[Propertalk] 2 Epiphany b
robertpmorrison at charter.net
robertpmorrison at charter.net
Sat Jan 10 13:51:11 EST 2015
Draft finished last night ....
Happy splashing in the water!
Bob
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY
1st SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY B: THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
GENESIS 1:1-5 11th JANUARY, 2014
ACTS 19:1-7 PSALM 29
MARK 1:4-11
“Mary is 93 years old,” wrote the journalist.” We spoke for
less than two minutes. After I took her photo, she said: ‘If you
force yourself to go outside, something wonderful always
happens!’” 1
Try telling that to the citizens of Paris last week – people
who’re probably not too sure about setting foot too far from their
homes, or shops, schools and businesses. It’s a replay of what
we’ve seen, tragically, so much recently. And it’s not limited to
France, or Europe, or the Middle East, or the United States. It’s a
world-wide phenomenon. Danger appears to know no bounds.
“If you force yourself to go outside, something wonderful always
happens!” What was Mary thinking of in New York City?
And yet, and yet, somehow, a gleam of sunlight from a person, from
an animal, from the centre of our star system; somehow a gleam of
sunlight CAN and DOES burst upon us, waiting to be noticed, waited to
be absorbed. But let’s back up a bit.
I wonder what was going on in Jesus’ life on the morning he met
John at the Jordan. Did He sleep well the night before, or had He been
cold, or worried, or unsettled? Was there anything at all to eat
before he walked across the hillsides towards where the crowds were
forming? None of this is mentioned in the Gospel account. Apparently
it’s irrelevant.
Now I know how I feel if I’m short-changed in my sleep, or if I
miss a meal. I know how I am when I
encounter speech and writing that make my blood run cold. Instantly,
I seem to be on edge and I may not be
as attentive as I should be. Yet, whatever happens, I STILL have to
respond, just as Jesus did when He
reached the River Jordan. John was baptizing – he was calling
everyone to a new beginning, to a
recommitment to God and God’s ways. John was telling people that,
no matter what, God forgave sins.
Therefore all that the listeners had to do was to reflect on their
lives, on their patterns, on their speech and
interactions and then resolve to try to make their behaviour match
what John was outlining as an
interpretation of the law and the prophets.
As you heard, the response was impressive. Folk not only came to
hear John preach, they committed themselves
to a new life in which God and God’s love of creation took
precedence over everything else.
THIS is the promise declared by Jesus’ actions as He too affirmed
His faith in God and His desire to
reveal and strengthen God’s reign on earth. And you’ll note that
this is unconditional. Nowhere does Jesus
barter, either with John or with God. At no time does Jesus suggest
that He’ll submit if He’s given protection,
or the guarantee of a hot meal and a clean bed every night. Jesus
doesn’t say, “O.K., I’ll do this if I never have
to have people arguing with Me or dissing Me.” Jesus simply accepts
and trusts.
That first illustration inside this morning’s bulletin intrigues
me. It’s an attempt to depict creation, with
the Spirit closely linked with water as earth is made ready for its
inhabitants. But I have to admit that my first
thought was that the Spirit is going to have a really tough time,
because She’s swimming upstream. 2
It’s not that the Spirit and the Father are working contrary to
one another. It’s simply a matter of the
appearance that the water is emanating from the Father while the
Spirit’s action appears to be in the
direction of the Father – exactly as it should be! – but
there’s that great sense of effort that has to be
expended to keep that link alive. In order to find renewal, there is
a struggle. And the testing never stops. No
matter how old we are, no matter how long ago it was that we made a
commitment, every day presents a
challenge.
I read the opening of a sermon that someone posted and smiled at how
the writer began. He was
talking about the casualness of how it can seem when someone is
baptised. In his words, he commented
that he thought “it’s harder to get a membership at Costco than
it is to become a Christian.
“And that's a bad thing. It's bad, specifically, because if the
church is easy to join, then any notion of the
responsibilities of membership can just fly right out the window.”
3
Maxwell Grant’s suggestion is that there should be an element of
risk that’s apparent when one
makes that commitment. At the very least being on a river bank
someplace. Better yet, he wonders whether it
should be something like skydiving.
I can see it now; terrified faces at the open door of a small plane,
looking down five or ten thousand
feet to the round below, praying that the instructor knows what she
or he is doing, and that the chute will
open.
I wonder if the budget committee would put a new line item in to
cover this?
Joking – of course! But it IS a serious business in which people
engage, all of us – and it DOESN’T
come with any tangible guarantees, not even that we can expect to be
able to go out our own front doors, or
cross the street, without fear of being run over or attacked.
What Jesus did that day, however, was to model for us what God
desires from us. Jesus was so spiritually hungry to be at one with
God. Jesus’ love and sense of hope in God was so strong that He made
this commitment for Himself and for us, not thoughtlessly, but knowing
that, whatever might happen, the joy would be incredible, even if
there were serious bumps on the journey. Julian of Norwich, the late
thirteenth century mystic, talked about Jesus’ life as if it were so
filled with thirst and longing for us that He offered Himself so that
we will come to endless joy.
THIS is why God is so incredibly happy to watch Jesus enter the
river. THIS is why God is totally pleased.
I’ve never fished by standing in a river, but I’m told that,
sometimes, the rocks underfoot can start to shift and the current can
try to carry one downstream. I DO know what it’s like to stand in
even relatively shallow waters not far out from the tide line in the
ocean. I know what it’s like to feel just a little apprehensive,
wondering if I’ll be taken out into places I’d rather not go.
I’m aware of people who’ve been carried out in a rip tide –
fortunately, many of them have been rescued. Still, there’s always
that question of what might happen.
Baptism can and probably should be like that. Not scary enough to
keep us from asking God’s
blessing that we might become part of the family of God; but just
scary enough to make us realise that
belonging – belonging to anything, belonging to anyone – comes at
a price. Whenever one person makes a
commitment to another, expresses love for another, the matter
doesn’t end there. THAT’S where things start.
That expression, that commitment, is a promise to begin and to map
out a journey together with the
other, whether that person be human or divine. That expression is a
mutual recognition that each will be
there for the other, whatever the circumstances. And that’s the
part that can trip us up when we’re not careful,
because, time and again, as the bulletin illustration implies, we
ARE swimming against the current. Time
and again there will be the temptation to give in to the pressures of
society, even our friends. Living up to
God’s standards – just as those of our closest human companions
– can be difficult when it means honesty,
and fairness, and compassion, and justice, and mercy. Living up to
God’s standards is guaranteed to put us
at odds with our neighbours, with those who hold authority, at least
every now and again, occasionally even
frequently.
THAT’S why Jesus didn’t go into the deep, cold waters of the
Jordan without first considering what it was to which He was
committing. He went in DELIBERATELY, REVERENTLY AND IN ACCORDANCE
WITH GOD’S WILL. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why John
expressed some reluctance to baptise Jesus. Partly it was because of
who Jesus was, that John recognised Jesus’ vocation and authority.
But partly it was because he may have had some inkling in the recesses
of his mind just what Jesus’ baptism would demand of Jesus – and
John didn’t want to be the one to pressure Jesus into that. Jesus
had to accept this for Himself. It was HIS commitment.
You know that I like to post cartoons on my office door. I wonder if
you saw the one I put there on Friday afternoon. It shows John the
Baptist standing in the river with Jesus where Jesus said something to
John about whether he was going to dunk Him, to which John replied,
“If you don’t want to be immersed, why don’t you go to John the
Methodist.”
He might as well have said John the Episcopalian. The point is,
whether by immersing or affusing, the baptismal candidate is
committing, while the rest of the congregation is recommitting, to
doing everything possible to ensure that everyone is treated with
dignity and respect; that everyone is given our promise of presence to
instill courage and hope. And if we live this out truly, then there
should be no doubt that “If you force yourself to go outside,
something wonderful always happens!” – if only, maybe I should
say, especially if it’s discovering that we’re standing alongside
hundreds of other people who won’t put anyone in the position of
having to face trouble or hardship all by her or himself.
Before he was murdered by the Nazis, Danish pastor, Kaj Munk, said,
“Our task today is 'recklessness.' For what we Christians lack is
not psychology or literature, we lack a holy rage, the recklessness
which comes from the knowledge of God and humanity. The ability to
rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie
rages across the face of the earth, a holy anger about the things that
are wrong in the world.” 4
It goes without saying that this should always be a discriminating
anger whenever we see someone suffer, or falter, or feeling not quite
up to living out the promises they made at the time of their
commitment. It should be, at the very least, discriminating enough to
direct that anger – or that praise … we need to remember our
vocation to offer thanks and praise; we need to be thoughtful and
careful enough not to respond wildly, targeting the innocent.
This expression of love and commitment is what can and MUST happen,
whether it be on the streets
of Paris or the streets of Albany; whether it be because of some
public event or some private one for, as
Dame Julian wrote, “this is Christ's spiritual thirst, his longing
in love, which persists and always will until we
see him …” 5 And if we make this commitment, if we recommit
ourselves, to behave this way, I can
guarantee that if you go outside, you WILL find yourselfengaged in
something, engaged with someone,
marvelously wonderful – ALWAYS!
See you at the river! And on the streets!
NOTES:
[1] Humans of New York:
https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/photos/a.102107073196735.4429.102099916530784/160887830651992/?type=1&fref=nf
[1]
2 _“Creation - Day 1”,_ from ART IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION, a
project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46170 [2]
3 “_Torn Open, By God - __Mark 1:4-11_” Baptism of the Lord -
Year B January 11, 2015. The Rev. Maxwell Grant is the senior minister
of Second Congregational United Church of Christ in Greenwich, CT.
http://day1.us4.list-anage1.com/track/click?u=a22435f9d4a26d16f2776cd60&id=1c93312605&e=07fe8bf832
[3]
4 Via Jonathan Haggar on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670962035&fref=ts [4]
5 Julian of Norwich c.1342-c.1416 Revelations of Divine Love
Links:
------
[1]
https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/photos/a.102107073196735.4429.102099916530784/160887830651992/?type=1&fref=nf
[2] http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46170
[3]
http://day1.us4.list-anage1.com/track/click?u=a22435f9d4a26d16f2776cd60&id=1c93312605&e=07fe8bf832
[4] https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670962035&fref=ts
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