Christmas 1 year C Sermon 09At this time of year... it’s easy to imagine the scene that marks the beginning of Jesus ministry...because we’re all there down by the river or the lake aren’t we? It's the event we call...Epiphany and the season starts next week.
The sun is shining...people are enjoying themselves in the water. They’re attracted...to the eccentricities of Jesus weird cousin...the one they call John the Baptist...
A firebrand who’s calling them all into the water as an act of repentance. Calling them to turn back to God.
From the riverbank we can also see Jesus...a young man of only thirty... he feels the shock of the cold as he takes a few steps into the water toward his cousin...the two of them solemn but smiling…
Jesus dips right under the water... steadying himself on John’s arm... and then rises up... gasping ...into the glorious sun light... spraying water off his hair… as he shakes his head with delight...
Of course every good Jew at the river… knows this drama in the water is symbolic… and dangerously subversive...John’s call to repent… to turn away from false gods and back to Yahweh…is acted out in a piece of religious theatre symbolizing the ritual purification reserved only for only the Temple.
A dangerous and subversive critique of the ruling religious and political authorities.
It’s no coincidence Jesus joins his cousin in the Jordan that day. The stage is set to launch Jesus career as a young rabbi with a radical message. Like all rabbis he will recruit disciples to take on his yoke…to learn his way...his kind of life… his truth ...and his interpretation of their sacred texts.
But I doubt Jesus was prepared for what happens next in Marks story. Suddenly as he emerges from the water...there’s a tear ...a ripping of the very fabric of creation...a bending of the laws of physics...an opening between divine and human dimensions
and through this tear...something seems to flutter...like bird’s wings ... something visible to the human eye... and from this opening pours communication …audible to Jesus’ human brain
"You …are my Son, chosen... and marked by my love... pride of my life."
A divine message… and a title…a title reserved until that very moment... only for the nation of Israel...
For Jesus…an unmistakable calling...an anointing… ...setting him apart...and in this calling
Jesus understands his identity and receives his mission
Some storytellers say... Jesus cousin John heard the voice too… that morning in the river...But the gospel of Mark only tells us… in that moment... Jesus
heard and understood… that somehow in the place of Israel... his own life...his actions...his teaching...would communicate the very will of God...for the world
He… was to be the light of the world.
the chosen one... promised by the prophets...
His vocation…his calling …was to be…to embody…
the very Word of God...
Somehow he would carry God’s saving message of Shalom to all peoples...Somehow through him…and amazingly not through Israel…God’s family would be established in all the earth...
The rabbi’s had taught Jesus everything a boy needed to know. And every Jewish boy knew... since God’s covenant with Abraham... it had been Israel’s mission...to personify God’s Son...God’s child...
Every Jewish boy knew the mission of God’s chosen people was to be a living example of God’s will... God’s shalom…God instructions for the salvation of the world…to live in peace with justice and compassion and mercy...and Israel was called to be a living light…for all the nations of the world.
But they had kept the light to themselves. And in that moment of epiphany...in the river Jordon...
Jesus understands…it’s his identity and his divine mission...to take the mantle of Israel upon himself...to be the Son of God himself...to take up God’s cause...and shine the light of God’s love for all people.
No matter what the cost... no matter what the sacrifice.
And from that moment on...Jesus begins to form the people of a new covenant...a people called...not just to believe in Jesus identity as the Son of God...but to be his disciples...his working apprentices...
Jesus begins to form a people who in turn... will shine the light for others ...men and women who will carry the divine message of reconciliation and healing…wherever they go...across all borders… ethnic or economic… religious or political. [pause]
This morning we witnessed yet another small tear in the fabric of Creation. At God’s initiative... by the power of the Holy Spirit... a young child was brought through the waters of grace... into the circle of Jesus’ disciples.
In this sacrament we didn’t magic Tessa into a life...free from decision or pain... nor did we exempt her from the cost of loving… as Jesus loved. And like each and every one of us…some day Tessa must answer Jesus invitation to follow him for herself.
I celebrate that until she’s mature enough to choose…she’ll be surrounded by Jesus’ disciples…in her family and community people who will teach her the story of Jesus’ identity and mission…people who will be a light to her…by the example of their own lives.
2000 years later… by the Clutha not the Jordan… Jesus is still inviting people to take up God’s cause of overcoming evil with love. Some of you will be wondering if you can be bothered.
Would my lifestyle allow for it…would my addictions and attachments permit it…could my ambitions withstand it? Would my idols fight.. tooth and claw… to keep their hold on me? Could I afford… to follow the light of the world?
You’re right to ask yourself those questions…following Jesus isn’t a cushy number... apprentices don’t just bask in the warm reflected glow of their teacher ...smugly observing the world from the cozy comfort of self-righteous seats in some church building...
No apprentices have to get out there and practice what they’re taught. Apprentices have to extend themselves beyond their comfort zone...to become like their master...and sometimes at a very great cost... sometimes under great pressure from their peers to act without love.
Everywhere you turn today someone is offering you a quick fix... or a cheap deal...for life and its difficulties…promising you popularity and success without effort or sacrifice or pain...
But with Jesus as your guide...you learn what it costs God to keep on loving …
to refuse to retaliate in the face of humiliation and rejection... you learn what it costs to love your enemies and turn the other cheek. In other words with Jesus as your guide…you’ll learn what it means to overcome evil with love.
Jesus will recruit you and teach you and then send you out...to bear the cost of loving yourself ... to shine the light of God’s love… yourself...for your family…your friends… your workmates... in your pub or your club and in your politics…and even hopefully in your church...
Jesus will recruit you and teach you....then send you out... to practice the skills of humility mercy compassion and peacemaking…skills you will need… to stand firm… in the face of temptations and lies…cruelty and violence, rejection and injustice...
Jesus will recruit you and teach you.... then send you out...to resist the principalities and powers of this world… which so oppose God’s cause of love...
Even if it costs you dearly... as it cost him.
You’re right to reflect on the costs…but still God’s anointed one invites you to follow him...that your life would become a divine message and your very being a light… to those who live in darkness and that where ever you are there too will be the realm and cause of God.
Let’s take a moment to respond in our own way in silence.
