Having a bigger picture

"But I said, 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity'...[God] says, 'It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribe of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'"

- Isaiah 49:4a,6

When I first started professional ministry, I was the director of a Wesley Foundation at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Those few months were frustrating. I felt like I had "spent my strength for nothing and vanity." I organized Bible Studies, open houses, parties, and hardly anyone came. Have you ever tried to lead a Bible study when it is you and one college student? Awkward.

So I left town for the weekend and went on retreat to have some heart to heart time with God. During that time away, it dawned on me what I was doing wrong. My picture was too small. All I was focusing on was getting students into the Wesley House so we could do things I had planned. What if instead of staying in the House and luring students over, I got out of the House and walked the campus? What if I claimed the campus as my "House"? I would do ministry by walking around.

I am grateful today for Martin Luther King, Jr., who had a picture that went beyond the confines of Ebenezer Baptist Church, or his side of Atlanta. I am grateful that he grasped the vision that his call was to not just be with "the tribe of Jacob", that his life mission was not to comfort "the survivors of Israel" located in Atlanta. He got out of the church and walked the streets. And he didn't just walk the streets of Atlanta. He walked the streets of a lot of cities. He walked the streets of towns and villages. He walked through the country side. He saw his mission to be "a light to the nations." Thank God he didn't confine himself to Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Do we ever limit our impact in the world by focusing our efforts in too small a spot? Could it be that if we are trying to make a difference somewhere, but things aren't working, that we haven't cast a big enough net? John Wesley famously said, "The world is my parish." This is the picture I'm trying to live in to, that wherever I am, and with whoever I'm with, these are my people, and this is my opportunity, to do good, to offer a word of hope or encouragement, to let in a little light.

A Watershed Moment

Below is the sermon I preached this past Sunday, Jan. 12, based on Matthew 3:13-17.

Why did Jesus go to be baptized by John? John was out there in the wilderness, like a modern day Elijah, preaching up a storm, telling people they need to shape up, to stop messing around and do God’s will, be obedient to God’s laws and ordinances. And people were coming from miles around to hear this. John the Baptist is like Joel Osteen in reverse. Osteen says things that tickle our ears and make us feel good, with his slicked back hair, polished teeth, and tailored suit. John the Baptist is the exact opposite and he isn’t giving out platitudes about positive thinking. But people are eating it up. Throngs of people are coming out to see and hear John the Baptist. They confess their sins and then John baptizes them in the Jordan. And they believe that in that baptism they are being cleansed from the stain of their sins and they are getting a new start in life. Everyone wants a new start, right? A chance to start fresh? John was offering that fresh start.

            Then Jesus shows up. Why did he feel the need? He had no sins to confess. He didn’t need a fresh start. There’s no obvious reason why Jesus would be there, unless he was just going over there to check this thing out, see who this John the Baptist was that everyone was talking about. But Jesus wasn’t there just to check things out. He got in line.

            And John shares our confusion. He doesn’t understand what Jesus is doing there either. He knows a little bit about Jesus. He knows that Jesus is his master, that he is more holy, more powerful. He sees Jesus standing before him and he says what we all are thinking, “Jesus, you should be baptizing me.”

            But then Jesus says something that helps explain why it is that this sinless man is standing in the water to be baptized so that his sins, which he doesn’t have, can be washed away, which makes no sense. Jesus says, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Both John and Jesus care about being righteous, about being obedient to God’s will. That’s what it means to be righteous, to do God’s will. So there is something about John baptizing Jesus that is a part of God’s will. God’s will is the unfolding of salvation. That’s what God is up to. God’s will is that all of creation be saved, be renewed, be restored to life. And in this moment, John and Jesus had a specific role to play in the unfolding of this great drama, this epic unfolding of God’s will that all of creation be made new. So that is what is going on here. That is why Jesus is being baptized by John, because it has something to do with fulfilling God’s will.

            But what does baptism have to do with it? Why does God want John to baptize Jesus so that God’s plan of salvation can continue to move forward?

            Water is a powerful symbol in the history of Israel. I’m not going to take time to review all the key points in the history of Israel where water is involved in significant ways. Water shows up at Genesis 1:2, where it says the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. You could say that the history of Israel is dripping with water.

            One moment where water shows up is in the Great Flood. The earth needed a good scrubbing. God’s creation had become so corrupt, so impure, so far from what God had intended, that God decided to start fresh. So God opened the flood gates and wiped out every living thing on the earth with the exception of one righteous man, Noah, with his wife and kids, with their wives, and two of every kind of living creature. They were put up safely in the ark so that after the flood waters receded and they got off the boat, they could start anew. God’s plan of making everything new was fulfilled by wiping everything out with water and then starting over again with Noah.

            John was calling the people to repent of their sinfulness, to be sorry for what they have done, and to make a vow to start over. And then they got into the Jordan river and had their own Great Flood experience. They got into that water, all the way in, and then came out, declared clean, and given a new beginning.

            And here comes Jesus. The angel said that he was to be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. The one who saves his people from their sins goes out to the place where people are looking to be saved from their sins. Looking at it that way, where else would Jesus go, than to be with a bunch of sinners wanting a fresh start?

            Then Jesus, the sinless one, gets in the water with the rest of the sinners. Back in the days of Noah, only Noah was the sinless one, the only righteous person on the planet. And when the Flood came, he was above it all, safe and secure in the ark, while all the sinners drowned to death. And here stands another Noah, the only righteous one on earth, but he isn’t safe and secure above it all. This righteous one gets in the water and goes under with the rest of the sinners. Jesus identifies completely with the sinners. In this baptism, Jesus identifies, stands with, you and me.

            And as Jesus comes out of the water, the heavens open. Maybe it was a cloudy day when Jesus went out to see John that day. Maybe it was raining a little bit. But when Jesus came up out of the water, the clouds broke, the sun came out. I wonder if maybe a little rainbow was forming. And a dove appears out of nowhere and lands on Jesus’ shoulder.

            Do you remember, after the rains were over, and after the ark had settled down on a rock outcropping, that Noah released a dove? The dove circled around but couldn’t find anywhere to land, so the dove came back. Noah waited a few days and then sent the dove out again. This time the dove returned with an olive branch in its mouth, a sign that it was about time to get out of the ark, for the waters were receding. Then Noah releases the dove a third time, and the dove didn’t come back.

            The dove came back.

            There is something about the baptism of Jesus that marks a new beginning for all of creation, a new covenant for all God’s people, for Israel and the nations. Jesus’ baptism, in a way, was a watershed moment. It marked the beginning of something. And at the end of the gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to go to all the nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching everything that Jesus had taught them. It is this same baptism that you and I have received. It is a baptism that marks a new beginning. It is a part of the fulfilling of God’s righteousness for our lives, our participation in God’s ongoing work of redeeming, making right, bringing back to life, all of creation.

            It is good for us from time to time to be reminded of this mystery, this new covenant that has been established by God for us, the new beginning that baptism provides for us. We come to the waters to remember that we too are sons and daughters of God, God’s beloved, with whom God is well pleased…most of the time. We come to be reminded that these waters that once symbolized death and destruction, as in the days of Noah, now symbolize cleansing and renewal. Today, we will come forward, to gaze upon and touch this water, and remember what this water represents, in all of its mystery, in the unfolding of God’s plan to make all things new.