Baptism of Jesus Sunday 2016

Sermon

1/10/16

Jesus' Baptism by Angelo Romano

It’s Baptism Sunday. And because our 600 pound late Victorian Baptismal font is in the Chapel, due to Antigona in the Sanctuary, we will worship there this morning. Dion is there when I arrive, getting everything ready. And John Roggie will be our musician. A young couple with a 2 month old named Jack is visiting.

We’ll share a lot of good Baptism songs today, like Take Me to the Water, and Baptized in Water, and of course, When I Went Down to the River to Pray. We read Isaiah 43: 1-7 and Psalm 29 and Luke 3: 15-17 and 19-22, the story of Jesus’ Baptism.

I ask everyone how many remember their baptism. About a third received adult baptism. Including one by full immersion  in a baptistery in public.

So we’re talking about Baptism. In Isaiah, we’re told that God calls us by name…..you could say that it is at baptism , when you receive your name, , is when YOU become YOU so to  speak.

I’m wearing today my father’s watch. My mom told my sister she wanted to give it to one of the boys someday, and my sister said, Do you know how old the boys are?  So my mom gave o tot me for Christmas.  Baptism was really important to my dad. SO it was really special when he was so pleased at the bris (Jewish circumcision /naming ceremony) when my son received his name.  My Dad said, ..at least he’s not a nameless waif… a blessing had been invoked, a name given, our friends and family celebrated.

At Baptism we receive our Christian name…..we only baptize using the  first (and second) name….Our last name is shared by family, but the first and second names, those are unique to us, make us who we are.

We sometimes used to say Christening as an alternative word for baptism pointing to being dedicated to Christ and also the receiving of our Christian name.

Isaiah speaks of redemption . In the Old Testament, it related to debt, to debts owed. Your redeemer was the one who paid your debt, thus setting you free. The pawn bought back to its original owner.

Isaiah also says Do not fear….a common theme, like the angels in the Christmas story. Do not fear…

So we have water baptism ….and by fire…the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Of the three basic elements, Sun, air and water…does everything need all? No…creatures can live without sun or without air (in the water) but no creature can live without water. Water is primordial…it’s where life begins…and we ourselves are 98% water.

By tradition, water was Chaos…God brings order out of chaos. …Defeats Tiamat  of the Babylonian creation story. But Tiamat, chaos is always there…as my friend Pastor Heidi…of Trinity Lutheran likes to say.

In Luke, John speaks of  Jesus coming to separate the wheat from the  chaff…..separating out…we have come to see this not only in the individual but  in the communal sense as well.  At the end of the day, we are both. We have both within us and Jesus comes to burn the chaff part out of us.

But there is a communal issue as well. The question always arises, so Why Jesus? If Jesus was sinless, why did  he need to be baptized? I’m not going to get into “sinless” discussion. The story of Jesus in the Temple spoke of him as needing to grow in wisdom and stature, even as normal children do.

At any rate, some commentators see this as Jesus’ commitment to be in solidarity with humanity. In the middle verses, before Jesus’ baptism, we find John in prison…SO Jesus in essence picks up John’s mantle…To understand this, you have to understand John.  He left security of the Temple world where his father was an official. The center of Jewish religious power living in collaboration with the Empire.

John’s baptism was an act of  protest/judgment against temple system, a call to come out from empire…So after Jesus lived within the system for 30 years, he had to COME OUT too. Separate  his life from the power of the Empire to where only God the creator has authority. Baptism is a public witness to that authority.

           

So what does it mean for us? First we are called to answer and demonstrate the question of what authority is primary. We need to understand that if  Jesus is our redeemer, in the time of Jubilee, all debts to empire cancelled…

Hear this…and know this…YOU are God’s child…in YOU God is well pleased…you have your own name, you have your own ministry…name it, claim it and live it…

AMEN

After our prayers, I lead evryone to the baptismal font. Tell the story of its florid Tiffany design. The uncommon  water lily, lotus motif rising from the waters of chaos, rippled by the breath of the Holy Spirit.  How the lid disappeared during Occupy and how a very special mother, Sheryl Jaffe, made us a new ceramic cover. How the one on the other is a metaphor for who we are.

I say the Thanksgiving over water. Pour drops of Jordan River water in.  And invite every one to come up for laying on of hands and a blessing. I remember doing that for so many years with Katherine and how I felt the first time I did it alone.

We have our benediction. Sing Amen. And go out into the world….

FIRST READING ISAIAH 43:1-7

¹But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

³For I am the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.

⁴Because you are precious in my sight,

and honored, and I love you,

I give people in return for you,

nations in exchange for your life.

⁵Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you;

⁶I will say to the north, "Give them up,"

and to the south, "Do not withhold;

bring my sons from far away

and my daughters from the end of the earth —

⁷everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made."

PSALM PSALM 29

¹Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name;

worship the LORD in holy splendor.

³The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over mighty waters.

⁴The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

⁵The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

and Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;

the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl,

and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, "Glory!"

¹⁰The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD sits enthroned as king for ever.

¹¹May the LORD give strength to his people!

May the LORD bless his people with peace!

GOSPEL LUKE 3:15-17, 21-22

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Second Sunday After Christmas/Epiphany:......WORD.......

1/3/16

The gifts of the Magi

I arrive at church ready to wait for Pat and Larry to arrive and decorate only to be surprised that the stage is already set. Dion apparently stayed after Antigona finished last night and set things up.  And I breathe a little easier. 

The stage is set

We are small again. But it lifts my spirits to see Eric from the Noche family back again.

After reading the story of the Magi in Matthew, I share my own little bottles of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Remember past celebrations of El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos in this place.  And after singing We Three Kings, it’s time for reflection.

We are three days into the new year. I’m guessing more than a few resolutions bit the dust already….but we’re still at THE BEGINNING….as we are every year at this time…a new beginning…so John 1 is a good place to BEGIN…

In the beginning was the WORD…echoes Genesis 1….God says it and it IS….

What does that mean?

For my kids' generation, when someone  says something you agree with, the response is WORD…I have a friend in Washington Heights…down the street from the Presbyterian Deli, I love that….she’s on the board of a coop called WORD UP Bookstore…they tutor, they do workshops, open mics, readings…a completely community based store. As for WORD UP,  it means I totally comprehend what you’re saying, doing…in Greek, it’s almost the same, logos....the ultimate inherently visible  logical reality….

In open mics now we have singers and we have spoken WORD…which is poetry or story or improve or rap without music…like my friend Joel Gold with his 1950’s beat improv…and our man Dion does spoken WORD…stand up, another form

John says, In the beginning was the WORD….

If Christmas is about incarnation, John’s Christmas story is about the WORD becoming FLESH….a WORD that is LIGHT in the darkness….

We speak about the Bible as the Word of God…and Jesus is the living WORD….

What am I up to here?

In my tradition, I’m now called a Teaching Elder…I used to be called a minister of WORD and Sacrament…when I preach I bring the WORD…

We Protestants tend to think in didactic ways…we tend to use music and art  to illustrate the WORD, like pictures in a children’s Bible…but in  fact, a work of art is its own WORD…

Something like Noche’s Antigona doesn't illustrate anything, it simply is. It is it’s own WORD to be in dialogue with the Bible’s WORD or my WORD…and when you see Soledad dance, it doesn't symbolize anything…like you can't take a painting and say, What does this part here mean?  It just IS…You see Soledad dance and all you can say is YES…or, as the kids say, WORD…WORD is given, TRUTH is told.

Which is why it’s appropriate to epiphany…literally

·    Epiphany means: a Christian festival held on January 6 in honor of the coming of the three kings to the infant Jesus Christ or…

·    : a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way

You see, it’s the same thing…you SEE something and all of a sudden you GET It…like a light switch goes on…

That’s what it was with Jesus apparently…..people saw it….they got it

St. Francis said ….preach often, use words when necessary

When I see you, I see the WORD. When Dion visits with the homeless people or John walks Rachel home or when Kate and Hope and Marsha serve a meal at a shelter….you see it, you know it….

That’s what I long for, ache for …to be a community that is a living WORD…that when seen is like an epiphany where we see what is is to be WORD…

And that my friends, is  my word for today.

And for our offertory, I play, what else:

                                                                        The WORD

We will pray. And celebrate Eucharist, another visible WORD.  We will hear a WORD of peace, and then out into the world…

"The Word"

Say the word and you'll be free
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

In the beginning I misunderstood
But now I've got it, the word is good

Spread the word and you'll be free
Spread the word and be like me
Spread the work I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

Everywhere I go I hear it said
In the good and bad books that I have read

Say the word and you'll be free
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is love?
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

Now that I know what I feel must be right
I'm here to show everybody the light

Give the word a chance to say
That the word is just the way
It's the word I'm thinking of
And the only word is love
It's so fine, it's sunshine
It's the word, love

Say the word, love
Say the word, love
Say the word, love
Say the word, love

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life,^[a] and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own,^[b] and his own people^[c] did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him,who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born,not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.^[d] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God,^[e] who is at the Father's side,^[f] he has made him known.

The first Sunday after Christmas: that in between time

12/27

It is the first Sunday after Christmas…..and attendance is small…. A young man from Australia by way of Toronto has come to visit.

Today we have the only story (see below) about those in between years (at least only officially recognized one…). It only comes up every 3 years…and I don’t believe I’ve ever preached on this one before. Usually this day is the  feast of the Holy innocents..commemorating those children who died for Jesus due to Herod’s fear.  We forget that these children died for Jesus. The church called them the first martyrs. 

I’ve just learned that in Spain, this day is like an April Fools’ Day. You try and trick each other…as innocentes…..a typical Spanish way of bringing lightness to a dark day….

What does this story tell us? That Jesus was raised  in a tradition… to be a Jewish child in the Jewish tradition, celebrating the holidays in community…

We have the anxiety of parents…what parent of teenagers hasn’t known that 2 AM haunting feeling? (Although once could ask, but why didn't they know? Why did it take more than day to realize he was missing?)

There are questions and answers …notice  that he is 12 years old…a year before his bar mitzvah …and he is already beginning his preparation…

      

To his mother’s anxious question he replies, But where else would I be?...The words we have translated as In my father’s house are translated in the King James version as “Did you not know I must be about my fathers’ business…” To which the expected response might be

            What, not carpentry?

You have to wonder, How does Joseph feel about this? And Mary? This child she nursed, whose diapers she changed, she knows and does not know. As much as this is true for any mother, so much more for her as his mystery grows.

We are told he  continued to grow…As he was fully  human,  he did not come with full knowledge of everything. He had to grow…

And then we are told he was obedient. That’s the last we know until he heads out on his own…at 30….a long time in that day…to begin his own ministry…even in our day, we expect our kids to be on their own before 30…

So the question for us is, What does it mean for us to be about our fathers’ business? That is for us to figure out in the year to come. May that question always be before us.  To guide us.  And may we help each other find the answer…

During our prayers, the young man explains how being about the right business led him to Canada...not to return....

GOSPEL LUKE 2:41-52

⁴¹Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. ⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. ⁴³When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. ⁴⁴Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." ⁴⁹He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he said to them. ⁵¹Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.