January 11, 2015: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
Well, here we are again…starting anew – with Epiphany – a time of awakening, of birth, of seeing, of light shining in darkness. If that sounds a bit familiar, a bit like what we just experienced in Advent and Christmas, well you aren’t going crazy (or at least, if you are, it hopefully has nothing to do with the church). The bible has new beginnings all over it – God calls us to new beginnings all the time. Our church year does too. And we are constantly in a state of birth – death – re-birth. It really mirrors life itself. Maybe that is why humanity seems to enjoy the idea of beginnings. It signals a fresh start. And given the state of things in the world, we could all use a bit of that, couldn’t we. And the texts for this Sunday are so very poignant for us in this time and place.
Our Hebrew testament reading from the book of Genesis today is so familiar most can quote it from memory – the first moments of creation. In fact, there was a cartoon I saw recently that needed no citation or explanation. It showed God in a laundry room with a black sock in one hand, and a white t-shirt in the other. The caption read – God separating the light from the dark. Love that…just wish God made house calls. Seriously.
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” ‘While a wind from God…’ or in Hebrew ruach – it is the life giving breath of God – the Holy Spirit…In Greek, the word used was pneumatas.
A side note here, and many have heard me say this, is that both the Hebrew, ruach, and the Greek, pneuma, are feminine nouns. This breath, the Holy Spirit, was identified as feminine – well, as was Wisdom – Sophia. It was not until the bible was put into Latin that spiritos was used and all things God became masculine. But think about it…if we are going to call God Father, and God were to create, would not the creative breath be feminine? Certainly the earliest believers thought so. Which is why our Nicene Creed – the one we use now, which harkens back to the old Ecumenical Councils, is a more accurate reflection of our ancient beliefs (not to mention a much needed move away from the patriarchy our church inherited through the centuries).
But that aside, this action in Genesis mimics very much the baptism of Jesus we hear in Mark. Think about it. After that breath, that Holy Spirit, moves across the face of the deep…we hear the voice of God. And there is light out of darkness. In Mark, Jesus is in the midst of those dark waters, and he rises up from it to be given the breath of the Holy Spirit descending on him in the form of a dove, and the voice of God speaking once more.
“We encounter elemental things in both the Genesis and Mark readings for today: water, wind, darkness, light. The Spirit of God […] that broods over the face of the waters at the beginning of creation descends on Jesus as he comes out of the waters of the Jordan. The voice that says, “Let there be light” at the beginning of time now declares, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.’ There is an element of wonder and wildness in both texts.”[1] And there is new birth – life that comes out of death, light out of darkness.
In some very real sense, the chaos, the very face of the deep, was transformed in the very first baptism – the baptism of all of creation. Those waters were annointed by the breath of God, by the Holy Spirit, and arising out of that was light that shattered the darkness.
This week, we are once again swimming in what feels like the waters of chaos – a formless void of darkness in the form of terrorism – violence that has ripped apart France and everyone all around the world. It seems that there is no escape from it – that there is no rising up out of it. Where is that life giving breath? Where is the light that shines in the darkness of our lives? Where is God’s comforting voice? How do we rise up out of the murky waters?
It is all there – the Holy Spirit, the light, the voice of God…we see it in the streets of France and around the world. People claiming the identity of the fallen – Je suis Charlie Hebdo and Je suis Ahmed. Twitter feeds lit up all around the world claiming that identity as a call to defend free speech, and as a call to peace. And while many are appalled by the type of so-called humor that this French publication produced, there is a recognition that violence is never an option, even in the face of outright disrespectful and offensive speech. Je suis Charlie does not mean that we support the publication’s cartoons, but that peace must prevail if we are to survive as a species.
But, we cannot stop there, as despite the good intentions of those who protest – I am not sure I could ever wear or say those words. While we cannot engage in blaming the victim, nor can we go down the slippery slope of censorship, even our own media refuses to re-publish the cartoons, citing their offensive depictions. We need to look inwardly at what we find humorous. Is the belittling of another human being’s beliefs something that we should find funny? Is it okay to issue pornographic, racist, homophobic and offensive material – even if it is done as satire? Is this what we want to celebrate? Is that how we want to get our laughs – at the expense of others? Is hate speech that is done to push boundaries of free speech no longer hate speech? What in God’s name has happened to us? To all of us?
God spoke in the beginning of creation, and at the baptism of Jesus, and God is speaking now. “As people created in God’s image, we are called to recognize the separation of light and darkness in our own lives [in our own heart]. We live in darkness, when we continue to engage in [things that will harm us or others], when we take advantage of the people around us, when we’re bound by anger or burdened with the regrets and hurts of the past. If we’re finding our lives out of control, we can be sure that the swirling chaos of the darkness is holding us back from living lives that have meaning and purpose.”[2]
People – we need to step back, to look at all that is going on, and to reflect on who we are, and how we are called to be in the world. We need a re-start, a new beginning. We need a baptism of our world here – now, so that we may rise up from the waters to new life, to the feeling of the Spirit within, to the light shining on us and in us, and to hearing and feeling loved.
That’s why these texts are so much what we need to hear today.
The beginning in Genesis is the start of God’s relationship with us…in Jesus, a renewal of that relationship with us. In Jesus’ we find that once again, God has brought light into the dark chaos of our world – and in his baptism, the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, descends on him, and God speaks. And in his life, we were given a new light, a new life. It is a beginning for us all – and it is not something that only happened long ago – it is possible for us now.
Yes, we need a new beginning…a Genesis for all of creation. New beginnings are exciting, and sometimes terrifying, but are generally filled with hope – you see it this time of year especially with the resolutions we make to be renewed in some sort of way – physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually…
And we need to begin a new journey – the journey with Jesus in his ministry. Each year, just like with those resolutions we make, we are given a new life in Epiphany – a new chance – to rise out of our slumber, up from the waters, and live into who we are…to be the child in whom God is well pleased. And if ever there was a time to do that, it is now. We need to stand up, not so much to claim our identity as Charlie Hebdo, but as Christians. We need to remember our very own death and new life – the one we received in baptism.
Baptism is the fundamental beginning of our lives as followers of Christ. In a very real sense, in baptism we are wedded to all other Christians everywhere and for all time. But the funny thing is, we often act like we are divorced. Think about it. “If [someone] says, ‘I was married,’ you will likely assume that [their] partner has died or [they] are divorced. But if [they] say, ‘I am married,’ you will assume [they] have a partner and that on a certain date [they were] married and still [are, right?]. Although it’s true and essential to say ‘I was baptized,’ it is also necessary to assert, ‘I am baptized’”[3] It isn’t a one time act, but an identity. An identity we need to affirm now – Je suis baptize. I am baptized.
“More than anything else, baptism marks our birth, [our Genesis], as Christians. It involves a process that is every bit as wet and messy as the physical birth that brought us into this world, but it is also every bit as permanent. Through baptism, we are identified as children of God who are both loved and lovable, in a very real sense, ones in whom God is well pleased. The Dutch priest, theologian and Yale professor Henri Nouwen once wrote, “The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”[4]
The part of that quote I love the most is the part where Nouwen says “even though I cannot feel it right now.” Right now, many of us understand all too well Nouwen’s inability to feel God’s love all the time. The truth is for many of us, we often don’t feel that Holy Spirit descending on us. We cannot hear the voice of God telling us we are loved. We don’t remember our baptism oftentimes, and sometimes feel nothing at the Eucharist. And the thing is…that’s okay. God is with us –that breath, that Holy Spirit, moves through us and around us, whether or not we see or feel it.
And it is in the knowing that it is there where hope is born, where we are given new life, a new baptism, a fresh start – every day, every hour, whenever we need it. That hope can bring us up out of the chaotic waters, out of the darkness and into the light, to experience what has always been there waiting for us to open ourselves to it – a new life that is always possible, always there for us to claim.
“Into what then were you baptized?” asked Paul in the reading from Acts.
And we can answer, “We are baptized into the Body of Christ, anointed as God’s own by the Holy Spirit.” But what does that mean for us? The same as it did for him – for Jesus. It is the beginning of a new life of mission and ministry preaching the good news of God’s love to all – being the light into the darkness.
And how could it not be?
If we are baptized into Christ – we are then the body of Christ alive in the world. And if we are the body of Christ, are we not then also like Jesus – beloved for all time? This is not just Jesus … it is each one of us. It is our true identity. And…it is also our life work.
And that is the message of these texts – all of them…God may have rested on the 7th day, but God didn’t wipe the divine hands and say “well, that’s done. I’m outta here.” God continued to work with us and through us to make creation all it could be – that we might truly live as people made in God’s image. And God is still speaking, if only we would listen.
And those apostles, after Paul baptized them, began speaking…and the message there is that they knew this anointing by the Holy Spirit was a mark of one who must go out into the world to spread the good news. They were not to return home, put up their feet, and watch re-runs on TV. They now had work to do.
And, Jesus didn’t come out of the water, dry off with a cloth and say “Gee, that was fun – time for a quick bite and a movie.” No. Jesus, knowing the responsibility that now was his, could not even begin. He first had to take some time to consider it all – to sort it all out – and so he went to the wilderness. Jesus knew that this baptism, this moment in his life, changed everything.
It changes everything for us too. Just as the moment God did the divine laundry – separating the dark from the light – birthing a new world, and with that, a new relationship with the created world…baptism is that new creation for us – and it is there for each of us, whenever we need it.
It is a new year, with new possibilities, new hopes, new dreams…perhaps this time in the wilderness we face as a world will help us all hear where God is calling us, and maybe it will stop us short just enough to free us from all the distractions of life that serve to block our senses from the divine at work in our lives and in the world. Maybe then we will really open our hearts, our eyes, our ears…and perhaps we might actually be able to feel that breath of God, to see the light entering the darkness, and to hear the words “you are mine, my beloved, and in you I am well pleased.” And then to step out onto the streets proclaiming “je suis aimé et sont donc vous – God loves me and you!
What a wonderful world it could be.
Amen.
[Sermons as written are not necessarily as delivered on any given Sunday][3] http://laughingpastor.blogspot.com/
Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
January 11, 2015
First Sunday After the Epiphany
1st Reading – Genesis 1:1-5
Psalm 29
2nd Reading – Acts 19:1-7
Gospel – Mark 1:4-11
