Beginning Again

Here is my sermon for today as it currently stands.

Genesis 1
Mark 1:4-11
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.”

Created Again: Returning to the Beginning

Let’s start at the Very Beginning! (the very best place to start) In the beginning, God created . . . and it was good.

When I was right out of college I wrote a story. It was a children’s story . . . with a bit of depth to it. And it just came to me. There was no planning for it, no sitting at the computer waiting for creativity to strike. It just appeared. And since then I’ve shared it in many different settings and always heard the response – It is good. I’m filled with pride at this work of art that literally welled up in me until I just had to give birth to it. Art is like that – it is not designed for anyone but the artist who feels so compelled by something that they must get it out, giving birth to it. And when it is out – all the way out—it is good! (at least to the artist, the creator.)

In the beginning there was a blank canvas, a tabula rasa, pure darkness, emptiness, loneliness, and then God was compelled to bring something more to it – to paint, to write, to create – and there was purpose and there was beauty and there was energy and there was life and there was companionship . . . and it was good.

We don’t know much about Jesus’ beginning except some birth stories that just happen to jive really well with the prophecies of old. But after the birth narratives, there is silence as we wait 30 years for the little baby in the manger to grow up. I’m sure the 30 years were pretty eventful – most of the young years are – playing and practical jokes, first words and fatherly advice, doing chores and chopping wood with his dad the carpenter, memorizing the scriptures and making eyes at girls. All we know is that he grew up in the Middle East and suddenly we find him at another beginning, distanced from the stable in all of its ironic holiness.

John the Baptizer calls out to people to receive a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Typically everyone went to the temple to make a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, but John offered something different. He offered the chance to make atonement by confessing not to the priest but to God and then to be baptized as a chance to start over, to return to the very beginning. REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS! He called out in the wilderness. And they came, all of them wanting forgiveness, wanting to start over. As they stood up out of the water the guilt disappeared, the fear of God’s wrath left, and the desire to begin again compelled them to be a new creation, to start again.

And Jesus said, “I want a new beginning.” And Jesus asked to be baptized. We have no idea what he repented or why he repented. We know only that somewhere deep within him creation compelled him to return to the beginning, the very beginning, (the very best place to start). He returned to the beginning when the canvas would be God’s and not his own. “I want God to start fresh and create in me whatever the Mysterious Artist wishes to create.”

And so John baptized.

And Jesus returned to the very beginning.

And he saw the heavens torn open as light was painted on his black canvas, and the Spirit of God descended on him in the form of a dove, and he was marked as the one compelled to baptize others with the Holy Spirit. And a voice came from heaven and spoke, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And God, the Creator, said, “It is good!”

We have the opportunity to start at the very beginning today. Do you cry out in your heart, “I want a new beginning!”? Age has nothing to do with it. Regret plays no part in creation. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us we are compelled to be born into newness. The fullness of time overwhelms us and we live a new and different life. We are compelled to live a life that is no longer for ourselves. We are compelled to live whatever life God lives through us, for when the Creator lives through us, it is always very good.

Here in the church we have so many opportunities to share this new beginning. We must discipline ourselves to listen for the Spirit in Bible study, in prayer, in worship, in life. And when we see the Spirit of God at work in our lives we must open ourselves to be compelled to show others that the same Spirit of God is active and alive baptizing THEIR lives with hope and love, calling THEM good as God paints upon the canvases of their lives.

Jan Richardson, in her recent blog, writes that “medieval artists often painted the river rising to meet the naked Messiah, surging up to enfold him, arcing around his waist. Often this appears to be for modesty’s sake, though the usual transparency of the river doesn’t entirely accomplish that aim. At times, however, the rising of the river seems to be for nothing but pure joy: the creation reaching out to meet and enfold Christ, the God who has become intimately, incarnately intertwined with the world.” And then she tells us that “there are times when our lives rise up to claim us, occasions when that which we were born to be leaps up to envelope us. Something calls our name. Reminds us we are blessed and beloved. Baptizes us. Sends us forth.” (http://paintedprayerbook.com/)

In Jan’s image of the baptismal waters, I find myself at the edge of an ocean, watching the waters of creation drift my way as the tides come in, slowly overtaking me and pulling me into an all-encompassing baptism. When I baptize children I sense these waters – waters that have always been with us, surrounding us with a love that is deeper than our own understanding. At other times, specifically as maturity comes upon me, I find myself still sitting in the sand as the tide goes out, away from me. In those times I know that I must, like Jesus, take those steps to approach the water, to begin again. (Walk toward font) As I step into the waters, my canvas is washed clean, and the Holy Spirit comes upon me, and it is good. I am compelled to live whatever life God lives through me. For when the Creator lives through me, it is always very good.
Amen.