Tag: baptism

First Sunday after Epiphany

12th January 2025

Reflection with readings below

Writers of scripture have to try and find ways of describing God, who is by definition beyond our descriptive powers. Today’s selection of readings uses things from nature to approximate to characteristics of God. Powerful like a storm, with strength like a wind or earthquake, with playfulness like hills skipping like young animals. Engulfing or all consuming like a flood. John the Baptist wants to describe the characteristics of the Messiah – God’s chosen one – and gives us the image of the farmer winnowing his harvest with an unquenchable energy.

The passages also tell of redemption and love and of God’s overwhelming desire for the wellbeing of God’s people. In the days when the writings of Leviticus were in use, poverty might force someone to sell themself or a member of their family as a slave, but there was always the possibility that a kinsperson would buy you or your family member back – that the person sold as a slave would be redeemed. This  act of redemption is what is being described in Isaiah. god buying us back because we are kin, because we are family.

In the early parts of Isaiah (which was written over many decades) the people of Jacob and Israel lived in times of great peril, with the threat of invasion, death, and slavery. Both nations had lost their way, following the ways of foreign gods – abandoning the one true God. In a sense they had sold themselves into slavery because they had become so indebted to the foreign powers and alien gods. Now in this latter part of Isaiah, the prophetic message is that God will rescue Jacob and Israel, that God will redeem them and restore them once more within the family or household of God – ‘Fear not! I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine… You are precious in my sight and I love you!’

These words are mirrored by the words from Luke’s Gospel. John is baptising people in the River Jordan – ritual of turning one’s life around – and here is  Jesus the one who will make this turning around a reality, and God’s words speak out loud to all who will hear: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Isaiah 43:1-7

Thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob, 

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine. 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you. 

For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. 

I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 

Because you are precious in my sight,
and honoured, and I love you, 

I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life. 

Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you; 

I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold; 

bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth–

everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.” 

Psalm 29

1 Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, *
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his Name; *
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders; *
the Lord is upon the mighty waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; *
the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendour.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; *
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;

6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, *
and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire;
the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; *
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

8 The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe *
and strips the forests bare.

9 And in the temple of the Lord *
all are crying, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood; *
the Lord sits enthroned as King for evermore.

11 The Lord shall give strength to his people; *
the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace.

Acts 8:14-17

When the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptise you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Now when all the people were baptised, and when Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Epiphany – waters of life

11th January 2025

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:3

You Lord, are the source of all good things: 

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation: 

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives: 

May we live together in peace.

A reading from Mark 1:1-3, 9-11

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

As in the beginning the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, 

so were the waters parted and the earth came into being.

Praise to you all encompassing God.

As in the beginning the earth responded to the Word of God,

so land and sea, rivers and mountains and oceans came into being.

Praise to you all encompassing God.

As from the beginning rains and water soaked the earth, 

so herbs and plants and trees came into being.

Praise to you all encompassing God.

As from the beginning all manner of vegetation flourished,

so the fruits in their season provide food for all living beings. 

Praise to you all encompassing God.

As from the beginning the Word of God has been a constant source of wisdom, 

so your people have been guided and inspired.

Praise to you all encompassing God.

As the Spirit of God hovers over the waters of the Jordan, 

so in baptism the Son of God was made manifest.

Praise to you all encompassing God.

As the waters were blessed through the Word of God, 

so all who are baptised are made one in Christ.

Praise to you all encompassing God.

Holy God, Spirit and Word, 

as we seek make sense of our human failings, 

as we seek to heal the damage we have caused, 

and as we seek to love and cherish all that you have created, 

prepare for us a way to follow.

Amen.

Second Sunday in Lent

18th February 2024

Reflection (readings follow on)

Is the story from Genesis actually acknowledging that we humans are always going to be sinful, that we are always going to be falling back into ways that are selfish and thoughtless, cruel and destructive? And that God is frequently going to have cause to feel anger and grief? Certainly looking at my own life and the life of the world around me, this does seem to be a truthful observation. 

Is it also a useful observation? Does it help us understand our relationship with God and with each other?

This thinking about the inate tendency of humans to be sinful tallies with the continuation of the story in Genesis.  The rainbow is a reminder to God that such is the fallen nature of humanity and that that is why God undertakes to always  show us mercy and to protect us from our own actions. The covenant of the rainbow is that God will stand by humanity however foolish and stupid and downright evil  we may be. 

George Herbert expressed something of this in his poem, The Holdfast. He discovers through repartee that he has no way of his own making or will of holding onto God. Even to confess that he has nothing is not for him to take comfort from. Rather it is only, solely and totally through Jesus Christ that he is held fast with God. (The poem is below).

It is also a view that Paul expresses clearly in his letters – there is absolutely no way to salvation other than through Jesus Christ. Apparently the Greek grammar, when he writes of faith and Jesus Christ, is ambiguous: it could be read as faith in Christ that saves us, or as the faith of Christ that saves us. The former credits us with some of the success, the later leaves it squarely with Christ himself. I personally would have more faith in Jesus than in myself. 

This suggests a very one side relationship within which we are never going to be able to fully reciprocate. Nevertheless we have been created in God’s image and are called to ‘seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly before our God’. In this we must be as ready to recognise that our fellow brothers and sisters are equally prone to be being sinful, of doing the wrong things, of being careless or even harmful towards each other – or maybe just of being mildly irritating. We must strive to be forgiving and understanding, and never to discard or ignore them. At the same time we need also to accept that what we hope to achieve won’t be perfect: we are called simply to keep on trying. I have a phrase I find comforting: I am called not to be successful but faithful.

The phrasing in the letter of Peter also chimes in with this thinking. The writer notes that the baptism which saves you is not so much about removing the  dirt of sin as ‘an appeal to God for a good conscience’. Is this good conscience ours or is it God’s? If God’s it is again that message that we contribute absolutely nothing of ourselves to gain salvation: it all comes from God.

So to our gospel reading and the baptism of Jesus. As with story of the ark, which as the letter of a Peter says, prefigures baptism, so with Jesus’s baptism God’s sign is to be seen in the heavens. The skies are rent apart and what appears to be a dove descends. Jesus is filled with the Spirit and God’s voice is heard, “You are my Son!” From now on God needs no rainbow as a reminder of the need for mercy in the face of human foolishness. Now God knows unique way what it is to be human, and in that human form always sees the image of the Son. God’s salvation comes to us absolutely without hesitation or deviation through Jesus Christ. The good news of salvation is made real to us in the one true human  form – the one who can not fail or fall (to quote from Herbert). 

Alleluia!

Genesis 9:8-17

God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Psalm 25:1-9

1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
my God, I put my trust in you; *
let me not be humiliated,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.

2 Let none who look to you be put to shame; *
let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.

3 Show me your ways, O Lord, *
and teach me your paths.

4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, *
for you are the God of my salvation;
in you have I trusted all the day long.

5 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, *
for they are from everlasting.

6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

7 Gracious and upright is the Lord; *
therefore he teaches sinners in his way.

8 He guides the humble in doing right *
and teaches his way to the lowly.

9 All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness *
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

1 Peter 3:18-22

Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you– not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Mark 1:9-15

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptised 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.”

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The Hold-fast

BY GEORGE HERBERT

I threaten’d to observe the strict decree

    Of my dear God with all my power and might;

    But I was told by one it could not be;

Yet I might trust in God to be my light.

“Then will I trust,” said I, “in Him alone.”

    “Nay, e’en to trust in Him was also His:

    We must confess that nothing is our own.”

“Then I confess that He my succour is.”

“But to have nought is ours, not to confess

    That we have nought.” I stood amaz’d at this,

    Much troubled, till I heard a friend express

That all things were more ours by being His;

    What Adam had, and forfeited for all,

    Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall.