Baptism of our Lord B
Mark 1.4-11
January 11, 2009
They said it couldn’t be done. They said that God would never leave the heavenly throne and enter the chaos of humanity. They said that God would continue to rule the universe from the heights of heaven, completely and wholly other.
They said it couldn’t be done. They said that God would never be vulnerable or weak. They said that God would come in glory and righteousness to judge the nations. They said that God would send fire and cloud; wrath and exile; prophets and priests. But never a baby. Never a mere man.
They said that it couldn’t be done. They said that the sacred and the profane would never come face to face. They said that all that is holy must be kept undefiled from all that is sinful and unclean. They said that God would never consort with sinners.
Yet, “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole countryside were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camels’ hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful that I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’”
They said God would never leave the heavenly throne. Could they have imagined that God would permanently shred the dome that kept heaven and earth separated? They said God would never enter the human realm. Could they have imagined that God would enter a human being?
Is it that our historical perception of God is such that God wouldn’t come to us, or is it that we can’t imagine being open to God entering the dark recesses of our world?
It’s a tough question isn’t it? God entering our ordinary lives? God entering our pain? God entering the chaos? God entering into the midst of the births and deaths; marriages and divorces; good times and bad? Is it that we think God wouldn’t come to such places? Or is it that we don’t want God there?
It was an ordinary day along the Jordan River. The water was flowing. John was preaching. The people were gathering. Children were crying. Parents were impatient. Lines were long to get into the water. Sins were being confessed. All sorts of sins: greed, lust, covetousness, sloth, unkindness, hoarding, self aggrandizement and self loathing; dislike for neighbor. You name, they were confessing it. And then the dunking. And then home to get dinner or fix the roof or whatever it is that ordinary people did in first century Palestine.
It’s one thing, isn’t it, to stand in church and silently speculate our sins and know that God hears them. But it’s quite another to be in the throes of sinful behavior and visualize God right there with us. It’s even tougher to imagine that God can do something with those moments; that God could possibly make them holy or complete or use the stuff of life to create reconciliation.
But that’s exactly the way God chooses to act, especially in the Gospel of Mark. God doesn’t wait til everyone is nice and tidy and sitting in Synagogue to come and speak in deep and thundering tones. God comes when the stuff of life is going on, when there is chaos and confusion and no one is expecting it.
Jesus was just one of many men standing along that river on that day. Make a confession, go down in the water, next please. Make a confession, go down in the water, next please. And Jesus went down in the water just like the guy ahead of him and as he came out of the water, at that very moment, during an ordinary day, God reached from the heavenly throne and ripped apart, shredded, annihilated the dome that separated the earth from the heavens. Never again would God be separated from humanity. All of the woes and struggles and painful moments would be experienced by God. And at that moment in time the Spirit came crashing through that schism in the heavens and hurling toward the earth with all the force of a great bird falling from the sky, the Spirit entered into the body of Jesus.
My friends, there is no gentle sunlight streaming through the clouds or a soft dove lighting on the shoulder of the Son of Man. This is a violent scene of God invading our world, God invading our lives and our souls through the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
And then God’s voice whispered into the ear of the Savior, “You are my son, in you I take delight.” God took delight in the creation of his son. God took delight in the being of the person. God took delight in the human being in front of him who was part of the chaos of humanity and was well pleased that he existed.
My friends, we are in a time of chaos and confusion. We are feeling sinful one moment and righteous the next. It is as if we are by the waters of the river with all the noise and the discomfort and standing in line waiting and waiting and waiting for something that probably isn’t even going to make a difference when all is said and done. And I’d venture a guess that some of us are figuring God couldn’t possibly be present in this. Some of us are hoping that God is unaware of what is going on here, it’s too embarrassing and mundane for God to care about church budgets. Some of us are hoping for that Day of Judgment God to swoop in and fix everything. Some of us are oblivious.
But God is here. The heavens have been ripped apart and the Spirit of God has been turned loose on the world. The Spirit of God has invaded your being in your baptism as surely as the Spirit entered the body of Jesus of Nazareth. God has come and God will order our chaos.
They said it couldn’t be done. They said that God would never venture into the wilderness of temptation, but that’s exactly where the Spirit led Jesus.
They said it couldn’t be done. They said that a local hometown boy from Nazareth could never teach, but Jesus taught with authority.
They said that it couldn’t be done. They said they would never follow because nothing good could ever come out of Nazareth, but twelve left everything behind and followed.
They said that it couldn’t be done. They said that the Messiah would never do a stupid thing like rising from the dead. They said that the Messiah would do a smart thing like never dying in the first place. But three days after the veil of the temple was ripped in two, he appeared living before the women.
They say it can’t be done. They say that ministry can’t go on if feelings are hurt, if budgets aren’t met, when people don’t agree. But God has entered this place, what will we be open to seeing God do here?
Amen
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