Jan. 11, 2009 - Torn Apart, Grafted In    - Mark 1:4-11

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       This morning, we read some of the most famous verses of scripture in the entire Bible.  Genesis 1:1 tells us that in the beginning God created.  The book of Genesis tells us that on that first day of creation, when the earth was without form and void, that the ruah of God – the breath, the spirit, the life force of God - blew across the face of the water and breathed life into the world with its creative, life-bringing presence.            

            We all know how the story of creation continues – how on successive days God continues the work of creation – that each step of the creation is declared to be good.  We know too that after six days of creating, everything was complete and God rested.  If the story of creation ended there it would be both wonderful and miserable.  If the story of creation ended with God resting on the seventh day, it would be a wonderful story because it would mean that human kind had never chosen to fall short of the glory of God.  It would mean that human beings had always – and were still – living in perfect fellowship and communion with God.  But we all know that did not happen.

            If the story of creation ended with God resting on the seventh day, it would be a miserable story because it would mean that God had never chosen to reach out to human beings who had chosen to go their own way.  It would mean that human beings had– and were still – living in sin, separated from God and without hope of salvation.  But we all know that did not happen either.

            We Christians enjoy the promise of the 8^th day of creation – and it is that miraculous blessing of God that we celebrate today.

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            John could have done his baptizing anywhere in Judea.  The Judeans already practiced a form of baptism when non-Jews decided to become proselytes – converted Jews.  John could have baptized in a lake or a stream.  He could have baptized in a wadi or an oasis.  John could have even baptized people in a mitzvah – a ceremonial pool used for ritual washing.  There would have been one in every town and village and in many of the larger homes.

            But John baptized in the river Jordan.  Over on the far eastern side of the country – over where it all began – back to the place where the Hebrews had crossed over into the land prepared for them by a holy God who had led them out of bondage in Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey – to a land to call their own – to a land of fresh starts and new beginnings – to a land of freedom and a land where they could worship freely their God.

            Jesus came to John while John was standing in the River Jordan.  Jesus came to where it all began so that he could begin his new life as the Lord’s Anointed – so that he could begin his ministry as the Messiah of God.

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            Jesus descends into the water just as he as an observant Jew he had submersed himself into a ceremonial mitzvah so many times before – but this time was different.  This time Jesus has come to where it all began so that he too might rise from the waters a new person in God. 

As Jesus emerges from the water, the heavens are ripped apart – this is not a gentle parting of the heavens like two clouds that slowly move apart in the sky.  This was a violent ripping asunder.  The division between heaven and earth was torn apart and the separation between God and human was breached.  The ‘ruah’, the wind of God, the Spirit of the Almighty that moved across the face of the waters at the creation again moves over the face of the earth and descends like a dove to alight on Jesus.  A voice comes from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

The three persons of the Trinity who were seen only darkly at the creation and throughout the First Testament, are now fully revealed.

The created order will never be the same.  The dividing line between the divine and the earthly is gone.  Mark will use this word ‘ripped apart only once more in his gospel – at the death of Jesus when the curtain in the temple is ripped apart from top to bottom – an act of God removing the separation between God and person.

This is important – it is not we who reach out and tear down the dividing walls between us and the holy – it is an act of God reaching down – reaching out – gathering up – showing truly that our relationship with God is ‘God breathed’, initiated and guided by the Spirit.

Baptism itself is an act of God – we baptize our children because we understand as Jesus and the early Christians did - as a work of the Spirit.  And we understand that the Spirit is already at work in our young people before they are even born into our midst.

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This morning, as you came into worship, you might have noticed that something was a little bit different at the back of the sanctuary.  Perhaps you remarked about it to someone or even grumbled a bit as you squeezed past.  For just today, we’ve moved the baptismal font to the back of the sanctuary.  When you think about it, this is where it should be always because baptism is the sacrament that welcomes and enrolls us into the Christian faith. 

Like the Jordan River for the ancient Israelites, it is the passing through the waters that admits us to a life out of freed from bondage to a land of faith flowing with milk and honey – to a land to call their own – to a land of fresh starts and new beginnings – to a land of freedom and a land where we can worship freely our God – a land that represents a taste of heaven here in the cosmos.

            With the baptism of Jesus the heavens were torn apart, with the baptism of the Spirit, we are grafted into the family of God, admitted into the royal priesthood of God.

            Scripture tells us that if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation, old things have passed away and everything has become new (2 Cor. 5:2).  That new creation first came about at the baptism of Jesus.  That new creation continues as each of us is baptized.  As each of us was sprinkled, poured over or submerged, we acknowledged the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us by God, because of the baptism of Jesus.

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            Jesus was baptized as a sign of new life as he began his public ministry.  When we were baptized we too were baptized to new life – and we too begin our ministry as disciples of Jesus Christ.

            The baptismal belongs at the back of the church, at the entrance of the sanctuary as a sign of our incorporation into the family of God.  This morning, the baptismal is at the back of the church where we will pass it as we leave the sanctuary and enter the place where we will begin our ministry as followers of Christ, as representatives of the living and loving God.

            Today as we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus we have a chance to celebrate our own baptism – to affirm our own new life in Christ, to acknowledge the fact of God’s holy spirit resting on us and to submit ourselves again to the holy will of God.

            Today as you leave the sanctuary and pass by the baptismal font, you will see that it contains more than water.  It also contains some clear glass beads.  We invite you to dip your hand into the font and take one of those beads.  We invite you to take it home and keep it in your pocket or your purse as a reminder of your own baptism, as a sign that you, too, are part of God’s new creation

            I invite you this morning to pass by that baptismal font to reach in and re-enact your own baptism, to reaffirm your dedication to the cause of Christ, to confirm the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your own life – and then fully armed with that Spirit, to go out into the world to share in the ministry of Christ – to share the love of God to all you meet just as Jesus did.

Amen.