I am grateful for Rev. Dr. Ed Searcy, the minister at my field site church in Vancouver for his ponderings on infant baptism which I used throughout this sermon.

Today we begin again at the font and meet Jesus still dripping wet from his baptism moving away in the wilderness, into the wild—erness. Jesus has just heard a voice from heaven speak the words, “You are my Beloved Son”. Now I think we can easily imagine Jesus, who is fully 100% divine, respond to that, “Yes! Great! Son of God! Bring it on!” But what I think we often have trouble with is Jesus who is paradoxically fully 100% human. I mean, you’re human right? If you heard the words, “You are THE Son of God” wouldn’t you worry that your friends and family might look at you as some inflated religious nut? Jesus was going off into the wild, wondering “Son of Who?#@!!! What does it mean to choose the ‘Son of God’ road I’m travelling? And it’s out there in the wild Jesus hears a voice and it is the voice of temptation. Now the problem with temptation is that we like it. A great bishop of the church Augustine in the 4th century, says in his confessions to God, “Give me  chastity and self-control, but not just yet. Don’t heal me too soon from my sick urges, because I like them." Look at these wonderful temptations offered to Jesus:
• Make these stones turn to bread and then nobody anywhere will ever experience physical hunger. Isn’t that what Jesus wants? ---But Jesus remained hungry.
• Jump off this cliff and you will know for certain what Son of God really means. ---But Jesus remained ambiguous about his identity.
• Take this power and free your people from the Roman Empire. Free all people from oppression. ---But Jesus remained weak.
Jesus was out there in the wild wrestling with the Son of God he was tempted to be.

And by the way, just for clarity, if I was drawing this story I would not draw Jesus at one end and some red-skinned person with horns and a pitchfork at the other end. I, myself (you would probably draw something completely different) would draw Jesus as the only person in the picture. There are others present but they can’t be seen. In my picture, Jesus is gazing on the biggest theological bookstore in the world. That’s what I would draw, Jesus with a big fat Jesus bookstore. Temptation is attractive.

Misty and Kyle have been called to a wilderness of sorts this past week. It may have been at their kitchen table, I don’t know but wherever they were planning to write their testimony, their truth, of what God was up to in their lives we can be sure that the tempter was not too far away—probably waiting until they were at their weakest, and anyone who has cared for children know all too well those are the days when the kids are sick and don’t sleep and we’re so tired we’re zombies. I don’t know what they went through. I never asked them and I don’t want to assume anything. But there is a tremendous temptation for baptism to be twisted into a nice little cozy service with a beautiful baby and a few drops of sprinkling water (although these dimensions can very well be present in every batism). 

• First of all, this congregation needs to know that little Nash is not the only one who passes through the baptismal waters today. We're all behind him following him across in a communal baptism.

• And there is a temptation—that voice again—to domesticate baptism and to think it’s all about a lovely baby being sprinkled with a few drops of water. After all where can you see any danger of drowning here? But be sure, Nash was not baptized with a few drops of water. That’s merely the symbol. Nash was baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire by Jesus himself. And this baptism is not always smooth sailing waters. We here in this congregation know about other waters too. Some of us are in those terrifying sea storms right now. We call them loneliness, desperation, illness, anger, violence, injustice. We’re just not accustomed to calling them baptismal waters. But they are baptismal waters where we discover parts of ourselves are dying and we wait for God to pull us out onto dry land. The journey to new life with God brings us through some pretty freaky waters. [I got that word from a child at the 4H speeches on Friday here at GR]. We do not know what threat or ‘freaky waters’ Nash will encounter in his lifetime. But we can be sure that God will lift him up onto dry land when he does encounter them, however God does that. For God is a faithful God and we know already that God’s promises are made real through Jesus Christ.

It is tempting to be cynical of how much of a new beginning baptism can be for young Nash here today. After all he is not even 8 months old yet. But make no mistake, Nash’s future direction changes here. Here at this font, he dies to the story that would tell him: “Be whatever you wish. Your life belongs to you. So long as you are happy and satisfied, all is well.” Here at the font Nash is immersed in a different story. Here he learns that he has been redeemed even before he discovers that he is lost.

We sang the hymn,  “I Have Called You By Your Name, You Are Mine”  and we sang the words, “With my wonder in your soul, make my wounded children whole. Go and tell my precious people they are mine.” And we might be tempted to wonder how that little child baby Nash can go out today after church and tell the people he meets that they are precious and they are God’s. But it is exactly children like Nash who are the best at proclaiming that good news. 

There is a lot of temptation out there all around us. And the other thing about temptation is that temptation never ceases. It is our human condition. Somewhere in this church’s collective consciousness this is known deeply. That is why this community prays and reminds itself as often as it can, "And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory…for ever and ever.    AMEN"