Stepping In to Make Things Right

Matthew 3:13-17

            Do you remember the “Hey, Mr. Cunningham” scene from the 1962 movie of Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird?    Set in a small Alabama town in the 1930’s, it’s the scene when Scout steps in to make things right.  It’s when this feisty, intelligent, and deeply caring young girl manages to diffuse a lynch mob.  She does so in support of her attorney father Atticus Finch as he stands guard against injustice outside the jail cell of Tom Robinson.   After exiting a Ford Model A, a 1927 Studebaker, a 1928 Chevrolet National, and a 1930 Buick with shotguns in hand, the murder-minded mob demands the impeccably dressed Gregory Peck to step aside and let them get on with their execution.    

            That’s when Scout, along with brother Jem and best friend Dill, race in from the margins of the scene.   Scout shouts out “Hey, Atticus” as she parts the mob like the Red Sea.  I understand Atticus allowed children to call him by his first name as a sign of respect, as a further way to teach that all people are equal.   He responds by commanding the kids to go back home and be safe.  When they refuse, the mob waters start to fall in on them.  It’s amazing how Scout kicking some adult shins put a stop to that!   Then they join Atticus atop the jail steps.  

            After letting lo loose with a small defiant shout, Scout then suddenly spots Mr. Cunningham standing there in the blindly prejudiced posse.   She very sweetly reminds him who she is, that he’s the father of her classmate Walter, and how he’d been kind enough to visit her family with some food once and how that had led to a nice, neighborly conversation.   With genuine concern in her voice, she also supportively asks how he’s doing regarding a property settlement dispute he’d been having trouble with.   Having momentarily liberated him from the mob mentality, Mr. Cunningham replies by telling her he’ll say hey to Walter.   And then he orders the gang to disband.

            Scout stepped in to make things right, to stand against injustice by protecting the rights and dignity of Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Mr. Cunningham all at the same time.   She did so not by responding to violence with violence, but by interceding with warm-hearted words of compassion and peace.  

            At the beginning of his ministry of compassion and peace, Jesus stepped into the Jordan to make things right.   He did so to receive ritual cleansing from the hand of his relative John, who, you’ll recall, had first acknowledged Jesus’ divine identity with a kick of hope while in his mother Elizabeth’s womb.  That kick was the first sign that his life was to be about preparing the way for the Messiah.   John grew into this calling with revolutionary zeal by standing and shouting at the edges of Roman Empire.   With a belly full of wild locusts and lots of dried honey drips on his beard, he bombastically barked for all people to come to the great river, repent of their sins and be ready to receive their Savior.   He did all this for Jesus.  

            So the very last thing he expected was for Jesus to show up to be baptized.  He wasn’t prepared for this and it made no sense to him.   John knew Jesus’ holy authority was infinitely greater than his own.  He knew that of the two of them, he alone was a sinner.   He was the one who needed to be forgiven and ritually cleansed as a marker of new life.  “I need to be baptized by you,” he pleaded to Jesus.      

            Jesus was not persuaded to step away.  John needed to baptize him.  Period.   Jesus insisted he needed to step into the Jordan in order to make things right, or in his words, “to fulfill all righteousness.”   

            Righteousness is a rather “heavy” word, isn’t it?   I think many of us hear it and quickly associate it with self-righteousness, with people sinfully speaking and acting in a smugly superior ways.    These same folks are very often discovered to be hypocrites.

            Well, Jesus certainly didn’t stand in the Jordan to fulfill self-righteousness.   The Son of God didn’t go there with any superiority complex.   He went there to humbly demonstrate his full solidarity with all humankind.  He went there to compassionately share in the common experiences of humanity.   What’s more common than needing to be physically and spiritually cleansed?   

             So our Lord joined the throng longing for a fresh start in the kingdom of God.   He stepped in and stood in the midst of their sinful suffering and all the injustices being carried out by both the governmental and religious powers of his day.  He did so to live into the prophecy of Isaiah 42.   Jesus stepped in and stood in the Jordan to show that he’d come to make things right between God and all God’s children.  And leading by example, Jesus modeled from the get-go that his holy mission wasn’t going to issue in violence and worldly power-plays … but through selfless, unexpected, humble, compassionate, and peaceful words and actions.     

            We should take notice of how public Jesus’ baptism was.   Of course, it had to be.   At that time there weren’t any church buildings with ordained ministers offering the actions and liturgy of a traditional sacrament.   To be baptized at that time happened in the wilderness, at the edges of society.   It was more about joining a holy revolution than building up an earthly institution.   Still, it’s not hard to imagine that Jesus could have made private arrangements.   He and John were family, after all.   He could have said, “Hey, John.  Listen, I actually don’t want to draw too much attention to myself.   I just want to quietly get my traditional religious duty done with and get on with things.   Think we can meet up at the water after the crowd’s gone home?”   We can suppose he then would have heard God the Father’s voice bestowing a personal blessing with the words “You are my Son.”      

            But God the Father instead made a booming public announcement up and down the shoreline – “THIS is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”    Being one with God the Father, Jesus didn’t need to have a holy word with himself.    This was a word for the world, a word of infinite authority summoning all around him to take notice and to pay full attention to his example.   It was a call to righteousness, to follow him from the waters and live with the faithful integrity acceptable to God.

            This Almighty word still echoes today.    We are a community of the baptized, called to demonstrate in words and actions that Jesus makes things right with God and between all God’s children.    The power of the Holy Spirit has engrafted us all into Christ’s body.   We have Christ’s compassionate, peaceful solidarity to share.   How and where have you stood up and stepped in for the sake of it?  

            In last week’s sermon, I shared my resolve about helping us find ways to facilitate more intergenerational conversations about life in Christ.   What a community strengthening it would be to make time to sit together and share our stories about faithfully stepping in to situations that helped our Lord Keep making things right in this world.    Parents and grandparents have these words of steadfastly faithful, compassionate intercession to share with children and grandchildren.  Children and grandchildren have them to share with parents and grandparents.  Harper Lee had one to share with us all, and I’m glad it continues to be required reading in our schools and its classic Hollywood version is always available to view.    And do you recall how she had Scout knowing the right thing to do in that “Mr. Cunningham” scene?    She tells us Scout learned this righteous behavior by intergenerational example.   She’d asked her father why he was defending Tom Robinson.    And Atticus replied, “Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t defend that man.”   Amen.