Scripture Reading: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 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. 17 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.”
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 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.”
Sermon: “Soaking in the Spirit”
Do you ever feel frantic? Unsettled? Off-kilter? I know I did last week when I had to go to the dentist fearful that I needed a root canal! But root canals aren’t the only things that unsettle us. Everyday life can be pretty unsettling even in the best of times, never-mind when we’re all trying to navigate the shifting sands of a pandemic. You know what I’m talking about. Between work, children, grand-children, parents, volunteering, managing a household, taking care of ourselves, staying informed, doing what we can to make the world a better place--all while attempting to manage the ever-changing protocols around Covid, our lives can get very full-- and sometimes that fullness spills over into franticness. I say sometimes, but these days it seems to be more often than not. Doesn’t it?!
Now, before I increase our collective anxiety level any more than I have already, let me tell you some good news. (Of course, this is news which you already know, but we can all stand to be reminded of.) There are things we can do to counteract the franticness in our lives. There are things we can do to be more centered, more at peace, calmer, more tranquil.
And you’re all doing one of those things right now. It’s like that old TV commercial from the 1970’s, when Madge, the manicurist, is trying to sell her client on the curative properties of Palmolive dishwashing liquid. You may remember it. As a woman is getting her nails done, she has her hand submerged in what she thought was a moisturizing solution, but then Madge tells her, “No, it’s Palmolive. Dishwashing liquid. You’re soaking in it.” (If you’re too young to remember this commercial--I’m jealous! I mean, you can look it up on You-tube. J)
But, my point is this--similar to the woman whose hand is submerged in Palmolive, you are submerged in worship right now. You are soaking in God’s peace (which, incidentally, is much better for you than dishwashing liquid.) You have taken an hour out of your schedule, and you have come here, to this sacred space-- in-person or virtually--to this place which has light pouring in the windows and crosses in the architecture reminding us of God’s love and power to resurrect new life out of hopeless situations. You have come here to let music and singing lift your spirits. You have come here to pray and to breathe and to remind yourself that there is something larger than just us. That life has meaning. That God is with you. That Jesus walks by your side.
You have come to hear the ancient stories of scripture, which are full of life-giving symbols. Symbols, that when meditated upon, when allowed to soak into our psyche, can alleviate and disarm franticness.
Take today’s scripture passage, for instance. The story of Jesus’ baptism is one of the most powerful, evocative stories in all of scripture. Jesus walks down into the waters of the Jordan River, where he is baptized by his cousin, John, and then, when he is coming up out of the water, the heavens open, and the Spirit of God descends on him, like a dove, and he hears a voice from heaven saying, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
This is a story that I meditate on when I am feeling frantic.
I thought I would share with you today one of the techniques that I use to meditate on Scripture. I share it with you because I didn’t learn how to meditate on Scripture until I went to seminary--I didn’t even know that meditation was a thing that Christians did. I thought it was part of only Eastern religions. I wish I’d learned about it much sooner in church. So all that to say, if you already know how to meditate on Scripture, I hope this will be a helpful review. but if you don’t know how or it’s not part of your devotional practice, I hope this technique is something you consider trying. (There are other techniques as well that help us meditate on Scripture, but I’ll just go over one in today’s sermon.)
I read through a Scripture passage, and when a phrase speaks to me, stands out for some reason, I repeat it over and over again throughout the day. Sometimes I say it out loud; sometimes I repeat it silently to myself. Using today’s passage as an example, the phrase that stands out most to me is God saying to Jesus, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” This phrase became a mantra for me this week as I prepared for this sermon. As I repeated it to myself, I changed the word “son” to “child” and I imagined God saying it not just to Jesus, but to me as well. And I soaked in the peace of the Spirit.
A cool thing about meditation is when we repeat a phrase over and over again, whether we are sitting with our eyes closed in prayer or going about our day doing other things, sometimes insights come to us which feel like a surprise gift from God. In fact, this happened to me yesterday. I was repeating the phrase in my head “You are my child, the beloved, with you I am well pleased” while I was driving to Walgreens on a mundane errand, and I had a sudden insight. When I was repeating the phrase, it suddenly occurred to me that God declared God’s love and favor to Jesus before Jesus had started his ministry. Before Jesus had done anything noteworthy or noble or particularly amazing, God declares God’s love and favor. In other words, Jesus did not earn God’s favor, God loved Jesus simply because he was God’s child, he belonged to God. It occurred to me that the same thing is true of us. We do not need to do anything to earn God’s favor; we’ve already got it. God looks at us and loves us from the beginning simply because we are God’s children. And that’s an insight that came to me through meditation, thanks be to God.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that meditation should be our only spiritual discipline. (There are many other important spiritual disciples, such as study, intercessory prayer, care for each other). I’m also not saying that meditation alone will magically solve all of the world’s problems. What I am saying is that meditating on Scripture is one excellent technique to counteract the franticness that is part of our daily lives, franticness that adds to the tensions in our world.
And meditating on this passage in particular helps to ground us in the love of God. Which may be part of the reason why the people who put together the lectionary (the list of readings set for Sunday mornings in churches across the country) always include the accounts of Jesus’ baptism on the second Sunday of the new year. They want us to start off each year grounded in God’s love. I’m sure that’s not the whole reason why they’ve chosen this reading for this day, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were part of the reason.
And here’s why that’s important. When we are grounded in the love of God, when we truly believe that we are God’s beloved children, then our actions flow out of a place of peace and wholeness. When we are grounded in God’s love, then we act in ways that are in sync with God’s values of justice and inclusion. When we are grounded in God’s love, we do not lash out in anger with our hackles up. We do not try to get our own way at the expense of others or forge ahead with our own plans that do not take others’ needs into account. We listen and care and take stands and speak out and allow God to work in and through us-- and we pray for God to work in and through others as well--because we know that God loves the whole world, not just us. Or people like us.
When we act from a centered place like this, then our actions are deliberate, compassionate, and blessed.
In this new year, may we meditate more on Scripture, and may we meditate on this Scripture in particular. May we see ourselves as God’s beloved children, baptized by God’s Spirit, empowered to be instruments of God’s Love and Peace in the world, as Jesus was.
In just a minute, I am going to invite you to participate in
renewal of Baptism ritual. No pressure. If you don’t want to participate, feel free to just sit prayerfully where you are and know that God’s love is with you.
But, if you’d like to participate, here’s what I ask you to do.
In a moment, I am going to read the questions on the screen, which are the traditional questions from the UCC book of worship asked at the baptism of an adult, and I invite you to read the responses.
As you read, I invite you to picture yourself grounded in God’s love, blessed by God’s Spirit, and empowered to act in the world guided by God.
After the questions, I will invite you to take your little bottle of hand sanitizer, squeeze some out onto your hands, and place some on your own forehead, as a reminder of your own baptism. I chose to use hand santizer today instead of water not because of its magical, germ-killing properties, but because it is a ubiquitous element in our lives these days--even more ubiquitous than water, and I believe the best religious rituals incorporate elements from our everyday lives and imbue them with new meaning. It is my hope that from now on, every time you use hand sanitizer, you will think of this worship service and remember that you blessed by God’s love to be God’s agents for good in the world.
If you have not yet been baptized, please still feel free to participate, as I am sure Jesus would want you to be included.
RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL VOWS
Pastor: Do you desire to be baptized into the faith and family of Jesus Christ?
ALL: I do.
Pastor: Do you renounce the powers of evil and desire the freedom of new life in Christ?
ALL: I do.
Pastor: Do you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
ALL: I do.
Pastor: Do you promise, by the grace of God, to be Christ’s disciple, to follow in the way of our Savior, to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best you are able?
ALL: I promise, with the help of God.
Pastor: Do you promise, according to the grace given you, to grow in the Christian faith and to be a faithful member of the church of Jesus Christ, celebrating Christ’s presence and furthering Christ’s mission in all the world?
ALL: I promise, with the help of God.
Pastor: I now invite you to spread some sanitizer on your hands and place some of it on your forehead as a reminder of your baptism.
Let us pray… Loving God. We thank you for the words of Scripture that remind us of your great love. We thank you for the gift of baptism, reminding us not only that you love us, but that you also call us to mirror the love and justice of Jesus out in the world. Forgive us for those times when we cling to our fear, our guilt, or our self-hatred, rather than letting ourselves be warmed and healed by your compassion. Give us courage to trust you and to let your love flow through us to others.
[An earlier version of this sermon was written by Marlayna and preached on January 13, 2008]
Material not used in this sermon:
A second technique that I use when meditating: I use my imagination and I picture myself as a participant in the story. For example, with today’s Scripture, in my mind’s eye I picture myself right there getting baptized along with Jesus. I imagine what it’s like to be walking barefoot into the Jordon River, to feel the gritty sand ooze between my toes; to feel the cool water splash against my ankles and shins—and then against my forehead as I am baptized. I imagine what it is like to come up out of the river and to see the clouds part, and the Spirit descending like a dove; to feel the soft feathers of the Spirit’s wings brush gently against my shoulders. Such visualizations enable us more fully to soak in the peace of the Spirit.
A third technique that I use when meditating: I focus on one symbol that is present in the passage, and I let my mind run with it. For example, I see in my mind’s eye the heavens opening and the Spirit of God descending slowly and gracefully like a dove. And I remember other times when the image of the Dove or the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Scripture. The Spirit of God, like a dove, hovered over the face of the waters during the story of creation. The Spirit of God, like a dove, brought news to Noah that the flood waters had subsided and hope was on the horizon. Then I picture the Spirit of God, like a dove, descending on the world today, and bringing peace to all people, including places that are fraught with tension that need Peace beyond what we humans seem to be able to bring right now: places such as the border of Ukraine where thousands of Russian troops still remain; immigrant detention centers in Europe and Mexico and Arizona; the United States Congress, where divisions between the parties seem to deepen with each new day. I picture the Spirit of God descending like a dove. Such visualizations enable us to expand our compassion for others.