Jan 8 - Beloved & Sent

Acts 19:1-7
1While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied—7altogether there were about twelve of them.

Mark 1:4-13 (p. 812)
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

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I know it was a week ago, but “Happy New Year.” So what did you do on New Years’ Eve? Were you celebrating with friends? Did you stay up to watch the ball drop in Times Square? And when midnight struck, did you welcome the New Year with a toast of champagne or perhaps a kiss?

Or did you decide to go to bed early and plan to wish friends and family a Happy New Year when you got up. After all, the New Year was coming whether you were awake to witness it or not. There’s no going back or stopping time, no fixing things we didn’t get quite right in the past. So we look ahead, make resolutions to better our bodies, our lives, our families, our future and go forward, we hope.

In the church our readings for this New Year focus on the gospel of Mark. And when you read Mark, you realize he’s in a hurry. As we’ve noted before, in Mark’s gospel there’s no Christmas story. By the fourth verse, John is on the scene baptizing people in the Jordan River. By the ninth verse, an adult Jesus shows up, and then we’re off. No looking back – only going forward.

Mark’s writing reflects excitement; he is in a rush to tell the story. Translators have tried to edit Mark’s material so it sounds a little more polished, but in the original Greek, nearly every sentence in this morning’s reading begins with “And,” with a couple “immediately’s” thrown in.

“And the whole Judean countryside … were going out to him … And John was wearing a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather belt around his waist. 7 And he was proclaiming … And in those days Jesus came … And immediately, while he was coming up out of the water … And a voice came from heaven … And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days ….”

I can remember when my sons were much younger and they wanted to tell me about something that really excited them, you could almost hear them tell it in a similar way. “And you know what happened next…” “And then, you know what…” "And then guess what…” "And then…” "And then..."

For Mark there is a real sense of urgency – there’s no time to waste. His Jesus is on the move. And what has Mark so excited at the beginning of his story? He lets us, the audience, in on a secret. Jesus has come to the Jordan to be baptized by John. And John has no idea this is the one he has been waiting for who is more powerful than himself. As Jesus comes up out of the water, he has a vision: the heavens are torn apart, and through the tear, God’s Spirit comes down to him like a dove!

This isn’t some neat opening like a door. It’s a tearing apart. If you’ve ever mended clothes, you know a tear is hard to fix. It’s as if Mark wants us to know that God has broken into this world, and there’s no closing the door, no going back to the way things were. God’s Spirit is loose – and maybe we should be scared.

Annie Dillard puts it this way: “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, making up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies hats and straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping God may wake someday and take offense, or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return.”

By the way, there’s only one other place in Mark’s gospel that he describes a tearing apart. It’s near the end. Jesus on the cross cries out and breathes his last. Then the curtain in the temple that hides the holiest place is torn apart.

Besides the vision of heaven and the Spirit, Jesus hears a voice telling him, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus has received his identity and a blessing. But there’s no time to think about what this means – the Spirit immediately sends Jesus out to begin his work. Baptism has kick-started Jesus’ ministry because God is in the mix, has called him “beloved,” and has blessed him. Then and only then is he ready to face the world.

In a little bit we will ordain and install elders at this church. Before we ask the candidates any questions and lay hands on their heads, all of us will reaffirm our baptismal vows. And we will say, “Remember your baptism and be thankful.” Most of us, of course, were infants when we were baptized, so it seems a foolish statement. But what do you think happens when we are baptized. Did your parents tell you about the day, about the worship service?

In baptism we acknowledge God has already claimed us and made us God’s own adopted sons and daughters before we even knew it. But we also believe at our baptism God’s Spirit comes down like a dove upon each of us. At our confirmation, we acknowledge this before God and the church. At our baptism, God has broken into our life, called us “beloved,” equipped us with gifts of the Spirit, and blessed us. Yes, we have been blessed by God – God loves us and wants the very best for us.

There was a graduate student at Princeton Seminary working toward his Ph.D. One of his teachers, Dr. Cleophus LaRue, would regularly address him as "Doctor.” Eventually it made him uncomfortable enough that he said to the professor, "But Dr. LaRue, I haven't earned my doctorate yet. I don't think you should call me that." "Dr.," the teacher responded, "in the African-American church we are not content to call you what you are, but instead call you what we believe you will be!" That is a blessing. Unexpected, unsettling, nearly inconceivable, yet blessing nonetheless. (David Lose, from workingpreach.org)

In our baptism we have been similarly blessed. God does not call us what we are, imperfect people who fall short and struggle to love others or even ourselves. Instead God calls us what God believes we can and will be with the Spirit’s help – that is children of God, loved and blessed. And then God’s Spirit sends us out. Our baptism is our call to ministry and there’s no going back. Our work is learning with the help of our church family what our gifts are and where they are most needed in this world.

This congregation discerned that God has equipped the people we will ordain and install as ruling elders this morning with the gift of leadership. Sounds scary and perhaps you may think crash helmets would be good head gear for session meetings. But you are God’s beloved and have been blessed by God for this service. And all of the rest of us are God’s beloved and have been blessed by God to help you and work with you. And all of us who have been baptized have been given the gift of God’s Spirit to guide us and give us courage. Amen.