No Longer Spectators

OH-

There are few things we do in Central Ohio better (well, and maybe all of Ohio) than cheer on the Buckeyes.

104,000+ people packed into one space cheering on just a few college students as they duke it out against other college students.

You don’t even need to have gone to Ohio State. Chances are you still have people who are deeply in love with the Buckeyes.

But why?

How many of us here were Division I athletes? It’s those folks I can understand the most - ones who may have lived a time playing a sport on a field like that. But many of us didn’t. My illustrious sports career has been pock-marked cow fields of Grove City College’s intramural fields, the (literally) ankle-breaking fields of the Park of Roses, and the relatively well kept intramural softball fields off of Kenny road.

But I’ll watch the Buckeyes. And don’t even get me started about the Columbus Crew.

Scientific studies point to a couple reasons why:

It’s pleasurable

It’s relatable

It’s powerful

When Jesus Walks on the Field

It’s interesting to begin to see what happens when Jesus walks on to the field. We already know that from the beginning of his time, Jesus has made a significant impact on how the world operates - he’s changed the game.

The magi and Herod - Kings, Gentiles are all beginning to see that something is different.

And don’t forget that we discussed the story coming into our passage today during advent. There is an anticipation of Jesus coming… you brood of vipers! Who told you?

John the Baptist seems like a really good fan, a really good spectator.

He is getting people to join team Jesus, inviting them to be baptized. And we don’t even need to be Nazarite level fans - we don’t need to wander in the wilderness and eat locusts - but Jesus is coming, and he’s looking like he’s going to win.

And you hear the power running through John’s statement - just wait! Jesus is going to come with the winnowing fork in hand and is going to separate out the good and the bad, and the bad are going to get tossed in the unquenchable fire!!! If you were on Team Jesus and Team John, this might be a good pep talk.

And now Jesus walks onto the field.

Here’s the moment - and what happens? The Trinity appears: Father, Son, Holy Ghost.

Luke 3:22 NRSV

and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

No fans, only players

There is so much significance to this moment, because it, while John said things were going to change, it’s changing in a way even fan #1 might not have entirely expected.

The three are together, including Jesus, the human. It means that humanity itself now is engaged in this moment - John reminds us that Jesus has always been with God, but here, he’s with humanity as well.

And we hear the words “with you I am well pleased.” Which that phrase “well pleased” is deeper than just I like you. It’s taking delight in. That there is pleasure in just Jesus’ being. That there are echos of Eden, of early creation, when everything was good and very good.

And here’s the thing - he didn’t have to be baptized. But the Trinity engages the acts of humanity - enters humanity’s field. And in this moment, the rules change. There will be no more spectators once Jesus is done. Pentecost will come. The spirit will come to us. We can hear the words “you are my Son, you are my daughter. You are beloved. With you I am well pleased.” There aren’t any more sidelines, no more spectator seats.

And that means a lot of folks who we may have liked being on the opposing team might be playing with us. For Jesus, it was people on the margins, and we’ll read about those folks more and more as the year progresses.

So who is the opposition?

All of us being invited to no longer just be spectators raises an interesting question. Who are the chaff?

We seem to forget sometimes that the wheat and the chaff come from the same plant. There’s not a separation as the grain grows. We all carry chaff. The things we create carry chaff. Our systems, our way of life carries chaff. The opposition - the chaff that burns with unquenchable fire - is us as much as we are the wheat. And over time as we explore through Luke, we’ll see how Jesus responds to the chaff that holds the wheat within. He calls out the scribes, the rulers who are seeking oppression, not those on the outside already, or those folks squeezed in by the chaff. Our drive for power, of domination, of vanquishing, is our chaff.

The more that we orient ourselves towards burning it away in ourselves and in the systems we create, the more than the good grain is exposed.

No Longer Spectators

But we’re invited to be a part. Jesus invites us to be a part of a new way of being - new rules.