Year B
Genesis 1:1-5
Psalm 29
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning\u2026 the earth was a formless void\u2026 and darkness covered the face of the deep\u2026 then God said… Let there be light\u2026 and there was light<\/em>\u2026 but wait a minute\u2026 according to Genesis Chapter 4\u2026 it wasn’t until the fourth day\u2026 that God created the sun\u2026 and the moon\u2026 and the stars\u2026 so what is this light that’s described in Chapter 1\u2026 does it refer to what’s put on a lamp stand\u2026 something that’s both a particle and a wave\u2026 or does it perhaps refer to something more intangible\u2026 like the Wisdom described in Proverbs 8:22-24\u2026 when Wisdom says\u2026 the LORD created me at the beginning of his work\u2026 the first of his acts of long ago\u2026 ages ago I was set up\u2026 [at the first\u2026] before the beginning of the earth\u2026 when there were no depths I was brought forth\u2026 when there were no springs abounding with water<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Martin Billmeier asks\u2026 is this light the whole plan\u2026 the dawning realization on God’s part of what God is going to do\u2026 that would be an epiphany for God\u2026 is the light goodness and the darkness evil\u2026 so that the potential for both is there from the beginning\u2026 the possibility for evil dawned on humans soon enough\u2026 in what was also an epiphany of sorts\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gospel says that as Jesus was coming up out of the water\u2026 the heavens were torn apart\u2026 and the Spirit descended on him like a dove\u2026 perhaps like the dove that returned to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch\u2026 with a sign of life\u2026 in its mouth\u2026 perhaps the heavens were torn apart to reveal that Jesus will embody God’s movement in the world\u2026 that Jesus is God’s love made flesh for us… this Beloved One comes up out of the waters realizing who he is\u2026 and becomes the One to light our way in the darkness of this life\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Episcopal Church and the ELCA both understand the Sacrament of Baptism\u2026 as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace\u2026 Martin Luther understood that a sacrament is an act that is commanded by Christ\u2026 uses a material or earthly element\u2026 and through connection with the Word is the bearer of God\u2019s promise\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the waters of baptism… we are lovingly adopted by God into God\u2019s family… which we call the Church\u2026 are given God\u2019s own life to share\u2026 and are reminded that nothing can separate us from God\u2019s love in Christ\u2026 we are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n In today’s Gospel\u2026 John is in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins\u2026 turning away from the absence of light\u2026 or anything that diminishes light\u2026 and back to God\u2026 and people from the whole Judean countryside… and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him\u2026 confessing their sins\u2026 and were baptized by him in the river Jordan\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You see\u2026 in Jesus\u2026 God will not stay distant from us like in the Temple’s Holy of Holies\u2026 will not stay safely hemmed up in Heaven\u2026 where some of us want God to remain\u2026 so we can do what we want\u2026 in v. 10\u2026 when the heavens are torn open\u2026 we see an example of God’s unruly behavior\u2026 of the God who leaves the Holy of Holies and goes wherever healing is needed\u2026 God runs loose through human history\u2026 through the person and ministry of Jesus\u2026 and we are players in God’s ministry\u2026 if we take our discipleship seriously\u2026 we are players in the same reign\u2026 and so what does it mean to follow Jesus into this ripping apart of boundaries\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matt Skinner\u2026 Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary said that what John’s ritual is\u2026 is not Christian baptism as we understand it\u2026 which is dying with Christ and being raised with him\u2026 because the focus of this John’s act\u2026 is on the people confessing their sins\u2026 what John is doing with this baptism of repentance\u2026 is calling people to truth telling\u2026 and Jesus validates this baptism of truth telling\u2026 in the moment that God chooses for Jesus to receive his commissioning\u2026 to receive the Spirit… for the fabric of the universe to be literally altered… it is in this moment of truth telling\u2026 sometimes deeply painful truth telling\u2026 that the people of God must be honest with themselves… and with each other\u2026 about who they are and about what is real\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The events of this past week\u2026 ask us to decide who we believe to be telling the truth about whether the outcome of November’s presidential election was stolen or not\u2026 and whether there’s been Gospel level\u2026 baptism of repentance\u2026 truth telling about it\u2026 truth telling so stark that it’s alarming\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because it seems at least\u2026 that not telling the truth has resulted in the inciting of insurrection\u2026 not telling the truth has resulted in the US Capitol being stormed\u2026 not telling the truth has resulted in damage to your and my property\u2026 not telling the truth has resulted in injury to those committed to protecting our elected officials\u2026 not telling the truth has caused people to die…<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Friday\u2026 the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bp. Michael Curry\u2026 issued a statement about Tuesday’s events at the Capitol\u2026 he reminded us that as Jesus got closer and closer to the cross\u2026 he spoke most consistently of love\u2026 and that the way of love\u2026 is the way of sacrifice\u2026 the way of selflessness\u2026 which seeks the good of the other as well as the self\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he quoted Archbishop Desmond Tutu\u2026 who said during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa\u2026 Love… forgiving\u2026 and being reconciled to our enemies\u2026 or our loved ones\u2026 is not about pretending that things are other than they are\u2026 . it is not about patting one another on the back or turning a blind eye to the wrong\u2026 true reconciliation exposes the awfulness of the abuse\u2026 the hurt\u2026 and the truth\u2026 it could even [sometimes] make things worse for a while\u2026 it is a risky undertaking\u2026 but in the end it is worthwhile\u2026 because in the end\u2026 superficial reconciliation only brings superficial healing\u2026 but only an honest confrontation with reality can bring forth real healing\u2026 <\/em>and I believe this is the healing which Jesus embodied\u2026 the healing to which God is calling the church\u2026 and as his disciples\u2026 it is that to which we must aspire\u2026 we need to be so dedicated to love\u2026 and to the truth\u2026 that we can bless not only those with whom we agree\u2026 but we can bless those who we think have got it all wrong\u2026 and we can then invite the Holy Spirit into our mutual circumstance for healing and reconciliation\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Corinthians said that they’d been baptized into John’s baptism of repentance\u2026 they may have known what they were turning away from\u2026 but may not yet have known what they were turning to\u2026 because they didn’t know there was a Holy Spirit\u2026 and when Paul had laid his hands on them\u2026 the Holy Spirit came upon them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think we sometimes resist the Holy Spirit\u2026 because we cannot control it\u2026 and we’re afraid of its unpredictability\u2026 when Jesus described the Spirit to Nicodemus\u2026 he said that it’s like the wind\u2026 which blows where it chooses\u2026 and you hear the sound of it\u2026 but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes\u2026 so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit\u2026 and the wind described in today’s passage from Genesis\u2026 which swept over the face of the waters\u2026 also means breath\u2026 or Spirit\u2026 and if God’s Spirit brings order to chaos\u2026 because love brings order to chaos\u2026 then all I can ask over and over again for myself\u2026 and for all of you\u2026 is Come Holy Spirit\u2026 Come\u2026 and help us turn over and over again\u2026 back towards speaking nothing\u2026 but truth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 In the beginning\u2026 the earth was a formless void\u2026 and darkness covered the face of the deep\u2026 then God said… Let there be light\u2026 and there was light\u2026 but wait a minute\u2026 according to Genesis Chapter 4\u2026 it wasn’t until the fourth day\u2026 that God created the sun\u2026 and the moon\u2026 and the stars\u2026 so what is this light that’s described in Chapter 1\u2026 does it refer to what’s put on a lamp stand\u2026 something that’s both a particle and a wave\u2026 or does it perhaps refer to something more intangible\u2026 like the Wisdom described in Proverbs 8:22-24\u2026 when Wisdom says\u2026 the LORD created me at the beginning of his work\u2026 the first of his acts of long ago\u2026 ages ago I was set up\u2026 [at the first\u2026] before the beginning of the earth\u2026 when there were no depths I was brought forth\u2026 when there were no springs abounding with water\u2026 Pastor Martin Billmeier asks\u2026 is this light the whole plan\u2026 the dawning realization on God’s part of what God is going to do\u2026 that would be an epiphany for God\u2026 is the light goodness and the darkness evil\u2026 so that the potential for both is there from the beginning\u2026 the possibility for evil dawned on humans soon enough\u2026 in what was also an epiphany of sorts\u2026 The Gospel says that as Jesus was coming up out of the water\u2026 the heavens were torn apart\u2026 and the Spirit descended on him like a dove\u2026 perhaps like the dove that returned to Noah’s Ark with an olive branch\u2026 with a sign of life\u2026 in its mouth\u2026 perhaps the heavens were torn apart to reveal that Jesus will embody God’s movement in the world\u2026 that Jesus is God’s love made flesh for us… this Beloved One comes up out of the waters realizing who he is\u2026 and becomes the One to light our way in the darkness of this life\u2026 The Episcopal Church and the ELCA both understand the Sacrament of Baptism\u2026 as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace\u2026 Martin Luther understood that a sacrament is an act that is commanded by Christ\u2026 uses a material or earthly element\u2026 and through connection with the Word is the bearer of God\u2019s promise\u2026 In the waters of baptism… we are lovingly adopted by God into God\u2019s family… which we call the Church\u2026 are given God\u2019s own life to share\u2026 and are reminded that nothing can separate us from God\u2019s love in Christ\u2026 we are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever\u2026 In today’s Gospel\u2026 John is in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins\u2026 turning away from the absence of light\u2026 or anything that diminishes light\u2026 and back to God\u2026 and people from the whole Judean countryside… and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him\u2026 confessing their sins\u2026 and were baptized by him in the river Jordan\u2026 You see\u2026 in Jesus\u2026 God will not stay distant from us like in the Temple’s Holy of Holies\u2026 will not stay safely hemmed up in Heaven\u2026 where some of us want God to remain\u2026 so we can do what we want\u2026 in v. 10\u2026 when the heavens are torn open\u2026 we see an example of God’s unruly behavior\u2026 of the God who leaves the Holy of Holies and goes wherever healing is needed\u2026 God runs loose through human history\u2026 through the person and ministry of Jesus\u2026 and we are players in God’s ministry\u2026 if we take our discipleship seriously\u2026 we are players in the same reign\u2026 and so what does it mean to follow Jesus into this ripping apart of boundaries\u2026 Matt Skinner\u2026 Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary said that what John’s ritual is\u2026 is not Christian baptism as we understand it\u2026 which is dying with Christ and being raised with him\u2026 because the focus of this John’s act\u2026 is on the people confessing their sins\u2026 what John is doing with this baptism of repentance\u2026 is calling people to truth telling\u2026 and Jesus validates this baptism of truth telling\u2026 in the moment that God chooses for Jesus to receive his commissioning\u2026 to receive the Spirit… for the fabric of the universe to be literally altered… it is in this moment of truth telling\u2026 sometimes deeply painful truth telling\u2026 that the people of God must be honest with themselves… and with each other\u2026 about who they are and about what is real\u2026 The events of this past week\u2026 ask us to decide who we believe to be telling the truth about whether the outcome of November’s presidential election was stolen or not\u2026 and whether there’s been Gospel level\u2026 baptism of repentance\u2026 truth telling about it\u2026 truth telling so stark that it’s alarming\u2026 Because it seems at least\u2026 that not telling the truth has resulted in the inciting of insurrection\u2026 not telling the truth has resulted in the US Capitol being stormed\u2026 not telling the truth has resulted in damage to your and my property\u2026 not telling the truth has resulted in injury to those committed to protecting our elected officials\u2026 not telling the truth has caused people to die… On Friday\u2026 the Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bp. Michael Curry\u2026 issued a statement about Tuesday’s events at the Capitol\u2026 he reminded us that as Jesus got closer and closer to the cross\u2026 he spoke most consistently of love\u2026 and that the way of love\u2026 is the way of sacrifice\u2026 the way of selflessness\u2026 which seeks the good of the other as well as the self\u2026 And he quoted Archbishop Desmond Tutu\u2026 who said during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa\u2026 Love… forgiving\u2026 and being reconciled to our enemies\u2026 or our loved ones\u2026 is not about pretending that things are other than they are\u2026 . it is not about patting one another […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1103,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions\/1103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}