Sermon: From Scratch

Introduction

“From Scratch.”

When you hear the phrase what does it connote to you? How do you use the phrase?

“Built from scratch.” “Baked from scratch.” “Made from scratch.”

Merriam-Webster offers the following explanations[1]:

To create something from scratch is to make it without any ingredients or materials prepared ahead of time. The scratch in from scratch originally referred to the starting line of a race "scratched" into the ground, from which all runners would be starting without a head start…

In cooking, to make something from scratch means to use only the most basic ingredients, with nothing premade…

Building a structure from scratch means using no prefabricated parts…

To build a business or livelihood from scratch means to start with nothing provided in advance…

In these there is a strong sense of creating something significant out of nothing, or almost nothing. And that is how the biblical Creation account of Genesis chapter 1 has traditionally been viewed.

Genesis 1 Creation Account

We are probably quite familiar with the King James translation of the first two verses of Genesis.

​¹ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ² And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2 KJV)

From these verses it seems quite clear that there was nothing and then God created everything. But this may be yet another case of interpretation influencing translation.

The idea that God created everything from nothing is dated to just a couple of centuries prior to Jesus, during the time of the writings of the Maccabees. The Jewish Christians continued this thought and by the third and fourth centuries after Christ, it was held as orthodox theology.

But as you might have inferred, the text of Genesis predates Maccabees by another couple of centuries, at least, and is based on earlier creation mythologies, stories, and traditions. As recent scholars have studied and learned more about ancient creation stories, Bible translators have incorporated what could be considered a more accurate rendering of the one found in Genesis. The Common English Bible translators render the first two verses in this way:

¹ When God began to create the heavens and the earth—² the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters (Genesis 1:1-2 CEB)

This more accurately conforms to the Creation mythologies that are found throughout the Ancient Near East. Rather than a total void, there was already something, but what was there was seen as complete chaos. What God does through Creation is bring order out of chaos. That is the story of the Creation account in Genesis 1.

For the ancients, the sea was a place of chaos and where evil dwelt. The instances of Jesus taking control over the waters are significant because they are evidence of a power greater than the greatest chaos that humans know. They are evidence that Jesus is greater than the powers of this world.

This does not mean that God couldn’t have created matter out of nothing, but the Bible is silent on where and how matter and the universe originated. As far as the beginning of this world, something already existed, and God took those raw materials and placed them into proper order to bring about the world that humans know.

When you think about making something “from scratch,” that is what it means. Anything created depends on something that already exists. Even the most creative and original thought depends on and utilizes ideas that already exist. Something new is a result of a reordering of existing materials and ideas.

Baptism of Jesus

Let’s review today’s reading from Mark.

⁴ John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. ⁵ Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. ⁶ John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He announced, “One stronger than I am is coming after me. I’m not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. ⁸ I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. ¹⁰ While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him. ¹¹ And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.” (Mark 1:4-11 CEB)

There is much that could be spoken about this selection, but I want to focus on the last few verses which describe Jesus’ baptism. While it may not be immediately obvious, there are images that parallel the Creation account of Genesis.

The first is that of wilderness and water. Both communicate ideas about disorder and chaos. They are where the world is wild and uncivilized, where dangers lurk, and threats abound. Yet that is where Jesus first appears in the Marcan gospel. Even more, the key aspect of this appearance of Jesus is that of coming up from out of the water. Just as the entire world and all of humanity finds emergence in the primordial waters, Jesus is depicted as appearing from out of the water.

The image of heaven splitting comes from a text in Isaiah 64. But it could also allude to the Creation account in Genesis where God separates light from darkness, waters from waters, dry land from the sea, and day from night. The allusion can also be to the momentous occasion at Sinai where God split open the heaven to come down to the mountain to speak with the people, which also occasioned the identification of Israel as God’s chosen. And the prophetic texts of the Hebrew scriptures speak of Israel as God’s son.

The image of the Spirit coming down is like the spirit, breath, or wind that is found at the beginning of the Creation account – an entity that is a participant in the initial creation of this world.

Finally, there is the image of Jesus being proclaimed as God’s son. In our language and interpretation, we most likely see this as singular, i.e., the object of “You are my Son” is specifically and only Jesus. But I mentioned just a few moments ago that Israel (in the collective) was also referred to as God’s son. In Luke’s genealogy he ends the list with “Adam son of God.”[2] While Adam could refer to a single individual, Adam is also often used in the Bible as a representative for all of humanity.

What Might Baptism Mean?

We have all heard the result of baptism referred to as a “new creation” or a “new creature”. What does that mean in light of some of the ideas brought out today?

One point to be made is that baptism is not suddenly creating something that didn’t exist before. Nor does it result in a discontinuous existence that is unrelated to what has already existed. What it is, however, like the Genesis Creation account, a bringing and restoration of order into chaos. And that, I think, is good news. Our lived lives don’t suddenly change after baptism. What came before has value. Our life and experiences prior to baptism are being redeemed and brought into proper order.

We continue to experience the same problems that already exist and are part of our lives. But what we do acquire is the Holy Spirit that moves and empowers us to partner with God in bringing order into the chaos that is human experience. Just as the sea continued to exist after Creation and with it the chaos it represents, there are still storms that exist about us and buffet us. But we can have assurance that the Word and Breath of God continues to restore order where there is chaos. There is a promise that chaos will eventually disappear, but it only comes in the book of Revelation, after all creation is recreated.[3]

A second point made is that God entered the chaos of humanity and made the choice to identify with us. When Jesus underwent the ritual of baptism, it was not because he had any sins to be cleansed from (a point which troubles Matthew and Luke). Rather, it was a deliberate decision to identify and enter fully into human experience, with all of the results of sin cast upon it. The good news here is that God knows and feels our confusions and our hurts, and Jesus offers us life patterns that can help us walk through those times.

A third and final point made is that baptism is not only an individual action, but it is something that is communal. Baptism is not merely about an individual confession of sin and repentance, but an entry into a collective, new community which exists beyond the physical boundaries of space and time. A baptized individual enters the community that is represented by Jesus. The entire community is declared by God, “You are my son, whom I dearly love.” Jesus may have been the individual who heard those words, but he hears it as a representative of the entire community that he began to build and continues to strengthen with each person added to it.

Bibliography

Bartlett, D. L., & Taylor, B. B. (2008). Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 1 (Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Dunn, J. D., & Rogerson, J. W. (2003). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Enns, P., & Byas, J. (2019). Genesis for Normal People. The Bible for Normal People.

Jacobsen, D. S. (2014). Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries: Mark. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

Jarvis, C. A., & Johnson, E. E. (2014). Feasting on the Gospels: Mark (A Feasting on the Word Commentary). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Merriam-Webster. (2024, January 5). Scratching the Surface of ‘From Scratch’. Retrieved from Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus: https://www.merriam-webster.com/

Sabin, M. N. (2002). Reopening the Word: Reading Mark as Theology in the Context of Early Judaism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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[1] (Merriam-Webster, 2024)

[2] Luke 3:38.

[3] Revelation 21:1.

Sermon: An Epiphany of Christ

Lectionary: Year A, First Sunday after Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord

Texts: Isaiah 42:1-9, Matthew 3:13-17

Introduction

Baptism – an action that ought to unite Christians, but like many other facets in Christianity – is a source of controversy and division. Usually not within a denomination, but typically between them. Literally life and blood have been shed in arguing the proper time and form of baptism.[1]

I am not here this morning arguing whether one form is better than another, or if there is an age criterion, or anything along those lines. Because that argument ends up sounding quite like the argument about the necessity of circumcision among the early Christians. The Apostle Paul wrote an entire letter to the Galatian Christians on this topic. A good summary of where Paul and where he believes Jesus stands on the issue is summarized in Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.”[2] Therefore, I  think that is a good position to take in regards to the mechanics of baptism: that whether one is baptized as an infant, a child, or an adult, and whether one is sprinkled, poured over, or fully immersed, that the act is symbolic of something that is far deeper that is of greater importance. And that is where I would like to take this sermon this morning.

Jesus’ Baptism

Today’s gospel narrative begins with a “Where is Jesus 30 (or so) years[3] after we last heard about him?” From the miraculous birth of Jesus and the flight to Egypt and return, we jump to a mature, adult Jesus. And we find him in the wilderness, at the Jordan, asking to be baptized by John, who is the latest prophetic sensation that has shown up among the Jews.

In the text that comes right before what was read this morning, we read that John was baptizing people as they confessed their sins and committed to repentance. Even some of the leadership of the Jews came to him, but he accused them of hypocrisy, commanding them to show actual results of repentance, beyond merely going through motions. John then predicts that another individual will show up that is far more prestigious and powerful.

It is in this context that Jesus shows up, asking to be baptized. John recognizes Jesus immediately (after all, they are relations, and both had probably heard about their respective miraculous birth stories). It is a surprise that Jesus shows up and asks to be baptized, and therefore, knowing who Jesus is, it is no surprise that John is reluctant to go through with it.

Jesus responds, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)

Meaning of “Righteousness”

This is another of Jesus’ sayings whose meaning isn’t obvious, and where scholars have suggested several possibilities. The problem word here is “righteousness.” We are accustomed to hearing and using it in terms of morals and ethics. We use “righteousness” as the antonym for “sin.” But Jesus is without sin, so he could not have been baptized to be cleansed of sin or of any need to repent. So, in this respect, what Jesus said makes no sense.

“Righteousness” has a somewhat different usage and meaning in Matthew. It is still related to ethics, but “In the OT and early Jewish literature, when used for human character and behavior, ‘righteousness’ and related words refer to one’s ethical response to God: obeying and doing God’s will.”[4]

The author of the letter to the Hebrews notes that Jesus “learned obedience…” (Hebrews 5:8)

So, we now must ask, what is it about baptism of Jesus that fulfilled and placed him in obedience to God’s will? Why did God respond, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased?” (Matthew 3:17)

For us, repentance and baptism are conceived as primarily individual actions. Certainly, baptism is symbolic of new birth into a new, spiritual family. But in our cultural setting, there usually isn’t much emphasis on how baptism relates to larger groups.

Fulfillment of Righteousness

In contrast, Jesus’ baptism is all about the larger group; specifically, all of humanity. Christmas was certainly God becoming incarnate into humanity, but Jesus’ baptism is the revealing, or epiphany, of this God-becoming-human to the world.

Matthew’s gospel portrays Jesus as representing new Israel. That is why Matthew is so careful to describe specific echoes and parallels between historical Israel and Jesus: a miraculous birth, a sojourn in Egypt, a return to Israel, and now a baptism. Within this pattern perspective, the baptism has parallels to Israel walking through the Red Sea and through the parted Jordan River. It also has echoes to the anointing of kings.

It is here again that our distance to when monarchy was the norm may be an obstacle to understanding what monarchs represented. Yes, they ruled over subjects, but they were also mediators between their subjects and their deity or deities. Monarchs embodied the entirety of their subjects.

Although Moses was not a king, his actions reveal some of the expectations of ideal ancient monarchs as they related to their subjects. At Sinai, when the people craft and worship the golden calf, God tells Moses that God will destroy the people and instead make Moses a great nation. But Moses intercedes on behalf of the people, and God relents.[5]

Josiah, king of Judah, is another example. He is recorded as being one of the righteous kings. He ordered the restoration of the temple, and in the process the Book of the Law is found. As the book is read to him, Josiah tears his robes because “our ancestors did not obey the words of this book…” (2 Kings 22:13b) Their sin is understood as having accumulated over time and over the entire people. Even though Josiah himself is not responsible, he identifies with and takes responsibility for the past and for all his subjects and repents. As a result, God delays the judgment that will eventually fall. Josiah continues to lead a reign of reformation and repentance, and the period of his reign is relatively peaceful and uneventful.[6]

I am now quoting two extended paragraphs by Timothy Beach-Verhey, in a commentary on Matthew 3:13-17:

Kings have always claimed to have a special relationship to God. Part of their legitimacy comes from being God’s representative among the people… On the other hand, monarchs have always seen themselves as the representation, in one person, of the whole people. This has been the other source of their legitimacy. Monarchs exist as mediators between God and the people, presenting God to the people and the people to God…[7]

In his baptism, Jesus shows himself to be the one true king, who represents God to humanity and humanity to God. He is invested with divine authority and power through the descent of the Holy Spirit and God’s proclamation to the whole world… He also embodies and represents lost humanity, by appropriating the human responsibility to repent and turn toward God in the face of the impending kingdom of heaven. In his baptism by John, Jesus identifies himself with the human condition and represents them in his right relationship with God. This baptism, therefore, not only bestows upon him the mantle of divinity; it also marks his kenosis (self-emptying) on behalf of humanity. He is the king, the true and only mediator between God and humanity.[8]

Representing God

If Jesus represents God, and if we are baptized into Christ, and if our lives and characters are to reflect that of Jesus Christ, what does that look like? Today’s text from Isaiah offers some suggestions.

It is the first of the four sections in Isaiah known as “Servant Songs”. These four sections, in Christian tradition, are interpreted as prophetic texts identifying Jesus as Messiah. The connection between God’s response to Jesus’ baptism and the opening of the Isaiah text cannot be missed:

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. (Isaiah 42:1)

But that is not the only plausible interpretation for these texts. The identity of the servant has been debated among Jewish and Christian scholars, and multiple potential identities have been suggested.

The penultimate king of Judah, Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah), is one individual that is suggested as the servant referred to in Isaiah.[9] Many of us might find that identification surprising, but there is some fit when rabbinic sources are considered where Jehoiachin repents and becomes an example and leader of righteousness and obedience to the Torah for the exiled Jews.[10]

Another identification is in the Second Servant Song and names Israel itself as the servant.[11]

Others have suggested that these texts don’t point to any specific entity but portray an ideal response from those called by God.[12]

There are likely others, but here is the list of identifications just given: Jesus, Jehoiachin, Israel, and an ideal response. We have individuals and communities offered as possible entities that could fill the role of the Servant. Richard Ward, commenting on today’s Isaiah passage writes:

If the church opens only that part of Israel’s gift that defines its understanding of Jesus, then it misses its wider blessing. There is the portrait of the church’s Christ here, but there is so much more. Why confine the reach of this Song to one individual or even one servant community? It is a portrait, but it is also a silhouette. Anyone who “brings light and (God’s) promise of hope to the nations” (v. 6) stands in the place of the Servant.[13]

We Are an Epiphany

I think that the ambiguity is appropriate. We can read the Servant Songs and see multiple applications. Traditionally we have probably limited the application to Jesus and stopped there. But today, I would like us to re-read at first song as something that Jesus left as an example for us to follow in, as individuals and as a community.

42 But [you are] my servant, the one I uphold;
    my chosen, who brings me delight.
I’ve put my spirit upon [you];
    [you] will bring justice to the nations.
² [You won’t bring attention to yourself
    with loud speeches or gaudy parades].[14]
³ [You] won’t break a bruised reed;
    [you] won’t extinguish a faint wick,
    but [you] will surely bring justice.
⁴ [You] won’t be extinguished or broken
    until [you have] established justice in the land.
The coastlands await [your gospel] teaching.

⁵ God the Lord says—
    the one who created the heavens,
    the one who stretched them out,
    the one who spread out the earth and its offspring,
    the one who gave breath to its people
    and life to those who walk on it—
⁶ I, the Lord, have called you for a good reason.
    I will grasp your hand and guard you,
    and give you as a covenant [representing me] to the people,
    as a light to the nations,
⁷     to open blind eyes, to lead the prisoners from prison,
    and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.
⁸ I am the Lord;
    that is my name;
    I don’t hand out my glory to others
        or my praise to idols.
⁹ The things announced in the past—look—they’ve already happened,
    but I’m declaring new things.
    Before they even appear,
    I tell you about them.[15]

Today, as many among us are reminded about our baptism into Christ and his body, and as others potentially consider their steps to baptism, let us ponder the fullness and revelation of Christ and what it means to be his disciples, following his path and becoming his ambassadors in this present life. What does it mean for us and the church to be an epiphany of Christ in this world today?

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[1] Anabaptism - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptism)

[2] All texts from New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, unless otherwise noted.

[3] Luke 3:23a, “Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work.”

[4] Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Volume 1, page 141 (Kindle location around 1686).

[5] Exodus 33.

[6] 2 Kings 22-23.

[7] Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Volume 1, p. 135 (Kindle approximate location 1605).

[8] Ibid. (continuing)

[9] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, approximate Kindle location 8301. “It would seem to the present writer that the person assigned the role of the Suffering Servant was most likely the exiled King Jehoiachin and his fellow exiles carried to Babylon in 597 BCE.”

[10] JEHOIACHIN - JewishEncyclopedia.com (https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8560-jehoiachin)

[11] Isaiah 49:3. “You are my servant, Israel…”

[12] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, approximate Kindle location 7421. “Biblical scholar Paul Hanson finds in this passage not a reference to a historical figure or community but ‘a catalyst for reflection on the nature of the response demanded of those who have received a call from God.” [quoted from Isaiah 40-66, Interpretation series, p. 41.]

[13] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 1, approximate Kindle location 7540.

[14] The re-writing of this verse based on The Message.

[15] Common English Bible, Isaiah 42:1-9, with my edits.

God With Us

Lectionary, Year A, Epiphany week 2

• Text: John 1:29-42

Although John’s gospel account does not include the infancy narratives that provide accounts of how God came to dwell with humankind, the first chapter uses metaphors and allusions to provide readers with the Christology of the Incarnation.

The first part of John 1 portrays Jesus as the Eternal Word that “camps” [skenoo] with humankind. In the latter half of the first chapter, through the narrative rhetoric of John the Baptist and the first disciples, the text shows the incarnation of divinity among the daily lives of his creation.

What I see is a pair of chiastic structures where the outer envelopes and the centers highlight the identity of Jesus. In the outer envelopes Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” the “Son of God,” and the “Messiah.” In the center portions is described how first, John the Baptist recognizes the divinity of Jesus, and then how Jesus reveals himself to his first disciples. The word meno translated as remain and stay tie these two parts together. This also looks forward to John 15 and the same word used there, frequently translated as abide.

What I take from this is that God isn’t going anywhere. He dwelt physically among humankind in the person of Jesus, but his Spirit remains with us today.

When we see the world around us we often ask the same question of God, “Where are you [staying]?” His response is the same today as it was then, “Come and you will see.” Where does he take the questioners today? I believe it is to his people among whom the Spirit continues to abide.

I first thought verse 42 seemed almost like an afterthought, but upon reflection it seems key to bringing together this pericope. Maybe Peter was asking a similar question. The gospel writer is perhaps telling us that his question was heard [Simon] and as a result Jesus became the source of stable identity for him [Cephas – “rock”]. Sure, Peter’s thoughts and actions would waver and stumble through his life journey, but his trust in Jesus would remain true to the end.

How do you read this passage? What speaks to you?