Baptism of Our Lord / First Sunday after Epiphany, Mark 1:4-11

January 7, 2024

Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church
Pastor Jonathan Linman

Many Christians make a big deal of the particulars of the creation story in the Bible – whether or not it happened in six literal days, and so on. But what’s important in the biblical witness is not the mechanics of how creation happened, but why it happened, what the creation stories mean in terms of what God is up to in the world.

Along those lines, what’s noteworthy for our purposes today is that there was already stuff in place when God began to create. In the account that is featured in today’s first reading, God did not create something from nothing. Listen again: “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”

That is to say, in the beginning, at least according to this account in Genesis, the earth and waters already existed. But it was all a formless void in complete chaos and it was dark. Thus, the point of the creation story is that God’s creative effort brought order to chaos and introduced light into darkness.

But with the story of the fall, of Adam and Eve’s sin also recorded in Genesis, at least in terms of human history, chaos and darkness crept back into the created order of things, tainting the goodness of creation.

And we as a species have struggled with chaos and darkness ever since the fall. Throughout human history and today, there have been leaders among us who thrive on creating chaos, of churning the waters, so to speak, to keep people on edge and divided so that the powers and principalities are freer to conquer and amass more power and wealth for themselves. Thus, we live in the shadows of the night of lies and deception that cloud and obscure the light of truth. I don’t need to elaborate too much more. Based on your experience of the daily news, you can name your own names….

Indeed, chaos and darkness threaten not just human beings, but the very well-being of all of creation, particularly in relation to how chaos and darkness stymy efforts at dealing creatively and decisively with climate change. We and all of God’s creation suffer from the ravages of chaos and darkness each and every day.

But the good news is that what God did in the beginning at creation in bringing order to chaos and light into darkness, God continues to do now in these latter days in Christ Jesus. There’s another kind of creation story that begins John’s Gospel, and it is the reading appointed for Christmas Day. Listen to these familiar words that reveal truth about Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him… What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it…. And the Word became flesh and lived among us…. Full of grace and truth.” (cf. John 1:1-5, 14)

Jesus Christ, who was at the beginning at the first creation, came later to earth in the flesh to restore order and to re-introduce the divine light. Thus, this other creation story sets the stage for what we celebrate today, namely, the Baptism of Our Lord.

Look at where Jesus went to be baptized by John – in the wilderness, the place of desolation, in a word, a place of untamed chaos. And just as a wind from God swept over the face of the deep in the beginning, the wind or breath of God swept over the waters of the Jordan River at Jesus’ baptism, and in the likeness of a dove, the Spirit tore the heavens apart to descend on Jesus. At the first creation, it was the voice of God carrying the divine word that brought order to creation, that introduced light into darkness – “Let there be light!” So, too, at Jesus’ baptism it was God’s voice and word that made all the difference: “You are my Son, the Beloved,” the voice from heaven said, “With you I am well pleased.”

So it is that Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, would in his earthly sojourn restore order and light most fully on the cross and in the empty tomb, the ultimate victory over the forces of chaos and darkness.

And in Christ, this order-creating and light-inducing divine creative energy continues to this day in our own time of chaos and darkness. For the Word of God which was at the very beginning is still made flesh among us today whenever the Spirit of God gathers us in this place for the creative things we do in the power of God.

Which is to say, the same wind that blew over the face of the waters at the first creation, and which blew over the River Jordan at Jesus’ baptism, blows over the waters of the baptismal font when we are recreated, reborn as children of God; in Christ, we become new Adams and new Eves.

Thus, it’s not just Jesus’ baptism that we celebrate today, but all of our baptisms. The baptism by John in the Jordan quickly evolved into Jesus’ followers being baptized in Jesus’ name, as was reported in today’s reading from Acts: “Paul said [to those gathered], ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.’ On hearing this [the people] were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them…” (Acts 19:4-6a)

So it is that we who are now baptized in the name of the God understood as Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are given the gift of the Spirit. Indeed, the Holy Spirit comes upon us just as she did upon Jesus and on the believers in Acts.

And a voice sounds from heaven to us in our own day: “You are my children, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” We, thus, become the body of Christ, the church, a new creation in and for the sake of the world today.

Here's the thing. It all works pretty much the same way it did at the first creation when the word of God brought order to chaos and light into darkness. You see, every baptism ultimately is a re-enactment of the Pentecost story when the Spirit’s coming empowered the apostles to proclaim in the languages of all the nations God’s word of raising Jesus from the dead. That proclamation resulted in hearers wanting to be baptized. We, too, are baptized because someone preached the gospel to us or to our parents.

At the first Pentecost, the effect of the proclamation of the word was to disrupt the chaos and darkness of human lives, thus birthing a new order, that is, the church. This is how it’s recorded in Acts: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:37-38, 41-42)

The church, the body of Christ in the world, is the new creation that we continue to benefit from to this day. This is the new creation that orders our days, eliminating so much chaos and bringing so much light. The order of the church brings order and light to our lives amidst so much chaos and darkness in our sorry world.

Isn’t that true? I hope and pray that you experience the blessing of this order and light as you share in our life together here at Faith-La Fe – an antidote to so much of the chaos and darkness all around us.

This new order of life in the church centers on the baptismal covenant that we affirm and stake our lives on, namely: “to live among God’s faithful people, to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”

You see, a centerpiece of what is created in baptism is our faith, our trust in the Triune God, trust in the same God whose Spirit hovered over the face of the deep in the beginning, trust in the same God whom we know in Jesus Christ who was with God and was God at the beginning.

And what is generated, too, is our capacity to live out the good order created by the baptismal covenant, namely, to lovingly serve those in need and to seek God’s justice. In short, we live our mission to which we have been committed as a congregation: “Freed by God in Christ, by grace through faith, the Holy Spirit sends us to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God for the good of all creation.” In these ways, we bring order to the chaos and light into the darkness of our world. Thus, we share in God’s ongoing creative work – with our own hands.

Thanks be to God. Amen.