Sermon 2019.01.13
Seeing With Spirit
(Luke 3:15-17,21-22; sermon 2 of 4 in series “We Would See Jesus”)

1. Great expectations.  I finally got around to reading “Great Expectations” recently. I know, I know – what the Dickens took me so long? (ha ha) Actually, Larry Durfey gave me some old audio books on tape and I listened the BBC dramatization on a long trip.

Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is all about misplaced trust. Pip is a blacksmith’s adopted son with delusions of grandeur. Instead of being satisfied with the things of home, he longs for a life of wealth and a cold but beautiful girl. Pip thinks that a rich, elderly widow is funding his way out of poverty and promising him her inheritance, but it turns out that his lavish lifestyle is being funded by the ill-gotten gains of a thief he once helped get away. Pip’s expectations – that he will inherit a fortune and marry the pretty girl, are delusions. In fact, Dickens changed the original ending of the book because it was too depressing!

Our scripture today is the lectionary text, shared with other churches around the world, about the baptism of Jesus. At this point Jesus’ public ministry has not yet begun. Luke tells us the people were “filled with expectation” (3:15) about the savior they longed for. They were wondering if John the Baptist might be the Messiah, and the crowds were gathering to hear John preach and wait for a miracle. Their trust is misplaced, though their expectation is real.

I’m reminded of a scene from the first Incredibles movie where a kid on a tricycle accidentally sees the undercover Mr. Incredible reveal his super strength. Mr. Incredible asks the kid what he’s waiting for, and the kid says, “I dunno – something amazing, I guess?”

As we begin this new year, we each have our own great expectations. We are each waiting for something amazing. We are each eager to see Jesus working in our lives and in our world.

2. Killing time, or preparing the way?  We want to see Jesus, but we’ll settle for less – just like the crowds around John. John the Baptist quickly disillusions his audience: “I am not the guy you’re looking for. I’m not even worthy to untie his shoes!” (3:16). 

Yet they still gather to watch John, this wild and woolly prophet dunking people in the river, and preaching fire and brimstone. “You brood of vipers!” John shouts, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (3:7). John promises that the one who comes after him will gather the wheat into the granary, but burn the chaff with unquenchable fire (3:17).

I have to wonder: didn’t these folks have anything better to do than watch a crazy homeless guy who wore rough skins and ate bugs and honey? John gives them plenty of good ideas of better ways to use their time – share your wealth with those in need, don’t cheat, don’t abuse your power. Yet I get the sense these people are here for the spectacle, just killing time.

We know many heeded John’s call to repentance. Indeed that was John’s role: to prepare the way of the Lord – to soften the hearts of the people so they would listen to his cousin Jesus. 

John the Baptist echoes down through the years. In the early 1700’s another man named John formed a religious society with but one criteria for membership: “a sincere desire to flee from the wrath to come.” These people, who would become known as Methodists, shunned tried to fill every moment with faithful self-improvement – prayer, bible study, worship, and outreach to the poor, sick, and prisoners.

John the Baptist, and John Wesley, continue to ring in our ears today. Are we the wheat ripening golden and bearing fruit for the harvest – actively preparing our hearts and minds, preparing the world and its people, preparing the way of the Lord? Or are we just idly killing time, chaff drying out before the time of wrath, the great reaping and burning? …

3. Clean slate, new beginning.  Our scripture today ends with the baptism of Jesus. “When all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in form like a dove” (3:21-22). 

We are joined with Jesus Christ through our own baptism. We baptize with water, and the slate is washed clean and fresh. We pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon each child and adult we baptize. We begin life with new opportunities, just as we begin each year with a new chance to love God and neighbor, to bear fruit worthy of repentance. 

God speaks at Jesus’ baptism: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (3:22). The final verses of Luke 3 trace the ancestry of Jesus, “son of Joseph (as was thought), so of Heli, son of Matthat…” all the way back to David, and then to “Adam, son of God” (3:23-38). This places Jesus firmly in the human family tree. And it places us firmly in Jesus’ family tree as well, for we are all the descendants of Adam, beloved sons and daughters of God.

God has marked and claimed us with love, and nothing can break that. We don’t need to be re-baptized, but we do need to remember our baptism. We are God’s children, we are beloved by God, and nothing can stop us now! We renew our openness to the Holy Spirit, God’s grace at work in us strengthening and giving us the courage to serve and love.

4. Seeing God’s beloved children.  Jesus’ baptism is the remarkable public event that launches his ministry. Jesus begins to teach and preach and work miracles. He publicly announces his mission at Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, healing to the sick, and to let the oppressed go free” (4:18).

We are called to join in Jesus’ mission. We are baptized into the family of God. We are anointed with the Holy Spirit so that we can truly see our neighbors, God’s beloved children. We are empowered to proclaim good news to the poor, and release, and healing. We are called to open our eyes, see God’s love, serve others, and transform the world. The time is now! Stop waiting for something amazing to happen, and instead get in on what God is doing. 	- Amen