God is Calling us too!

Baptism of our Lord Year C – RCL

January 12, 2019

Isaiah 43:1-7

Psalm 29

Acts 8:14-17

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John 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. His 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."

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and 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."

Today we are remember Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordon.  For theologians having Jesus baptized by John the Baptizer is somewhat scandalous.  It is crazy to think that Jesus needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins – which is what John said he was doing.  Calling people to repent of their sins and be baptized.  We say that Jesus was without sin so why baptize him?  We could go in circles about why baptize Jesus but it really doesn’t matter for me.  Jesus was baptized by John as an example.  Not for Jesus’ sins to be forgiven but for us to hear something important.

At Jesus baptism something remarkable happened.  The heavens were torn open and the Holy Spirit – looking like a dove – one of her more serene manifestation – descends on Jesus.  And the voice from heaven declares “ ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’”  We hear that voice another time in scripture.  When we read about the transfiguration the voice from heaven told the disciples that Jesus is God’s son and that we are to listen to him. 

Each time the voice was not for Jesus it was for us.  It was a reminder that God calls us and names us and we are God’s.  Baptism does that.  At our baptisms we are named as Christ own – as God’s own children.  Its not that we were not God’s children before our baptism.  It is a reminder that we need to turn to God and recognizes that we are indeed God’s beloved children. 

Our reading from Isaiah today we heard the prophet proclaim:

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.

From the beginning of time God has been calling our names.  God calls us not as servants but as beloved children.  And if we will listen we will hear our names called.  God calls us by name and promises to be with us throughout our whole lives – and beyond.  Even to and beyond the grave God calls our names. But we are not too good at listening.  We are the ones who don’t always hear God calling.  We close out ears to God’s voice and figure we can go on our own way.

If we are good we probably thank God for our blessings.  When times are good it is easy to see God in the world.  When we are in love we see God’s beauty in everything.  When we are in our happy places we can see God at work in the world.

It is harder to see God and hear God when things are not going our way.  The prophet Isaiah however promise us that God is with us in the hard times too: 

When 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….

Because you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,

It is during the hard times that we sometimes need reminders that God does indeed love us.  We need reminders that our sicknesses are not some test from God to see how well we do in adversity.  When we lose loved ones it is not a vengeful God who takes them away to punish us.  My cancer was not a punishment from God.  It was my genetic material going crazy.  It was my own DNA that, for whatever reason, caused some of the cells in my body to reproduce and morph into cells that can be quite damaging.  Thanks be to God that we have more and more treatments to target cancer and cure it.  We humans haven’t figured out who to cure all kinds of cancer and diseases, but we are learning more and more each day.  Our God given intellect and curiosity is allowing researchers to find new treatments.

I know that God has accompanied me on my journey.  I am sometimes a little hard of hearing when it comes to hearing the Holy Spirit in my life, but she is always calling me and walking with me through the good and the hard times.  After my cancer surgery – almost a year ago now – as I was being wheeled into a room the nurse asked me who I knew to get the only single room in the ward.  My answer was that “I knew God. “  When she asked again I repeated.  No really it is God who I know. 

That may be true that at some level I do know God.  But the better answer would be that God knows me.  At my creation God saw me and, like we hear in the creation story in Genesis, God saw that is was good.  God sees our creation and sees it as good. 

Unfortunately, we sometimes forget that God knows our names – knows our inner being.  Or at least we act like it.  We act like we don’t have God walking with us on this journey.  We can even act like we are God.  We can do hurtful things and turn away from God.  We can separate ourselves from God – which is the definition of sin.   God never separates from us, but we erect barriers to God.

At our baptisms we are reminded that we are beloved children of God and are named as Christ’s own forever.  Every one of us is God’s beloved child.  Loved no matter what.  God is not a vengeful God who punishes us for not listening.  God is a patient God who wants nothing more than for us to see our mistakes and return to God’s love.

As I said Jesus’ baptism was not to remind him who he was.  It was for us to hear who Jesus is and to hear the Holy Spirit call our name too.  David Lose, a preacher I follow said, “Athanasius, my favorite theologian of the early church, put it this way: Jesus became one of us – scandalous! – so that we might become like him – even more scandalous yet!”^[1]

In a few moments we will be reminded that we are God’s children as we renew our own baptismal promises.  We need the reminders and it is traditional on the day that we remember Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordon to remember and renew our baptismal promises too. 

When we renew our baptismal promises the heaven will open up – just like they did that day over two thousand years ago.  The heavens will open up and the Holy Spirit will descend upon each of us and if we listen – if we open our hearts and our ears to God, we will hear her call us.  Rik – You are my beloved child with whom I am pleased.  Anne, Katie, Christine, Jim you are all my beloved children with whom I am well pleased.

Now please stand as you are able as we renew our baptismal promises.  I invite you to open your hearts and you ears to hear God reminding you that you are God’s beloved child.

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^[1] http://www.davidlose.net/2019/01/the-baptism-of-our-lord-c-forgiveness-and-so-much-more/  Accessed January 11, 2019

Darkness Cannot Extinguish the Light.

Sermon for First Sunday of Christmas

December 29, 2018

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 147 or 147:13-21

Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Last week we heard Luke’s version of the Nativity.  With Mary in the manger, the Angels announcing his birth and the shepherds coming to the witness this thing that God has done.  The birth of God as a baby.  Luke, being a good first century historian, makes sure that we know when the event happened.  Luke tells us that it happened during the reign of the Emperor Augustus while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  Luke pinpoints the time when the heavens opened and Jesus came to set us free.

This week we have John’s version of the birth story.  It is a very different story.  John tells us that this baby Jesus was not created on that first Christmas in the manger.  John starts his birth narrative “In the beginning…”  It sounds familiar doesn’t it”  The creation Story of Creation in Genesis starts that way “in the beginning…”  John tells us that Jesus existed from the very moment of creation.  Jesus was and is the Word that was used by God to create the universe.  The creative power of God’s word that brought all things into being at the beginning of time also brought Jesus into being.  That Jesus is the light of the world that keeps the darkness at bay.

John lets us know from the very beginning of his Gospel who this Jesus is.  Jesus is of and is God.  No question in John’s Gospel.  The rest of John’s Gospel goes on to chronicle how God came to earth to show his people how to dispel the darkness.  In some ways John’s Gospel is too cerebral.  We much prefer the birth of a baby in a manger because we can relate to it.  We have a little more difficulty relating to the amorphous being “The Word” that sparked creation. 

This little bit of the Gospel of John is so rich in symbolism and theology that it could occupy a whole series of sermons.  This time however the one part that really grabbed me this week is “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness and that darkness cannot extinguish the light.

Now more than ever we need to hear that promise.  When we hear of immigrant children dying in custody of immigration detention facilities.  When we hear of the killing of a police officer in a small community – a police officer who in many ways symbolized the dream of America – that an immigrant could become a citizen and want to give back by being a police officer.  When we hear about the disfunction in our nation’s capital with part of the government being shut-down and where no one seems to be negotiating with each other.  We here threats to completely shut down our Southern border unless the congress gives the president what he wants.  Instead of negotiations we hear soundbites from both sides that are not negotiating strategies but strategies to engage their base.  Strategies that are more likely to create discord than to create light.  When we hear about all these things, and more, it may seem like the darkness is winning.  It seems like the light, the goodness, is being extinguished.

The world in which Jesus was born was not much different for the people of Israel.  They had been conquered by the Roman empire.  They had an Emperor who wanted the “Pax Romana” the Peace of Rome and was willing to do anything to keep that peace – including the killing of anyone who disagreed with the occupation forces.  The people in the occupation area are paying exorbitant taxes to keep the emperor rich and well fed.  When Jesus was born in that stable it seemed that the darkness was winning.  It was into that darkness that the light of God was born – this time not as an amorphous power of creation but as a baby.  A baby that will show us how to keep the darkness at bay.

God came to earth in human form to show us that we too have the power to keep the dark from winning.  As I am fond of pointing out when God came to show us how to fend off the darkness it was not with the avenging angel army to smite down the evil.  God came as a vulnerable baby.  God came as the Love that God has for all for creation.  God came not to smite the darkness with bolts of lightning but to scatter it with the light of love.

John tells us that to “…all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”  Jesus came to show us that we too are born to the light.  That we are called in our time to be the light that will cast out the darkness.  We are called to continue God’s dream that this creation will be Good.  It sounds so easy but it can be daunting too. 

It can be daunting to continually have to turn up the light to drive away darkness.  It is much easier to let the light go out and let darkness win.  Science tells us that light is energy.  It is not a passive force but an energy force.  We are called to be that energy force that advocates for Love.  We are called to extinguish the darkness not with the kind of force that an army makes but by showing that Love will win in the end.

One of the good things that seems to happen during the Christmas season is that we hear more about the Love that happens in our community.  In addition to the stories of death, corruption and political impasse we also hear stories of Love.  This week one of the stories was of a social worker who seemed to have few resources – so few that he resorted to fixing his shoes with the universal male repair tool – duct tape.  It turns out that he had quite a few resources.  He left $11 million to children’s charities.  We hear stories of the generosity that people have in their hearts for those without resources.  Toy drives and food drives make the news. 

And I say we hear about them more this time of year because I know that they happen all the time by people who have the light in their hearts.  We see it in the generosity of people this year to River City Food Bank.  In a recent e-mail from Eileen Thomas, the Executive Director of River City Food Bank, she announced that in 2018 the food bank increased the number of people that it served by over 40%.  That is an amazing number – and a number that is probably in large part due to their expansion onto this campus and the crazy generosity that allowed them to build that mega walk in refrigerator and freezer on this campus.  A generosity of love that happens 365 days a year not just at Christmas time.

I see the light that refuses to let darkness overpower it on Wednesdays at St. Pauls’ downtown.  The gracious and over-brimming love named Phyllis, that started feeding people after services showed a light that death will not extinguish.  Phyllis was a very proper English women who was so full of love that in her nineties started making good nutritional lunches for those who gather at St. Paul’s on Wednesdays and Fridays.  When Phyllis recently became unable, due to her final illness, to make sure that food was there on Wednesday’s one of our homeless members stepped in and made soup.  Phyllis left this mortal plain on Christmas day and that light that she lit at St. Paul’s was not extinguished.  Now multiple people – and some of the most surprising people who have little themselves – multiple people are stepping up to make sure that hot lunches are still served after the services on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

That is the promise of our Gospel reading today.  That Jesus may have been on this Earth in human form for a mere 30 years or so but that light that is Jesus was here before that time and is here now.  That light that pushes away the darkness is in each of us.  It is that light – the light that was at the very beginning of creation that burns in our hearts.  A light that will drive us to help overcome the darkness that seems to be pushing upon us.  A light that will shine a light of love on God’s creation.  A love that in the end will win.  A love that will be so bright that the darkness will be extinguished.  And we are called – each and every one of us – to be part of that light. 

I invite you, as we enter a new calendar year to look for the light.  When the darkness seems to overpower the light not to despair but to look and see the light shining there too.  A light that we can be part of to drive away the darkness.  And the good news is that we don’t have to be alone.  God sent Jesus to remind us that the creative force that is God is always with us and will always be there to help us shine bright.  To help us spread the light of love in a world that seems so full of darkness.  A light that will win.  A love that loves creation so much that it came down on Christmas day to show us how to be that love in our world. 

Amen.