The First Sunday after the Epiphany, Baptism of our Lord
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ
January 11, 2009
Year B
Mark 1: 4-11
St. Francis, Norris
Langston Hughes was an African American poet who became famous during the Harlem Renaissance. He died in 1967. I came across a piece he wrote called “Salvation” as Sonya and I were discussing literature required in the school system today, versus when I was in High School. We always think our own education was better or at least harder than it is today. Like walking to school, barefoot, in the snow.
Anyway, this story was about a thirteen year old boy at a revival. My assumption is that Langston was talking about his own life. They had brought all the not yet baptized twelve and thirteen year olds to the front pew and the message was about gathering in the lost lamb. He spoke of those girls that jumped up and ran to be saved when the preacher called them to come to Jesus. Finally he and one other boy were the only ones left. Langston was waiting for the light. It never came. The other boy finally whispered that he wasn’t going to sit there any longer, and he went up leaving Langston alone. In a while Langston too went up, because his aunt would have been disappointed and hurt if he didn’t.
He went on to explain that was the last time he ever cried as a child. That night as he lay in bed crying his, aunt told her husband he was crying because he had found Jesus. The truth was, he was crying because he felt abandoned by Jesus. Everyone thought he had been saved but he alone knew better.
When I googled the word salvation, I got over nine million, seven hundred thousand hits; mostly stories of people finding Jesus. So I thought about my own life story of salvation and receiving of the Holy Spirit and went to Wickipedia. Wickipedia is the online dictionary that has everything you can imagine in it, no matter how new or advanced. It is constantly updated by the general public.
Ordination in the Episcopal Church involves the laying on of hands by a bishop and the coming of the Holy Spirit into the person being ordained. This is akin to confirmation and of course baptism. There is a concept known as “the ontological change” that some say occurs at the moment that the Holy Spirit enters the ordained. The concept is of course much more complex. I am giving you the simplest explanation I can. Since I do not understand the more complex explanation I looked Ontological change up on Wickipedia. Nothing! I got out my dictionary for Episcopalians…nothing! I even used the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. I found no listing. When I Googled it I got several hits that were not really related, so this explanation is only my understanding. The ontological change is a deeper understanding of God that involves a change in one’s very being.
Well, I must admit, while I was moved and did feel a sense of the Holy Spirit’s presence at my ordination… I wouldn’t say I experienced the ontological change that changes my very being. My very being has changed by my becoming a priest, I think, but it was not a sudden rush of spirituality that overcame me in any one given instant. I think the change has been much more subtle and I still feel like I am just Joe. Maybe not the same just Joe I was ten years ago but nonetheless, just Joe.
Of all the accounts of the baptism of Jesus, this one is my very favorite. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. The heavens were torn apart. What kind of a visual is that for you? I can’t explain it either but it is a vision of mighty power for me. It entirely changes my perception of a dove descending, too. In the past I have thought of the descent of a dove as a gentle gliding to a soft landing. In this instant though, I think of a nose dive, a bird hurtling, at tremendous speed, toward its intended target. I think Jesus experienced the ontological change. His very being was changed as he began his ministry. Have no doubt about that. And keep in mind that the world would never again be the same.
In the Genesis reading we hear that the earth was a formless void until God said “let there be light.” In the reading from Acts, Paul is asking if the people baptized, received the spirit when they became believers. No, they say, they did not know of the Holy Spirit, only of repentance.
So, I go back to the story of Langston Hughes. He was most assuredly baptized in spite of the fact that the reasoning was flawed. The earth itself was changed at the onset of light. The people of Corinth were changed by the baptisms of both water and the Holy Spirit. And Jesus began his ministry at His baptism.
There was no ontological change for Langston. There was no ontological change for the Corinthians with the baptism of water. There was no ontological change for Joe at his ordination. But that doesn’t mean there is no such thing as ontological change or a change in one’s very being. The Corinthians seemed to have very much experienced the ontological change as Paul baptizes them with the spirit. Jesus had a change in his being at the River Jordan.
So what does it all mean? If we do not experience some immediate great change at baptism, confirmation or ordination does it mean that it didn’t take? Does it mean we are not ready? Are these things not valid if we fail to be overcome by the experience?
I think not.
Have you noticed that some people, in a new relationship, fall head over heels in love, almost immediately? You know others that are in a relationship for years before they decide that it is love they are experiencing. It is the same with the Holy Spirit. Some people are overwhelmed by this spirit at times. Some people experience the Spirits’ movement in small increments: In a moment of silence; through the words of a song; through a vision of nature.
Some, like me, are fortunate in that we have experienced both explosions of the spirit, as well as gentle nudges. I will save my explosion experience for another sermon. The important thing though is that everyone realizes that the spirit has been upon them at some time or in some way. People have told me they have heard the audible voice of God, some have seen angels, some have seen Jesus, but most have just had a sense of something beyond the physical touching them. It’s a feeling, a sensing of something real that cannot be described. At the same time, while words are inadequate to explain what has happened; the attempt to tell the experience to another person (especially a loved one) does not go for naught. As you flounder for your lack of description the person listening often smiles and nods their head. They have been there and they understand. They not only understand the experience, they understand the inability to describe it. As I think about it, this is probably exactly what speaking in tongues is all about. You don’t have the words but the interpreter knows exactly what it is you are saying.
Every week as we conclude the Eucharist I say a blessing. May God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you always. The Holy Spirit is the media through which that blessing traverses. You may not feel that blessing at that moment, there may be no ontological change for you then. I am not the deliverer of that Spirit; I only ask that God rest it upon you. You have felt it before and you will feel it again. I pray that each time it happens a mini change does occur…a change in you very being. That change will allow you to go deeper and deeper into your faith and your understanding will be that understanding is not a necessity of that faith. The Spirit comes unexpectedly at times. Letting that Spirit in is how we change our being. Amen.