January 10, 2021
“Spirit of Gentleness”
Genesis 1:1-5
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
I have a bottle of River Jordan water on my bookshelf. Actual, official, certified Jordan River water. The bottle was clear. The water was…reasonably clear. The top was sealed and waxed and on label is said that it was actual Jordan River water where Jesus was baptized. We read of that story in the Bible.
I am not about to doubt the authenticity of the water nor the authenticity of the story of Jesus being baptized in the River Jordan. So, I kept it on my shelf in the office and looked at it daily. I liked that I had something from the Holy Land. Water that…in a sense…washed over the head of Jesus. Water that…in a sense…John the Baptist waded into and baptized the Son of God. I would look at it daily.
Someone in the church gave it to me. Their grandfather had been to the Holy Land. Went to the River Jordan. Saw it. Bought a bottle of certified River Jordan water, brought it home and it was passed down in the family and when they died the granddaughter gave it to me. and then when I left the church I left it there figuring it should stay in that church but I found out later that the granddaughter left the church too, so now…I am sure the bottle is still there….and no one knows the story behind it and frankly, I wish I had it with me. And…if I did…so what? Would it increase my faith? Would it increase yours? Would we all marvel at the hermetically sealed bottle of River Jordan water or maybe we would feel a small link across time and space and miles and wonder about the water which flowed through the Holy Land and over the head of Jesus who was lifted up out of that water by John the Baptist.
That’s an awful lot for a simple bottle of water to conjure up for us, but, I rather liked it. Here is another bottle of water from the Jordan. I’m glad to have it
It is more than water. It is more than Jesus meeting John on the banks of the river and stepping into the stream. It is more than water on skin and the washing of the head. It began long before that. I used the following silent devotion one time, which reads…
“Over dark, chaotic waters, the Spirit hovers like a gracious wind and brings forth creation. Jesus appears on the banks of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit appears like a dove, hovering over the Spirit, and claiming the Spirit as God’s own beloved.”
Here is what I believe. I believe that Jesus was baptized by John in the water of the Jordan. I believe that John was a man who was connected with something greater than himself and that something greater we call God. I believe that any morning that we baptize, that particular person/child then comes in contact with that Spirit that hovers like a gracious wind and brings forth creation.
It is really difficult in a modern world to come in contact with something that is ancient and not tangible and timeless. Everything we possess today has a relatively short shelf life and is ultimately discarded. But this baptism any baptism is ancient. I baptized with water as did John the Baptist. But, the same Spirit, which appeared at the baptism of Jesus, appears to us in baptism. Do you sense it? If not, don’t despair. That Spirit which hovers like a gracious wind, appears whether we sense it or not… it the Holy Spirit. When I was a child, we would go to that lake in Michigan. We still go there. Each year, age 6, 7, 8 and on into my early teens, we would go to the lake for a month. We would talk about it all year. Dream about it. Laugh about it. Anticipate it all the way up the highway on the day we would travel there.
And upon reaching the lake, we would first stop on the south side of the lake at the store, before we drove around to the north shore where we would camp. Grandpa would go into the store and brother Keith and I would race to the stores boat dock and we would run out on it and kneel down and see who could be the first……to touch the water. Touch the water.
Then we would shout for joy. We would get back in the car and proceed for a few miles around the lake to our place. Grandpa had a trailer and he would maneuver it under the pine trees where his spot was every year. He and Grandma would then have to set things up. But we would pack our swimsuits right next to the door of the trailer and Grandma could reach in and grab our suits and we could go swim while they set up camp. Before any thing else we had to immerse ourselves in the water of the lake. We were not officially “there” until we felt the water wash over us and we had the chance to dive into it. We would swim close to the lake bottom, which was sand and clear and inviting. And over the next 30 days we would spend probably 6 hours of each day in that water. The shoreline was pretty. The woods were dark and lush. The countryside with its trees and sand mounds were fun to play in. But, for us, it was a vacation because it was the lake and that water which offered us such relief and fun and comfort.
And so we return to the River Jordan, that same River Jordan of which I possessed at one time 10 fluid ounces. We have John coming out of the wilderness preparing a way for the Lord. Now we have a private event in the Gospel of Mark. Says Mark 1:10
“As Jesus was coming up out of the water he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit of 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.”
A simple story…not sure if it is true…but it brings us to this moment.
In the mid-400’s, Saint Patrick baptized Ireland’s King Aengus. During the baptism, St. Patrick leaned on his sharp-pointed staff and inadvertently stabbed the king in the foot. Patrick finally noticed a growing pool of blood on the floor by the end of the ceremony and realized what he had done. He begged for forgiveness and asked why he hadn’t said anything. “I thought,” responded the king, “that it was part of the ritual.”
Baptism is such an ancient and honored sacrament which was handed to us and we will hand down to our children and theirs. But in the midst of it, the good news for whom I baptize is that I am a proponent of the school of baptism of John the Baptist, not that of St. Patrick. Amen