Diakolyo

Common English Bible (Chapter 3)

13 At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John would baptize him. 14 John tried to stop him and said, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?”15 Jesus answered, “Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness.”So John agreed to baptize Jesus. 16 When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. 17 A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.”

Introduction-In my own way

One of the most interesting movies I’ve come across in a long while is the movie Inside Out

It’s a Pixar movie about emotions and feelings all being personified.

And I think it’s compelling for a few reasons:

First, Lewis Black plays anger, and as one of my favorite comedians he absolutely nails it.

Secondly though, what I love best about this movie is that there’s no bad guy.

This isn’t like the Marvel or Star Wars movies I’m most attracted to, where there is some outside force that is bent on destroying the universe.

The conflict in Inside Out is all internal to Riley, the main character.

Isn’t that true for us most days?

While we might want to believe, or media might want to impress upon us, that there is someone out there, someone who is wrecking our wold, isn’t it true that most of the things we mess up are a result of our own doing?

How many times are we in trouble at work because we forgot to respond to that e-mail?

How many times are we in trouble with our relationships because we said something we later came to regret?

How many times are we guilty of a little white lie that blows way out of proportion?

Spiritually, there’s a word for this, and it’s present in our story today.

Diakolyo- Prevention

Today is the day the church traditionally celebrates the baptism of Jesus.

And this too is one of those stories that we’ve all heard before, so it can be difficult to find something new in here.

But there was a line in this story that caught me this time around:

John knows the pecking order.

We’ve actually studied John a little bit in detail in the Advent season.

One of John’s big things is that he knows exactly where he stands in relationship to Jesus.

John isn’t worthy to untie the sandals on Jesus’ feet.

John must decrease, so that Jesus can increase.

John repeatedly says when it comes to Jesus that John is not worthy.

Verse 14- John Diakolyo’d Jesus.

And so when Jesus shows up, asking to be baptized by John, John has an interesting response.

In the Greek, the word is Diakolyo.

It means that John tried to keep something from happening.

It carries with it a sense of what a dam does to a river, trying to stop progress, to impede something or someone.

John can see that Jesus is trying to get something done, in this case a baptism, and John is trying to be the barrier and stop him.

Jesus wants to use John for a greater purpose, and John is saying no.

Jesus, as he often does, has an agenda.

In fact, its a big one in this case: Jesus is trying to fulfill all righteousness.

No big deal, right?

Jesus has a plan, something he wants to accomplish.

And through his misunderstanding of what’s going on, John is trying to get in the way of Jesus’ plan.

He’s trying to stop up the progress.

What if John had succeeded?

The rest of the story is important on a lot of levels, but today it helps us answer a question: What if John had actually succeeded in his effort to Diakolyo Jesus?

There would have been no baptism for us to understand as a sacrament today.

There would have been no vision of the Triune God, Father Son and Holy Spirit all together in this story in a really compelling way.

There would have been no heavenly vision, a representation of the Spirit descending like a Dove.

And, Jesus never would have heard the Father speaking over him the words of love: This is my Son, whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.

Almost always when we are getting in the way of Jesus, we block access to the message of love.

One of the things I love best about that line is that God is speaking the same words over each and every one of us in this room.

This is my son. This is my daughter. Whom I dearly love.

I find happiness in you.

How many people in your life, yourself included, do you wish could hear that God finds happiness in us?

All of this is to say that when people try to Diakolyo Jesus’ work, whether its John, or it’s us, it almost always blocks the message of love that God so desperately wants us to hear.

How do we do this?

I think it’s important that we pay attention to the ways that we might Diakolyo Jesus’ work today.

One pastor I’m quite fond of says that the power of the scriptures isn’t necessarily that it happened, it’s that these stories happen.

So I’m curious of the ways that we might try to prevent Jesus from working in our lives today.

We worry that we’re not good enough.

I have a friend who used to think about her prayers in an odd way.

She was struggling with breast cancer, and so was going through regular bouts of chemo and radiation and all of that.

And when we would pray together, she would frequently say something like “Well, God has bigger problems to deal with than me, like hunger or world peace or things like that.”

My friend has since come to see things differently, but she’s not alone in this thinking, is she?

Some of us worry that God is too busy for us.

Some of us worry that our problems are too small for our creator to deal with.

Some of us worry that if we pray for ourselves, we’re somehow being too selfish or too demanding with God.

Some of us worry that God doesn’t have time for us.

First of all, an omnipotent and omnipresent God, who knows everything and can be in all places at all times, has plenty of time for each and every one of us.

It’s not like God has to use a time management service!

But secondly, we have to remember that God loves us enough to be with us even in the smallest of things.

God cares so very deeply for you that he is present even on the days you just have that really nagging headache.

God cares so very deeply for you that he very much concerns himself with your financial situation.

God cares so very deeply for you that he wants to weigh in on those New Years resolutions that may have already fallen apart.

When we think too little of ourselves, when we worry that we’re not worthy of God’s time and attention, we have a habit of Diakolyoing the situation.

We get in the way, and prevent Jesus from doing his work.

We think too highly of ourselves.

And yet, I know folks for whom the opposite problem exists too.

I know some folks who believe so highly in themselves that they put Jesus directly out of a job.

I know some folks who believe that money can solve every problem that they get themselves in to.

I know some folks who are absolutely hardened in their beliefs, to the point that they can never be wrong, so they are not remotely open to correction from Jesus.

I know some folks who think that church is nice, but out there in the “real world” they’d rather lean on their chosen news station or political viewpoint for salvation than their God.

I know some folks who believe that they are so essentially good, that there’s really nothing that Jesus can forgive them for.

In this case, we need to be more like John the Baptist, and know where we stand with Jesus.

We need to be open enough to let Jesus do his work within us.

How can we open ourselves up?

Know where we stand with Jesus

He is great and powerful

Most often when I’m addressing a problem with someone’s belief, they tend to think too little of Jesus.

They have this wild idea of a “God” up there in the clouds.

But they don’t think much about who Jesus is.

Jesus is alive and well.

Jesus is active and working in our world.

Jesus is powerful enough and caring enough to listen to your concerns, no matter how big or small they might be.

He also loves us exactly where we are.

Also key to all of this is that Jesus wants us to hear the same thing that the Father had to say to him at the baptism.

You, right here in this pew, you are God’s beloved son. You are God’s beloved daughter.

God finds happiness in you.

Be wary of anyone who would tell you that this is something you have to earn.

You do not have to earn your place in the family of God.

Jesus bought your seat here for you in love.

You do not have to work really hard to win God’s approval.

One of the most important aspects of the baptism story is that it comes at the beginning of Jesus ministry.

Jesus has not taught publicly yet.

Jesus has not healed anyone yet.

Jesus has not cast out any demons.

Jesus hasn’t done…really anything.

And yet, God finds happiness in Jesus.

God already finds his happiness purely in your existence.

Someone shared a Tik Tok with me this week (hey, check out how cool and relevant I am!) that said the hard part isn’t believing God exists.

The real trick is believing this part, that God loves you and finds happiness in you just as you are, right now.

Knowing all of this is a great way to start opening ourselves up, to getting ourselves out of Jesus way.

And so it’s vital from time to time to allow ourselves to slow down, and listen to what God has to say to us.

So much of our prayer is about what we can say to God.

Leave some space this week to hear what God has to say to YOU!

I think you’ll be glad you did!

The Nourishment of the meal

This is the first Sunday in a new schedule for us, to receive and celebrate the sacrament of communion on the first Sunday of every month.

There is a school of thought out there that says if you celebrate this sacrament too much, it will lose it’s meaning.

I’m not convinced.

If this sacrament is about reminding us of the truths that we have explored today:

That God loves you exactly the way you are.

That the Risen Jesus is actively pursing you in your daily life.

That we are at our best when we stop trying to Diakolyo, and let Jesus work in us.

Then this is a reminder that at least personally I need as often as I can get.

So today, let your heart be quiet.

Let’s let the savior speak to us through this meal.

And let’s let Jesus do what he needs to do to fulfill all righteousness in us!