By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, Rector“In the beginning... a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” The word for “wind” in both Hebrew and Greek also means “spirit”. The Creation story is beautiful and a mystical image of God’s spirit moving all things into being - a spirit of life, a spirit of love, a spirit of light.
The images of spirit and water echo in all the readings today connecting us to the Gospel story of the Baptism of Jesus. The Gospel story of Jesus connects us to the baptism of Marlee Elizabeth Spiro, and to all of our Baptisms. We opened the service by saying that there is one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God. The continuation of Baptism is a sign of our unity with past, present and future. It points to a single promise of everlasting life, not only for us individually, but for the world.
The opening of Genesis might even be seen as the Baptism of the earth in creation with Spirit and water. The very act of Baptism is the paradoxically setting apart and bringing together. When we baptize Marlee shortly we are blessing her and setting her apart for her place in the life and service of God in the Christian tradition. We are bringing her together with the worldwide community who shares a basic belief in God and takes the teaching of Jesus as its guiding principles. A community who shares in the promise of eternal life and understands the resurrection of Jesus to be the proof of that promise. In all the world there are many traditions, and this one is ours. And into this tradition we baptize Marlee. We set her apart and we join with her in community.
In the Gospel lesson, John the Baptist stands at the Jordan River preaching a life of repentance and renewal. Repentance means to turn direction and in this case turn from ways that are harmful or painful to ways that reflect God’s love and justice. The ritual cleansing of the water symbolizes the washing away of the past regrets and ushers in a new beginning. And in this beginning, the Sprit of God blows over the waters to make it so.
When Jesus approached John on the banks of the Jordan, he left us a puzzle. Or perhaps it was the writer of the Gospel of Mark that left us a puzzle, namely, what was Jesus repenting? As he was being baptized what in him was being washed away?
There are a couple answers that are debated. One is that it was not his sins, but ours being washed away. Another response is that since the act of baptism is a bringing into community, that Jesus entered this action as a visible demonstration of becoming one with us in our spiritual work. There are certainly more, but I like the one that recalls the connection that Jesus himself later makes between John the Baptist and the prophet Elijah. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “If you are willing to accept it, (John) is the Elijah who was to come.” (Mt. 11:14)
The prophet Elijah anointed his successor Elisha in the presence of his students demonstrating that his ministry was at an end and that Elijah would continue in his place.
On the banks of the Jordan John, in the image of Elijah, anoints Jesus in full view of all the people gathered there as the one who was to come after him, the thong of whose sandal he was not worthy to tie. It was a transfer of authority, a setting apart for the continuation of God’s work in the world. John had always said that someone else was coming and that he would have to decrease as the One is to come, must increase. This Baptism of Jesus was a public demonstration that John’s words had come to pass.
So, why this long explanation? Because we’re doing the same thing here. This is how our Great Teacher did it, and this is how we’re doing it. It’s a little too chilly to find a river, in fact some day it might be fun to stand on the banks of the Passaic, but not today.
Marlee, we need you. We’re anointing you and baptizing you, not that you have anything to repent yet, but to join in a life that commits to faith, justice and peace. A life of integrity among people, and grounding for yourself. We have a promise from Jesus that the Spirit of God is with us and always will be. The same spirit that blew over the waters in Creation stirs in us and connects us to God. We are made of water and the spirit carries us also. Join us in our witness of God’s love and the desire to do all that we can to bring the light of God into a world that often chooses darkness. We’re not perfect. As a community or as a worldwide church. Even the most casual glance at our record shows our mistakes. Some of them have been enormous and caused a lot of pain. But we also have the legacy of spiritual greatness and amazing acts of kindness, generosity, and integrity. We continually pray that God strengthens us in what we do well, and guides us away from the mistakes we make and set us back on the right path. One of the promises made by Jesus is that forgiveness is always available if we’re wise enough to see our mistakes and want to change.
Each of the Gospels has a version of what happens next that don’t quite agree on some details. In this lesson, however, when Jesus came out of the water he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove on him.
It’s yet another sign of a new beginning and the presence of God.
In the second lesson we read today from Acts, Paul meets up with some people who he saw as disciples or followers, presumably of Jesus. He asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit and they didn’t know what he was talking about. Having been baptized by John, they only went so far. When Paul baptized them in to the name of Jesus, they had the felt the fullness of the Spirit and according to the lesson began to speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues plays an important role in the work of Paul, and yet in one place he says that is a particular gift only given to some. That others have other gifts, but speaking in tongues isn’t for everyone. I believe there are two uses of the phrase “speaking in tongues”. One is the literal vocalizing of strange dialects that we can witness even today. But that’s one of the gifts that Paul says is given to some, not all.
Another way to read that phrase is the speaking in a language that is available to everyone. In the scriptures speaking in tongues becomes an analogy for speaking with conviction. When we’re uncertain of something we’re talking about we pause or stutter and in different ways present a very unconvincing argument. When we speak with conviction, there is no hesitation. When we speak from the heart, words are there and sometimes words come from places that can only be inspired by the Spirit of God. When we speak from conviction our whole being is involved. Our heart, our mind and our body.
Baptism is an invitation to conviction. To grow in faith and speak with conviction about it’s place in our lives. To take seriously the scriptures and what they have to teach us. To take seriously the fellowship and traditions that we vow to uphold. To take seriously our opportunity to wrestle critically with matters of faith that challenge us. To take seriously others who share this road with us. To see Christ in them and see in all people no matter what faith they follow the imprint of the love of God. We’re baptized into a faith that calls us to deepen and grow, to learn and question, to struggle and challenge and when we’re tired feel the wind of God at our backs. The Spirit of God is always with us, guiding us and giving us life. Talk about it with conviction. Welcome Marlee and breathe deep the Spirit of God. Amen.
© 2009 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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