Baptism Is About Humility
Author: Fr. Michael Byron
January 09, 2021
About 5 years ago I was part of a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land. We began our journey in the country of Jordan, just across the River of
the same name from the land of Israel. It had been several years since my
previous trip there, and during that time there had been some significant
archeological discoveries along the banks of the river. Previously nobody had
been entirely sure exactly where the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist had
taken place, and there was a small shrine to that event on the Israel side of
the river. But it had since become pretty clear to the scientists and
excavators that the real site was actually on the Jordan side of the river.
And to get a sense of the landscape, the terrain there is a
desert wasteland, with almost nothing growing. And the river itself today is
more like a stagnant swamp – although that would have been different in
biblical times. And the river isn’t much wider than many parts of Minnehaha
Creek in Minneapolis. Many of the dramatic, romantic, artistic depictions of
the baptism that we may have become used to seeing are not true to the facts.
Jesus’s baptism would have been in a much more humble setting than that. Which is
part of the point of the story.
But I recall all of this because I was so deeply saddened
about our journey there that day. Not by the site itself, but by the fact that
almost immediately after having figured out where the true baptism site likely
was, the churches started building lavish, monumental houses of worship around
it. Not together, and not modestly, but enormous multi-million dollar palaces
in the desert, in close proximity to one another, so that the Catholics and the
Orthodox and the Protestants could all pray and adore separately when the
pilgrims came. They and we had completely missed the point of the Baptism of
the Lord – in the very place where it happened. I felt bewildered – and frankly
a little bit ashamed.
Jesus’s baptism was the first among many profound acts of
humility in his public life and ministry, a deep moment of teaching us all how
to live together without the trappings of power and privilege and domination. And
yet today at the Jordan River there’s something of a Cathedral contest playing
out among Christians. Whose church building can be biggest and most expensive
and most dramatic? Jesus’s baptism – which of course he never needed in the
first place, since he is the author of baptism – was intended to tell us that
life isn’t all about me and us and our institutions. And some 2,000 years
later, we’re still trying to figure that out. We keep missing the point of it
all. To follow Jesus is about self-giving for the sake of the most vulnerable
others around us. It’s what he did for us.
To admit this is not meant to be an exercise in
self-loathing or of beating ourselves up needlessly. But it is meant to expose our constant
temptation to pride, and to making even religion into something that is merely
self-serving. That’s not necessarily our fault; it just is. But when we choose
to ignore that, it is then that it becomes our fault.
Among the flag bearers that stormed with deadly force into
our Nation’s Capital on Wednesday was at least one whose banner proclaimed, “Jesus
Saves.” This is what at least some of us are capable of when we turn the Scriptures
into a proclamation of “what I want.” Most Christians, thankfully, are not that
unhinged – but it would be very unwise for any of us to completely ignore that temptation
to install personal preferences or political platforms in to the place where
only God belongs.
Here’s what the Prophet Isaiah said in today’s first
reading:
“My chosen one, with whom I am
pleased and upon whom I have put my spirit, will bring forth justice to the Nations,
not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.”
So whenever we hear of threats and violence and alleged
justice brought about by bloodshed or physical harm that is dressed up in the
veneer of Jesus or Christian faith, let us call that out for the sin that it is
– the utter warping of the gospel, and the betrayal of Jesus that it is. We don’t
need to go into combat about that, but we can acknowledge the lie that it
presents, and we can choose to live in a different way. In fact, Isaiah said
exactly that: “I the Lord have called you for the victory of justice, I have
grasped you by the hand, I formed you, and set you as… a light for the Nations.”
Wherever there are people or angry mobs who shout out something otherwise, it
is our Christian responsibility to witness to a better way, to God’s truth. This
week is exactly such a time. Jesus is not and has never been about domination.
Jesus is about a witness to peace.
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