Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent
(At the Baptism of Ava Rianne Gideon)
Counterintuitive Jesus
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ! In today’s Gospel, Jesus heads in the opposite direction the other
people in this Gospel hoped and expected He would go. According to logic and
intuition, did not seem right and good that Jesus would go to Jerusalem and to
the cross. But Jesus insists on acting counter-intuitively; He goes against
logic and intuition. “The third day I finish My course,” He declares. “I must
go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a
prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.”
Dear Christian friends,
Whenever I take the bridge across the lake to Osage Beach, I inevitably suffer
an inner conflict along the way. This conflict always arises at the same
location on the road, and I always have the exact same struggle every time I
arrive at that spot. It is that first traffic light after the bridge. My brain
tells at me that I need to turn right in order to get to Osage Beach. The sign
on the road, however, tells me that I must turn left in order to get to Osage
Beach. That sign (which I dearly despise) and the left turn that it demands of
me are both counterintuitive. That is to say, the directions do not make sense
to me. They go counter or against my intuition, my natural thinking, my sense
of direction, and my deepest gut feelings about the correct way to turn.
Intuition tells me to turn right, but the road sign speaks counter-intuitively.
That sign forces me to ignore my brain. I must trust what the sign is telling
me and turn left, despite what I
intuitively want to do.
Some Pharisees came to Jesus in today’s Gospel. They had a very clear intuition
about Him, that is, a very clear sense of what they thought was best for Jesus
to do. “Get away from here,” they said to Him, “for Herod wants to kill you.”
Intuitively, these men thought Jesus would want to save Himself from harm. But
Jesus responds counter-intuitively. Contrary to what these men naturally think,
contrary to their native sense of direction, contrary to their deepest gut
feelings, Jesus goes the opposite road they think He should travel. They said
to Him, “Get away.”
He said to them, “Go and tell that fox [Herod, I’m not going anywhere],
‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third
day I finish my course… I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day
following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’”
If these Pharisees were in the car with Jesus, they all would be screaming
“Turn right!” in the same manner that I want to turn right when I get to the
stoplight at the end of the bridge to Osage Beach. Counterintuitive Jesus turns
left. “I must go on My way.”
If Jesus had listened to these men, we would all damned. Jesus must act
counter-intuitively for you and for me and for our salvation. It seems natural
and reasonable that any man would want to avoid harm and danger, but Jesus acts
contrary to reason. The harm and the danger awaiting Him in Jerusalem were
precisely the point. Suffering and death were the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation
by the Holy Spirit and birth of the Virgin Mary. Counterintuitive Jesus against
the way the human brain thinks He should go, and in so doing, He secured for
you the forgiveness of your sins by dying on His cross for you.
Today we have baptized another child. As Jesus acted
counter-intuitively in today’s Gospel, so Jesus also acts counter-intuitively
here at the baptismal font. There is hardly anything more counter-intuitive
than Infant Baptism. That is to say, there is hardly anything in the entire
world that operates in a manner that is more contrary to our human way of
thinking than Infant Baptism. Infant Baptism is so counter-intuitive, in fact,
I will go so far as to say that most people—including most Christians—never
even come close to realizing fully the wonder and miracle that Jesus performs
here. (Now let me bring that statement even closer to home: Infant Baptism is
so counter-intuitive, so contrary to my own gut feelings and my own sense of
logic that I am not sure I personally will ever fully realize the wonder and
miracle that Jesus performs here.) As it happened in today’s Gospel, so it
happens in every Baptism at this font: Here Jesus acts
counter-intuitively. That is to say, here Jesus acts in a way that defies and
goes against our natural way of thinking.
Just think of some of the many ways your brain and my brain so easily
miss the boat when it comes to God’s miracle of Baptism:
· Some Christians intuitively think that Baptism is most beneficial for
children, and now that they have become adults, they no longer need what
Baptism once provided. If you think that way, you would be wrong. Baptism is
counter-intuitive in that your Baptism is not just your spiritual babysitter
for while you are young. Your Baptism is God’s name spelled out upon you,
written in the blood of Jesus, marking you and claiming you to be God’s beloved
child. Even more than that, Baptism is God’s umbilical cord connection to you;
it is the living pipeline through which God daily and hourly supplies you with
His forgiveness of sins and eternal life. You will outgrow your daily need for
your Baptism only when you have stopped sinning daily. (Let’s make a deal: If
you do not pretend you have outgrown your sins, I will not pretend to have
outgrown mine.)
· Again, some people get the wrong idea about Baptism when they
intuitively think that, once you are baptized, you are done for eternal life
and nothing more needs to be added. That is to say, some people intuitively
think that Baptism is like a guaranteed train ticket or a get-out-of-jail-free
card: once you get it, you can ignore Christ and His Church until you need
someone to bury you and pray your funeral for you. But Jesus’ miracle of
Baptism is counter-intuitive: it is not a magic act or a ticket to ride.
Baptism is a living seed miraculously planted in you; a life form needs the
further miracles of hearing God’s Word in order to bloom and grow. Baptism is
God’s act of adoption, and there is nothing your God loves more than to be with
and speak to His children. Baptism gets nourished and strengthened and deepened
through the hearing of God’s Words, which is why Bible stories and Sunday
School lessons are so vitally important for you and
for your children.
· Yet again, some people intuitively think that their Baptism does not
really have all that much to do with their everyday life of going to school or
to work. They think that Baptism’s place is only in the church on Sunday, and
that Baptism does not need much thought or consideration during the week. But
Jesus’ miracle of Baptism is counter-intuitive: Jesus’ gift of Baptism is
precisely the thing that gets you through your week.
o Did you cope with your co-workers or your clients or your in-laws for
another five days? Thanks be to God for the strength-bestowing gift of Baptism,
a miraculous strength which is yours even when you cannot remember many Bible
verses or when you have not made it to Holy Communion in a while.
o Did you hang on for another week of family struggles and growing
children and bills and car repairs and oh-great-the-roof-is-now-leaking? Jesus’
miracle of Baptism kept you afloat while your life was swirling in the
whirlpool all around you.
o Did you find yourself not despairing on account of your sins and past
regrets? Thank God for your Baptism. Did you find the strength to resist (for a
least a couple of minutes) those temptations you most dearly desire? Thank God
for your Baptism. Did you stave off your loneliness for your departed loved
ones? Did you somehow manage to keep the lid on your sorrows? Did you come
around the corner of your anger and begin to feel it let up a bit? Thank God
for your Baptism.
o Are you headed back out there again this week? Thank God for your
Baptism.
Little tiny baby, little tiny bit of water, great big miracle. Counterintuitive
miracle. Today’s Gospel a pretty good Gospel to have at a Baptism. Really, the
same sort of counterintuitive things happen here in this Gospel as happen also
at a Baptism. Some Pharisees came to Jesus, trying to get Jesus to go away.
Jesus simply is not going to do it. Jesus loves you too obstinately to be
turned aside. Jesus also loves you to obstinately and resolutely to leave you.
It does not make sense to the human brain that this would happen; so don’t try
to make sense of it. It goes contrary to everything inside of us to think that
salvation would come in this manner, but here it comes! In today’ Gospel and in
your Baptism, Jesus turns left at the traffic light, so to speak. He turns left
even while everyone’s inborn sense of direction wants to see Him go to the
right. But that direction leads you nowhere. The counter-intuitive direction
gives you life. Far
better that we just keep our mouths shut and let Him drive.
___________________________________________________________________________
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