God Is On the Loose - January 9, 2022
Psalm 104:1-4, 24, 33 & Mark 1:9-13
Deborah Laforet
God Is Loose in the World
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by the Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
I heard a story a little while ago that I really appreciated. I copied it and saved it for this Sunday, so I wouldn’t forget. It goes like this:
One evening the New Testament professor from Princeton Seminary visited a high school youth group. As he was speaking about the baptism of Jesus, one young man sat aloof in the back, slouched in a chair, staring at his tennis shoes.
After the professor finished speaking about the significance of Christ’s baptism as a revelation of God’s presence in Jesus, the high schooler said without looking up, “That’s not what it means.”
Glad that the student had been listening enough to disagree, the professor asked, “What do you think it means?”
“The story says that the heavens were opened, right?”
“Right.”
“The heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God came down, right?”
“That’s right.”
The boy finally looked up and leaned forward, saying, “It means God is loose in the world. And it is dangerous.”
So let me reiterate. The professor said that the meaning of the baptism of Christ is that God’s presence has been revealed in Jesus. The young person said that this baptism, in which the heavens opened up and the Spirit of God came down, means danger; it means God is loose in the world. I wonder if they were actually saying the same thing. If the presence of God is being revealed in Jesus isn’t that a sign of danger to come, that God is being let loose in the world? I think maybe the young person wasn’t hearing that though in the professor’s language. The student used his plain language to make it clear.
In the verse following the story of Jesus’ baptism and the revelation of God, the Spirit immediately drives Jesus into the desert where he stays for 40 days with the wild beasts and is tempted by Satan. Danger.
And the next story in Mark, after leaving the desert, Jesus discovers his friend and cousin, John, the one who baptized him, has been arrested by the authorities. Danger.
We don’t often look at the story of Jesus and think of danger, risk, unexpected twists and turns, and suspense, not until the end, when Jesus is arrested, tried, and put to death, although even that story has become normalized and expected, but every step Jesus took, this person with the presence of God revealed in him, put him in danger and was a danger to those around him. I’m not saying that he was violent or that he would in any way hurt anyone, but those who followed him, knew he was a resister. Those who joined the crowds to hear him speak, knew the empire would frown on these gatherings. Even those who went to him for healing knew they were taking a risk. Jesus made it plainly known that he was more interested in the kingdom of God than the kingdom of Ceasar and that he was there to announce the coming of God’s kingdom, a dangerous pronouncement in a kingdom ruled by powerful and violent Romans.
So what does it mean when we baptize our children? What do we mean when we pour water over a child and announce that the Spirit is in these waters and in this child? What presence are we saying is being revealed? Can we even guess at the danger of letting God loose in this child?
Of course, we don’t often see baptism in this way. We see it as a way of acknowledging another of God’s children, welcoming the child into our community, and celebrating this wonderful new life, but we’re always taking a risk when we invite the Spirit to join us.
Most often we like to see the Spirit in comforting ways. When we invoke the Spirit in our hymns, we sing to a Spirit of Gentleness, we Dance with the Spirit, we talk of the Spirit coming like the breath of spring, we sing of a loving Spirit and a Spirit of Life. Later we’ll ask the Spirit to fall afresh on me, melt me, mould me, fill me, use me. They’re all beautiful hymns with beautiful melodies but don’t really give us the sense of risk or danger that comes with inviting the Spirit. The hymns of Pentecost come close as we speak of the Spirit as a rushing or a violent wind with tongues of fire, but even then, it evokes more excitement than danger.
We have no control over the Spirit. We can invite the Spirit, but we cannot predict where it will go or what it will do, and this lack of control and inability to plan, for us humans, who like control and stability, feels scary and uncomfortable.
Friends, as we again move into restrictions in this pandemic, as we cancel plans, shut down businesses, and go online, don’t think for a minute that the Spirit can be restricted and shut down. The Spirit is not going online although we can find the Spirit there. The Spirit will move where it needs to move and sometimes where it’s not invited.
There were many people who prayed for God’s presence 2000 years ago during the Roman occupation. They prayed for a leader, a Messiah, to overthrow the rule of the Romans and create a new Israeli empire. They were expecting a new King, but this is not what they got, or not the king they expected anyway. Through the example of Jesus, we know that the Spirit does the unexpected, from being born in a manger to hanging out with sinners and the marginalized, to resisting in non-violent ways through preaching and healing, and ultimately, to dying on a cross. Very unexpected for the saviour they thought was coming. The presence of God, so longed for, was revealed in a poor, itinerant preacher, who was killed by the very Romans he was expected to overthrow.
When we baptize our children, when we are baptized, we are inviting in that Spirit, we are inviting the presence of God to be revealed, not to do what is expected, to follow church teachings and toe the line. As Christians, we are invited to be open to what the Spirit is calling us to do, where the Spirit is calling us to go, and that just might be the opposite of what is expected.
The Spirit pushed Jesus into the desert after his baptism. Jesus spent some time there and we assume he was praying, meditating, determining his course, open to where he was to go next, what he was to do next. Friends, we have an opportunity. This pandemic, which has caused grief, isolation, panic, loss of income, mental illness, death, and much more, has also caused us to slow down. It has caused many to re-evaluate their circumstances. How might we, as a faith community, take this time to pray, meditate, and determine the course the Spirit has for us.
It’s a new year, with its own problems and its own opportunities. On this baptism Sunday when we recognize the baptism of Jesus, may we also remember our own baptism. Some of us were too little to remember the actual day, but we can acknowledge the pouring of the water as the Spirit was invited to be a part of our lives. We may not have seen the heavens opened or seen a dove come down, or heard God’s voice, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. When we invite the Spirit, the heavens are opened, tongues of fire are lit, a violent wind surrounds us, and who knows what will happen next. Are you ready?
May we continue to pray, discern, and be open to the Spirit. May we acknowledge the danger and risk that comes with inviting the Spirit to reveal God’s presence in our midst. May God, our creator, Christ, our teacher, and the Spirit, our instigator, be with us through that danger. May it be so. Amen.