Wind and Water

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

January 12, 2020

1 Epiphany A

Lake Maumelle is a decent sized lake-about 9000 acres-in central Arkansas.  The lake was built in the 1950’s to serve as a water supply.  Lake Maumelle is also where I learned to sail a number of decades ago.  Dad bought a little sunfish sailboat when I was about 14 years old and we started from scratch learning how to get from one end of the lake to another, how to work with the wind, how to paddle when there was no wind, and just how far we could let the wind tip the boat over before we landed in the water.  Once we mastered the Sunfish he bought a slightly larger boat, still with just one sail, then eventually we moved on to a larger boat with two sails.  That boat would not capsize, but we delighted in seeing just how far we could let the boat tip on its side before Mom objected.

          On Lake Maumelle, I learned the power of both water and wind.  Working with the wind, we could move through the water to get where we wanted to go.  The water could be so choppy that getting anywhere was a lot of work, and sometimes we ended up in a place we had not intended to go.  And sometimes the water and wind could work together to move us swiftly through the lake.  The wind could also bring us to a complete and utter standstill, or, if we were not careful, the wind could toss us into the water before we had any idea what had hit us. 

          This morning, the story of Jesus’ baptism brings us both water and wind.  The water, of course, is the water of the Jordan River where Jesus goes to be baptized by John.  After first objecting, John baptizes Jesus and the wind appears as the Spirit of God, the breath of God, descends like a dove and lights on Jesus.  Then we hear the voice of God say “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

          Baptism does not get any better than having the Spirit of God light upon you and the voice of God claim you as God’s own.  In my imagination, the waters of the Jordan are crystal clear, the sun is shining, there is a light breeze, and all is right with the world at that moment.  If we didn’t know before, now we know who Jesus is-the beloved Son of God.  When we are baptized, we are also claimed as God’s beloved children.  The Spirit may not descend like a dove, but by the waters of baptism we are made Christ’s own, forever. 

          However, in the very next line of Matthew’s gospel, which we will hear on the First Sunday of Lent, we hear these words: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”  Immediately after Jesus is baptized, after the Spirit of God rests on him and the Voice of God claims him, Jesus is led by that very Spirit into the wilderness.

          I have spent some time this week thinking about the relationship between baptism and the wilderness as we have seen the world stand on the brink of the wilderness of war.  There were times this week when I could barely stand to look at the news, and times when I could hardly tear myself away, and I have pondered just what Jesus’ baptism might have to do with the current geopolitical climate. 

          If Jesus had been baptized in the Jordan River, felt the Spirit descend on him and heard the voice of God claim him, and then gone on to lead a nice comfortable life, that would be one thing.  But that is not the way life worked out for Jesus.  Immediately after his baptism he was led in the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan, with nothing but God and the Spirit that led him there to rely on.  After that, he began a ministry that confronted demons, spoke hard truths, healed the sick, provoked the authorities, and led to an untimely death.  In the reading from Isaiah, one of the suffering servant passages understood by many to refer to Jesus, we heard God say “I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.”  The Spirit landed on Jesus, not to protect him from the world, but to send him into the world to engage the world and bring forth justice, with the Good but sometimes uncomfortable or even threatening News.

          The wind and water of baptism send us into the world as well, a world that can sometimes feel as lonely and desolate as the wilderness Jesus found himself in following his baptism.  Sometimes that wind and water are motionless and we feel like we have to find our own way.  Other times, the wind and water of baptism push so hard that we think we might tip over.  And other times, the wind and water of baptism seem to work with us to get us where we need and want to go.  But the wind and water of baptism remind us that we never go alone.  Later in the passage from Isaiah, God says “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you.”  The God of the wind and water of baptism has taken us by the hand and will keep us, wherever that wind and water carry us.

Baptism called Jesus and baptism calls us to engage the world-the beauty, the pain, the sin, the relationships, the turmoil and conflict-all of it.  Baptism is beautiful, sacred, and powerful, claiming us as Christ’s own forever.   But, as Isaiah and Jesus remind us, we are claimed as Christ’s own not just for our own purposes and well being, but to make a difference for the good of the world God created. 

                                                                                      Amen.