The Activity of the Spirit
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
21 Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Acts 10:34-43
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness[a] is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
“The Activity of the Spirit”
The Rev. Jen Van Zandt
January 15, 2023
So, friends, we're only two weeks into 2023 and it seems like Christmas and New Years are long in our rear-view mirrors, (perhaps along with our New Year's resolutions). Admittedly I never knew the history of New Year resolutions so I Googled it. According to the History Channel site, New Year's resolutions date back 4,000 years to the Babylonians, (which is sort of ironical since they're the ones that captured and tortured Israel for 70 years). The Babylonians would start their New Year's not in January, but in March when crops were planted. Then they held a massive 12-day celebration and festival called Akitu where they either crowned a new king or they reaffirmed their loyalty to the current King. They also made promises to the Gods to pay their debts and return any objects that they had borrowed. (I still have a video and a book from a former member from 12 years ago - I've got to mail that to him in Texas!)
Much later in history you may know that Julius Caesar changed the calendar from Lunar to Julian and established January 1 as the beginning of the year. He named the festival on January 1st, Janus. Janus was a two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches. It was believed that Janus could both look backward at the previous year as well as to the future year. During Janus Romans made promises for “good conduct” for the coming year. Today we actually recognize the beginning of the Christian liturgical year, which begins with the baptism of the Lord. This means we also move back into ‘ordinary time’ until Ash Wednesday (which just six weeks from now).
So, what parallels can we draw from all three of these events? Well, the baptism of the Lord is a standalone and it's a celebration of recognition that is often hard for us to connect to because it's a story about Jesus and his power, and the activity of the Holy Spirit, which further defines his role and his identity. But besides acknowledging that, what are we supposed to do with it? In and of itself, it’s really sort of nothing new. But we know that each time we look at scripture we see something new. I didn’t notice it myself, but it was pointed by a wonderful scholar, Joel Green who writes that “the heaven’s opening, the Holy Spirit descending and the voice of God happens not while Jesus is being baptized but when he's praying after the baptism.”
For years I've said that I wish I grew up in a denomination that baptized people in their later years instead of infant baptisms because I want to have that similar experience of being baptized and feeling the power of the Holy Spirit. But it's too late. I was baptized as a child, most of us were baptized as children and the Presbyterian theology makes sense… that while we were still young and we could not speak for ourselves, God speaks and acts on our behalf. The Baptists on the other hand have a whole different experience and either have a tank in their church or go someplace locally into a river or a stream or a pool or a pond and I know actually some of our own congregants had that experience and I'm jealous! But the fact of the matter is the act of Jesus’ baptism was not God's needing to tick a box to start off his ministry, he was modeling for the disciples and all of us, what it means to be obedient.
It also established Jesus as anointed to do the work. To do the work of God and to manifest God's love and hope and peace and forgiveness and redemption. But it's also to call us to do and teach these very same things. Part of Jesus role as anointed was a call to obedience. We don't like that word. The farthest we can get from obedience the better off we are, in fact I had a debate sometime in the last year with someone who when they pulled one of our “WORD” cards. She got the word obey. She said, “yeah I'm not doing that, give me another card.” She pulled the second card. What did it say? OBEY. She said “I'm not doing that; I really don't like that word.” I talked to her about six weeks later. I said, “so where's your card?” She said, “I don't know, I think it's somewhere in my purse.” I said, “go put it on your fridge, God's trying to tell you something.” And God's trying to tell me something, God's trying to tell all of us something, but we don't like the word obey. We don't mind serving, we certainly don't mind praying, but we don't like to obey. But that's part of the call.
Again, Joel Green explains that part of the reason why obedience is crucial for us is because it builds up our strength and courage just like Jesus. So, when we come to the time of trial and we get into the wilderness as we will (or are perhaps are in right now), we have the courage and the strength and the tools in which to maintain our Christianity and our faith.
So, back to the history of the Babylonians and the Romans and their beliefs and practices. Whether you made a New Year's resolution or not, this day is the day to begin. To begin again a new year, just like the disciples did in our second reading in the book of Acts. Jesus had had come. He had taught them, he had worked with them, he had prayed with them, he had healed them, he trained them, now he's been crucified and now he has ascended to the father. So now the disciples in the book of Acts are just like us. We know of Jesus, we know of his story, we know of his power, we know of his authority, we know of his desire for us. Like the disciples then, and we now, have to decide what our resolutions are going to be.
I had a dinner party for New Year's Eve this year and we all asked one another what we were going to do for New Year's resolutions. And one person said, “well I'm going to stop nagging my husband.” I thought that was a good one. Another person said, “I'm going to try to go back on my diet.” One person said, “I really don't like resolutions, I'm just not going to do one this year.” I said, “I'm going to resolve to learn how to play chess…” I have no clue about it, but it’s good to find new hobbies, and chess, evidently, is very good for the brain.
That's not the kind of resolutions that God is asking for, friends. Making new resolutions in this new Christian year, goes way beyond paying our debts and returning what is borrowed. It’s way beyond the Romans seeking to “be good”. Our New Year's resolutions are clear for us. I'm going to encourage you to close your eyes so you can hear them again…
“he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he Jesus is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him, that everyone who believes in Him, receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Friends, if we do nothing else this year but be honest with God for all the ways in which we are faithless, and foolish and that we need to be obedient, we might even have a better year than we expect. May it be so, Amen.