The Christ brings a baptism in order to gather all those sinners who are scattered across time and geography to be God’s people united in redemption and salvation.
Our text for today is a unit of Isaiah (40-66) that prophecies to the captives in Babylon two hundred years after the death of Isaiah. Here the prophet is calling to the larger community of God’s people stretched across time. They are those who are united in the promises God made to His people, His promises to redeem and save them. God’s people are not forgotten in the passage of time (verse 1). He even remembers them by name. Beginning in Exodus (6:2-8), this theme is reiterated over and again in Isaiah (41:14; 44:2, 21, 24; 45:3,5). God’s people need not fear because He has called them, and He will gather them to Himself.
For example, the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 14:21-31) was a time when God was with His people. His presence with this gathered group of ex-slaves meant salvation and deliverance. Whom shall His people fear? Now, in our text, the future exiles are connected to those who passed through the Red Sea and even to Isaiah himself whom they have never seen. Another example these verses bring to mind is the crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land (Joshua 3:14-17). Here, God’s gathered people are brought into the promise just as God had planned. They need not fear the residents anymore (Deuteronomy 1:19-46). God is with them to deliver them. And God does not just deliver through the water, even the fire will not separate His people from Him. Verse 2 is reminiscent of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who walked through the fire unscathed (Daniel 3:19-25). Who knows? It may have even been our text that was running through their minds as they prayed to God in the midst of the fiery furnace.
God redeems His people across all time, and He gathers them to Himself no matter where they are scattered across the vastness of the world or even across time. Homiletically, verses 5-7 is likely the best place to make an explicit Gospel connection for you hearers. It will also tie into the liturgical theme for this Sunday, which is the Baptism of our Lord. Here, in the closing verses of our reading, we see that though God’s people were dispersed for their sins, He reminds them they will be drawn to Him once more (11:11-12; 27:13; 49:12; 60:4). They will be gathered by the one who can take them from death to life through the water and fire. John the Baptist helps us to make this connection. When being asked if he were the Christ or not, he as the last Old Testament prophet speaks these words from Luke 3:16: “I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
God redeems His people across all time, and He gathers them to Himself no matter where they are scattered across the vastness of the world or even across time.
The Christ brings a baptism in order to gather all those sinners who are scattered across time and geography to be God’s people united in redemption and salvation. We get a little Pentecost in Epiphany here. Just as all the peoples of the Earth were scattered because of sin, driven further and further apart from each other because of the new language barrier, so all peoples will be united together again, no matter what language they speak. How? By the one Gospel of Jesus Christ. That one Gospel Word of Christ will be the means by which the Holy Spirit works true and saving faith in the hearts of all who believe and are gathered together in the water of Holy Baptism.
What I love so much about this text is how it reaches across scripture and gathers all these narratives of people who seem so separate and yet are all united by God’s promises fulfilled in Christ. There is sometimes a feeling of separation that a Bible reader has from the stories they read. Those things feel like they happened at a different place and different time. However, in Baptism the whole Bible’s story becomes your story because you are now connected in Christ. In Christ and through Baptism the Bible is not somebody else’s story. It is your story too and you are connected and gathered to the whole community of those who have been justified by grace through faith. You are those who have passed through the fire on Calvary and come out on the Easter side of the tomb unscathed by the fire because there was someone who was with you, saved you, and redeemed you in the hour of death. It was the Lord who did this for you in Christ.
Since we are leading our hearers through a chronological theme that develops over time and connects it all to God’s greater plan of salvation, I propose a thematic structure for this sermon.
“The Process Structure examines a topic (like Baptism) by identifying stages of development in a chronological framework. The dynamic unfolding of the topic forms the sequence of the sermon. In using a process format, the preacher will want to pay attention to the use of detail (clarifying how one stage differs from the next), balance (developing the stages in proportion to their importance) and purpose (the function of this overview for the hearers).
Process is often confused with serial causation. The difference lies in the function of identifying a process for the hearers. Whereas serial causation focuses upon the issue of causation in a series of events, process helps the hearers locate the topic within a series and recognize the implications of being at that point in the larger series. Process, thus, expands the view of the hearers so a topic experienced by them in time is placed within a larger chronological framework and that larger chronological framework, like a physician’s prognosis of healing or the identification of a particular trimester in pregnancy, shapes their expectations and experiences.”[1]
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Isaiah 43:1-7.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Isaiah 43:1-7.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Isaiah 43:1-7.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
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[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/thematic/process/
