First Baptist Church on Littleton Common    

Rev. Deborah J. Blanchard

FBC Littleton       01/13/08

The Candidate of Change

Matthew 3:1-17

Apparently everybody wants change.

These past few weeks within the political arena, and particularly while the New Hampshire primaries were happening right next to us, the buzz word was “change.”  All of a sudden every candidate running for President stepped up their portrayal of themselves as the candidate of change.

Barack Obama wants us to “stand for change.”

Hillary Clinton said that “change comes with experience.”  

John Edward’s theme is “the campaign to change America.”

Mike Huckabee said “change is necessary.”

Mitt Romney said Washington needs a “fundamental change.”

John McCain said “change is coming.”

Apparently the candidates have realized that people don’t want “business as usual.”

Change, of course, is what an election is all about.  An election has been defined as "the democratic and lawful means of securing change, if change be necessary, is an expression of the will of an informed electorate."[1]

The current will of the informed electorate seems to feel that change is necessary.  What lays heavy on our collective hearts and minds though, is whether or not there will be “real” change and what direction that “real change” might take.   For as often as I hear that buzz word, it is quickly followed with skepticism that any real change will occur in our political landscape.   

The desire for change is deeply felt right now because of the feelings of hopelessness that everyone is feeling.  People are feeling lost and forgotten about issues that matter dearly to them or their loved ones.  Health care, unemployment, immigration, the economy, the wars, terrorism and international relations are on our minds every day.  Their level of importance often has to do with a personal story of pain or anxiety that is connected to one of those issues.  People want to know they aren’t forgotten and that someone with higher power will remember them.  Some just shake their heads and give in to the despair and refuse to discuss or vote in the election.   

This desire for political change is nothing new.   Plato, a Greek philosopher who lived between 424-347 BC is well known for his philosophical dialogues concerning politics.  Two of his well known dialogues, Republic and Law, discussed and pondered political theory.   The ancient philosophers were always debating what the highest form of certain areas, such as politics, should look like.  Plato noted this truth about change – that “excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.”  We all have an opinion on what politics and our government should look like and apparently polls and pundits have observed that we are an unhappy lot. 

For some, change in any area is threatening because it opens unknown doors.  For others change is possible every new day and is a feeling closely connected with hope.  Change can mean anything from a simple substitution, to an exchange or to a complete transformation and a turning around.   Most of us have a list of things we would like to change about politics, our about ourselves and about others!   We may have given up making a list of New Year’s resolutions for ourselves, but if asked we all may secretly wish that we could draw up that same list for friends and family members about the changes we think they should make.  It is so easy to mentally change habits and characteristics of those closest to us. 

A wise, old Middle Eastern mystic said this about himself. "I was a revolutionary when I was young, and all my prayer to God was: 'Lord, give me the energy to change the world.' As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: 'Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come into contact with me. Just my family and friends and I shall be satisfied.' Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: 'Lord, give me the grace to change myself.' If I had prayed this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life." [2]

Change begins with oneself.  The story today of Jesus’ baptism by John is about change.  It touches on the political expectations that people had and their hope for change.  People were feeling lost and forgotten on issues that matter dearly to them or their loved ones. They didn’t like the current political situation and were expecting a political messiah.  We know the rest of the story and their political hopes were dashed.   However this is a story of spiritual transformation.  It is a story found in all four Gospels and is essentially the kickoff event of Jesus’ campaign or his ministry.   Matthew reports this beginning story, including the exchange between Jesus and John in seventeen verses.  Mark does it in eleven verses, Luke in twenty-two verses and John in thirty-eight verses, although the accounts vary somewhat in their details. 

Matthew will tell us  this story of two adult cousins coming face to face nearly 30 years after their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth had came face to face when both were expecting.  In that earlier meeting, recorded in the gospel of Luke, the baby within Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy when Mary greeting her and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.    

Today we hear that John is out on the campaign trail, in the desert, outfitted in camel hair and leather, with a reputation of eating locusts and wild honey.   He is a man of the wild, calling people to task for their sinfulness, calling for their confession and repentance and then baptizing them, which is symbolic of a transformation and a new start.  People, including the Pharisees and Sadducees, have come from all over the countryside to see what John is doing. Is he the candidate of change?  Will he be the one?    John starts yelling at the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who are the religious party in power, calling them to repent, bear fruit or suffer the consequences.  In an angry, confrontational tone, John declares that there will be one mightier than he who will come with the Holy Spirit, with fire, with a winnowing fork in his hand and who will clean up the floor, burning the chaff with an “unquenchable fire.”    John was definitely the angry candidate, calling for change from the establishment and repentance from them to produce better results.   

Jesus approaches John to be baptized by him, however John wants to change places with Jesus.  John is expecting a leader who will rule with power and fire - one who is mighty – but Jesus will have none of that.  Jesus will not move into the position of power and authority.    Jesus explains to John that it must be this way saying “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  And so doing God’s will, doing the right thing, in all humility, one who is without sin submits to the waters of Baptism.   Upon “fulfilling all righteousness”, the heavens are opened up, the Spirit of God descends like a dove and voice from heaven proclaims, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  

Instead of power and might we see humility and submission.   Instead of a fork and fire, we see a dove and we hear a voice from heaven say, almost proudly I think, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am pleased.”  Something any parent might say when their child takes their first steps.  Jesus has submitted himself to God’s plan by completely immersing himself, literally and figuratively, to the will of God for this earthly and divine ministry.

This action by Jesus signals a big change.  God is going to work in a new way.  Jesus truly is the candidate of change, but that change will not be political, it will be spiritual.   His birth, his baptism, his ministry, teachings, death and resurrection will not change the political realm but the spiritual.  Jesus will open the way for us to in relationship with God, and when we humbly give ourselves to God, will also call us “beloved.”  Immanuel God is with us.  We are not forgotten and there is one in power who has come to be with us. 

This story is also a pretty important story for a Baptist community.   Baptism is a practice of faith that is modeled by Jesus Christ.  Baptism is an expression of a spiritual change - however we believe the change occurs before the practice of baptism.   We practice a believer’s baptism, which presumes that there has been a change of heart, a turning towards Jesus Christ, a transformation and an understanding before the public expression of that faith in baptism.  You are not saved by the baptism itself, or by anything that we do.  Ephesians 2: 8 says, “For by grace you are saved and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God.”   We receive the gracious gift of Jesus Christ.    With infant baptism the child is baptized on behalf of the expression of faith by the parents, and with the hope that the child will grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.  Both are very traditional ways that people express their faith.  

I don’t remember very much about my own baptism, except that I was baptized with my whole group of friends at church when I was about 12 years of age.  We went through the baptism class with the pastor and then we all got baptized.    But I loved church when I was child and a youth.  The church was always a place that I was welcomed, loved and known.  It was not a mega-church but simply a church that was alive with caring people and full of love for one another. The church was a ministry of presence, and the people were not perfect, but we were there for one another.   When I was baptized I felt the loving presence of that community who had nurtured me and encouraged me, within those waters.  And when I came up out of the water I felt the love of God for me and I felt it through all of them.   They were all like parents who were proud of their all children taking their first steps in faith.   And I knew that I was beloved by God through Jesus Christ and would not be forgotten.   That is what I understood at that young age.  Can you remember your baptism?  Do you remember God’s claim upon you and that love?  

In Jesus’ baptism the Holy Spirit descended and came upon him and God spoke with a great love for him.  We too can have those types of moments where the heavens are opened up and the Holy Spirit comes and God speaks to us.    They are not grand and public moments - where everything and everyone stops.   Instead these are moments of faith.  They are very simple moments where we may feel the presence of God who comes to comfort us, encourage us, and remind us that there is a higher power who will not forget us.  We are also and always beloved.  The Holy Spirit is the agent of change – who comes as comforter, encourager and sustainer and who will not leave us.    This is a spiritual change that begins within us.  And when we have given ourselves to God through Jesus Christ and are empowered by the Holy Spirit - we know that we will not walk alone.   And when we know we are loved and cared for and secure in that knowledge – it is then that we are called to be agents of change as well.  For we are called to make a difference in the world - but it begins first by having a secure knowledge of the love of God.    

This week may the Spirit of God descend upon your heart and fill you with love and may you know that you are never forgotten. 

Amen.