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The Holy gospel The holy gospel of our savior, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew. Glory to you, you are precious. Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you. And do you come to me?
But Jesus answered him, let it be so now, righteousness. Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were open to him. 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, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
The gospel of the Lord. Children ages three to 10 are welcome to join Adeline for story time. Short story time today. And you'll be back to, join with us for the baptism. In the name of one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen. Please be seated. I don't know if you've noticed, but this week has been kind of a brutal one by anyone's measure. The US has taken military action in Venezuela removing the president and his wife. And on Wednesday, we heard of the tragic shooting of US citizen Renee Nicole Goode, who was killed in an ICE operation in Minneapolis.
She was the mother of a six year old daughter who will now grow up without her. And her death took place only blocks away from where George Floyd was murdered. Like many of you, my heart has felt deeply heavy this week as it seems we will be starting 2026 by perpetrating violence. And it seems that no matter what anybody's political beliefs are, we're all feeling something like this. The polls are showing that we're feeling stress as a nation.
That the majority of Americans are feeling anxiety, worry, and pessimism about the state of things. It has me and probably many of you asking a lot of questions. Questions like, what can be done about all of this? How will we as baptized Christians engage to work to transform all this trauma and violence that we see? As we should do, we should look to the gospel to help us find guidance.
And what we hear in today's gospel is the story of Jesus's baptism. In his baptism, Jesus and John ask the same question and give us an answer from a site that was at the heart of their generations pain and violence. They answer it with a ritual of baptism that they enacted thousands of years ago. And everything about this baptism from the site, from the way it was performed, to the way that it launched their careers and ministries, Shows us that this was intentionally done and that we can learn something about it. If you've ever been to The Holy Land, you've likely visited the popular site at the River Jordan, where people say was the same place Jesus was baptized.
It's in a lovely part of the Jordan, almost like an oasis. There are several places where groups of people can wade into the gentle waters. They even have like rails for you. You can be baptized there if you'd like. You can even rent flowy white gowns from the gift store and use their sparkling bathrooms to get changed in.
It's great. But there is one major problem. It's almost 100% for sure not the actual place where Jesus was baptized. Whoops. Now for that, you have to travel to the East Bank of the Jordan River, approximately six miles north of the Dead Sea.
It's there that the river is a physical boundary between Jordan and Israel. The site, officially known as Bethany Beyond The Jordan, is recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Site by most archaeologists and by the majority of all church denominations as the actual historical location of where Jesus was baptized. And it is anything but nice. It used to be a militarized zone and due to its status as such as still an international border, and so there are significant security measures in place. Visitors typically have to go through a checkpoint to access the site and are instructed to stay within designated areas and not to deter from the hot, dusty path.
There's no shade. There's no waiting spots. And that path is lined with signs that say if you deviate from the prescribed route, you'll be walking straight into a field of landmines. Literally. Many of them were only removed five years ago.
There's barbed wire everywhere as well as armed guards who stand watching as people wade into a very muddy creek, making sure that they do not cross to the other side traversing the border. It even suffers from ecological problems caused by climate change since decades of water diversion for agricultural and domestic use have reduced the Jordan's flow to less than 10% of its historical levels. So the river at the site is now shallow, sluggish, a trickle of water, barely 20 feet across in some places. It's actually startling to compare the two sites. One is clean, lovely, shady, perfect for religious tourism.
One is harsh, containing the scars of war and climate change. It shows us again the sheer scandal of the incarnation that God would choose to dwell us with us not in easy or comfortable places, but in murky, dirty, uncomfortable, violent places. Unless you think this spot has only recently known deep pain at the time of Jesus's baptism, the site was also a significant political and symbolic location. Then as now, the river served as a political boundary between two different administrative districts. Judea, that was under the rule of the go go Roman governors, like Pontius Pilate, and the East Bank, which was under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas.
The site also held political and nationalistic symbols for the Jewish people. Traditionally, the spot where Joshua led the Israelites through the Jordan River to the promised land. Marking their transition from a wandering nation to one that had a spot to live. But this would also lead to blood and war as they took over the land. And finally, it's also the spot they thought the prophet Elijah ascended into heaven, where John the Baptist would later embody that same Elijah's message, preaching political change and religious reform and the resistance of corrupt leadership.
From this spot, as I said, Jesus and John, who are cousins of some kind, would come to face to face with their own ministry. Ones that were touched by the political regimes at this spot. The two Herods, for example, first Herod the Great, whose fear of the baby Jesus' kingship was so great that he ordered the slaughter of all the toddlers in the region to ensure Jesus would never take power. His father he was the father of Herod Antipas, who first encountered John on this very spot in this Jordan. It was from here that he would later behead the Baptist and use his head for sport.
It's from this spot that they would both become political prisoners, and it would lead to their death. So where am I going with all this geotheological exploration of this one spot on the Jordan? Well, in Jesus and John, in this moment, in this spot, we are witnessing what it looks like to choose to put an end to generations of pain and violence. As I said, their families had suffered. Their people had suffered.
They knew what it was to be under the foot of empire. They were born into a violent world. They lived their whole lives in a violent world. And they would have been well within their rights to meet violence with violence. Indeed, people look to John as that fiery prophet to proclaim the Messiah that would cleanse this world with a mighty act of power.
To use might to make right. And people look to Jesus to be a political conqueror launching from that very important spot to kill the people who would kill him. To end the violence in only the way they dreamed possible with more violence. War, land mines, barbed wire. They looked for them both to leave this spot and begin a ministry of sorts.
A ministry of violence. But John and Jesus knew better than most that that kind of violence would only lead to refugees looking for safety. Would only lead to the slaughter of innocent people. Would only lead to crucifixion at the hands of the empire. Jesus could have picked up a sword and done all of that, leading a bloody revolution to claim an earthly throne.
He'd never have to be hungry or run for his life or even lift a finger again if he wanted. And John could have been his right hand man. Could have been theirs for the taking from that spot. Instead, he and John go out from this place and they choose peace. From this heart of the story of their people and power, they choose to enact a ritual of peace, of repentance, and unity.
Not in a place that was known for its loveliness from but from a place that was always brutal. A place of truth telling and prophecy. A place that even to this day marks divisions and boundaries that separate. They chose here to say it ends. And belovedness is the way they chose to end it.
Jesus says to John that he has to be baptized. He has to partake in this ritual that even today we believe bonds us to Christ and Christ to us and to each other. A ritual that says divisions cannot exist because we are one in the body of Christ. Jesus participates in this baptism to ensure that the cosmic act of unity would ring throughout the ages. Every time we welcome someone new into the body of Christ as we do today, thank you.
Every time is a chance for us to renew our own baptismal covenant. And we are making the same prop proclamation as they did. That with us, Even though we face all the brutality of divisions that are upheld in violent ways, that we are committed to ending the violence. Replacing it by seeking Christ in all persons. We will see all as beloved.
With us, the bloody quest for power at all cost will end by respecting the dignity of every human being. With us, we will live as beloved. With us, we will not stay in places of comfort, but be brave. Being sustained by the Holy Spirit, seeking new ways of peace with inquiring and discerning hearts, the courage and will to persevere, the gift of joy and wonder in all God's works that is given to us in the prayers of baptism. From that brutal spot in the Jordan River, Jesus's ministry as the beloved is launched.
And from here, with the waters of our own small part of the Jordan, sitting as we do in the heart of the seed of power in DC, from this brutal vantage point, we can watch the world choose violence. But our own beloved ministry of peace and unity must also be launched. Whatever you do today, don't believe that we can just, as baptized people, choose the nice and comfortable option. This Sunday, we are reminded that we can't just sit here thinking this is a nice, sweet, and comfortable little ritual that we deal with. This is instead a picking up of peace.
Of waging peace in this world. What the non real baptismal site shows us that there are those who treat this as mere tourism of faith. But that's not what we can do. We can't just say these words and prayers and not hear the covenantal promises that we are making, the life changing promises that we are making. As we let the water fall anew upon us, we must feel the same sense of conviction that Jesus and John felt.
That something, something in our hearts needs to be launched into this world today. That the lie of the vision that was washed away in that river two thousand years ago is nothing but a lie. That we know the truth. That this world is brutal. Yes.
And it's exactly into that brutality that we are launched, being overwhelmed by the blessing of belovedness and unity that has been waging peace for thousands of years and will do so for all eternity. This is how Jesus and John went into the world from their spot. This is how we will go into the world from this spot forever and evermore. Amen.
