B18 The Baptism of Our Lord [7 Jan '18]

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                      ••••••••••            Acts 19:1-7
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In today's Epistle, we find Paul asking a group of Ephesians if they received the Holy Spirit when they were baptized. They have not, for their experience was the baptism of John, a baptism of repentance. Paul speaks of baptism into the name of Jesus, into the death and resurrection of Christ. And then Paul baptizes them in the Baptism of Jesus, and they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This reading is perfect for us on this feast day when we not only have affirmed our Baptism into Jesus as we remember that he was baptized by John in the Jordan. Today we have witnessed the Baptism of a new child of God. Having witnessed this Baptism and affirmed our own, we do well to hear the question of Paul as if asked directly of us:

                "Have you received the Holy Spirit?"

And hopefully here today, having participated in the Baptismal Liturgy, we know that the answer is, "Yes, we have!" For as many as have been baptized in Christ have been clothed with Christ and have received the Holy Spirit who marks us as the eternal children of God that we are.

But how do we know that we have received the Holy Spirit? The answer lies in what the Holy Spirit does in our midst. Above all else, we know the Holy Spirit to be present in and among us when we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, specifically that he is "My Lord and My God!" Paul is quite blunt when writing to the Corinthians that:

                        "No one can say
                                                     'Jesus is Lord'
        except in the Holy Spirit."

The mere fact that today we have made that profession points to the fact that the Holy Spirit is indeed present in us and among us.

Only, my friends, remember that this profession is deeper than words. We put these words into practice by living out our Baptism daily and trusting that God the Holy Spirit is working in us to bring us to a greater knowledge and love of God. And how we need that work of the Holy Spirit. I say that because this Christian life into which we have been baptized is far from easy. Jesus tells us that we are to love everyone as he has first loved us and them. Jesus expects us to pray for all persons, to love even those who hate us, to bless even those who curse us, to be the servant of all. And if we do not have the Holy Spirit, we will fail at this again and again. And when we do fail, Jesus offers us the forgiveness that we need and the Holy Spirit prays for us as we ought to pray. And by these prayers of the Holy Spirit that are too deep for words, we are invited to grow continually until at last we are praying and serving not as we wish but as God desires.

As we approach the Bread and Wine at this Altar this day that shall become through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the true Sacred Body and very Precious Blood of Jesus, may our prayers be that the Holy Spirit will accomplish that work among us and in us to such a degree that no one will ever have to ask us if we have received the Holy Spirit when we were baptized into Christ, for the evidence of our faith, the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, will make that presence known and show us to be the children of God who invite all the world to taste and see the goodness of the love of God.

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                           Father Timothy Alleman
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