On Re-creating and writing more about His story . . .

      Today we are in one of those transitional times in the Church and in the parish.  We have sped through Advent and the Season of Christmas and are now in the season of Epiphany.  In fact, those present with us last night celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.  Today is celebrated as the Baptism of Jesus, which is not to be confused with the Holy Name of Jesus on January 1 or, as I reminded Funmi earlier, the Presentation of Jesus, which she preached on last Sunday.  Part of the challenge or liturgical whiplash is the fact that we bounce around the times.  We pay close attention to John the Baptizer and Mary the Mother of Jesus in Advent.  Then we celebrate the Nativity.  Then we remember the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  Then we go back to the Epiphany.  Then we fast forward about 28 years or so to remember Jesus’ Baptism.  Liturgically speaking, we are a bit all over the place.  And, much like the Marvel Multiverse, our timeline is all out of whack!

     But, as you have seen and heard from the readings, we are celebrating the Baptism of Jesus today.  The event is so significant that we read about it the 1^st Sunday after the Epiphany in each of the three liturgical year cycles.  This year, we get Mark’s version of the event.  Hopefully, this version will remind us that some of our “categories” of understanding are not entirely accurate or distinct.  It should be easier to see, given that we read John’s Prologue a couple times right after the Nativity and I preached on it for Christmas Day.  John gets credit for being theological and artistic, while the Synoptic authors get credit for giving us the eyewitness accounts, as if John did not see or witness those stories he shares with his reader to convince us that Jesus is the Messiah.

     Part of the artistic flair of Mark that we miss, particularly when we do not study the Old Testament Scriptures, is the setting.  John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness and is baptizing people in the Jordan.  Yes, we understand that John’s ministry is to call out the coming of Messiah.  We are not surprised at His description at all.  For Mark’s audience, however, the wilderness is full of meaning.  Wilderness was the opposite of civilization.  Wilderness was the opposite of tame.  Wilderness was the opposite of creature comforts.  Wilderness was also the place where God shaped His prophets and His people to depend upon Him and His provision.  Think the Exodus 40 years.  But remember His work with Moses or Elijah.  It is in the wilderness that God’s people learn both God’s will to provide for them and His power to accomplish His will.

     Speaking of power, the Jordan should remind us of the figures who led God’s people into His Promised Land.  Joshua, Elijah, and even Elisha, empowered by God, all stop the Jordan in its courses so that the people and they might enter into the blessings God has prepared for them.  Those in Larry’s Bible study spent time on Gilgal and its symbol.  The crossing of that river as if dry ground should always bring God’s people back to the Red Sea and the Exodus, right?  God will deliver His people and nothing, not even chaos, can prevent Him from His purposes.  Marks’s audience would see this symbolism, would understand its meaning, and recognize that Mark was claiming God was on the move again!

     Mark’s Gospel is often described as a Crucifixion story with a bit of prologue.  I see a couple nods, but I see some confusion.  By that, Mark’s Gospel is incredibly focused upon the Crucifixion of Jesus, and the Gospel that bears his name only has a few chapters of introduction before it gets to the arrest of Jesus.  You can see what experts mean when they say it by looking at the opening.  Matthew and Luke give us the details we are told about Jesus’ birth.  Mark has none of that.  Mark does not talk about the Annunciation, the Virgin birth, the birth of Jesus, the shepherds, the star, the coming of the Magi, the slaying of the Innocents, or anything else that caught your eye or attention just thirteen days ago.  Our English teachers would likely even mark Mark’s story down for his overuse of the word “immediately.”  Mark moves immediately from one story to the next until he gets to the Crucifixion.  Compared to other writers, Mark seems in a bit of a rush.  Mark’s account begins with the appearance of John the Baptizer.  It might seem a strange way to begin such a magnificent story, but the author seems to be concerns with the what happens as a result of God becoming Incarnate rather that His coming into the world.  For the author Mark, what is important in Salvation History is that John the Baptizer is proclaiming the coming of the One, upon whom John is unworthy to perform the most menial of tasks, and who will baptize people into the Holy Spirit.

     Then, in verse 9, Mark shifts his focus to Jesus with the formulaic announcement “In those days.”  No doubt some of you are trying to remember when you have ever heard that introduction and why I call it formulaic.  Those of us who have studied Judges and Samuel should be familiar with it.  The phrase is used to introduce the fact that God is about to change the way things are – God is going to act in history for the benefit of His people, even though they do not see or understand or even want it.  In Judges, everyone does as he or she sees fit; the same is happening at the beginning of Samuel.  But God has plans for His people, and He will not allow them to wallow in their sinful rebellion.  God will send them a prophet who will speak God’s word to them.  Oh, they will not always listen to the prophet.  But some will some of the time.  And God’s plan of salvation will continue.  Jesus is introduced by Mark in that way.  The coming of the Messiah, finally, is unremarkable and unnoticed even among those who are supposed to be looking for Him, preparing the people of God to see and follow Him.

     Mark gives us a couple other details about this rather unremarkable looking fellow, Jesus.  He’s from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.  Wait, why is Messiah not from Rome?  Or Jerusalem?  Or some other important town in the world?  Nazareth?  One of Mark’s colleagues will wonder aloud if anything good can come out of that place, rightfully so.  It would be like someone in our area today bragging about being from Tullahoma rather than Nashville or Memphis.  Oh, Please, most of the country thinks there are only three cities in Tennessee, and I bet all y’all claim you are from Nashville when travelling, rather than Brentwood or Gallatin or Spring Hill.  Besides, I would have used Alabama, but Robert tells me it’s long-hanging fruit.  Everybody offended now?  Good.

     Jesus, just a member of the crowd from an unimportant town, is baptized by John, giving us our first big worry.  Why is Jesus being baptized into a baptism of repentance?  If Jesus is sinless, isn’t this unnecessary?  Or are the non-Christian pundits who argue Jesus sinned and was not fully God correct?  The answer is a matter of perspective.  Think to your own baptism or, if you were baptized as an infant, your Confirmation or the baptism of a loved one.  What happens in that Sacrament?  It all hinges on that word repentance, which you have probably been reminded over and over through the years means turning.  Mostly, when we are describing baptism to people quickly, we talk about turning from our selfish desires, right?  We talk about how we need to quit selfishly focusing on our desires, our wants, our passions and turning from them.  We might say that understanding is the “negative” perspective of baptism.  We are turning away from our sins and Satan.

     But to Whom do we turn?  That’s right, God!  We might for argument’s sake say this is the positive perspective of the Sacrament.  We undertake to do those things God intends for us to do and avoid those things He teaches are unhealthy or immoral for us.  Good, I see nods.  We are asked a series of question to remind us both what we are turning from and that to which we are turning.  We turn from selfish desires to the Breaking of Bread, the fellowship, and the prayers.  Best of all, perhaps, we promise that when we sin, when we stumble and turn back to the way we were rather than struggling to live the way we are called by the One who created each one of us, we repent and try again.  Everything we do here is meant to teach us about what it means to have chosen God over the world or the self.  Today, I am addressing why Jesus was baptized and why we are baptized.  Last night, we talked about manifestation.  The two, of course, are inter-related.  We are baptized into God’s family so that we might manifest His grace in the world around us.  Put in more Christmas-y language, we are baptized so that we might incarnate in the world around us the saving grace of God.

     Now, here’s the peek ahead in history.  How are we empowered?  Good.  Someone said the Holy Spirit.  I’m glad you are paying attention to Mark this morning.  Some of us raised in other denominations might express it differently.  Jesus promises to dwell in our heart.  We become sons and daughters by adoption.  The Holy Spirit empowers us.  The language is all pointing to the same idea that God dwells with His children and uses them in His efforts to save all in the world.

     Now, back to the unanswered question about why does Jesus get baptized?  In short, we would say Jesus is accepting God the Father’s call on His life.  We talk about the Holy Mystery of the Incarnation, so we realize we cannot fully understand how it all works.  But Jesus has free will just like all of us.  We may talk more about His free will next week when we ponder the Temptations of Christ, and we will certainly wonder at it in Gethsemane when He accepts the Cup, right?  But Jesus has a choice.  His choice is to do what God planned for Him, knowing the suffering and rejection and death that was to be faced by Messiah.  So, the baptism of repentance is not for any sins but to acknowledge the will of the Son to do the will of the Father, the will of the Son to be obedient.  As good Episcopalians, we would say this is the outward sign of the inner spiritual grace of Jesus.  I know.  And since Jesus is a pattern for Holy living for us, ponder those implications.

     Mark, though, forges ahead in his story of this baptism.  As Jesus is coming up out of the water, He sees the heavens torn.  Notice the emphasis by Mark on the personal, private experience of Jesus.  Nobody else seems to see this.  Those who wonder where Mark heard this, where do you think he heard it?  He spent three years with Jesus listening to His stories and teachings.  He also spent years listening to John the Baptizer’s disciples.  Did they hear the thunder?  Did they see the Spirit?  Did they even know what they were seeing or hearing?  For his part, Mark uses the word schizo to describe the event.  Put in modern vernacular we might say “All heaven is breaking loose.”  You are laughing, but that is a fair understanding of what is occurring.  Mark uses the word here, at the beginning of the Gospel and one more time near the end of the Gospel.  The same word is used to describe what happens to the curtain surrounding the Holy of Holies upon Jesus’ death.  The curtain or veil is torn from the top, signifying to all who see it that it was God’s work and that the relationship for humanity has changed as a result of this Jesus’ death on the Cross.  The locus of God is no longer in that special place in that special building in that special city.  God dwells with all His people.  Or to use our Baptismal language, He empowers His people through His Spirit to do His will.  And His Will is that His people will be a blessing to the world!

     The Spirit is described by Mark as descending like a dove.  Notice, it is not a “dove-like” spirit.  Those of us who want to think that Jesus is merely a hippy dippy cool guy who tapped into some level of consciousness that we all need are wrong.  Jesus, by virtue of His baptism, has committed Himself to God’s plan of salvation.  For Him, that means three years of work, three years of frustrating misunderstanding and rejection.  Betrayal by one of His Twelve.  Betrayal by those who should have identified who He was.  Torture.  Death.  Mocking.  This is not an easy path for Him, to be sure.  But His path is purposeful.  His path is the means by which humanity will be restored to a possible intimate relationship with their Father in Heaven.  His path is the means by which the curse of sin, the distrust of the Father’s instruction as what is best for each one of us, will be redeemed.  That Spirit will allow Him to work the miracles you and I love.  That Spirit will enable Him to feed the crowds, heal the crowds, teach the crowds.  And on occasion, that same Spirit will empower Him to criticize those who are wolves among the sheep and even flip over tables in the Temple!  But, perhaps most of all and more to the point why Mark describes it here, the Spirit will be the sign of the Messiah.  Yes, this seemingly unremarkable Man, from nowhere significant, is identified by the Spirit!  That same Spirit that brooded over the waters in Genesis, as we just read, now is described as descending like a dove to this Jesus.

     Then comes the voice, again according to Mark, a private experience for Jesus’ ears.  “you are My Son, the Beloved; with You I am well-pleased.”  Who was God’s son initially, at least from our perspective, our study of the Old Testament?  No guessers?  Israel.  How does God describe Israel when He calls them from bondage in Egypt?  That’s right, my son.  God describes Israel as His son throughout the OT.  And when Israel does what God instructs, He is pleased.  When Israel ignores Him, let’s just say He is disappointed, right?  And like a loving Father, He instructs, He fusses, He even disciplines, but He does so to help His son mature, to grow.

     For Israel’s part, how have they done with their part of the relationship?  In many ways, they are no different than you and I, right?  They have turned from the Father to do things their own way.  They have ignored His warnings.  They have received the curses of the Covenant that are meant to call them to repent and return to Yahweh, but they still have not inwardly digested what He has taught in His torah.  Even now, as this story takes place, Israel is oppressed by another conquering empire, Rome.  What can they do to cast off the oppressor?  Nothing, themselves.  Rome is too powerful.  Rome is too big.  That’s why many expect or want Messiah to be a conquering, liberating figure.  In agreeing to do God’s Will, Jesus becomes the Seed of Abraham the Israelite who will do what others cannot.  Make no mistake, God was never surprised by our rejection in the Garden of Eden.  He was not shocked that Israel ran lukewarm and cold to His teaching.  He was not grasping for plans when each one failed.  No, this was the plan from the beginning, but it required that Jesus be born, agree to walk this path, to do the Will of His Father.  This day in Scripture, which we call the Baptism of Jesus, marks the day that Jesus begins that intentional work.  To speak a bit more from our own experiences, this is the day that Jesus takes the first step on that path laid out before the foundation of the world!

     Notice one last change in perspective though.  All this at the beginning of the story, is presented to Jesus.  We might say the tearing of the heavens, the descent of the Spirit, and the praise of the voice were privately for Him.  What happens, though, as a result of His decision?  All that unfolds, including the Crucifixion, happens publicly.  Jesus’ willingness to do what the Father planned in private, is very much lived out in public.  The miracles and teachings that Mark includes in his story, the rejection and threats of the leadership, the betrayal, the rejection, and even His death, are very public events.  They are seen by all in that place and in that time so that all may make their own decision, come to their own conclusion about Jesus.

     What happens when we are baptized?  It is in some respects similar to this pattern established by Jesus, right?  We make a decision, be it at Baptism or Confirmation, to try and do those things which glorify our Father in Heaven and avoid those things He declares to be sin.  That decision which we make in private, though, is played out in public.  It begins with the liturgy of the Sacrament of Baptism, where we state our allegiance and purpose and make our oath.  And what happens?  God promises to dwell with us and promises each one of us that He shares our honor and dishonor.  The rest of our lives becomes that struggle between our desire to follow God and the desire to follow the devices and desires of our own hearts, to use familiar language.  What happens to those who faithfully and intentionally live as God calls them?  They become heralds of God’s grace in the world around them; they become the saints in the lives of those whom they are trying to reach in His Name.  Our ascent, like Jesus’, is lived out in the world us, that others may make the decision to accept His embrace from the Cross.  And because of that public nature of our work, we know our sins dishonor the Lord who saved us when we could not save ourselves.  We know there is a consequence to how we act, how we speak, and how we behave.  None of us seeks that or even thinks about it as we begin that walk with God in Baptism or reaffirm it in Confirmation, do we?  Yet, as we approach the end of our walk with God in this place, what is our desperate hope?  That when we meet Him face to face He will be a friend and not a stranger, that He will pronounce upon each one of us that “well done, good and faithful servant,” that we will each enter into the blessed joy of intimacy with Him for eternity, that we will join the great cloud of witnesses.

     Make no mistake.  Mark will remind us this year that our walk, our journey, is full of cross-bearing and suffering.  But Mark will also remind each one of us that we get to write the next chapter in the Gospel that bears his name.  If you go home and start perusing through the Gospel of Mark, or even studying it, you will see his true artistry at work at the end.  This great story that starts with a prophet coming out of the wilderness to baptize the Messiah from Nazareth has a curious ending.  Mark tells us at the end that the ladies who went to the Tomb found the stone rolled away.  Upon entering they encounter a “man” dressed in white.  The man instructs them that Jesus, who was crucified, has risen.  They are to go to His disciples and Peter and tell them that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee.  There they will see Him, just as He promised.  How does Mark’s Gospel end?  They told nobody anything because they were afraid.  Those reading or hearing the Gospel are meant by Mark to reflect.  If they did not tell anyone, how did this story make it to me?  Just as the story made it to us from those whom we respected and loved, we are to share it with others, that they might choose Christ over the world, God over the enemy.  And though words can be powerful tools, they pale in comparison to lives lived as if these words are true.  My friends, our lives, by virtue of our Baptisms, become the next chapter in Mark’s story and God’s plan of salvation history.  For reasons known only to Him, perhaps, He entrusts this amazing hope and promise and power to us and invites us to follow Him, wherever He may lead us, knowing that one day, one glorious day when He returns to finish the re-Creation He has started, we will dwell with Him for eternity!

 

In His Peace and in His Promise!

Brian†