Sermon Mark 1:4-11 January 11, 2015 Baptism of the Lord
Tear Open the Heavens and Come Down!
This week it has been hard to avoid the news of the world.
It has been difficult to pretend
that the evil of humanity doesn’t exist.
It has been almost impossible to be
unaware of the pain that has pervaded the lives of so many people.
With the loss of a Charlie Hebdo and many others in France
and
the loss of an entire family from Accomac from an auto
accident,
the reality of suffering is at our
back door
and
we cannot hide from it!
The world and families are torn apart and God’s Word in
the midst of this insanity has a hard time finding its place.
I found myself screaming with the prophet Isaiah (64:1),
“O that you could tear open
the heavens and come down!”
I’ve been struggling all week with
what to say and how to say things about this madness in the world. I’m lost at how
to respond to this insanity of humanity.
And then I turn the page and I find the words of the
gospel writer Mark.
I turn to something new.
Something that changed the way of the world then and
continues to change the way of the world today.
Mark doesn’t want to waste any time to get us to the heart
of the matter of faith and who we are in relationship to God.
We immediately enter into the intentions of God for all
people.
There, out there, in the real world is this crazy looking
fella named John.
He didn’t dress like most people.
He was dressed in camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild
honey.
He was the kind of guy that your momma warned you to steer
clear from.
He didn’t fit into the normal Temple going people. He wasn't walking the paved fine high road to the religious Temple to hang out with the
fine religious priests and rabbis. He had something those high and mighty
religious people didn’t.
And perhaps that’s exactly why others were flocking to him. People
were coming from all of ‘out there’, going down dirt trails and dusty paths, narrow and winding to find him at the river.
He was a down to earth man living ‘out there’ where everyone
could see him.
He was honest
about what people needed.
People needed a fresh start and chance to turn their lives
around and begin something new.
John the baptizer didn’t sugar coat or make palatable the
needs of humanity.
He put the insanity of human existence in people’s faces!
He was meeting them where they were in the very depths of
their despair.
He knew they were anxious to
experience a new day. (Kate Huey)
And to be honest I’ve heard a lot of despair this week.
And I have struggled with God to find where this fits and
where in the world can we find a new way
and
where will God show us how to do this thing called life day
after day?
And then Jesus shows up.
Jesus joins the
line of people to be baptized.
He stands with
those who are looking for something new.
He is alongside
the human race in the midst of earthly things.
And when he comes up from the water the words of the prophet
Isaiah come to life!!
The heavens are
torn apart and God invades the world as God’s Spirit dive bombs into the scene.
(Hare)
God IS here!
And in a booming voice, I say booming because nothing in
Mark’s gospel is quiet. Everything that Mark writes about Jesus is full of
energy and power. The Jesus that Mark writes about casts out demons and sets
people on the road of action.
God proclaims Jesus as the Son, the Beloved!!
With the heavens torn open and the
Spirit poured out Jesus is declared as God’s own. His identity and power are
now clear for all to know that God is in the world.
That’s what we believe about our baptism.
We believe that God has given us
our identity and poured out the Spirit of power upon us!!
We too can claim that God has
declared, with a booming voice, that we are sons and daughters and we are
beloved!
AND this is what the world needs to hear-God's claim that they are God's own!
In our baptism, as we seek to remember it each day, we
invite God’s Spirit to invade our lives. (reference to an Elton Brown comment).
It is in this remembrance that I
can face the things that have happened this week.
As I recall God’s claim on me, I
remember God’s claim on all people.
As I witness the horror of lost
lives, I also witness the uniting of a world that refuses to accept violence as
a way of life. I hear of people praying for peace and for consolation. I watch
neighbors embrace those who have experienced loss to let them know they don’t
walk this path alone. I observe others coming to the aid of one who is
struggling with relationships.
As we invite God to invade our lives, we invite a turning
toward that which provides for a new way.
We are able to be in the presence of this
world.
In this new way we are able to
show up
with power
and courage
to insist that
God IS here.
In the simplicity of the things of the earth, such as water,
and bread and wine,
God brings the power of the Spirit.
In the partaking there is belonging and nourishment and
sustenance. We are part of God, we are fed and our thirst is quenched.
Baptism is an active act of God.
It is an act that sets us out on
the road of life.
It lets us know whose we are and
gives us what we need to get about doing the work of God in this world.
We seek to live out our baptism daily until the day our
baptism is complete in the arms of Jesus.
In response to God’s claim Jesus
sets out immediately to fulfill the calling God has placed on him. He set out
to do what he was called to do!
As children of God, sons and daughters, we have a job to do!
One of those jobs is to get out from the walls of the church
and get into the world to let people know God IS present.
Our job is to share the love of Christ beyond the
walls of this church.
Our job is to be in the faces of our neighbors and
our families to let them know they matter and we care.
Our job is to show up at events and to show up in
life because
God has called us to be part of a world that needs to hear
there is a way to turn around to something new.
The heavens have been torn apart and God’s Spirit of
power is upon us.
Let the waters of our baptism be renewed in us and let us
rise and be on our way.
Amen.
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