Let the words my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen I think it’s interesting to note that only two of the four gospels tell the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, but all four tell of his baptism by John in the Jordan River. All of them must have thought it was worthy to be written about. In Luke’s version, the story of the baptism takes only two verses. But there are three verses previous that are important, too and sets the stage for the baptism itself. A messiah, or even messiahs, had numerously been prophesied for the last two hundred years, and every once in a while, a promising warrior would appear, only to be killed by the Romans. And then John appeared, the one called the baptizer. He had the courage to rail out against Herod, the son of Herod the Great, king at the time of Jesus’ and John’s birth. John preached a baptism of forgiveness of sins, different from what the rabbis preached. Luke writes that the people were filled with expectation, hoping John was the one. They wanted something better than they had. We, too, want something better. We all have hopes and expectations, especially at the beginning of a new year. Maybe the economy will get really cranked up and inflation will turn downward. Maybe the president and Congress will take positive action and accomplish real bipartisan cooperation. It would really be nice if this congregation could see some real numerical growth in the coming months. It would be nice to see more worshippers in the sanctuary, especially if we can get this COVID thing behind us. I expect our council will enact bold new plans for producing new members. Our expectations may be appropriate and rational, or maybe not. John did the best job he could do, and people placed Messiah-like expectations on him. “Not so fast my friends,” John, the evangelist, the baptizer said, “I have my place, but I also know my place. The one you are looking for is going to do things very differently from me and will be much greater than me.” And as it turned out, the Messiah was right there among them, living as they lived and doing as they did. He was even baptized by John. John baptized with the dirty, muddy water of the Jordon as a sign of repentance—the forgiveness of past sins. He was washing away their sins. But on that day, something happened—something very different, extraordinarily different. As Jesus came up out of the water, praying, the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice was heard, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Only two other times did the gospel writers record a voice coming from heaven addressing Jesus. It was at the Transfiguration and in the Temple grounds during Jesus’ final week. But the significant thing here is that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus. He needed the help of the Holy Spirit to get his mission accomplished. Jesus needed help along the way. He needed the help of his parents—Mary’s willingness to bear the Messiah and Joseph’s willingness to raise him as his own child. He needed his cousin John, the Baptist, to prepare the royal highway, to get people ready to hear about things like repentance and the coming Kingdom of God. He needed him to point to Jesus as the coming one, the Messiah, this new thing God was doing to renew an old faith. On the day of his baptism, Jesus needed help. He needed the help only God could give. God heard him as he prayed, and God delivered. We have been claimed by God at our baptism. He has bestowed the Holy Spirit on us when we were baptized. We have been provided with a community of supporters called the church, and who, like Mary and Joseph, bear our burdens and treat us like family. We all need help and God has sent it. And we are surrounded by a world full of people who need help. Like the Samaritans in our reading from Acts, many of them may not be socially acceptable, they may not be people whose lives and lifestyles make the rest of us think of them as worthy of help. But they need help, and God has sent us into the world to be that help. We, the church, are the touch of the Holy Spirit on their shoulder, we are the voice of God proclaiming love and acceptance and forgiveness of sins. We need the help only God could give. God hears us as we pray, and God delivers. So, in remembrance of your baptism, in celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit in your life, in response to God calling you by name as his beloved child: pray, sing your song, clap your hands, tap your foot, stand and shout, sit and sway – do whatever you need to do in order to give a hand, give some help to the children of God all around you; because everybody needs some help sometimes, and God has put us into the world to be that helping hand. Amen.