s Grace, to allow them to shape us in our growth as human beings and disciples of Christ.

The life of a Christian takes a balance. We know we are not saved by our righteousness, or our ability to do good deeds, but by grace alone, as a free gift from God.

But just because this gift is free does not mean it is cheap. Too many people treat it that way, as if somehow accepting Jesus into your heart means never again having to say you’re sorry. Sorry, that’s not how it works. When we receive to the gift of God’s grace into our hearts, we are saying “Yes” to the spirit of God’s grace working on us, to transform us – however imperfectly, in fits and starts – toward a way of life in better alignment with God’s good and right and holy ways.

Thank God we’re not alone in this.

We have each other’s help – in the school of love that is a church led by the Spirit of Christ.

We have the example and inspiration of the great ancestors who have come before us – often called the saints. This weekend we honor the powerful and courageous ways that Dr. King and other great civil rights leaders lived out their baptismal vows between the teeth of the oppression and injustice of our sin-sick society.

 Above all, we have God’s help, and we have the help of Jesus into whose Spirit we are baptized. This is an ongoing process of cleansing and renewal through a higher power far beyond ourselves.

May you all be blessed, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able.

May you all be blessed, by the grace of God, with strength for life’s journey, courage in time of suffering, the joy of faith, the freedom of love, and the hope of new life, through Jesus Christ, who makes us one. Amen.

(Delivered Sunday, January 19, 2025, by Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge).

Mark 1:1-15

(First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament)

            This is the good story about the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), who is the Son of the Great Spirit. This story began long ago and was foretold in the Sacred Teachings by the ancient prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah).

            “Behold!” Creator Will Help Us said, as he spoke the words of the Great Spirit. “I am sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way. He will be a voice howling in the desert wilderness, ‘Clear away the stones and make a straight path for the coming of the Honored One!’

            The prophesied messenger appeared in the desert wilderness. He came to tell everyone to turn from their wrong ways of thinking and doing and return to the ways of the Great Spirit. The messenger’s name was Gift of Goodwill (John). He came to perform the purification ceremony (baptism) to show people that they had been released from their broken ways.

            From the surrounding territory of the Land of Promise (Judea) and from Village of Peace (Jerusalem), all the people came to him to participate in his purification ceremony performed in the river Flowing Down (Jordan). As they came, they were admitting to their bad hearts and broken ways.

            Gift of Goodwill came wearing camel’s hair garments, with a leather sash around his waist. The food he ate was grasshoppers and wild honey.

            “I am preparing the way for the one who is greater and more powerful than I,” he announced to all. “I am not even worthy to bend down and untie his sandals. I perform the purification ceremony with water, but he will perform the purification ceremony with the Holy Spirit!”

            It was in those days that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came from his home to have gift of Goodwill perform for him the purification ceremony.

            As soon as Creator Sets Free came up from the water, he saw the sky open. The Spirit of Creator came down like a dove and rested on him. Then a voice from the sky spoke, “This is my much-loved Son who makes my heart glad!”

            Right then and there the Spirit drove Creator Sets Free into the desert wilderness. For forty days and nights he remained there, surrounded by wild animals, and being tested by Accuser (Satan) – the ancient trickster snake. Spirit messengers also came to give him strength and comfort.

            Then later, after Gift of Goodwill was arrested, Creator Sets Free traveled to the territory of Circle of Nations (Galilee) to tell the good story.       

“The time has now come!” he said to the people. “Creator’s good road is right in front of you. It is time to return to the right ways of thinking and doing. Put your trust in this good story I am bringing to you.”