Luke 3:20-21

I don’t know who he was. He was standing next to me at one of the sinks in the restroom of a fast food restaurant. The water was running. His hands were completely covered in a white, soapy lather. He was scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing. I’ve never seen someone wash his hands so frantically – scrubbing as though his hands would never come clean. Without even looking up at me – not even through the mirror that was in front of us – taking a break from his scrubbing only to rinse his hands so that he could apply more soap – he said, “No germs here.” I didn’t know if he was being sarcastic about the cleanliness of the bathroom or if he was referring to the general cold and flu season that we’re in or if he was somehow verbally patting himself on the back for how thoroughly he was washing his hands.

Reminders to wash our hands are everywhere. Moms say it to their children before and after they use the bathroom. Don’t forget to wash your hands. Did you remember to wash your hands? Who of us hasn’t seen the “Employees must wash hands before returning to work” signs in the restrooms at stores and restaurants? (Not real comforting when you think about it.) Hands. They are tough to keep clean. They can be covered with dirt and grime that we can see – just ask a mechanic or a five year old boy – or they can be covered with germs and bacteria that we can’t see – just ask the school nurse or that guy who was washing his hands next to me in that restroom. Soap manufacturers – bar soap, hand soap, antibacterial soap – will never go out of business. People will always have hands to wash.

Wouldn’t it be great, though, if we could just wash our hands once and be done with it? Wouldn’t it be great if we could wash our hands once and never have to be concerned about picking up or spreading germs and other bacteria? Wouldn’t it be great if we could change the oil in the car or work in the garden and not have to spend time and effort trying to get our hands clean because they wouldn’t be dirty? --- Okay. A bit foolish. I understand. But there is such a thing as a one-time washing. There is a washing that makes us clean and that keeps us clean. There is a washing that eliminates our need to scrub and scrub and scrub. This washing, if you haven’t already guessed, is baptism.

Baptism washes away sin. Baptism makes us clean – and keeps us looking clean – in the sight of God. What God the Father said of Jesus at his Baptism he now says of you and me. “You are my son – my daughter – whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The sermon text this morning is a portion of the Gospel appointed for today, Luke 3:20-21. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Moi? Tu? Me? You? Children? Children of God? Whom he loves? In whom he is well pleased? Children, yes . . . but loved . . . well pleased? Let’s check our pride at the door for a moment. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Children we are – at least we act like it. Don’t we? Disobedient, disrespectful children who dishonor their Father, their heavenly Father. Are those just words that we say? “We have disobeyed you in our thoughts, words and actions. We have done what is evil and failed to do what is good.” Are those just words that we say? Shame on us if that’s all they are. How can any of us claim obedience to God? Complete, total, perfect obedience.

None of us can – though often we try . . . just like children . . . we lie about what we’ve done – to God and to ourselves . . . “did you . . . ?” – “Nope. No, I didn’t. Don’t know what you’re talking about. Wasn’t me.” We cover up our sin . . .  just like children . . . we erase the history on the computer, we make excuses as to where we really were or who we really were with, we put on one face – or one tongue – here at church or in front of others – but we become totally different people when we’re at home or work or with friends. Through it all what we’re really doing is trying to cover up our disobedience. We blame others . . .  just like children; just like Adam and Eve – “but . . . he told me . . . I didn’t know . . . I thought . . . it was her fault . . . I never would have done that if he hadn’t.” Children we are. We act like it. We live like it. We disobey our heavenly Father and through our disobedience we disrespect him and we dishonor his name among others.

I’m not the most patient parent. Perhaps you’re not either. All parents know how frustrating it is when our children disobey – defiantly disobeyed us – how hurtful it is to be disrespected by those we love and care for – our children – and how discouraging it is to be dishonored to the point where others question who we are and what we do as parents. It makes us mad. It makes us furious. --- Whose children are we? --- Oh yeah. That’s right. God’s. More than just a spanking, more than just grounding us, more than just taking away privileges or gadgets, God in his righteous anger has the right to punish us in the eternal fires of hell for being disobedient, disrespectful children who have dishonored him.

And yet what did God do? What was God’s reaction? What was his attitude toward us? We heard it in Titus chapter 3 just a few moments ago. “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done but because of his mercy.” Not anger – mercy. Not punishment – salvation. Not spite – love. God’s love appeared. God’s love appeared in human flesh. It appeared in a manger. It appeared in the temple – 8 days after its birth, 12 years after its birth. And yet it is an eternal love. God’s love appeared on the banks of the Jordan River. It stood in that River. It was baptized – God’s love, God’s Son, was baptized. The love of God appeared in the Upper Room. It appeared in the Garden and then in the temple court and later in the Praetorium. It appeared outside Jerusalem on the cross. It appeared in the emptiness of the tomb. It appeared in the sky as it ascended into heaven. The kindness and love of God appeared in the person and work of Jesus and it saved us.

How could God not be pleased with his Son? At his baptism in the Jordan Jesus was on the verge of carrying out his eternal plan of salvation – in fact, in God’s mind, Jesus had already done that. What son, what daughter, wouldn’t want to hear those words? What father, what parent, wouldn’t want to say those words? In the bleachers at the basketball game – that’s my son! In the classroom for parent teacher conferences – seeing the report card, hearing about classroom behavior and participation – I’m proud of you. At the band concert, at the school play, at home – children want the approval and love and encouragement of their parents. Dear Christian we have the approval and love and encouragement of our heavenly Father. What God the Father said of Jesus he now says of you and me – with you I am well pleased!

God the Father doesn’t say that because of anything we have done or because of anything in us. We know that nothing good lives in us, that is, in our sinful flesh. And yet, God is able to look at you, he is able to looks at me and say, “With you I am well pleased!” How? Because Jesus was obedient! Because Jesus was respectful. Because Jesus honored Joseph and his mother. Because Jesus honored his heavenly Father. Because Jesus was our substitute in life. Because Jesus was willing to go through with his Father’s plan of salvation! Because Jesus did go through with his Father’s plan of salvation! Because Jesus was our substitute in death. No amount of human scrubbing – no amount of human effort – could have made up for or atoned for or cleansed us from our sin. There was no soap strong enough to remove the guilt and shame of our sin. Only the purifying blood of Jesus could do that. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

The heavens didn’t open up and the Holy Spirit didn’t descend in the form of a dove and God the Father didn’t speak in a voice from heaven but at the baptismal font, the Holy Spirit most certainly did descend upon us and God the Father most certainly did say something to us. The Holy Spirit came upon us through the powerful Word of God and a few drops of water. The Holy Spirit worked through the water and the Word and he made us clean. He washed us. In Baptism God scrubbed away the dirt of disobedience, the scum of disrespect, the grime of dishonor, the mud and grease of every sinful thought, word and deed. At the Baptismal Font the Holy Spirit washed away our sin, he made us spiritually alive, he gave us the gift of faith, he made us children of God – as he connected us to Christ and to his work of salvation that made us heirs of eternal life.