Sermon offered 1/7/2018, The Baptism of our Lord, based on Mark 1:4-12
Before our family left for our trip to Ireland nearly
eleven years ago, my priest told me to pay attention to the “thin places,”
those places where individuals feel closer to God because the veil, the
invisible barrier, between Heaven and Earth seems thinner, making our
relationship with our Holy One more apparent, more tangible, more real.
There is mystery, there, in those thin places. A mystery that can be described as the Holy
Spirit because there is a longing, a hunger, for knowing God more deeply. Being
in that thin place can be fulfilling and life-giving, but it can also be a
place that can instill fear—a fear of being in the awe-some presence of God,
not unlike what Moses must have felt on the mountain during the Exodus. Perhaps it is a fear of being vulnerable to the
possibilities that God has for us, if only we are willing to take God up on the
offer.
I did experience places in Ireland where the Holy Mystery
of Creation, this thin place, was strong.
The Giant’s Causeway, the peat bogs, the Cliffs of Moher, and that field
near Monahan where a Catholic priest was murdered one Christmas Day as he
offered a forbidden, secret mass to other Jesus Followers.
But I have also experienced this thin place at other times
and in other places during my life. Most
often in nature, most often while exploring not only the world around me, but
also exploring the questions and finding answers that have helped to define my
life.
In his article, Where Heaven and Earth Come Closer, defines thin places this way:
“They are
locales where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we’re able to
catch glimpses of the divine.” And
“Thin places relax us, yes, but they also
transform us — or, more accurately, unmask us. In thin places, we become our
more essential selves.”[1]
I wonder how many of you have experienced such transformational
places? Perhaps at Waycross? Or the Peace Garden? Or while driving your car?
There is a vulnerability that must be present, I believe,
to fully grasp the Holy of these thin places.
An openness, a willingness to let go, a desire to listen to what God
wants you to know.
What any of us may hear and where we may experience these
thin places is unique to each of us. But
there are some well-known places on Earth, in Creation, like Ireland and Iona, Scotland,
Vatican City and Istanbul, New Delhi and Jerusalem, where that invisible
barrier between Heaven and Earth seems thinner, more porous, making God seem
more available to our Earthly existence.
Places where we can feel the breath of God on our faces or feel
the fire of God in our hearts, and be transformed by the unconditional love of
God.
Imagine, then, if there was a tearing of that veil between
Heaven and Earth.
—rip paper—
What did it mean that the veil between Heaven and Earth was
ripped, was torn apart, at the exact moment Jesus emerged from the water of his
baptism?
This was no gentle moment.
There was a sense of urgency, and anticipation, like that moment just
before you ripped off the wrapping paper on a gift. This is the moment where
God breaks the barrier between Heaven and Earth and then speaks with Jesus,
affirming God’s unconditional love for Jesus. God’s unconditional love for Creation.
This was creation’s a-ha moment. This was creation’s epiphany. In other words, this was God’s manifestation,
God’s revelation, that Jesus is God made human.
I found Luther Seminary professor, Karoline Lewis’ thoughts
on this scene compelling. She wrote: “…the
season of … Epiphany reminds us that Jesus himself was an epiphany—the epiphany
of God, for us. … [the Gospel reading
from] Mark reminds us that before baptism became the ritual it is now, it was
first an epiphany—an appearance of God that we had never witnessed before. It was God ripping apart…”[2] the
veil, the physical barrier between heaven and earth that humans thought could
never be broken, that barrier that separated us from God—it was ripped open so that
God could be with us and be one of us.
Jesus came up out of the water of baptism, not because he
needed forgiveness, not because he was joining a movement, but because through
his baptism, through the tearing of the veil, Jesus receives, according to Pastor
David Lose, “the gift of the Holy Spirit and God’s favor … acceptance,
identity, blessing and commitment”[3]
that he is God’s beloved son, God’s presence on Earth.
This is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. These words from God empower Jesus to do the
work he was sent into the world to do: to teach the world how to show love
through mercy, kindness and justice.
Through welcoming the stranger, the immigrant and the orphan. Through touching the untouchable, healing the
sick, and eating with the outcasts. The
veil was ripped open, revealing to Jesus, his loving Father, and revealing to
God, his devoted Son. In this moment,
the world was transformed.
Transformation comes in many ways. We can seek it, or we can receive it when we
least expect it. Sometimes, it comes in
that thin space where the heavens touch the earth. Where we can feel the breath of God on our
faces and the fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and when we can go into the
world, acting as Jesus on earth, with a new confidence that God is always with
us, always loving us.
Let us pray.
Holy Spirit, there is a
Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the thin
places that distance is even smaller.[4] Let us be found in places such as these,
where we can see more clearly the holiness you have provided for us in
creation. Let us know thin places so
that we may be more fully in relationship with you. Let us be open to what you want to teach us
and to do what you ask of us. Let us
hear your voice, as Jesus heard your voice as you ripped open the veil: “You
are my beloved child.” Amen.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/travel/thin-places-where-we-are-jolted-out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html
[2] http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5037
[3] http://www.davidlose.net/2018/01/epiphany-1-b-powerful-words-for-a-new-year/
[4] http://www.explorefaith.org/mystery/mysteryThinPlaces.html