January 12, 2020 Baptism of the Lord Sunday 42;1-7/:13-17 Water Bound Joy Douglas Strome Prayer for Illumination: Send your , O God, and splash us with your waters of life. Soak us with the power of being named as one of your own. Amen. So I’ve read most of the analysis. I’ll acknowledge I’ve read my kind of stuff about it.

Brooks has a good editorial about the dumbing down of conversation in the US. He observes that we make every world event about us; about divided, broken United States. .But it feels like this one really is about us. Our actions impacting a whole chain reaction. This morning, the Iranian people are now broken and divided twice in one week. The Ukraine, already dragged into our mess, are broken again, too. Canada, who welcomes immigrants and has stayed clear of all this, mourns as well. Most headed to Canada were coming to go to university, their futures ahead of them in the new year. I picture the enraged 17 year old soldier, righteous with anger about the loss of his general, itching for a fight and just looking for a way to have some say in his world, marked by years of sanctions. He has his finger on the missile trigger, it trembles, he thinks he’s ready for anything. I saw the look of the general in charge of that soldier, heart-broken, publicly claiming responsibility and ready and wishing he could die for the loss of the 176 people. And then I read this rationalization about how we’ve really had very little of this kind of action from the white house and we should be glad for that. Really? If you talk about this with one another….voices raise…sharp edges hurt and divide us even further. I’ve read and read and what oozes up out of it all is a deep grief. What have we become? What happens in the world in our supposed name?

I’m reminded of the lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah Well, maybe there's a God above But all I've ever learned from love Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya And it's not a cry that you hear at night It's not somebody who's seen the light It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah A cold and broken Hallelujah. no one knows love under these circumstances. No one can bask in the glow of the Christmas miracle or the light of epiphany. It is way too dark to see a star outside. Deep in our grief over the state of things, we are stymied about what to do next. Still, the wide-angle view reminds us that over the course of history humans repeatedly have gotten themselves into messes. And in the history of God’s people recorded in our ancient texts, it almost seems as if getting ourselves into a mess is what we do best as humans. Making us in good company with Isaiah’s audience.

We are in Second Isaiah by the time we get to Chapter 42. That’s the period in ’s history where has fallen, and the elite of their people have been taken captive to . All the rest stayed behind to pick up the pieces. Both groups---the captive or the homeland community are experiencing a spiritual dislocation. Their one God, who was supposed to be all that… had apparently been defeated by the pantheon of Babylonian gods. Grief oozed up out of the cracks of this mess too. Grief that undoubtedly gave way to doubt. Was it just a dream, this God who delivered us to a promised land? Did God give up on us? What would give us comfort at a time like this? The God of and Sarah seemed to have gone away. it was way too dark to see a star outside. Some word from God was desperately needed if the people were to endure as a people…intact, still faithful, still devoted. Isaiah 42 is one of what is called a Servant Song, a poem written in formula to identify someone who would rescue them from their loss, and their loss of identify, and their loss of place in the world. A Servant Song, identifies a person who has been chosen for a particular purpose. They have characteristics that we might not think of as leader material, and then they are given a task.

The servant in our passage has been chosen because of his ability to give delight to

God….chosen because God believes he will be the one to bring forth justice to the nations. he’s not going to shout his way through this process. he won’t hurt anyone in the process……a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench……he won’t grow faint or be crushed….until justice has been established… And what will this servant be called to do? be a light to the nations, open the eyes of the blind, rescue those who have been unfairly imprisoned. this was all it took to bring hope to a hopeless group. open the eyes of those who could not see the injustice before them….rescue those who were bound by the very ravages of injustice that were swirling….throw a light on all that was not right, and make it right…..and not with a missile or an army or a drone, but with light Something new is coming….Isaiah insists. Isaiah insists that God told him this…

Turn ahead to the gospel and the transition from last week to this involves whiplash. Last week kings hovered at the bedside of an infant, with all the familiar characters lined up in the creche. all is calm, all is bright. The whole cast of characters are sucked into a time warp and boom---out comes grown up and in search of cousin John who is baptizing people in the Jordan river….Jesus wants in on that. John balks. He knows who Jesus is. He’s heard the prophecy. He is the ONE. He’s been telling people for years that it is just a matter of time…..and he’s here asking to be baptized? No, no, John stutters. You should baptize me, not the other way around. And

Jesus says no. Let’s do this. Jesus comes up out of the water, and there are some special effects.

Heavens open….Spirit of God comes crashing in on the baptism party dressed like a dove. Not just the dove, but a voice….this is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.

This might be my 24th time to celebrate Baptism of the Lord Sunday. I don’t know how many ways there are to say----Jesus’ affirmation by God at the beginning of his ministry means

EVERYTHING. and by extension: God’s affirmation of us at the beginning of our lives means

EVERYTHING. Every year for at least 24 years we have heard this. In an out of good times in the church, we have heard this. In and out of good times in the country, we have heard this. In and out of good times in the world, we have heard this. You are a child of God. You are beloved. God is well pleased with you. We gave you a sticker to attach to your mirror one year. We have done a renewal of baptism many years. Through no efforts of your own, you are a child of God. You are beloved. God is well pleased with you. This means EVERYTHING about who you are in the world. The question is can we hear this today? We may not be able to see a star for the dark skies….but can we still hear an affirmation of our one precious, unique, amazing life? even in the midst of deep grief? I can’t answer that. But if you think of the most powerful stories in our Biblical history, they are often set in times when the people are not at their best. Over and over again, God’s best entrances come when they are in dire straits. When hope seems gone. When leaders seems to have evaporated. when the best leadership is back in Stockholm sitting with a cardboard sign on

Fridays in the town square.

Debie Thomas writes eloquently about the nature of hope. “Hope isn’t about magical results. It’s about the long haul and the long darkness. Hope is robust and muscular and ferocious and long- suffering. Hope never gets so cynical that it can’t be surprised. Hope finds and names God in the world’s most desolate places. Hope kneels on hard ground and yearns without shame. Hope ponders and meditates and ruminates. Hope gets in apathy’s face and says, ‘No. Not good enough. Try again.” Hope sits in the darkness—outwaiting torture, humiliation, crucifixion, and death---until finally a would-be gardener shows up at dawn and calls us by name.” (Christian Century, 12/4/19) You are a child of God. You are beloved. God is well pleased with you. This affirmation is not said to Jesus or to us to let us off the hook for bad behavior---just the opposite. This affirmation is what calls us out of our slumber, out of our grief, to be the servant who will bring forth justice to the nations, who will establish justice on the earth, who be a light to all.

So, in a minute we will remember the affirmation of our baptism. We will step to the font and get our hand wet. And we come to this font feeling like we don’t belong, like we are unlovable, like we can’t do a thing that pleases anyone, we are in for a wake-up call. Because You are a child of

God, You are beloved, God is well pleased with you. If we come to this font feeling like a failure, like we can’t find our way to bring about justice because the issues are just too big, and the systems of oppression too strong, and the inertia needed is beyond our powers to summon? we are in for a wake-up call. You are a child of God, you are beloved, God is well pleased with you. If we come to this font smug, full of certitude that we have this life figured out, that we don’t need God or anyone else’s affirmation, then we are in for a wake-up call. You are a child of God, (and that has ramifications that require humility) You are beloved (and that has ramifications that require listening more than talking). God is well pleased with you (and that requires that you answer God’s call to work for justice, not our own independence).

Hope kneels on hard ground and yearns without shame. Just love that line because it expresses the predicament I started with. The hard ground of our time will support our kneeling, and the God who loves us through hard times will never shame us into newness. Hope comes at the end of this. Remembering our baptism and all that it implies binds us to this water, gives us a place to float our fears, gives voice to our doubts, and makes a way for us to push forward. Let us pray:

O God, on this Sunday we rehearse important words that remind us again who we are: We are your beloved children …..and that means EVERYTHING. You claim us as your own and empower us to be your servants---those who will not break even a bruised reed, who will bring a light to all the nations, who will work for justice. We give you thanks that you sent Jesus as a baby and as a man to show us the way. Help us, when we fail as a people and as a nation, to rise to the occasion of your call for justice. Amen..