Matthew 3:13-17
When my son…Jason…was about seven years old he came home one afternoon and told me about his day.
- It had been a difficult one.
- Something had happened.
- Things had not gone like he wanted.
- I don’t remember what happened but whatever it was…it messed up his day.
- I listened as he told me all about it.
- And when he finished…I asked what he did:
- “Oh” he said… “I just dealed with it.”
There’s wisdom in what he said…and it applies to any age.
- I’ve held on to those words for many years.
- They remind me that whether we are seven years old or seventy-seven…we all have situations asking to be “dealed with.”
- Here’s what I mean.
Have you ever had days when life caught you off guard and took you completely by surprise?
- Has life ever given you what you could neither plan for nor foresee…something unexpected?
- Have you ever had your plans disrupted?
- When have you felt like more was being asked of you than you had to give?
- You didn’t feel up to it or didn’t feel like you were enough.
- Has life ever left you feeling confused and lost?
- Have you ever had a situation you wanted to say “NO” to…something you didn’t want to have to deal with?
- Well…I think that’s exactly where John the Baptist is…in today’s gospel.
Jesus has come from Galilee to John at the Jordan…to be baptized by him.
- It’s something John never expected or foresaw.
- He didn’t plan on this.
- “I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?”
- Baptizing Jesus does not fit into John’s idea of who Jesus is.
- What about the ax…the winnowing fork…the unquenchable fire?
- John’s world is being turned upside down.
- Jesus is the “more powerful” one and John is “not worthy to carry his sandals.”
- Jesus is supposed to increase and John decrease.
Everything about this moment is contrary to what John believes…wants and expects.
- We’ve all be there.
- We know what it’s like.
What do you do when your prayer is not answered…the money doesn’t go to the end of the month…hopes are not met?
- Plans don’t come together…a relationship ends…life is interrupted?
- It’s a hard day and you just want to say no and run away?
Two choices are set before us today:
- We can resist and try to prevent what is coming.
- That’s what John wants to do.
- Or we can permit it and “let it be.”
- That’s what Jesus tells John to do.
- “Let it be so now” Jesus says to John.
- Then John consented.
- This morning…Jesus is saying to us: “Let it be so now?”
The consent to which Jesus calls us is not about giving up…acquiescing…or agreeing.
- It’s about a way of life.
- It’s about Jesus’ way of life.
- It doesn’t mean we have to like or want what is happening.
- It means that we face it and deal with it.
Consent means we show up and be present to whatever is before us.
- Even if it is difficult…painful…or the last thing we want.
- Consent is not about being in control or having all the answers.
- It means we don’t turn back or run away from what is in front of us.
- We don’t have to do everything that is set before us.
- But neither can we resist doing what is ours.
Consent doesn’t mean passively accepting whatever happens.
- It means actively giving ourselves to the circumstances…relationships and people before us.
- It’s an act of risk and vulnerability.
- And it’s a profession of faith…hope and love.
- It means staying open to whatever in that moment is being asked of us in the name of God.
Jesus’ life was a continual yes to the world…to you and to me…he lived a life of consent.
- He consented to bring good news to the poor.
- He consented to welcome the outsider and foreigner.
- He consented to hospitality for the hungry and thirsty.
- He consented to forgiveness for the women caught in adultery.
- He consented to raise Lazarus into the fragrance of new life.
- He consented to intimacy when Mary anointed and kissed his feet.
- He consented to compassion and healing for the blind…deaf and lame.
- He consented to abundance when the wine ran out.
- He consented to be a servant of all and wash dirty feet.
- He consented to peace and nonviolence in a world of swords.
- He consented to speak truth to power.
- He consented to struggle with God and himself in the Garden of Gethsemane.
- He consented to courage and perseverance as he took up and carried his cross.
- He consented to reconcile with Peter after being denied by him three times.
- He consented to humility when soldiers mocked and beat him.
- He consented to life in the face of death.
Jesus never turned away…he was present and showed up to whoever or whatever was before him.
- Every time Jesus consented…he stepped into the river of humanity.
- And immersed himself in the waters of your life and my life.
- Jesus asked John to stand with him.
- And Jesus stands with us.
- And he asks us to stand with him.
The opportunities for consent come to us daily.
- Maybe we are being asked to consent to love…forgiveness…peace…
- Compassion…welcome…courage…
- Hope…beauty.
When we consent…we wade into the deep waters of life.
- We stand with Jesus in the river of humanity.
- And together we fulfill all righteousness.
- Nothing gets left undone.
- No one gets left out.