God's Kingdom Shining Through

A Epiphany1 2016

January 10, 2016

Mark 1:1-20

  

Narrator: The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

Prophet: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’

Narrator: John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And 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. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed,

John: 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. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

Narrator: In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And 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.  [Tearing/ripping sound effect] And a voice came from heaven,

Voice: You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

Narrator: And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying,

Jesus: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

Narrator: As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them,

Jesus: Follow me and I will make you fish for people.

Narrator: And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

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Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wow!  What a day! How often do we have eight brand new family members to celebrate at once!  It’s a big day for Sarah, Eli, Quinn, Adam and Evan – being welcomed into God’s family!… and we have three new members of this congregation affirming their baptisms: Ryan, David and Melody!  Welcome!  We are so thrilled to have you with us in this gathering of God’s family!

Today we read the sacred story of Jesus own baptism from the Gospel of Mark.  Mark is the book of the Bible we will be reading through from now until Easter.  And today’s reading is an important one – it sets us up for the whole story Mark tells, the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. 

Out of the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – this is the gospel story that starts, not with a baby in a manger, but with baptism!  The same place we enter into our new life of faith.  The wild-man John baptized a lot of people.  All of them coming to him because they wanted to start a new life, a life of faithfully living with God.  And then, here’s Jesus, already fully faithful to God’s will – Walking into the river Jordan for John’s baptism.  Jesus may not have needed his sins washed away, but he knew we did.  And so God gave us this great gift!  This sacred moment – this sacrament – where God shows up.  Pouring out grace on us claiming us in the same words, “You are my son, You are my daughter, the beloved; with whom I am well pleased.”

And Jesus’ baptism is just the beginning of the beginning… though Jesus may not have needed the reassurance of God’s closeness, baptism does mark a new beginning for him too... Jesus starts his new life!  His life of caring for the neighbor, his life of feeding people… his life of publicly living as God would have him live.

Jesus begins his new life with these words, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”  The same words that his baptizer proclaimed.  The words that define everything Jesus is about to do and everything we are about to get ourselves into again with Adam and Sarah… this time, this new life, living in God’s kingdom, repenting, believing.   It is in this verse from chapter one, verse five: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”  This is where we get our theme for the season of Epiphany this year: God’s Kingdom Shining Through.  God’s kingdom – God’s reign over us starts now! 

For baptism is more than just a day, more than just a ritual, more than just this one time that we are assured God shows up, tearing open the heavens to get to us.  Baptism is a whole new way of living.  In these waters we get the gift of life from God!  The life where we follow Jesus.  The life where we have freedom from sin, where death has no hold on us.  What kind of life? A life of grace, a life of sharing, a life of Community. 

Here, TOGETHER, in this place, we live this life God has promised.  We are knit together by the gifts of Jesus’ sacrifice.  God looks at each one of us and sees the very same thing: Jesus, who has conquered sin and death for us.  And so we, we live here, and now and we band together as one body… as Jesus body, and we share this gift!  We share this good news!  We share this life with anyone and everyone around us!

This fall the council has been talking about how we might continue to do this better.  Be a community that is more faithful to what God is calling us to be.  And it has come down to this: building relationships.  This congregation is a warm and welcoming place.  But there are times and there are people who have slipped away because we do not know each other well.  We slip away from each other in this body if we are not fully engaged, and not holding one another up… which we want – for every one of you!  We want to be a congregation of people who are faithful to God and faithful to each other.  Who call to say that you are missed, who visit when you are sick, who pray for you in your sickness and in your joy!  And since that is what we believe God wants us to be, we are working on how to get there.

In fact, right now, our Stewardship team, and our Forward Leadership team, and our council are ALL talking about it!: How to build stronger relationships among members here at Bethlehem.  In the near future, you will receive an invitation to build relationships with more of the people sitting around you.  To continue to build up together a community of people who reflect the light of God’s love for each and every one of you, and for the world.

That love of God… that’s right here.  In this water, this bread and wine, and in these people who are Christ’s body.  That love of God, it’s gotten loose in the world.  You know, when the heavens ripped open [tear cloth], there was no putting them heavens back in some faraway place.  Later in Mark we will hear of another ripping… the tearing of the temple curtain at the time of Jesus’ death.  These two violent ruptures of “God in God’s proper place” bookend Jesus ministry.  They tell us that something radical is happening, the old rules don’t apply in the same way anymore.  The Spirit is loose in the world, our world is altered forever.

Here at Jesus’ baptism, God’s kingdom fell right into our world – like the bright shining light and angels singing – the kingdom streaming in with wide beams of light – shining into Jesus.  Shining into us.  Shining into the world through us.  God’s kingdom… shining through.

Amen.