"I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Perhaps no statement is any easier to understand than this, in all of Scripture. For here we find John the Baptist out along the bank of the Jordan River. His purpose was clear. John was calling people from their daily lives to repent of their sins, be baptized in the river, and then to live a life of renewed dedication to God.

In the midst of this activity, Jesus made an appearance. Obviously John knew who Jesus was. But what surprised him was Jesus request. For you see that day Jesus was there to be baptized by John.

John's response was quite predictable. "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus reply, however, caught John completely off guard. "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us".

Just try to imagine yourself in John's shoes, or should I say sandals. Here was the one who had been predicted, the Messiah, coming to him (John) for baptism. What's more, when John protested, Jesus said that the proper thing for both he and John was for John to baptize him.

For us to fully appreciate this, we must understand that we are asked by Jesus to do the same thing. Oh, I don't mean that Jesus will literally ask us to baptize him (how could he after all?)! However, each of us is asked to do even that which we don't feel ourselves worthy to do!

How many times has someone in this church, for instance, insisted that they would not do something using the words, "I really am unable to do that"? How many times has each of us refused to do something simply dismissing the opportunity with the words, "I really am unable to do that"!

God continually calls us to do those things for which we feel unworthy. In fact, the truth is that none of us is or ever will be worthy. But like John the Baptist by the banks of the Jordan River, Jesus comes to us asking us to be baptized none the less.

Please bear with me (and even excuse me) as I make a quick trip through western philosophy. In Augustine's classic The City of God, the great 4th century African Bishop explained his radical notion that so much of what we are asked to do in this world is that for which we really are not worthy.

Plato and Aristotle had felt that that human reason was a reflection of divine reason and therefore everyone potentially was worthy to do any and all tasks. Augustine, however, understood the failure of such thinking. After all, when people think they are worthy of some of the honor and responsibility they are given, they frequently begin to do some of the greatest harm.

Augustine saw the relationship between human reason and perfection quite differently. Augustine explained that in original sin a corruption took place that now exists in every person. Therefore, none of us is ever in the truest sense "worthy". We in fact discover that even our greatest attempts to "do good" or "govern properly" are flawed because every person is affected by a "self-love" that always has the potential of leading to corruption.

Yet, despite this "original sin" in every person, human dignity is not destroyed. In fact God continues to literally intrude into our world bringing about good despite our inclination to sin. As Augustine put it, "Without injustice the republic would neither increase nor subsist. The imperial city to which the republic belongs could not rule over provinces without recourse to injustice. For it is unjust for some (men) to rule over others".

In other words, the very act of assuming one should rule over another (although a human necessity) is flawed. Therefore, inevitably much of what we will do as human beings is that for which we will feel unworthy. We will feel unworthy, but that's because we are unworthy. However, once we accept this as fact, God can and will use us despite our failings. Why even the act of being of a parent is something that none of us is ever worthy of. Yet, with God's intervention we who are parents can and must fulfill our calling!

So where does this lead? Inevitably, it leads to an understanding of God's tremendous grace. For each of us can discover what John the Baptist discovered. When God calls us to a task, God is the one who enables us to do that task. However, when we fulfill our calling, we must be careful to avoid pride. For misplaced pride at such times can make us forget how dependent we constantly are on God's grace!

19^th century Scottish author, George MacDonald, wrote a book for children called Wee Sir Gibby of the Highlands. In it he told about a young boy named Gilbert Galbraith whose mother had died and his father was a hopeless alcoholic. Gilbert (or Gibby as he became known) grew up on the streets of the city until his father too passed away.

The young boy then fled the city for the Highlands of the country. There he encountered many different people. Some people treated him harshly, but one poor Christian family took him into their home. He grew up under their care until one day it was discovered that he was the heir to a great sum of money.

Those who set up the trust that oversaw his inheritance put a local minister (Rev. Sclater) and his wife in charge of Gibby until the boy came of age. The goal of the Sclaters was to "cultivate (Gibby) . . . in the social graces of a cultured life."

The problem for the minister and his wife was that young Gibby, although he didn't have a formal education, had a thorough knowledge of human failings. He had learned from the Christian family in the country the importance of following the way of Jesus and not departing from that way. For Gibbie had "his whole soul full of (Jesus). His mind reflected constantly on (Jesus') doings (and words) . . . (in fact) Gibbie was trying to fashion his life after that of the Master."

As MacDonald tells the story, the young boy was so clear about his need to first follow Jesus and allow Jesus to live in and through him, that he refused to think of himself as better than others. Try as they might, the upper class minister and his wife simply could not make the young man who had come into great wealth view himself (and a select group of people) as better than others.

Did Gibby see himself as "worthy"? Absolutely not! For to see himself as worthy and others as unworthy was a rejection of all that he had learned about Jesus. Gibby only viewed himself as well as all others as equally unworthy but appreciative of God's constant giving. That fact allowed him to do more good than the minister, his wife, and all of the others who thought too highly of themselves!

The story of Jesus asking John the Baptist to baptize him is the story of all of us. For each of us when truly honest sees our failings, our sin, and our unworthiness. Yet God graciously comes to us and asks us to do even that for which we understand we are unworthy. For then, like John the Baptist, we discover that truly "it is proper for us"!

D.Stanley Cushing, Jan, 1999