SERMON
by Reverend Judith Alltree, delivered on Sunday January 9, 2011
at the Church of the Holy Spirit
PROPER 1 – THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
I think the most remarkable part of the story of Jesus’ baptism is its humility. The Jewish world of the first century in Palestine was expecting the Messiah to be a great and powerful leader; they were looking up, for a chariot of fire to descend from heaven, from which a man, clad in golden armour, carrying a flaming sword (or some similar weapon) would alight and claim his status as The Messiah, the Anointed One of God.
Instead, we get this guy, standing at the back of the line, quietly waiting his turn. Though John has been expecting his arrival, even he’s taken somewhat aback when Jesus simply strolls into the river. “No, you must baptize me” he tells Jesus, who refuses. He asks John to baptize him as the first of his acts of obedience to God, and John does. This is not what John had expected of the Messiah.
Jesus is the person John had been loudly preaching about throughout the Judean desert, saying things like: “There is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” and “I will baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit!” People hearing this would have been looking up for a very grand person. Instead, the person they are waiting for is behind them, bringing up the rear, and not making any kind of fuss about himself.
Even though all the gospels tell us of the descent of the Spirit of the Lord in the form of a dove, and of the Voice saying “This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased”, Jesus makes no attempt to hang around to receive the congratulations of the others at the river, but instead, he heads straight into the desert for the next 40 days, where, it would seem, most people forgot all about him for a time. And no one stays behind to hand out publicity material about the arrival of the Messiah; Jesus just leaves as quietly as he came.
The whole scene is utterly different from what the Jewish people expected of “their” Messiah. I am reminded of the words of a very unusual pop song sung by a young woman named Joan Osborne. The chorus goes like this:
“What if god was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home…”
(Rick Bazilian, “One of Us”, 1995)
What the Jewish people got in the first century was the equivalent of our “stranger on the bus, a slob like one of us”, and this was not what they expected. In “Jesus Christ Superstar” Judas sings to Jesus:
“You'd have managed better
If you'd had it planned
Now why'd you choose such a backward time
And such a strange land?
If you'd come today
You could have reached the whole nation
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication”
(A.L. Webber and T. Rice “Jesus Christ Superstar”, 1971)
Well, it wasn’t 4BC, but I guess Tim Rice couldn’t get the lyrics to rhyme properly. You get the point. Jesus wasn’t what they expected.
But perhaps he should have been. The clues were all there. Listen to the words of Isaiah: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations… a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth Justice…” (Is. 42:1-4) Jesus is not a mistake. God sent him on purpose, to be the embodiment of God’s love for all humanity. Jesus came to be The Way, to show us The Way to live, have a relationship with God and with one another; to care for the sick, the orphan, the poor; to free the captives, give sight to the blind…
I read a story yesterday the paper about the Chief Operating Officer of Air Canada, Duncan Dee who, with his wife Mary O’Neill and their two teenaged children, have connected themselves to an orphan in Haiti. For the past year they have personally ensured that Carlos, a young boy of 13, has not just the material goods he needs to survive, but to thrive. They have provided him with clothing, books, even a computer with photos of the family on it. On one trip they secured a Haitian cellphone and gave Carlos instructions to call them if he was lonely. He left 30 messages for them before they arrived back in Ottawa that same day.
The story would never have been told about the Dee family except that the journalist met Carlos. In a city where hundreds of thousands are without hope and help, this young boy is thriving and healthy. It was Carlos who told the journalist about the work Dee and his family have done, without fanfare, like a stranger on the bus, or, in this case, a plane. Dee’s job at Air Canada includes organizing disaster relief missions; he’s sent planeloads of materials and aid for the victims of the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Normally he doesn’t leave the tarmac, but a television program about Haiti was so compelling to he and his wife that they collected medical supplies, clothing, tents and a truck which they used themselves to deliver all the supplies they brought to the shattered country.
At Carlos’ request, Mary, her work colleagues and sister, assembled building materials, books and other supplies for a library for the new orphanage that is being built on the outskirts of Port au Prince. It is part of a property owned by an NGO where, soon, young Carlos will be able to move out of his tent and into a new dorm along with dozens of other young orphans. The Dees have also donated $35,000 of their own money to other Haitian groups.
Their plan is to assist Carlos through university, however, where that will be is not clear. In spite of their efforts to bring Carlos to Ottawa to live with them, “they have gotten no where” with Haitian and Canadian officials. Instead, they are covering all his expenses. Dee said “to show a child he’s not alone in the world, somebody loves him. It’s a real privilege.” (Toronto Star, p. A19, 8 Jan 2011)
I don’t know if this man and his family are Christians; they certainly act like Christians should act. They found a bruised reed and a dimly burning wick in Carlos, and gave him hope and love, and justice. They are serving young Carlos, and the country of Haiti, on their own, without fanfare or need for attention. We don’t notice them, yet they go about their work, and it is extraordinary work. The spirit of the Lord is upon them; God is delighted in them, I am sure.
Let me suggest that contrary to Tim Rice’s lyrics, it doesn’t matter that God didn’t send Jesus into our world at a more technologically advanced time. His message is still coming through loud and clear 200 centuries later. Justice is being done. Love is being given. God is being served. The Dee family went to Haiti to serve, not to be served. Jesus came to us, to humanity, for the same reasons.
When you look for Jesus in the world, don’t look up: look behind you. Expect the unexpected. You will very likely be surprised by what and who you find.
AMEN.