Baptism of our Lord
January 8, 2012
Genesis 1:1-5, Acts 19:1-7, Mark 1:4-11
Scientists say there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe . . . maybe as many as 200 billion. Each galaxy has about 100 billion suns.
Our sun and its solar system is in the Milky Way galaxy. Our solar system is located about 2/3 out from the center of the galaxy. It is one solar system in a vast universe.
The earth is located 93 million miles away from the sun. If it was closer, the planet would be too warm for life as we know it. If it was further away, it would be too cold for life. The earth has a moon. It is 238,857 miles away. The combination of the gravitational pull of the sun and the gravitational pull of the moon makes the earth tilt at a 23.5 degree angle. It’s that tilt that causes the earth to rotate. If it didn’t rotate, one side would be light all the time and the other side dark. Once again there would be no life as we know it.
The earth’s atmosphere is made up of 21% oxygen. It’s the perfect amount to support life as we know it. The ocean’s are 3.4% salt. Human blood is 3.4% salt.
Some people call it the “science of fine tuning”. Other’s call it “intelligent design”. The fact that our world exists the way it is is staggering. It’s hard to believe there was not some intelligent creator who made it all happen.
The book of Genesis was written thousands of years ago. It makes a statement of faith. The world began with God. And God was a God who did good work. When you read the first chapter of Genesis you know that God the creator was a careful craftsman who had a plan for his creation. The book of Genesis tells us to look at the world and see that we have a God who did it right, a God who cares!
We have celebrated Christmas. We have heard the story of the birth of the Son of God. We have been told that God, in the form of the Son, came to live with us. On January 5th we began the Epiphany season. Epiphany is the time when the nature of the Son of God is revealed to us.
Jesus didn’t hold back. He jumped into this world of ours. He started out by walking into the riverJordan. John was baptizing so that people could have a new beginning. Jesus had nothing to leave behind, but his baptism was a sign that he was ready to move ahead and that he wasn’t going to hold back. He was fully committed the work of connecting us to God.
That work would be difficult. He would be cold and tired. He would be hungry and harassed. He would be tortured and killed. He would be raised. Jesus did it all and gave it all so that we can have forgiveness and life and the assurance of God’s love.
We have a God who is a committed creator. We have a God who came as the Son, our savior. And we have a God who has come as Spirit, the ultimate connector.
In our second lesson today, Paul has arrived in the city ofEphesus. He met some people who believed in Jesus. But they weren’t fully connected. They had received John’s baptism. That baptism was for repentance, the disconnection from the faults and failures of the past. Paul shared with them the gift of Christian baptism, the connection with God through the gifts of forgiveness, the gifts that come through Jesus. The followers ofEphesuswere eternally connected to forgiveness, life and love through baptism.
The Holy Spirit was part of Jesus’ baptism, too. After his baptism the heavens were torn apart. The barrier between God and people was broken. At the time of Jesus’ death a tearing would happen, too. The curtain of the temple, the curtain that separate God from people would be torn apart. There are no longer barriers between God and us.
We have a God who is committed to being connected to us. And he gives us the power to use that connection to do his work. In our baptism we are joined to his Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to give and forgive. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to care and to share. Because God has given us the gift of his Holy Spirit, we can love him and we can love him by loving others.
The vastness of God’s creation is staggering. The vastness of his love is even more staggering. The creator of all that exists loves us so much that he comes to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In this vast creation, we can be assured of one thing. God is committed to us. It’s a commitment of love. And that love is such a great gift that he has one desire for us. He wants us to know that love and share it . . . in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN
