Scripture: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Even before there was light, there was water.
In the beginning when the earth was formless, and darkness was upon the deep, the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters.
Even when all was lava and fire, the gasses rose out of the cracks of doom and vapours ascended, and condensate fell, and cycle upon cycle, with refinement upon refinement, the lowlands filled and life sprang forth and, cycle upon cycle, the snow glaciated the cold places and rain carved the warm places.
Droplet and wave, wave and stream, stream and lake, lake and sea, ever flowing, ever rising, ever falling, ever rising again, cycle upon cycle.
Molecules migrating, microbes multiplying, the great procession of life moving onwards, ever onwards.
Dinosaurs and ducks, trilobites and turtles, birds and bees and trees and chickadees, onwards ever onwards, life flowing like a river - like the Jordan, like the Nile, like the Yangtze, like the mighty Mackenzie mirroring snow geese in the moonlight.
Cycle upon cycle - a billion-trillion tears of joy and pain flowing onwards every onwards.
Even before there was light, there was water, and upon it, the Spirit moved.
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I remember my baptism.
It was stunning summer day 13 years ago on a lake up in Haliburton, where our minister had a cottage.
I had spent the night up on the hill by myself praying, and donating my blood to a gagillion mosquitoes.
But after the sun had risen, I came down onto the dock, and there was a simple service, and then we entered the water, and the words were said, and a gentle hand on my head guided me down and brought me back up, and I was a Christian.
And a mother duck and her 12 ducklings floated past quacking their congratulations.
I remember my baptism… the water, the sun, the trees, the chill on my skin, but the thing that I remember the most were the people.
I remember our minister Doug and his wife Heather, and their kindness and generosity for hosting us.
I remember Bri-anne, who was pregnant with our first child, and had to make a mad dash into the woods to deal with a bout of morning sickness.
And I remember Paul and Shell, who I did not know well, but who I will forever be bound to, because they were members of our church who were there to bear witness and to make and receive the promises on behalf of the community.
This, I think, is the most important thing I remember about my baptism, that it wasn't just about me - it was about community.
It was about me joining a community with a particular purpose - a community with a Christ-shaped character willing to make space for me to learn, to grow, to serve alongside others who had also been named and claimed.
While I was the one who went down into the water that day, the ceremony was a reminder to all who participated that all are beloved children of the living God.
This is the power of our sacramental symbols: the water, the bread the cup - simple things - everyday things, that point to the deeper reality of God's grace that is always present, always accessible.
While, God's love is always with us, sometimes we need reminders don't we?
Sometimes we need that splash of cold water on our face to break the enchantments of our flattened, digitized days and remind us of our blessedness, our belovedness.
And if it true for us, it must be true for others as well - for the neighbour and the stranger and the enemy - and not just now, but always.
Sometimes we need a reminder that there is silver cord of grace that extends from the past, into the future - connecting, binding, weaving all of us into community - a community with a particular purpose, with a Christ-shaped heart, where all have all been named and claimed with the words that forever ring through the ages "You are my child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
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This character of connectedness was on full display in Jesus's own baptism. Luke takes a unique approach to the story, that is so foundational to Jesus's own story, that we find it in all four gospels.
But unlike in Mathew, Mark and John, where it's explicit that John the Baptist was the one who baptized Jesus, in Luke we actually don't know who conducted the sacred act, as its only in Luke do hear how John was arrested by King Herod prior to that day when Jesus made his way to the Jordan.
Likewise, unlike the other Gospels where we are given the sense that's Jesus's baptism was more of a private affair between him, the Spirit and the baptizer, in Luke, Jesus is just one in the crowd that day.
Did you pick up on that? Here’s the line:
"Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized…”
When the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized.
The alpha and the omega stood in line with everyone else that day.
Just a stranger on the bus, as Joan Osborne might say.
This is the mind-melting mystery of the incarnation: that the Word of God, though whom all things came into being, is one of us, walking where we walk, feeling what we feel, loving how we love, ever connected to others through time and space by the silver cord of grace.
So let’s follow that cord… do me a favour.
I want you to try and imagine the day of Jesus's baptism in your mind.
Picture the water - is it clear or muddy?
Is the sky blue or cloudy?
Maybe there's a threat of storm on the wind.
What does the vegetation look like?
What do the people look like?
What is the feeling in the crowd as one of them climbs down the bank and the current catches their clothes?
Now, picture that there's a hand guiding a head down into the water, and now back up.
And then there's a voice that speaks speaks of love and belonging.
All the while, the river keeps flowing, flowing, flowing.
I want you to imagine that the water that flowed around Jesus' body that day, continued to flow though the desert to the sea.
And imagine that some of the water evaporated and got caught in the jet-streams that circumambulate the globe.
Droplet and wave, wave and stream, stream and lake, lake and sea, ever flowing, ever rising, ever falling, ever rising again, cycle upon cycle, onwards ever onwards.
I want you to imagine that water present at Jesus' baptism was also present at your baptism - that water that streamed off his face is the same water that tricked down your face.
Even if was a long time ago and you don't remember your baptism, you can follow the silver cord and imagine his.
You can touch the same water present then, even now.
This is the power of our sacramental symbols: simple things - everyday things - that point to the deeper reality of God's grace that is always present, always accessible.
Even when, especially when, we feel isolated and alone, we can remember that through our baptism, we are connected to each other and to Christ.
We are connected, and not in some banal way where nothing changes and nothing is at stake, no, we are connected for a purpose, in a community with a specific character where all are given space to learn and grow and serve in Christ's name for the sake of the world.
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The Celtic saint Pelagius taught, and I know that it's true, that every person bears the face of God, and God's love extends to all people whether they are baptized or not.
It is obvious that this is true, but there is also something specific about baptism - it is a particular act that binds our life to Christ and forms us as the worldwide communion of Christ with all Christians of every time and place, and also... also, our baptism weaves us into the tapestry of a specific community with a particular people.
When someone is baptized, they become a member not just of the holy catholic church - catholic meaning universal - but they also become part of the local church that conducts the baptism.
Even if you don't remember it, on the day you were baptized, people gathered around you and made promises to love and support you.
While it is a hard reality that sometimes we fail each other, these promises are intended to form the character of Christian community, where it's not just about about me or about you, it's about us being in relationship with each other and with Christ, ever bound together by the silver cord of grace.
This is the thing I have learned about faith, it is a journey we are not meant to walk alone - we need, we need, we need to be in the company of others to help us navigate the hard times and to celebrate the good times.
Just as our baptism was not a private act, our faith is meant to be lived out in public, bound up with each other in the beloved community of Christ, where we are constantly reminded - in our worship, in our pastoral care, in our governance and committees and small group ministries - that just as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the waters of the Jordan, we too have been named and claimed by our heavenly father who says to each of us
"You are my child... you are my child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Let us pray now this baptismal prayer:
Gracious and Holy God, we bless you for the gift of life, and, within it, the gift of water. Over its unshaped promise your Spirit hovered at creation. By water, comes the growth of the earth. Through water, you led the children of Israel to freedom. In the waters of the Jordan your child Jesus was baptized. Now may your Spirit be upon us and what we do. May this water be a sign of new life in Christ for all, in whose name we pray. Amen.
The same water present at Jesus' baptism, was present at your baptism, and is also preset today.
I invite you to pour some water and mark yourself with the cross and remember your baptism and the promises made of love and support - to remember that you are a beloved child of the living God, and you never… never need to journey through this life alone.
May it always be so.
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