The Old and the New

 

The new year is often pictured as a baby which has arrived as the old year, pictured as an old man, is getting ready to leave the scene.  Here is an example I found on-line by Sydney Levine[1]:

The implication in this is that something old must pass away i.e. die, to enable something new to be born. 

A week ago, we celebrated the baptism of Jesus Christ.  The concept of Chirstian baptism, modelled by Jesus’ baptism, captures just this idea – when you are baptised, your old life dies and you are reborn as a new person.   Jesus was given a full emersion baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist as described in the Gospel of Mark 1: 9-11:

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. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

Dying to the old way of life and making room for something new to be born can occur in dreams.  Someone or something dies.  This is symbolic of something in the dreamer’s life dying to enable something new in the dreamer’s psyche to be born.

I believe that this is a principle in human life.  If something new, a new way of being and living is to be born in you, you must allow something in you, some old way of being and living must die.  This is reflected in the cultural practice of making New Year’s resolutions.  These, of course, are honoured more in the breach and in the observance fairly soon after they are made on January 1^st.  I believe that this is because, deep down we do not seriously want the old way of being to die.  We hang on to our old ways because they are familiar and we won’t actually let the old way die.  This is often not a conscious decision.  This as with many things in our lives is done unconsciously.

---

[1] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.sydneysbuzz.com%2Fout-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-43597b072775&psig=AOvVaw0NX_OmvbDNadnmKuwWb-iO&ust=1705418636630000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=2ahUKEwi468DR2d-DAxWAK1kFHU7YBxgQr4kDegQIARBy

Kenosis part 2

On December 18^th, I wrote about Kenosis or self-emptying as a way of observing Advent.  I want to continue my thoughts on the subject as a way of observing Lent.  The Gospel reading for yesterday, the First Sunday of Lent, was Mark’s account of the baptism of Jesus immediately followed by Jesus spending forty day and nights in the wilderness (Mark 1. 9-15). 

I appreciate Mark’s account of Jesus going into the wilderness as the Gospel states that “the Spirit immediately drove (my emphasis) him out into the wilderness.”  The other two synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Luke, have a different description of this action by the Holy Spirit, they both say that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness.  There is a significant difference between being led into the wilderness and being driven into it.  I have long preferred Mark’s version because it emphasizes Jesus’ humanity.  In my theology, if Jesus was fully human he had, to some extent, the human reluctance to fully embrace what he understood as the will of his Heavenly Father.   This is most dramatically demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane before Good Friday.  I’m sure that Jesus had a very good idea of the trials and challenges that he would face in the wilderness and did not embrace those with open arms.  However, he also knew that he would need to have the wilderness experience to prepare him for his earthly ministry.  Therefore, I appreciate the idea of the Spirit, shall we say, strongly encouraging Jesus to undertake that necessary journey.

In my scenario, Jesus was experiencing the dissonance between what we want and what we believe that God knows we need.  That is why Jesus had to be driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit―God in action.  This is an ongoing challenge for most, if not all of us; to do what we know we should be doing and do what we want to do.  St. Paul expressed this very well, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15). This is where the ego comes in.  The ego wants to be in control and wants what it wants.  It is an ongoing challenge to have the ego serve God and not the other way around―but that is a topic for another day. 

The challenge for my Lenten journey is to give up some of priorities set by my ego and to let it be in the service of God.  To do that I need to empty myself of some of the things that I want and allow space for God to enter.  Actually, it is more a case of recognizing God’s presence in myself and my life because God is always there.  However, I often am not aware of God’s presence as I am distracted by all the activities and wants and desires in my day to day life.

One way which I do that is through Centering Prayer.  This practice involves emptying you mind of all thoughts―or at least trying to because our western minds are not welcoming of having no thoughts.  In Centering Prayer, the minds tendency to fill up any empty spaces is referred to as “the monkey brain”.  I have practices Centering Prayer for some years now.  I was introduced to it in the Spiritual Direction training.  I have attempted to do it regularly but have not always been successful.  By regularly I mean one session daily for 20 minutes.  When thoughts come into your head during the prayer session, as they inevitably do, the idea is to not dwell on them, just let them float away. 

Hopefully, this respite from brain activity and thoughts will make me more aware for God’s presence in my life.  I have decided that my Lenten practice will be to engage in Centering Prayer every day in Lent.  I must admit I was not successful yesterday.  I did attend three worship services including a wonderful sung Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The others were at two congregations in my new parish where I preached at both services.  Fortunately, Lent does not officially include Sundays, so I guess I am off the hook.  However, I think that is my ego trying to justify the things I have not done that I should have done. 

I am eternally grateful that God is good and forgiving of all our shortcomings, both large and small.   

May you have a Holy Lent.

Greg

Sermon January 10, 2016 Epiphany & the Baptism of Jesus

It is always a bit of a surprize to me when we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus following so closely on Epiphany—the visit of the Wise Men.  How did Jesus get to be a mature man/God about to begin his public ministry so soon after we celebrate his birth?  Of course we have very little information in scripture about his early life, other than his visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old.  So perhaps the people that put together the church calendar were on the right track.

The day of the Epiphany was only last Wednesday so we are celebrating both the visit of the Wise Men and Jesus Baptism this morning.  At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much of a connection between the two events other than both being events in Jesus life that are recorded in Holy Scripture.  However, if we explore both events I believe there is a connection between them that should be explored.  Both events deal with Jesus’ identity. 

The Epiphany in which the three wise men or Magi come to pay homage to the infant Jesus reveals to the world who Jesus is.  The Magi are astrologers—the scientists of their day.  They have seen the evidence that a king of the Jews has been born and have come to worship him.  They are Gentiles; representatives from the non-Jewish world who have come to acknowledge him as king.  They bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now these are not the gifts you would usually bring to a child but they know this is not a usual baby.  These gifts are portentous; there reveal the path that Jesus will follow. 

The gift of gold is appropriate for honouring a king. It was valuable in Jesus’ time as it is in our time.  Gold is used in the crown of a king and signifies him as the king of the Jews.  The frankincense or incense was traditionally used in worship dating back to the Tabernacle in the exodus.  It is given by the Wise Men who acknowledge Jesus’ holy/priestly nature.  Finally we have Myrrh.  This is an essential ingredient in Holy anointing oil which is used in the anointing of both kings and priests.  It was also used to anoint and embalm the dead and so it  foretells that he will be a willing sacrifice for us and for the world.  Here we have the Gentile world coming to acknowledge Jesus and proclaim that he is and will be king, prophet, priest and the Pascal Lamb.  The Magi—the representatives of the Gentile world have identified who he is for the world. 

The baptism is another time when there is identification.  In the account of the baptism we hear of the voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  Jesus is identified as the Beloved son of God the Father.  Therefore in the baptism and the Epiphany we have Jesus identified by earth and heaven.  He is the Beloved son of the most high God; the king of the Jews and the high priest who will be the willing sacrifice who will redeem the world.   

Baptism can be understood as that entrance into the body of Christ.  It identifies us as Christians, members of the body of Christ when we are baptised in the name of the Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That identifies us as people who are in relationship with other members of Christ’s Church.  But is also identifies us as people who are in relationship with God.  

David J. Lose, the president of Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia addresses the idea of baptism as identification for each of us:

Baptism teaches us who we are – God’s beloved children – and confers upon us the promise of God’s unconditional regard. In an era when so many of the traditional elements of identity-construction have been diminished – we change jobs and careers with frequency, most of us have multiple residences rather than grown up and live in a single community, fewer families remain intact – there is a craving to figure out just who we are. In response to this craving and need, baptism reminds us that we discover who we are in relation to whose we are, God’s beloved children. We belong to God’s family, and baptism is a tangible sign of that.

Baptism, then, is wholly God’s work that we may have confidence that no matter how often we fall short or fail, nothing that we do, or fail to do, can remove the identity that God conveys as a gift. Our relationship with God, that is, is the one relationship in life we can’t screw up precisely because we did not establish it. We can neglect this relationship, we can deny it, run away from it, ignore it, but we cannot destroy it, for God loves us too deeply and completely to ever let us go. Again, in an age when so many relationships are fragile or tattered, it may come as good news that this primary relationship remains solid and intact no matter what. In fact, trusting that this relationship is in God’s hands, we are freed to give ourselves wholly and completely to the other important relationships in our lives.

All that is reassuring as well as challenging.  It is reassuring because we know that God is always there for us whether we realize or acknowledge it.  It is challenging because of the responsibility that each of us has to respond to God and maintain our part of that relationship with God just as it is a responsibility to maintain any relationship we have.  We have to hold up our part of the relationship and not neglect it.  We do that by doing just what you are doing today; gathering as the body of Christ in Christ’s name to worship God.   But that alone is not enough.  We need to do our part daily to strengthen and deepen that relationship through prayer and reading of scripture.  We also are called to be the people God and the body of Christ in the world—to let them know that we are Christians by our love.  To give back to God a part of what is God’s in our care for all of God’s creation.  We are called to love the world; to love our neighbours as God has loved us and continues to love us.  Amen 

Sermon Baptism of Christ January 11, 2015

Gen 1: 1-5 (OT page 1)

Psalm 29 (B.A.S. page 738)

Acts 19: 1-7 (NT page 139)

Mark 1: 2-11 (NT page 34)

The 1994 movie Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino, begins with scene of two unusual characters committing armed robbery in a restaurant.   The robbery is committed by a very loving and very violent couple with the unusual names Honey Bunny and Pumpkin.    As is the case with most of Tarantino’s movies it is very violent and at times hard to watch but also very funny in a dark way.  However, Pulp Fiction is unusual as it presents the plot in a less than a straightforward manner.  The viewer is not really sure what is going on in the story for the first half of the movie.  There are many seemingly disconnected scenes and events – plots and sub-plots with twists and turns which the audience has trouble putting together.  However, as the movie develops the story all these disparate parts slowly come together and the plot is revealed.  It is a ground-breaking way of telling a story in a movie which has been copied in other movies since.

Today is liturgically very much like that.  We are not sure how all these parts fit together.  We are not sure what is going on with the story line.  We have a few plot lines going on at the same time and if we don’t pay attention we will lose track of the story.  Just last week we had we had Epiphany – with the arrival of the Wise Men – the Magi finally get to the stable bearing gifts for the Christ Child – better late than never certainly applies here. 

Epiphany took place last week on the 6^th as it always does.  So we should be in the season of Epiphany with the change in liturgical colour being green.  However, the calendar call for white as you can see on the Altar.  That is because we are also celebrating the Baptism of Christ by John in the Jordan River.  We have the Gospel reading Mark 1: 2-1.  We were celebrating Christmas and the nativity of our Lord just a few days ago.  But John doesn’t have anything to do directly with the Nativity. We go right from the Nativity story to the Baptism – quite a leap.  We have to wonder what is going on in this story - this plot of the Life of Jesus. We can only hope that it all comes together if we pay attention and stay with the story.  Of course we are told very little about Jesus’s life between the birth and his baptism.  At least we seem to have the consolation that it’s not violent like Pulp Fiction.  Or perhaps it is—we will have to wait and see how this story unfolds.

Well the plot line actually follows the life the Jesus quite closely.  Jesus baptism by John in the Jordan River is the start of Jesus public ministry.  Mark’s Gospel actually starts at this point – it has no account of the nativity of Jesus.  Some people—even some Christians—are surprised to be told of this.  We depend on Matthew and Luke to give us that part of the plot.  The story of Jesus life basically with one minor exemption jumps from his birth to his baptism.   We know almost nothing about his life growing up from the Gospel – with the exception of his journey to the temple when he was twelve. So in this sense we have an ending and a beginning. 

The beginning is reflected in the OT reading the beginning of the creation story in Genesis.  The OT reading gives us another beginning—the beginning of all creation.  As few weeks ago we heard about John as the voice in the wilderness crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”   He prepares for the coming of the Christ Child – the Messiah.  And so it begins and ends for each beginning marks and ending.  But we do not know the ultimate end of the story yet. That still must unfold.

So is this story one without violence unlike Pulp Fiction?  Actually, no.  We do have the slaughter of the innocents – King Herod orders all children two year old and younger in and around Bethlehem killed in his futile attempt to prevent the usurping of his throne by the new King of the Jews.  But the baptism—surely there is no violence in the part of the plot we have today.  Well, the assigned Gospel reading cut off the story prematurely.  If we read on to the next verse we have a new subplot, ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.¹³He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

 This is no nice, pleasant church baptism here.  The wonderful epiphany of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, the declaration from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  No—immediately we have a twist and turn—the unexpected happens.  That same Spirit—now not in the form of a peaceful dove—but something much more dramatic with an implication of violence—drives him into the wilderness—apparently against his will if not violently.

Why baptism at the beginning of the public ministry?  Jesus submits to the Baptism of John for the repentance of sin—he who is without sin.  This baptism is to me as much an ordination as a baptism.  Jesus is ordained to begin his journey that will take him to the cross.  It is a journey which is worthy of a plot by Quinten Tarantino—will have twists and turns, betrayals and traps sprung but escaped through wit and God’s will.

Jesus did not need to repent but he did need a way to mark the beginning of his ministry.  In a sense that happens at every baptism.  It marks the beginning of a new journey—for us—imperfect humans that we are—it is one that marks leaving the old life behind.  The slate has been wiped clean. 

There is a dramatic representation of this in Pulp Fiction.  One of the principal characters Jules is a hit man—he kills people for a living.  Jules has an interesting twist on his occupation.  Just before he is going to kill someone he quotes the bible – a passage from Ezekiel.  As Jules put it so succinctly:

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

As Jules explains he has been saying this for years and if someone heard this he knew he was a dead man.  However, after Jules experiences what he considers a miracle and escapes what seems certain death he has an epiphany – seemingly a revelation from God. 

I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to someone before I popped him. But I saw something this mornin' made me think twice. See, now I'm thinking: maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here... he's the shepherd protecting me in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.

I have cleaned up some of the language given where we are – if you want the unexpurgated version you can find it online.  As a result he decides to give up his life as a hit man and goes straight.  That, is a true epiphany and a true beginning.  What God asks of us is not perfection.  God asks that we try “real hard” and have the intention of turning our life around and making a new beginning.  May we all have a new beginning in Christ in this New Year.  Amen