They were there again. I mentioned them last year about this time. (You do remember what I write a whole year later, don’t you?) Those polar bear guys and gals. They were there. Even here in Fort Wayne apparently. They ran down on New Year’s Day to leap into the St. Mary’s River. Brrr. Of course the pictures of those having to dodge ice flows were more dramatic, but still... I imagine the St. Mary’s River was cold enough for their purposes. Whatever they are.
That’s what fascinates me, I guess. Those purposes. I’m sure they have them. Even if they are of the mountain climbing variety – "Because it’s there!" Some argue the health benefits of a bracing dip in the water. In Finland, apparently, they heat up in the sauna and then run and roll in the snow or plunge in icy waters and it is supposed to be good for something. Heart? Circulation? Mental stability? No, that doesn’t seem right. Maybe some medical personnel can weigh in on that one.
But why New Year’s Day? What is the significance there? Maybe it is getting it over with. Maybe if you start out the day by jumping in a frozen lake or river you figure your year has got to be uphill from there. You survive that you can survive anything.
That makes some sense, in a weird sort of way. Maybe it is a new start. Maybe they figure the heart stops with the shock of the cold water, and so it is kind of like being reborn. I’ve got to admit, there is theological precedent for that mind set. OK, it isn’t the coldness, necessarily, but water is a symbol of rebirth for us Christians. A symbol of birth, actually. The Great Thanksgiving prayer used for Advent talks about how God sent Jesus "nurtured in the waters of the womb," a reminder of the humanity of Christ.
Water figures in both passages for this Sunday. It is the second Sunday of Epiphany and therefore the baptism of the Lord. But the Old Testament passage also mentions water. Perhaps you’ve heard it before:
Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
When time began, God was. When Creation came to be, God was the cause. The water here is the incubator, the womb of God out of which Creation is birthed. "The wind of God swept over the face of the waters," says the NRSV; "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters," says the NIV. Eugene Peterson’s The Message says "God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss." I like that. Brooded. Like a hen tending the eggs before they hatch, like a mother waiting for the time to give birth. God tends the creation, God calls it forth.
But wait, it is the Spirit that is the creative force of God, or the Word? The Spirit brooded, the Word was spoken and there was. The Prologue to the Gospel of John tells us the Word was that force: John 1:3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. It was the Word that brought forth light, and then it was the Word that pronounced it good.
We sometimes forget that part of the story. We wrestle over creation, we argue about theories, but we sometimes forget the goodness that is a part of all that God has created. Or maybe we forget what "good" means.
God saw that it was good. But the light was not yet complete. The sun hadn’t been made yet, in the story. The moon and the "lesser lights" of the stars were still on the drawing board. But it was good. Goodness must mean something other than finished. It must mean something other than perfect as we define that term. Perhaps it means born of God.
Our second text for this weekend is the story of Jesus baptism from Mark. Ah, yes, this is the year of Mark. So, catch your breath now because once Mark gets going there’s no stopping until Holy Week anyway! Mark’s gospel is a fast gallop through the story of Jesus, and we are often left panting on the roadside wondering what is going on here. Even this story, the baptism of Jesus, seems more concerned with meeting a flight schedule somewhere than with telling the story. Take a look:
Mark 1:4-11 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 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. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "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. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 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. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Whew. Nothing about John’s preaching that we get from Matthew and Luke. Nothing about the conversation between Jesus and John that appears in the Gospel of John. Just in and out, get it done. No actual description of the baptism at all. Did you notice that? He came to be baptized, then as he was coming up out of that water he saw what he saw. It is like we skipped over the event itself. And given how much we argue about the methodology of baptism, you would think there would be some more detail here. It is almost as if the real importance is what happens afterwards.
Do you remember your baptism? Some do, those who were baptized as youth or adults. Many don’t, because it happened before their rememberers kicked in. Yet, even those of us who remember our baptism only because someone told us about it much later, we can still remember what happened afterwards. Because now is afterwards. The life we live as baptized followers of Jesus is that afterwards. The new creation that we choose to make of ourselves every single day of our lives is that afterwards.
The new creation that we are and are becoming is a curious mixture of Word and Spirit. There are Words pronounced over us at our baptism and there is Spirit conferred from the community of faith. And we are remade. A new creation, a fresh start.
Whether we see it descending upon us like a dove or not, that Spirit is a constant companion throughout our lives. It is what inspires us to love and to serve and learn and to grow. It is what equips us to be a part of the body of Christ in unique and powerful ways.
And whether we hear it or not, the word that is spoken over us is a word of affirmation. God sees the light placed within us and pronounces it good. The voice proclaims "you are my beloved, with you I am well pleased." Not done, not complete, not perfect, but good. In God’s eyes, good. With the winds of the Spirit at our back, we are good. Now that is a New Year’s plunge worth taking again.
Shalom,
Derek
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