Gospel text for the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday 13 January 2019

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 baptize 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 baptize 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 baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized 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.”

Reflection      If you are willing, please close your eyes, or leave them open and imagine it is a warm afternoon, you can feel the sun on your back as you stand a bit apart from a crowd of folks gathered near the prophet John, who is knee deep in the Jordan river. You can see sunlight sparkling on the droplets of water dripping from John’s wiry beard. You can not quite hear what John is saying, so slip a bit closer. Intrigued by what is going on you venture to the river’s edge and watch as one at a time people step into the river, approach John who ever so gently holds them as they lean back and are submerged in the cool water. Something stirs inside you. Before you know what you are doing, you find yourself stepping into the river and feel the cool water rising from your ankles to your knees. Now, kneeling in front of the prophet you draw in your breath at the same time you feel his strong hands supporting you as you lean back into the water. All goes silent as the water envelops your entire body. Almost out of breath, you break through the water and rise into the glittering sky. From the depths of your heart you hear, “You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.”

How might we respond? “Wow! Am I hearing things?” Or possibly we would be paralyzed in silence thinking, “Surely this is not really happening. I cannot speak of this or others will think I have lost my mind. “ Or maybe we attribute it to “something I ate.” Or perhaps we let the vision go straight to our head and we sizzle,  “Aren’t I special! I heard God tell me I am the beloved. I must really be something great.!”

Perhaps that’s why the prophet John speaks of baptism by the Spirit and fire. Maybe the fire John the baptizer mentions has to do with tempering the Spirit? Maybe baptism by fire has to do with separating the wheat from the chaff, breaking the shell and getting rid of the hard edges of our human minds and personalities. You know, that of our human condition which is tempted to think of our selves as special, as equal to God and to interpret our experiences with the motive of increasing our personal gain or net worth?

With that in mind it makes sense that  almost immediately following his baptism while “full of the Holy Spirit” (4.1) Jesus was “led into the wilderness and tempted by the devil.” (4.2) Three times Jesus was tempted to identify with or test God. He was tempted to use power for personal gain or to exert it over people to enhance his position. All three times Jesus chose instead to be humble, to rely on words he learned from the Hebrew scriptures to respond to temptation rather than be seduced by promises of personal position, power or privilege.

This is baptism with fire... the fire of temptation that refines away our creatureliness, the fire that transforms our avaricious appetite for power, privilege and personal gain into generous desire to be in right relationship with God and one another.

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Hebrew Testament and Gospel texts for 2nd Sunday of Advent 9 December 2018

Malachi 3:1-4        See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight-- indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Luke 3:1-6        In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Reflection        When living in Santa Fe my first home was near Los Cerrillos, the little hills south of town that were decorated with mostly defunct turquoise mines. Sometimes I would go riding with friends who recognized in the craggy rubble, rocks that hid within their hearts turquoise treasure. All I saw was gravel but my prophetic friends could see beyond the accumulated dross of the rubble’s history to the treasure hidden within the rock. 

What I learned about turquoise is, it is mostly found in sedimentary rocks, rocks born of preexisting rocks that have been battered and delivered by weather, infused with mineral bearing water (the copper in water is actually responsible for the chemical reaction that becomes turquoise) then cemented together under the pressure of time.

I find it interesting that in many ways we humans are like sedimentary rocks. Conglomerates of our encounters with preexisting humans (think parents, partners,  church, teachers, colleagues, strangers) subjected to the changing tides of our circumstance (age, position, finances, health, success, failure), infused with Divinity born of water and the Spirit and cemented into the conditioned composite of all of our experiences, skills, talents and desires. In other words, we are a motley mix of multifarious matter and moments akin to the sedimentary rocks in which treasured turquoise is hidden. 

Much as I needed friends to deliver the message that turquoise treasures were hidden in the rubble beneath our horses’ hooves so too must we hear the voice of the messenger crying, “Dear people of God, the treasure of your true selves lies hidden within you. And, it must be subjected to the refiner’s fine and fuller’s soap to be revealed and purified until you are pleasing to the Lord.” 

When I think of fire images of the Paradise wildfire in California leap to mind. Destruction. Fire destroys everything in its path. This is not good news. But this is not the kind of fire to which Malaki refers.

Malaki is speaking of refiners fire, controlled fire that is used to melt and purify the silver and gold that is hidden in unrefined rock.  Here is the thing. We humans need to be refined so that the precious metal of our true selves will rise to consciousness. Another way to say this is, the layers of accumulated dross and dribble that make us think and feel and behave as if we are less than brilliant revelations of Divine Presence must be burned away so that we experience and express the light and life of Divine Presence on earth. 

Of course turquoise, gold and us cannot refine ourselves, which is why we also listen to John the Baptizer. When we are ready to be set free from our stoney exteriors, we stop whatever we are doing, turn around and receive God’s consciousness transforming forgiveness.  When we stop obsessing about the wrongs done to us and by us, and allow our “crooked ways to be made straight and our rough ways made smooth,” we experience the freedom of being and becoming aligned in Divine Presence. 

Our human mentality gets all wrapped up in the countless wounds and humiliations we have endured; the times we were not chosen, were cheated on, abused, betrayed or misunderstood. Likewise, we are imprisoned by our errors and guilt for the wounds we have inflicted on others. From time to time we are stuck in a cyclone obsessed with our sin and the sin of others.

Here is the thing. Allowing thoughts of the wrongs done to and by us to own real estate in our minds is like condemning ourselves to life in prison or burying turquoise beneath Mount Lemmon. Of course we must admit the wrongs we have done and those that have been done to us, but, then we must stop, receive and express forgiveness, amend our ways and move on.

John the Baptizer is essentially saying, “Stop. Look at what you are doing to yourselves. Turn around. Let your emptiness be filled and let your pride be leveled. Whatever is needed will be completed by the Spirit of God with you in the baptism of  the refiner’s fire.”  For as long as we identify ourselves as victims or perpetrators, in other words, as long as we obsess over wrongs done to us or by us,  we are not free. We are all tied up and constrained like turquoise hidden in rubble. We do not have the spaciousness to experience and express the light and life of Divine presence on earth. 

And here is the good news. We do not have to fix it, because we cannot. God, Divine Presence, is like a refiner’s fire or fuller’s soap. The fire and the soap are the unconditional forgiveness of God. All we have to do is turn away from our self-imprisoning thoughts and turn toward God’s transforming forgiveness and our mountains and hills will be made low, our crooked ways will be made straight, our rough ways made smooth and the gold and silver of our true selves will be revealed as reflections of the light and life of Divine Presence with us.

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Matthew 3:13-17          Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Reflection           Maybe he wasn’t really thinking about where he was going, or maybe he had a plan from the start. It was a full day’s walk from Nazareth of Galilee to the river Jordan. I wonder if the psalmist’s song, “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters... the voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire...” echoed in Jesus’ heart as he crossed the desert and finally ascended the rocky ridge from which he caught his first glimpse of his cousin John and the people, oh so many people, some wet and resting in the sun, some standing at the river’s edge waiting for their time with the prophet? I wonder how many baptisms Jesus watched before he left his lookout, wound his way among the waiting crowd to the river bank? 

The warm water of the Jordan must have felt fantastic on his dust encrusted feet. I wonder if the psalmist’s song, “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters....” rose in Jesus’ heart as he approached his cousin John? I wonder how Jesus felt as he yielded his weight to John’s outstretched arms? as he caught his breath and surrendered to the watery grave? I wonder if the psalmists’ song “The voice fo the Lord is upon the waters...” was bursting in his chest as he “came up from the water, (and) suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. I wonder how fast his heart was pounding as he caught his breath and heard “.. a voice from heaven (say) “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased?” 

I wonder, how would it be if this tree breaking, wilderness shaking, fire splitting altered state experience  happened to you.. or to me? I hate to admit it but I must. If this happened to me there is every chance it would go straight to my head and I would sizzle,  “Aren’t I special!”  Heaven was torn open to me! A dove flew down from heaven and landed on me! I am afraid I would be tempted to make the experience of the Spirit of God all about me. 

Perhaps that’s why the prophet John warned that the one who came after him would baptize by the Spirit and fire. Maybe the fire John the baptizer mentions has to do with tempering the Spirit? Maybe baptism by fire has to do with seperating the wheat from the chaff, breaking the shell and getting rid of the hard edges of our human minds and personalities. Maybe the fire is about refining the haughty bits of our human condition which tempt us to think of our selves as special, as god?

With that in mind it makes sense that immediately following his baptism,  “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matt 4.1) where we will meet Jesus in next week's gospel text. Stay tuned.

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Gospel text for Sunday 18 August 2013

Luke 12:49-56     Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:

father against son

and son against father,

mother against daughter

and daughter against mother,

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, `It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, `There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

Reflection      “The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, ‘You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enought to get the job done.” (George Carlin)

Apparently Jesus knew that he was close enough to get the job done, to set the people on fire!. Jesus knew his mission was to “bring fire to the earth,” which is to say, he came to ignite passion for the living God within the heart of humanity. And, Jesus was not naiive. He understood the divisive effect of passion inflamed for the living God in the context of pagan or secular culture.  

So Jesus warned the disciples (and us); throughout the earth, passion of and in and for living God will divide alliances, separate families, cull supporters of the common good from promoters of self interest, distinguish keepers of peace and reconciliation from protectors of the status quo and cull comunities of compassion from states of enmity. 

Jesus’ fire turns things upside down, and I don’t just mean moneychanger’s tables. Jesus’ fire makes me look in the mirror and ask, where am I straddling the gap? Where am I holding onto “the way things have always been” in order to avoid the divisiveness of standing with Jesus on the side of the hungry, the stranger, the rule breaker?  Where am I avoiding divisiveness in order to be liked, approved of, or to keep the peace? Where am I throwing water on my passion for living God in order to be socially acceptable? Ooops! If we are honest with ourselves we must admit, we make compromises all the time. Still, Jesus’ sorting process burns on, it has for two thousand years. 

Jesus is on a mission and there is no evidence that he will stop until it is accomplished. “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." (Luke3.17) That stirs up images of hammering chunks of rock from the earth, crushing then heating them to extreme temperatures, all the while hoping to extract a smidge of gold. The Spirit of Jesus within humanity is the refiner’s fire. It is passion burning from the inside out driving believers to distinguish ourselves from the secular realm. Yes, the process of being refined is not particularly pleasant, but it is not optional.

It is a matter of passion. What is it that drives us? What is it that moves us to get up in the morning, step out into the world and do whatever we do? I beleive Pierre Teilhard de Chardin answered this question when he wrote,“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will discover fire.” 

“Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” The Spirit, the fire, the passion of Jesus within will not rest in peace until humanity’s heart of compassion is restored in each and every one of us and our passion is allied with God's own passion.. “Do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

Gospel text Sunday 16 December 2012

Luke 3:7-18          John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

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 baptize 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 baptize 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."

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Reflection            “What then should we do?” I believe we need to join the disquieted crowds in Luke’s gospel and respond to the gnarly prophet John’s indictment that “every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” asking, “What should we do? How are we to bear good fruit?”

We are three weeks into the season of Advent. We are “filled with expectation” as we await the coming of new light and life in the birth of Jesus the Christ and the question in our hearts ought to be, “How are we to prepare our hearts and minds to receive the Chirst? Said another way, “How are we to prepare the Way of the Lord?”

The prophet John is unequivocal. Bear good fruit. Share your resources. Treat others with compassion and justice. Don’t be greedy. Be satisfied with what you have. In so doing you prepare yourselves to be revelations of the Light of Christ born again. It is simple and straighforward. The Way of the Lord is the Way of compassion and justice. And, the Way of the Lord is not all warm and fuzzy. The Way of the Lord is swaddled in danger and risk. There are trials and consequences along the Way.

What is not compassionate and just, what is not good fruit, will be thrown into the refiners fire because the innocent babe in the manger, the fragil light of new life, will grow up to be a radical, subversive, firey presence who initiates a movement that changes history. That tiny light becomes the refiner’s fire that settles for nothing less than transformed lives.  But even though the prophet’s words may sound harsh they are not about punishment. They are about transformation. You see the refiner’s fire is not out of control and destructive. The refiner’s fire is controlled fire. It extracts the gold from the ore, it plies metal into exquisite creations, it culls followers from among the crowds and produces good fruit. The refiner’s fire transforms our frightened, selfish, greedy creatureliness into the image of the Chirst born again in our hearts. It is for this that we await, filled with expectation.

May the refining fire of Advent give birth to a deeper and more refined experience of God’s Presence in your heart, in your mind and in all of your relations.