The Baptism of Our Lord – 08 January 2006

St Paul Lutheran Church, ABQ NM – The Rev. P. L. Holman

Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11

“Our Own Song Once More”

This is the Epiphany season, the season of Light.  And so, a bit of levity:

A young Nun who worked for a local home health care agency was out making her rounds when her car ran out of gas.  Fortunately there was a gas station just one block away.  She walked there planning to borrow a gas can with enough gas to start her car and drive it to the station to fill it up.  The attendant was genuinely apologetic: he did own one gas can for just such a purpose, but he had just loaned it out.  If she would care to wait he was sure it would be returned shortly.  Since the Nun was on the way to see a patient she decided not to wait and walked back to her car.

After looking through her car for something to use to transport a bit of gasoline, she spotted a bedpan she was taking to the patient.  Always resourceful, the Nun took the bedpan to the station, filled it with gasoline, and carried it back to her stranded car.

Two men watched from across the street as the Nun poured the contents of the bedpan into the tank of her car.  One of them turned to the other and said: “I know that some people say Jesus could turn water into wine, but if that car starts I’m going to church every Sunday for the rest of my life.”

Something amazing happened at the beginning of time, when the spirit of God swept over the face of the deep and the voice of God spoke Light into being.  Creation began, and God said that it was good.

And it was good, for a time.  God intended justice and mercy, peace and harmony.  And so it was, for a time.  As history unfolded -- God’s history with the people, the people’s history with the creation -- sin and brokenness became the order of the day.  The people of God came to trust the promise of a Messiah to restore their fortunes and lead them to shalom.  They longed for the voice of God to restore the fortunes of Zion.

Something amazing happened 2000 years ago, when the Spirit of God bathed the face of Jesus at his baptism, when the voice of God rang out once again calling this one “beloved” who would carry in his person and in his actions the very presence of God.  God did indeed begin the restoration of the people, the longed for order and healing.  But not in the way the people had envisioned.  The Messiah came, in the form of a child who grew strong in the presence of God.  The Messiah came, not as a mighty warrior upon a horse but in the form of one who rode on a donkey bringing forgiveness and grace.  The Messiah came, to rule not from a throne with golden crown, but from the cross of suffering with crown of thorns; not for the purposes of military superiority and rampant imperialism, but for the purposes of justice and mercy and peace.

John the Baptizer had captured the attention of many different people long ago, in those days before the ministry of Jesus began.  His presence evoked memories of the prophet Elijah – hairy and belted, speaking strong words of repentance and warning.  But John was clear – he was not the Messiah.  Soon the Messiah would appear, one far more powerful who would baptize not just with water but with the Holy Spirit.

The people knew something about the power of the spirit.  The ruah – wind, breath, spirit of God had moved over the waters and the world was created.  That same spirit caused waters to part – at the Red Sea and at the Jordan River.  That same powerful spirit caused the flood waters of Noah’s days to rise, and the walls of Jericho to fall.  So when John spoke of one powerful enough to invoke this spirit, he was making a claim of cosmic significance.

And when Jesus was baptized something of cosmic significance did indeed happen: God broke into the world in a new way, bringing new creation and the promise of a new heaven and a new earth.  God moves, and all sorts of boundaries break.  The heavens are torn apart – schizo’d to coin the Greek, rent asunder.  Like the curtain of the temple which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the worshipers, the curtain separating the broken world from the healing grace of God was torn apart making way for the spirit of forgiveness and peace to access the people so desperately in need of God’s healing. 

Jesus carried that power into his ministry throughout Galilee, among Jews and Gentiles, into Jerusalem and the tomb...and beyond.  At the baptism of Jesus, God was set loose anew in the world and nothing would ever be the same.

My family gathered in MN the week New Year’s weekend to celebrate our Christmas together.  It was quite interesting to watch my youngest brother Mark be daddy to his new little boy.  Amazing how a child can disrupt the universe.  Mark hasn’t quite grasped it yet, but at seven months old Alistair rules Mark’s world.  Getting twenty-three people together for gift exchange and family photos is no small feat anyway, but then add a new and anxious father to the mix…  Mark had insisted we all be there promptly at 10 AM because he said that is Ali’s most alert hour.  We agreed to accommodate Mark, and those who arrived 20 minutes after the hour were quite nervous about disappointing the new father.  Ha!  Alistair had his own agenda: he decided to let loose in his own way and, well, after a much needed outfit change they finally arrived an hour late!   Alistair will be baptized this spring in the congregation his parents are attending in Boston, so while we were together we shaped our own ritual of welcome sharing hopes for his life.  It is a ritual meant to bridge the eighth day circumcision celebrating the old covenant of his mother’s Jewish ancestors, and the new covenant that will be celebrated when he is baptized.  The spirit was clearly moving as young and old shared words of scripture and humor, poems and song to bless this little guy and welcome him into the Holman family, a family bound by water more so than blood.  And we all were blessed…

In the ELCA African American hymnal THIS FAR BY FAITH, the baptismal liturgy reminds us of the power of baptism for our daily life:

In Holy Baptism God graciously delivers us from sin and death by joining us to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through water and the word the Holy Spirit calls us to walk a new life in God.  In this new life we are joined across time and space to our ancestors who have lived and died trustingly and to the whole Christian community on earth.  Their witness supports our Christian journey.  Nourished by the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers, …our sisters and brothers will be empowered to live in the fullness of their baptism and to join all of God’s reborn people in serving the community with their gifts. 

The witness of our ancestors supports our Christian journey, and our witness supports God’s future.

Something amazing happened at the beginning of creation, and at the beginning of the New Creation.  And something amazing is happening still whenever the Spirit of God blows over the face of depression and fear, over the void of jealousy and prejudice, whenever “God’s reborn people” serve the community with their gifts.  God moves to achieve even in small ways the purposes God intended for all creation from the beginning of time: the purposes of justice, of mercy, the purpose of peace.  You see, once we are baptized by the Spirit of God not only do we have access to the promise of forgiveness and eternal life -- God also has access to us!  Like Jesus with the lepers and all those unclean ones he touched, for those of us washed in the waters of Life staying clean is not an option.  Story after story coming out about Christian response to such disasters as the southeast Asia tsunami and the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast remind show us that.  “Why show up and feed and tear down, haul out and build up, when you don’t even know us?”  “Because it is what Jesus would do, and we follow his lead.” 

That is the passion for healing and justice set loose in the world with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  That is the passion for justice and mercy we are called to model as the body of Christ in the world today.  This day at St. Paul we have installed the 2006 Congregation Council, the folks you elected to be leaders of this faith community through the joys and challenges of the year ahead.  There is much tearing down and building up still needed to restore the strength of this ministry – there are many in our own neighborhood as well as in the wider community of God’s world who long to know the joy and peace of the Beloved, who are far from believing themselves beloved.  One hundred and fifteen years ago a core group of faithful folks chartered this congregation to sing the Song of hope once again, to be the beacon of Light needed then in this corner of the world.  The Light is still needed, the Song still longs to be sung.  Who will shine with Gospel light?  You have the gifts needed.  Who will sing the Justice song?  You don’t need to be able to carry a tune.

Something amazing can happen – is happening still…