January 11, 2015 Jesus - Batptized

January 11 2015 Genesis 1.1-5, *Mark 1.4-11 Jesus Baptized Pastor J Hines

John the baptizer was a minister that everyone new about. He was extraordinary.   He was a miracle baby. His mother Elizabeth was told she could never have children.

John’s family worshipped God. Their ears were tuned to hear God’s voice. Listening to God was not only how they decided to name their son “John” but how they came to understand that their son would be a deeply spiritual guy who would do ministry outside the box. John did his ministry on the sidelines of other ministries. In fact, the gospel of Mark tells us that if you wanted to see Minister John, you had to go to the wilderness because that’s where he appeared. [ slide #1 -  4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness ].

The wilderness is the same today as it was then. It is lonely, desolate, uninhabited, uncultivated, unprotected, deserted by others, a place void of friends, acquaintances, and family. Figuratively, the word “wilderness” in scriptures was also used to describe a flock deserted by its shepherd  [ Slide #2 wandering sheep] and a woman neglected by her man  [slide #3 despondent woman].

Scriptures say there were many who went to the wilderness to be baptized by John. They had to be aware of the ministry in which John specialized. We know that minister Billy Graham specializes in salvation. When you listen to Minister Joyce Meyer you expect to hear about God’s power to deliver us as she was healed from the wounds left by her abusive parent. Those who were attracted to John were looking to be baptized. They sought an immersion through John’s three-fold ministry of repentance, forgiveness, and confession.

Those in the wilderness were not seeking the comfort of the crowd. They wanted to be alone with their thoughts to work through some serious emotions. They were looking for an intense spiritual workout, a mental makeover, a relief from certain burdens and cares. So, they came to the wilderness to meet John and be baptized.

John the Baptist was like the twelve disciples who stood out to the point of sainthood, especially St. Peter, a real man of God, tough as nails. Yet, Peter cried real tears when he realized he had denied Jesus three times.

John was like Polycarp (A.D. 70-155) bishop of Smyrna (in Turkey) 30 years after Jesus’ resurrection. His boldness in the early church was offensive to the Roman government that at the age of 86, he was murdered for his beliefs.

John the baptizer led the way for the likes of Augustine, [ slide #4 Augustine] the most popular man of faith from his time in the fourth century to the seventh century. Those having a wilderness experience were attracted to Augustine because he had led a deeply depraved life on the wild side. When he became a Christian, everyone came to see the marvelous work God had done.

John Hus from the church in 1400’s in what was once known as Czechoslovakia  knew about John the Baptist, and he too isolated himself and resisted evil so fervently that the priests took him to court and had him executed at the age of 42. [ slide #5 John Hus ] Even today, the Vatican – ruled by the Pope is its own government; it even has a jail system.

A colleague recently reminded me that John Hus was martyred by the church for speaking out and speaking up against weaknesses in the church, but by the time Martin Luther [slide #6 Martin Luther ] came on the scene 100 years later, the same ideas found more support and that led not to his death, but to the founding of the Lutheran church.

Most of us have never known and may never know such prolonged, harsh fighting, and disputes in the church or in our communities as those have experienced through the ages and as so many experience today in Middle Eastern cultures or city streets where blood is drawn and lives are snuffed out.

John the Baptist ministered in the wilderness [slide #7 wilderness] and behind him is a long list of those who took great risks. They too were alone and isolated, following in John’s footsteps as he followed Christ. Make no mistake about it, though, there are treasures and delights in the wilderness that can be found ONLY in the wilderness. [slide #8 water flowing]

All of us, from time to time, will have a wilderness experience. If you want to find the treasures John found in the wilderness, your first stop would be to be baptized in repentance. [slide #9   -  verse 4 … proclaiming a baptism of repentance]. You would take time to think about your life and make some necessary and immediate changes. Just as you might take off your shoes before entering a home, the first step toward the blessing of repentance is to take off any dirty thing that does not please God. What a treasure it is to unload the distasteful grime of sin.

After repentance, the second stop with John in the wilderness is forgiveness.          [ slide #10 verse 4 repentance for the forgiveness of sins.] When we let go and let God, we are sure to forgive, to put our offenders in God’s hands for justice and to let go of the need for revenge or give them a piece of our mind, not that we have a piece of our mind to spare. Forgiveness moves us to a better place.

Thank you Bethel for being the forgiving church you are. In small and great ways, I have personally experienced and witnessed with others your forgiveness of slights and offenses and misunderstandings and frustrations. Know that this pleases God. Know that it is no small thing to forgive. It helps us grow to the place God is leading us. Our big hearts and wiling forgiveness enables us to be who we say we want to be. God bless you for your willingness to exercise forgiveness.

The third stop with John in the wilderness is confession of sins.  [slide #11 …and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  ] …and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to John, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Confessing our sins is to understand that we have limits, that we need God’s help with a character flaw, bad habit, or some debilitating problem. Confessing our sins, even to ourselves, can be like swimming against an ocean tide. [ slide #12 ocean tide  ] It is not easy to accept our limits, much less to confess them out loud.

I once participated in a prayer group. Three of us prayed and worshipped together for about 7 years. We prayed like angels and felt great love for one another. But, during the week, each of us would talk to one of the others about each other’s most annoying habits. One of us was always late and rushing to leave early as if their life were more important than the rest. Another was so cheap and stingy while the rest paid the tab at lunch more often than not, another never shared feelings and emotions to the point of coming off very cold-hearted and aloof.

While it was nearly impossible to identify our own limits, we were naturally very clear about the others. One day, as we were beginning prayer, the most annoying one of all confessed that she knew how annoying and divisive a certain attitude she had was for us and she intended to stop acting that way. I remember feeling like such a heavy burden had been lifted from my heart. When we put our attitudes and behaviors on the altar, burdens are lifted. Confession to ourselves, to God and to others lightens our load.

A young woman left her church because church leaders forced her to come to the altar, confess that she was a smoker, and get prayers for deliverance. God can put a lot of pressure on us, but that scenario did not seem very holy or helpful.

Confession that is real and solid is a reunion with God and with one another. It is to agree with God, to surrender to God again and promise to be accountable, responsive and responsible to the Body of Christ. Confessions that matter may happen in a matter of moments or they may happen in years. They may happen as a matter of conscience or as a matter of being caught. It may be private or public. Either way, confession is cause for celebration.

Jesus came to the Jordan like so many others for the celebration of baptism. Jesus came to agree with God that a holy walk was to be immersed, surrounded, dunked, and inundated in repentance, forgiveness, and confession.

 All that was wonderful, but as John said, Jesus brought something even more wonderful than the blessings of repentance, forgiveness, and confession. Jesus brought a baptism of the Holy Spirit!

What a wonderful experience to be immersed in a HOLY spirit. [ slide # 13 baptism immersion] We know this as we gather with family and friends and acquaintances. We experience the ties that bind us in warm and cozy places. [ slide #14 socks fireplace  ] Only God can do that for us. We know that God is good when we participate in Christian rituals such as baptism, the communion table for a family feast or a wedding feast, or confirmation, or funerals, or ordination.

Our Christian rituals whether they are traditional, modern or spanking brand new  are our invitations for God to surround us, immerse us, inundate us with the power of the Holy Spirit that lifts us to a good place, a place that remains in our hearts and lives through good times and wilderness times [ slide #15 Jesus lifting].

Not everyone appreciates the blessings of rituals, though. One man sued a church because he said the ritual of the passing of the peace in every service was an intrusion on his privacy. He did not realize that when you surrender your life to the rule of Christ, he just may intrude with something more urgent than our agenda. [ slide #16 Jesus hugging ]

There are those days when the rituals become more important to us than the blessing God intends them to be. *James Kelley, an enthusiastic Episcopalian says he loves “the incense, the stained-glass windows, the organ music, the vestments and all of that. It's drama. It's aesthetics. It's the ritual. That's neat stuff. I don't want to give all that up just because I don't believe in God."

We are baptized as Jesus was baptized as a way to celebrate, to be immersed in the presence of God, even in a wilderness. If you can handle the wilderness you can handle repentance, forgiveness, and confession, and if you can handle repentance, forgiveness, and confession, you can handle the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can put yourself in God’s hands who alone can lift us together to a higher place.  [slide #17 team member being lifted ] Amen.

 *Sources: Derek Helt, "Go With the Flow," SermonNotes.com, https://www.tcpc.org/resources/reviews/skeptic_in_2.htm