Saturday 7th
January 2017
(Day prior to the 1st
Sunday of the Epiphany)
Church of St Mary
Magdalene, Bailgate, Lincoln
Congregation: Staff & Students of the Lincoln School of Theology,
Text:
Matthew 3.13-end
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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable
in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength, and my redeemer.
Amen.
A
very good morning to you all – and may I say how wonderful it is to be invited
to preach within this beautiful and historic church of St Mary Magdalene.
My
chosen text this morning is the Gospel according to St Matthew 3.13-end, which I
shall first read.
(read text)
In
2006, I was in the habit of subscribing to a writer’s periodical called Writing Magazine. On one occasion, it carried a competition with the task to
write a synopsis of Mozart’s opera, The
Magic Flute, in no more than 50 words. It was indeed a significant
challenge, but one that I rose to, though, I must admit, not sufficiently well
enough to win the prize.
Judging
by today’s Gospel text, I sense that St Matthew would have fared much better
than me in respect to the challenge from the Writing Magazine, and would definitely have been in the shortlist
of finalists, if not declared the outright winner. For, within 5 verses of text
– essentially 6 short sentences - he manages to pack a veritable panoply of
richness that defiantly challenges the sermon writer constrained to a 15-minute
oration.
In
the Gospel you have just heard, we joined Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, at the
River Jordan. So, before I move on, let us just imagine that scene for a
moment...
From
the preceding verses to today’s reading, we know that John is probably standing
in the water. On the bank is a small crowd clamouring and jostling to be next
in line for John’s baptism for the repentance of their sins. To those he baptises,
John issues a warning as to the coming of the Messiah, declaring that the
Messiah will ‘baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire’, and in the process,
sort out the ‘wheat from the chaff’. In other words, there’ll be no messing
about - the coming Messiah will sort the truly repentant from those who falsely
repent.
Amidst
this slightly chaotic scene appears Jesus, who has travelled a long way from
Galilee with the specific intention of seeking John’s baptism. His arrival
within the crowd of sinners is to John’s utter surprise and, at first, he tries
to deter Jesus from partaking in the process of baptism because he perceives
that he has no sin to repent. Jesus, however, insists and is thus baptised by
John in the water of the River Jordan.
Then,
as he surfaces from the water, there is this remarkable moment when the sky
opens and the Spirit of God descends like a dove upon Jesus, accompanied by the
voice of God, who declares that Jesus is his son, and that God is well pleased
with him.
And
that is it!
Within
6 short sentences, we have John baptising people in the Jordan, Jesus arriving
and taking John by surprise, John baptising Jesus, following which the Heavens
open, the Holy Spirit descends, and God speaks, declaring Jesus to be his son. The
next verse in the gospel, unread today, simply flips the scene away to Jesus
entering the wilderness to do battle with the devil…
Now,
I don’t know how you feel, but this is blockbuster movie stuff. This is a good
story… Just as one action-packed scene is over, and before we have a chance to
draw breath and consider what we have just seen, we are off to the thrills and
excitement of the next enthralling encounter...
But
let us not go on for a moment. Instead, let us press the pause button, rewind
and replay what we have just witnessed in almost a blink of an eye.
For,
within this passage of just six sentences, are contained many of the raw
constituent values of Christianity, including meekness, repentance, the
sacrament of baptism, salvation, peace, and love, – to say nothing of leadership,
preaching the gospel, the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, and the
existence of the triune God.
To
illustrate this, let us start with John the Baptist.
John
is quite famous. He is well known as a preacher and has established a name for
himself as something of a prophet. Many people - rich and poor - those with status
and those without - all flock to him to hear what he has to say. He preaches
the importance of repentance - of seeking God’s forgiveness, and starting life
anew. This he demonstrates through the process of baptism – the use of water as
a symbol of cleanliness and purification. And there is no doubt that he is good
at it. Indeed, he is very good at it
– and the scriptures show that he is most certainly a charismatic leader.
But
despite all this fame and popularity, he is also humble. As we are told earlier
in Matthew’s gospel, John dresses and lives frugally; but he is also very quick
to diminish his own importance: ‘one who is more powerful than I is coming
after me, I am not worthy to carry his sandals’, he says in Matthew 3.11.
Despite being successful and famous, he has a firm grasp of his ego, his sense
of self-esteem or self-importance, and is quick to recognise others who have
greater value than himself.
So,
there we have leadership, preaching, repentance, baptism and humbleness.
And
then there is Jesus…
At
this stage, Jesus, like many of us here today, is right at the start of his
ministry, and if we set aside the magnificence of the nativity, he is yet to
become well-known amongst the wider communities of Galilee and Samaria, let
alone in Judea where he has arrived to meet John. That said, he is aware that he has a mission to
fulfil on behalf of God: ‘Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way
to fulfil all righteousness’, he says to John in respect to his request for
baptism by John. But he makes this request not as someone who considers himself
to be important, but by humbly taking his place amongst the throng of sinners
on the bank of the Jordan. In this respect, he certainly takes John by
surprise, for even if John does not know at that moment that Jesus is the
Messiah John has been prophesying, he certainly recognises him as someone who
is without sin, and makes his case for the baptism to be the other way around:
‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’ he equally meekly
exclaims.
Can
you imagine what this moment must have felt like to John?
It
was probably something akin to how I once felt as a GP when a consultant
cardiologist appeared in my consulting room as a patient and asked me to treat
his symptoms, which were quite clearly those of heart disease; and it is most
certainly akin to preaching from a pulpit to a congregation of scholars from a
local school of theology, and finding that amongst them is that eminent preacher,
the Reverend Alex Whitehead!
…
you can genuinely sense the palpable astonishment and even embarrassment of
John when he realises who is next in the queue…. He knows Jesus as a good man, better than
himself, and seriously thinks their roles are the wrong way around. He
expresses this, telling Jesus ‘no, no, this is all wrong - I need to be
baptised by you…’
Indeed,
the scene is almost one of comedy in respect to who can be the humblest –
‘after you’ – ‘no, after you’ – ‘no,
I really must insist, after you’…
But
Jesus is making two important points here, apart from showing support for John’s
ministry. First, he is showing solidarity with those who are known to be
sinners; choosing to stand shoulder to shoulder with those whose lives have
been blighted by misdemeanours of all sorts, and not electing for some form of preferential
treatment. Secondly, by confessing sin on behalf of all people (just as Isaiah,
Ezra and Nehemiah had done before him), he was commencing his ministry of
teaching that salvation is available for all people, and that, after
repentance, baptism is of central importance to attaining God’s salvation.
Meekness,
repentance, baptism and salvation - they are all there, right at the start of
Jesus’ ministry, such is their importance.
And
then we come to that remarkable moment that occurs as Jesus is coming out of
the water.
Now,
I want you to use your imagination again for a moment. I want you to bring to
mind the last time you dived or jumped into an open air swimming pool – your
hearing becomes muffled by the water; your vision is likewise affected – you
see just blurry distorted images; and just as you cannot hold your breath any
longer, you burst through the surface into the open air – the water runs off
your face, the sunlight is dazzling in a vivid blue sky, and you take great
lungful’s of air – you feel so alive, so joyful, so invigorated – you see so
clearly the great splendour of the sky above you; a scene so vividly clear that
the sky appears never ending, and you might even see a dove flying above you,
and you rejoice at the splendour of it all…
And
then imagine if, at that moment of exhilaration, you hear the voice of God
saying ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’.
Words
which echo the prophetic Old Testament reading for today, Isaiah 42.1: ‘Here is
my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights’; words that will
not be heard again until the transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17.5.
‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am
well pleased.’
In
Biblical terms, this is a truly amazing moment. Not only is it the first
occasion on which God publicly affirms Jesus as his son, but it is the first
time when the triune God is present – God the father is speaking, God the son
has just been baptised, and God the Holy Spirit has just descended like a dove – not as fire, or storm, or lightning,
or a fierce wind – like a dove.
And
there, contrary to the powerful and fearsome God portrayed in Psalm 29, we have
God demonstrating his true nature as a peaceful, loving and tender God –
showing absolute benevolence to his son as any parent might when the child’s
action pleases the parent.
God is demonstrating
love…
***
So,
there we have it. In a passage of just six sentences, the raw constituent
values of Christianity – a demonstration of strong leadership, inspirational
preaching, meekness, support to sinners, repentance, the sacrament of baptism,
salvation, peace, the existence of the triune God, and a demonstration that God
is love. (Indeed, the only significant bit that is really missing is the detail
of the crucifixion and resurrection, as covered in today’s other New Testament
reading from Acts 10.34-43).
And
thus, regardless as to whether we are here now as ordained Priests, or
potential Readers, Deacons or Priests of the future, we should remember that it
is those same factors which are the core elements that we are required to
possess and profess; the same elements that should form the basis of our
ministry as Christians and the good news that we, as members of God’s Church
proclaim to others.
And
so, we pray that, as we leave here today, we might remember those six simple
but powerful sentences of St Matthew’s gospel, and all that is contained
therein; and we also pray that, by doing so - as we try to walk in the path of
Jesus Christ - we might have our own eyes and ears opened to the glory of
heaven, and the power of the Holy Spirit…
…
and that one day we might give such good cause that, just like Jesus standing
in the river Jordan, we will also hear God’s voice identify each one of us as
someone…
with whom he is well pleased.
Amen.
