Jan 07, 2024 |
Sunday Sermon
| The Rev. Jeanne LeinbachSunday Sermon
The people along the sand
All turn and look one way.
They turn their back on the land.
They look at the sea all day.
The land may vary more;
But wherever the truth may be--
The water comes ashore,
And the people look at the sea.
What is it about water? This poem by Robert Frost (Neither Out Far Nor In Deep) rings so true. There is something mesmerizing about water. How many of us have sat on a shore and gazed out on a lake, or ocean, or sea? Water is calming in the repetition of the tide; it is captivating during a storm; it imbues peace in its glassy stillness. Perhaps we are drawn in by the depths because water is so integral to life and points us to the vastness beyond our selves. Our gaze taps into our desire to be one with our Creator. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Today, we are baptizing five young people: at 9, Poppy Garg, Rosemary Garg, Danica Mersek and Miles Mersek; at 11:15, Walker Mead. We are welcoming them into the body of Christ, into the community of Christ. We baptize with water. In the time of John the Baptist, washing with water was performed ritually as an outward sign of cleansing the inward self. John the Baptist pathed the way to a more profound baptism when he proclaimed the coming of Jesus Christ: “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Christians adopted Baptism as a way of incorporating new Christians into the Church. Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s body, the Church.
The film Water, is part of a trilogy of films, Fire, Earth, and Water, by acclaimed screenwriter and director, Deepa Mehta. Water is set in India in the 1930s. The film is based on a custom, drawn from a patriarchal reading of the Hindu Gospel, of separating women from their families upon the death of their husbands. Water is the story of Chuyia, a seven-year-old girl whose husband dies – yes, a seven-year-old girl - and she is sent to live out her life in poverty among strangers in a widow’s colony. This film, at times challenging to watch, is an achingly beautiful love story.
But, at its heart, it is a story about water, and worth a watch to resonate with the power of this theological reality. The widow’s colony is located on the river, Ganga. The river is central to the lives of the widows’ and to the lives of the people in the surrounding village. The film opens with a person who is frail being helped to drink water. We see people bathing in the water and being refreshed by the water. We see the water being used to grow food and vegetation, for cooking and for cleaning clothes. We see the water being used for transportation and for recreation. And, we see the other side of water. We see rain pouring down during a storm, a source of death and destruction. We see bodies being prepared for Hindu burial in the water. In this film, a life is saved. The weaving of the plot, of love and death and new life, with the images of water impresses upon us the great power that water holds over our lives; impresses upon us the theological significance of death into life through water.
Today, our brief passage from Genesis gives us just enough of the Creation story to enlighten the Gospel message. “In the beginning, the earth was a formless void. God said, ‘Let there be light.’ God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” God took the formless void and brought order out of chaos. We have Night and we have Day. Just as God delivered the cosmos from chaos, God delivered the Israelites from the wilderness. They had wandered for forty years. But, after Moses death, God directed Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land. From chaos to order, from anguish to hope, from death to life, the Israelites left the wilderness and entered the Promised Land. And, how did they cross over? Through water, through the River Jordan. A millennium or two later, Jesus made a point. “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” Through Baptism, with water, a compound so integral to life and death, we die to ourselves and rise to new life in Christ.
Let’s not forget the Holy Spirit! “Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” After Baptism in water, we seal with Chrism - scented oil previously consecrated by the Diocesan Bishop - we seal by making the sign of the cross on the child’s forehead. Anointing is the promise of the Holy Spirit, who nurtures and inspires our lives. This promise is no small matter. We are being empowered to accomplish the work of Christ, to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are being empowered to transform the world one day at a time, one interaction at a time, respecting the dignity of every human being. In the Gospel of John (16:13), Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” In Acts 1 (vs. 8), Jesus tells the apostles, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth.” In 1 Corinthians 12 (vs. 7), Paul tells us, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” For the common good. Through Baptism, dying to selfish ways and rising to new life, we are brought into union with Christ, with each other and with the Church of every time and place. Recognizing our faith as a life-long journey, we enter into a bond of unity to love one another, to overcome all divisions, offering different gifts, skills and perspectives for the common good. Today, we reaffirm our baptismal vows acknowledging with joy and gratitude that we belong to God, that Jesus lived among us so that we would know God in our lives, and that Jesus showed us how to live with one another in God’s love. What is it about water? Belonging…possibility…new life….
The water comes ashore,
And the people look at the sea.