Preaching Notes
Focus texts: Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11
Did the heavens tear when God said, “Let there be light”? Was there a rending of the darkness, a sundering of the formless void when the Word was spoken into the quiet of nothingness? There must have been. In that time before time began, the inbreaking of all that has come to be must have been a tearing of the nothing that was. Something was torn, or rather “the nothing that was” was torn. But that tearing was the beginning of creation. God spoke it into being, and then God saw it and declared it “good.”
We forget that at our peril--that God saw goodness built into the creation God spoke into being. We fixate on the fall and on the brokenness and think that is what defines our existence. But maybe we would do better by remembering the good in our creation, the good in each of us. We call it the image of God, imago dei, to be precise. But that comes later in our creation story. For now, we can leave it here, with God seeing goodness. It seems appropriate, especially when you lay the Genesis text alongside the Markan account of the baptism of Jesus. This is Baptism Sunday, after all. We can assume that these texts were chosen to partner with one another because of the water. Right? The formless waters across which the breath of God blew, or the wind of God swept over, or the Spirit of God hovered over, depending on how you choose to translate that word – ruach. It’s a tricky word, or a rich and profound one that gives us options or provides us language for what is unnamable and undefinable. But there were waters, and out of those waters, creation happened.
Mark tells us that out of the waters, the waters of the Jordan River--but named by John the waters of repentance--a new creation happened. Out of the water, Jesus launched a revolution that would turn the world upside down. Out of the water, we begin a new life as part of a worldwide fellowship focused on transformation.
Of course, it is the water that links these two texts. Of course, it is creation and new creation. Of course, it is Jesus’ baptism and then our baptism, and we should experience the water anew as we remember our baptism together and are thankful. It is Baptism of the Lord Sunday, so let’s tell the story of Jesus’ baptism and then lay it beside our baptism, so that we might celebrate our solidarity. That is why, some argue, that Jesus submitted to a baptism of repentance declared by John. It was not that this sinless son of God needed repentance, but that he wanted to stand in solidarity with the entire human experience. He wanted to go into the waters, so that we would and could go into the waters and find our new creation. He wanted to go into the waters so that he could invite us all. Come on in, the water’s fine!
Today, we celebrate that new creation. Today, we reaffirm the vows we made or were made at our baptism. Today, we invite new members of the family to enter the waters and be baptized. It can be a reminder of what this sacrament is all about. It can be a time to pause, consider, reflect, and be in awe of the symbol and the presence. It is interesting, though, that for all the attention the church has given to baptism, our text says so little about the ritual's methodology. We don’t know how it happens; we don’t know whether Jesus knelt in the water, was immersed, sprinkled, or poured over. We don’t know what words John said as the water flowed. Maybe it is a hint that the knots we tie ourselves up into miss some significant point. Maybe, for example, it isn’t just about how we perform this ritual, but what happens when we do.
Mark says when Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove. Something broke through. Something that kept this world and the next one apart, something that separated the kingdom of heaven from the kingdoms of earth, was torn asunder. And God saw. “You are my beloved,” came the voice from above. The same voice that said “Let there be light, now said, “Let there be lover and loved. Let there be relationship and connection. Let the one coming up from the waters be seen and known and loved.”
God seems to be in the business of tearing the heavens apart--as if to get a better view, a closer view. God saw the goodness in creation, and God sees the goodness in us as beloved children of God. As we remember our baptism, let us also remember that God sees us and loves us. Whatever brokenness is being washed away in those waters, baptism does not make us worthy, but instead, it reveals our created worthiness. And so, when God sees us, God declares, “With you I am well pleased.”
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