Torn Open

Sunday, Jan 08 2012

Speakers: Rev. James M. Rand

Scripture: Psalm 29, Mark 1:4, 7-12

At Christmas, I decided that there are two kinds of people in the world.  Which camp are you in?

When gifts are given, one tears through wrapping paper & ribbon, caring not at all for what’s outside, but only within.  No matter how perfect the folds, how neat the bow, or how costly the paper, the prettiest package under the tree is demolished within seconds.

The other, meanwhile, moves at a snail’s pace.  First, the tag is examined the way an art student looks at the Mona Lisa.  The gift is held aloft, mere inches above the lap.  The paper is caressed, as if it were velvet.  Finally, one dab of scotch tape is lifted so delicately that the design on the paper remains intact.  Then another dab; & another.  Minutes go by before the interior box is set free.  Yet even then, it is not opened or examined until the ribbon set aside for reuse & every crease in wrapping paper is smoothed out.

Yes.  Two types of people in the world.  Which are you?

Mind you, neither of the two enjoys the gift any less.  They just show it differently.

Some of it is generational, I suppose.  Young gift-openers tend to be impulsive.  They can’t wait to get to the center of things.  But the elderly know how fast time flies.  They want to savor the moment.  They want it to last.  And many of them lived through the Great Depression, when every scrap of paper had to be saved.

It’s not purely an age thing.  Plenty of children in the weeks before Christmas have found hidden presents, lifted off the tape immaculately, seen what’s inside, then put it all back in the original state so no one could tell.  (Or so I’ve heard.  I wouldn’t know!)

Now here’s the thing: According to Mark, when Jesus was baptized, the heavens were torn apart.

That’s how the “gift” of the Holy Spirit was given to him.

The New Testament Greek word for it is extreme: “Schizomenos.”  Do you hear the word “schism”? “Schizomenos.”  It’s the strongest possible word to describe a split or division.  It is sudden & strident & forceful.  Cataclysmic.  There’s nothing gentle about it.

Mark says, “as [Jesus] was coming up out of the water, he saw schizomenos” in the fabric between heaven & earth.  It was torn apart.

* *

Why did Jesus have to be baptized in the first place?

From the early days of the church, Christians have wondered about that.  If he was sinless, & if John’s baptism was for repentance & forgiveness of sins, what was Jesus doing at the Jordan River?

Mark doesn’t ask, but Matthew does.  In his Gospel, when Jesus came to be baptized, John says, “I need to be baptized by you. [Why] do you come to me?”

But Jesus barely answers.  He leaves the question hanging, saying, “[Just] let it be so for now.”

So later generations had to come up with their own hypotheses.

One theory was that Jesus was “adopted” by God on the day of his baptism.  Until the Spirit descended, he was an ordinary child of ordinary parents.

That’s how it seems if you only read Mark.  Matthew & Luke talk about the Virgin birth, angels, & stars.  But Mark doesn’t. His Gospel introduces us to Jesus as an adult, not a baby, making it sound like Jesus became God’s Son only when he was baptized.

*

Another theory about Jesus being baptized came from Gregory of Nazianzus in the fourth century (ca. 329-390 CE).  He claimed that baptism didn’t so much to purify Jesus as it purified the water & the world.

In those days, people believed, for instance, that if you touched a leper or a leper touched you, you became “unclean,” like them.  But when Jesus came into contact with them, he wasn’t infected.  They were made healthy & whole.

Gregory reasoned that it worked the same way with baptism.  It didn’t change Jesus so much as it changed everything & everyone around him.  By entering the water, he made it holy, so that it would make us holy in turn.

Think about that when you come forward for the renewal of baptism.

*

First, let me try out one more reason for Jesus to be baptized.  It’s not from Gregory of Nazianzus but from James of Wauwatosius.  It has to do with power.

Jesus had to be baptized, I propose, so that the power in heaven could be let loose on earth.

Isn’t that what John talked about to the crowds that came to him?  “After me comes one who is more powerful.”

It also explains the strong language at the end of today’s reading, when the Spirit “drove Jesus out into the wilderness.”  Again, there’s nothing gentle about it.  As with the tearing open of heaven, God’s power is at work – in Jesus & in us – in the sacrament of baptism … & in the sending.

Psalm 29 resonates with the same power.  “The God of glory thunders!” it shouts.  God rules over the mightiest waters.”  God breaks the cedars of Lebanon, “flashes forth flames of fire” & gives “strength to the people.”  Make that “strength … & peace.”

Like a Christmas present under the tree, God’s power can’t be put back in neat & tidy wrapping once the outside is torn.  Once the heavenly gift is opened, you can’t take it back to the store to exchange.  You can’t sneak a peek at it & then tape it shut so no one else will ever know.

When God’s power tears heaven open, descending on Jesus & his sisters & brothers in faith, the Spirit comes into in the world to stay.

Is that scary?  The thought of God’s power being unleashed in the world should be a little daunting.  I remember a woman once telling me that she didn’t like being told that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  She said, “God is a friend, not someone to fear.”

There’s truth to that.  But not the whole truth.  Or else, why did shepherds “quake” at the sight of angels?  Why did the Paul fall down on the road to Damascus when he heard the voice of the crucified & risen Christ (Acts 9)?  Why did Jesus sweat great drops, like blood, when praying in the Garden before his arrest (Lk. 22:44)?  And why did brave Roman soldiers faint dead at the sight of the tomb where the stone was rolled away (Mt. 28:4)?  No one who has met God takes the encounter for granted …

Especially when it starts with heaven being torn open.  No wonder, Matthew & Luke tone it down.  They say heaven was “opened” – not “torn apart.”  What’s the difference?  Think of it like this: An open door can be shut.  An open box can be closed.  But something torn cannot easily be put back in its original state (Donald Juel, quoted by Placher, Mark, John Knox Press, page 22, paraphrased).  That’s especially true when it happens again …

As if the tearing open of heaven weren’t enough at the start of Mark’s Gospel, it is repeated at the end.  As Jesus dies on the cross, the curtain in the temple is torn (Mk. 15:38).  The fabric dividing sacred from secular is ripped open.

Power – scary power, daunting, overwhelming power – is let loose on the earth.

But, scary as it is, God means it for good.  The power let loose in baptism, crucifixion & resurrection is power for good & not evil.  It is power for the church.  Power for change.  Power for renewal.  And it is power to help us persevere in the face of evil.

The power of baptism opposes Herod’s power for suffering & death.  Herod tried to put to death all children in the region, after hearing the messiah had been born.  But baptismal power is stronger even than death.

The power of baptism is the power for life.  It is heavenly power.

It is over the water, in the water & through the water.    As Gregory taught us, it is power that does not change Jesus, so much as it enables Jesus to change us – purifying, redeeming, & equipping us for holy living.

Whether or not Jesus needed it, as the early adoptionists claimed, we need it to help us live as children of the Most High God.

So come to the waters.  Come & be made whole.  Bring heart & soul, whatever is bruised or wounded, mind & body to the waters of life.  Bring sorrows & regrets from the past, with yearnings & hope for the future.

And hear the Good News that God tore the heavens apart … to put us back together – wholesome & whole … & beloved forever.

To the glory of God.