The Baptism of Our Lord
St. Mark 1:4-11; Genesis 1:1-5
When I was a young boy growing up in our home, my Dad would play a scary game with my sister and I, in which every light in the house would be turned out. My Dad would go and hide in one of the dark rooms, and it would be up to my sister and me to find him...although now he had turned from Dad...to the "tickle monster." And so after counting to about twenty or so, we would journey off together to find him, holding on each others shirt sleeves, so we wouldn't get lost in the dark...and we were afraid! We'd check the den, the living room, the hallway, our bedrooms, no sign of Dad. Pheew! Our hearts pounded from the rush of excitement and anxiety! Then we'd slowly walk into our parents' bedroom. We'd peer into the darkness, there was no sign of Dad. Then slowly creeping out behind the closet door, we'd see a shadowy figure moving in the dark. He turned and faced us. And then a small flash light would illuminate the darkness, lighting up my father's face with a frightening grin.
"Hello, what is your name?" And we would each reply,
"Raymond" and "Celeste."
"Nice to meet you, Raymond and Celeste. I'm the tickle monster, and I'm going to get you!
And then the tickle monster would rush after us, and we'd run like baby rabbits from a hungry bobcat. The tickle monster would catch up to us and tickle us to death...and we laughed so hard until our bellies ached...we couldn't bear to laugh anymore.
In the Book of Genesis, while there is no tickle monster, the world does begin in pitch darkness. Genesis tells that "In the beginning...darkness was upon the face of the deep."(1:2) And then Genesis tells us that "the Spirit of God, (or a wind) was moving over the face of the waters." And right after that it says that, "God said, 'Let there be light!' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good and God separated the light from the darkness."(1:2b-4) You see, in the beginning, the world is in darkness, but when the Holy Spirit moves over the face of the waters, God's Word is made known, in other words, "and God said, (that's God's Word) 'Let there be light'...and there was light!" Through the Holy Spirit, the light of God's Word illuminated the darkness of the world.
Illumination. What does it mean to illuminate, to be illumined? Illumination means to "light up, to give light, to brighten, to make clear, to inform, instruct, or enlighten" says Webster's Dictionary. Or more particularly, for our purposes, "to be enlightened in mind or spirit." And so when my sister and I would hunt form my father in the dark house and find him hiding, his face would be illumined by the flash light...that is, his face would be lit up, illumined by the light, and the light would shine in the darkness. But not only would the light shine in the darkness, but also just as important, my sister and I would know, be illumined, that the scary tickle monster we were seeing, was really just my father grimacing behind a flash light. His identity was revealed to us.
In the beginning of St. Mark's Gospel, we find a scene which reminds us very much of the beginning of the world in Genesis. Jesus is being baptized by John in the river Jordan. And when he comes up out of the water, Jesus sees the heaven opened in a vision, and the Holy Spirit is moving over the waters, as in Genesis, but this time, the Spirit descends upon him like a dove, and then the Word comes forth, God speaks, as God spoke in Genesis. And God said, "Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased."(Mark 1:9-11) Now in Genesis, God says, "Let there be light!" and the darkness is illuminated. In the Gospel of Mark, God speaks, and Light also come into the darkness of the world: God's Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit moves over the waters, and the light sent from God illuminates the darkness of the world. Mark is telling us that with Jesus, there is a new beginning....a new creation. St. John's Gospel tells us that Christ is "the light of all people."(John 1:4) He tells us that Christ "is the true light that enlightens (or 'illumines') every one, or "every man."(1:9) Jesus himself said elsewhere in John, "I am the light of the world."(9:5) And so with the moving of the Holy Spirit over the waters, the Spirit descends, God's Word is spoken, and God's Light shines in the darkness of the world...Jesus Christ is made known.
But as I shared earlier, not only does the Light illuminate the darkness of the world, that is sin and death, but the identity of Christ is made known to the world. Remember my Dad, the tickle monster? When he shined the flashlight on his face, not only was the dark room illuminated with light, but because of the light, my sister and I knew who he was. He identity was revealed to us. That's what happened when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. The Spirit descend upon him, and the voice of God is heard, the Word is made known, "Thou art my beloved Son, with thee, I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11) It is made known to Jesus and to us, that this is God's Son. We know now who he is. The darkness of our mind is illuminated, the identity of Jesus is revealed: he is the Son of God. The darkness is illuminated by the Spirit.
That's what happens each time we gather to hear God's Word in worship. In fact in part of our Reformed tradition derived from John Calvin, before the Liturgy of the Word is spoken, a prayer of illumination is said. According to the Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church, "This prayer seeks the illumination of the Holy Spirit and calls upon God to make us receptive to the life-giving Word, who comes to us through the scripture."(p. 36) Each time we gather, although you can't see her/him, the Holy Spirit hovers over the congregation, as the Spirit hovered over the waters in the beginning of the world, and at Jesus' baptism. As with Jesus, the heavens are opened, and the Spirit descends upon us. Through the reading of the Scriptures, and hearing God's Word in song and preaching, God's Word is spoken, the Word comes forth, and the light illuminates the darkness of our mind and spirit. Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is made known to us. And through the preaching and hearing of the Word, the identity of Jesus is revealed to each and every one of us: "This is God's Beloved Son." Isn't that what the Gospel is all about, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Mark announces his Gospel by telling us, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (1:1) Through the preaching and hearing of God's Word then, the darkness of the world, sin and death, is illumined by God's Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Yet another form of revelation, or illumination can be gleaned from hearing and preaching of God's Word as we relate it to our lives today in the church. When Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan, he received his heavenly commission to begin his ministry in the world from God, and his identity as God' Son in God's service was revealed to him. As our Elders and Deacons are ordained and installed today, they receive their heavenly commission to begin their ministries among us, as their identities as servants of God, as sons and daughters of God laboring in Christ's service in the Church is revealed to them and to us who witness these holy acts.
Hopefully through the preaching and hearing of God's Word this morning, you've been able to see beyond flashlights and tickle monsters, and the Holy Spirit has been kindled in you, burning brightly in darkness of your soul, and then showing forth the Light of Christ to all you meet. For that's what this Season After the Epiphany is all about, a showing forth of light. It is the making known, the revealing through us, the embodiment of Jesus, through our words and deeds, of Christ the Light of the World to all people, just as Christ was made known to be the Son of God, as the Spirit came down upon him, and illumined the darkness of the world at his holy Baptism that we celebrate today. In the words of St. Mark, through us, through our tongues and hands, "the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God", continues to be made known.
Gloria Patri. Amen.
