…a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Texts: Mark 1:4-11; Genesis 1:1-5; Acts 19:1-7
You have seen those bumper stickers that announce, My child is an honor student at… – or some such statement of parental pride. I have a cartoon that imagines a scene in Nazareth, if such bumper stickers existed then. You see three women riding camels or donkeys. On the back side of one animal, it states, Our son is an honor student. On the second, Our son is in medical school. And on the third, Our Son is God. And the two women look with disdain, expressing, Well! If it isn’t Joseph and Mary. [http://www.inheritthemirth.com] Every child needs proper affirmation, from parents and from others in the community. Today we hear a voice over baptism that affirmed Jesus. Does that voice say something to us?
The other day I was up on the roof, enjoying all the work going forward as we are building for Christ’s mission. I saw some of the extra details needed to get water off of the roof. There are a couple of sections of the existing roof that are receiving extra detail, because the water has not drained well. We know that water is both essential and a problem. Our region is very dry due to a shortage of precipitation. Yet even a tiny amount of water can cause great damage.
Both aspects help us think through our readings on this day when we remember the Baptism of our Lord. We move from the stories of his birth. January 6 is the Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas, the coming of the Wise Men, symbolic of Jesus being revealed, not just to a select few, but to all nations. The Gospels state that Jesus began his public ministry only after this encounter with John, the Baptizer. In this story we overhear a voice – a voice of affirmation and of direction. We consider this further.
In our reading from Genesis, note the statement that a wind from God swept over the face of the water. As we read the story of creation in Genesis, we do not let details get us bogged down due to our lack of imagination. We take this as an affirmation that creation is God’s work. Wind could be translated Spirit. Swept over, in the Hebrew implies a bird like movement. Perhaps most important is to try to see a picture of Spirit and matter, God and creation. We best understand the word water here as chaos. The Spirit of God moves over chaos.
In our Gospel story, notice that the Spirit moves downward, like a dove. Yet the symbol of the Spirit came by tearing open the heavens. This phrase sends us back to the ancient prophet’s call, Oh that you would tear open the heaven and come down. This connects with anyone who asks how it is possible to fix the god-awful mess of the world. There is chaos, symbolized by the damaging power of water. Yet there is a voice, speaking. Genesis says it is the Spirit of God. The Gospel story of Jesus’ baptism says it is the Spirit of God.
We glance quickly at the passage from Acts. This story is an example of the different problems Christians have, figuring out what is the proper way to do baptism, and what is the proper understanding of baptism. The answer is that the Bible does not give us the answers we might like. Therefore, while we can believe our practices are good, we cannot say ours is the only way. We do have to ask, whether we give proper attention to the Holy Spirit – both at the time of baptism as well as in our life after baptism. Again, think chaos in our everyday existence, and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
Considering these stories we need to ask about chaos – what is the chaos of the world today? What is the chaos in our lives today? And then, we need to think of that voice – like a wind sweeping, like a bird coming down. This voice of the Holy Spirit affirmed Jesus. Not necessarily like a bumper sticker about an honor student, but the affirmation of God’s gracious will.
How important is it in this world today to hear that voice of affirmation. The words are not the same in our ritual of baptism. Yet, as we observe the water of baptism, we can hear the words of affirmation. In a world with great masses of people, where we are easily lost in the crowd, baptism tells us that God has made each one of us. In a society that is quick to jump on the mistakes others make, baptism tells us that God forgives us and gives us a fresh start. In a society that says if you are not Number One, you are a loser, baptism reminds us that we have a role in God’s work to restore the world.
The other day I was talking with one of our neighbors about the new appearance of our building. Among his comments, he suggested that the people of our congregation must be very good at praying since the weather has been so good for the construction. I suggested that we may not have the power to alter atmospheric patterns. I know, however, that the people of Saint Andrew’s are faithful in prayer. I know that our prayers join that Voice over the water of baptism. Our prayers join with the Holy Spirit, moving over the chaos of our world. Our prayers join us to the Holy Spirit, as God’s beloved children. Our prayers join us to the Holy Spirit, to do God’s work in the world.
