St. James' Episcopal Church
Jackson, Mississippi
January 13, 2002
The First Sunday after the Epiphany

What Would Jesus HAVE Me Do?
The Rev. William A. Kolb

Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17

We gather this morning not only to celebrate the sacrament of Eucharist, of thanksgiving, but also to initiate into the worldwide Christian community four of our children: Elizabeth Clare Black, Holly Nicole Hunt, John Gerhard Miller and Langston Meredith Myers.

Holy Baptism is not something that kindly Father Moyer is doing for these babies in this service; actually, Father Moyer is a conduit, the physical means by which God is doing something very special for these children this morning.

God is engrafting these precious beings into the Body of Christ, an entity which you and I cannot see but which is more real than this building. If love is real, the Body of Christ is real. If sacrifice is real, the Body of Christ is real. If trust is real, the Body of Christ is real.

In being brought into this specific Christian community as well as into the larger, worldwide Body of Christ, these children are being set on a path different from any other: they are going to be following in the footsteps of the Son of God. Their lives will never be the same once they are baptized. The shadow and sunshine of the Crucified One will always be hovering somewhere around them, whether it leads them to fullness of life or heaviness of guilt, or like most of us, some of each, it will be there.

But I pray that they will never think they need to be like Christ. You know that saying that was so popular a short time ago, "What would Jesus Do?" I never was comfortable with that and I think I know why: if I were in a tight spot or if I were faced with a tempting situation, and if I could do what Jesus would do, why would I need Jesus? Why would I need a Savior? We cannot BE the Savior, we can only give ourselves to him and pray that he will fill us up and make us new again.

If we are going to have little bracelets and all kinds of consumer goods emblazoned with one of these sayings, I would be more comfortable with "What would Jesus HAVE me do?" What does he want me to do? What are his marching orders?

And that brings me to my final point: in the Book of Amos the prophet, we hear these words:

"He showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them."

A plumb line is a tool, a device by which one can determine whether a structure is straight, is straight up-and-down. It is the measure by which we can know if things are the way they need to be.

Jesus is the plumb line in our life. This Jesus, the Body of Christ of which we are all a part, is the centering, peace-giving, soul-healing plumb line for guidance in living our life. Not, I will do what Jesus would do, but, I know what Jesus would want me to do and with his help I will try to do it or be it. Right and wrong can be learned by learning Jesus. Jesus is the plumb line in our life. And so we are all baptized this morning, along with these little ones. We are baptized in our spirit as we rededicate ourselves to knowing Jesus as the Boss, the Lord, and the blessed plumb line.

Amen.

Copyright 2002 The Rev. William A. Kolb

Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17
Then 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; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened 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." NRSV

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