Washed in the waters

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 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 thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 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.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison. Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 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.” (Luke 3:15-22, NRSV)

We talk about baptism as a washing away of our sins and making us right with God. But in the New Testament there are not many who are baptized, at least the stories of people being baptized are not that many. We have no written proof the disciples were baptized. But Jesus was.

Did Jesus need to be baptized?

In another gospel, John tries to get Jesus to baptize him, rather than John baptizing Jesus. But Jesus says it is better to be done this way for now.

Jesus did not have to have His sins washed away. He did not need to be cleansed from wrong doing.

So why?

There are a lot of reasons we could say Jesus needed to be baptized, and all the ones I can think of have reasons that just make them wrong. So why?

The best answer I have for why Jesus had to be baptized is He didn’t, but He was. So ask God when you get there.

He was washed in the water and publically claimed as God’s Son. So we would know He is God’s Son, the Messiah.

So wash in the waters, and allow the savior of the world to change your life.

Gifts

Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor. May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more. May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live! May gold of Sheba be given to him. May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all day long. May there be abundance of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field. May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun. May all nations be blessed in him; may they pronounce him happy. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen. The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended. (Psalm 72, NRSV)

May the kings give Him tribute and bring Him gifts!

The psalmist predicted that wise men/kings would bring Him gifts and pay tribute to Him.

So now all kings should fall down before Him and worship Him and service Him.

We all should worship this King, the one who brings light to the world and makes a way for us to be in relationship with the creator of all!

Light of the world

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 8:12-20, NRSV)

Jesus is the light of the world!

If you follow Him you will not walk in darkness…

Now I actually walked in darkness just the other day. It was late at night and there were no lights on in my home and I walked from one room to another. So I walked in darkness, is that what He meant?

No that is not what Jesus meant here. Darkness is not necessarily the absence of light.

It is an emptiness of the soul. A missing of what is really important in life.

Darkness here is a void of life, the life that the Father has for you.

So know Jesus and walk in the light. The Light of Life, and allow the light of the world to light up your world.

Arise, Shine!

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
(Isaiah 60:1-6, NRSV)

Arise and shine!

Our light has come! Let the Glory of the Lord shine and rise around us!

Nations shall see the light and be drawn to it. All will come to Jesus because of His light reflected in your life. So let His glory rise in you and show nations where their life really is.

Happy Epiphany!

In a small Southern town, there was a nativity scene that indicated great skill and talent in its creation. One small feature bothered me, though. The three wise men were wearing firemen’s helmets.

Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, I left. At a “Quik Stop” on the edge of town, I asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets. She exploded into a rage, yelling at me, “You darn Yankees never do read the Bible!”

I assured her that I did, but simply couldn’t recall anything about firemen in the Bible. She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and ruffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a particular passage.

Sticking it in my face she said, “See, it says right here, ‘The three wise men came from afar.'”

wise men

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (Matthew 2:1-12, NRSV)

How many of you have Wise Men or Magi in your nativity scenes for Christmas?

We have lumped the wise men into the Christmas scene because Jesus was young. There are however clues from the story above that should make us question the wise men arriving at the birth. And these are all aside from the fact that if the ones coming seeking were women, they would have arrived early, made a meal and helped with the birth! (The last part is from jokes I have heard about the wise men arriving 2 years later and not meant to be offensive.)

But the clues. The star comes when? When Jesus is born. Ok so if the star appeared at Jesus’ birth how could the wise men be there when He was born? Ok the reading doesn’t actually say when the star appeared, but they observed it at it’s rising, and it is true God could have made it rise in time for wise men to arrive.

But the biggest clues that this is different time than the birth is where the wise men see Jesus. In the reading above from Matthew the wise men saw the child with Mary, on entering the house. So they are in a house when the wise men arrive and Luke clearly says there was no room at the inn so the birth was in a manger. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7, NRSV)

So the reading above is the celebration of Christ being made known to the world, or the Gentiles and is the Epiphany of Jesus!

Let us continue to make Him known to the world and to herald this story as one of great love being shared with all!

Same mind

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:5-11, NRSV)

As I read this passage again for the I don’t know how many times, I was struck by the fact that I knew but may not have sunk in.

Jesus was God. He could have not been put on the cross. He could have stopped all of it from happening. He could have made it all go away. He had the power to stop it.

But He didn’t.

You see, it is not about things going our way.

It is not about us getting to have a great life and everything we have ever wanted.

It is not about us escaping pain or suffering.

It is about us thinking of the other before ourselves.

You see that is what Jesus did. he thought of you, rather than Himself and went to the cross for you!

So have the same mind as Jesus and think of the other first.

Complete joy

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1-4, NRSV)

The word of God came into the world so we may have joy and that our joy maybe made complete.

Jesus came to show us a way of life that would give us pure joy. Not always good times, or freedom from anxiety or persecution, but true and complete joy in the Father.

And we all spread this joyous news so that all may gather and fellowship in His name!

So go and shout it from the mountaintops that Jesus Christ has come to make our joy complete!

Became flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:1-18, NRSV)

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Or more literally the word became flesh and tented among us.

The word of God that moved over the waters and brough creation into being has come and made camp among us!

He has found favor in us and has made His home with us.

We are His creation and His dwelling place.

Let the light shine in and through you into this darkened world!

A big House

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD. For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.” For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good. (Psalm 122, NRSV)

When I read this Psalm I instantly thought of Big House by Audio Adrenaline. So I went looking for a picture of God’s Big House.

Google it if you want, but to find a picture of God’s Big House that isn’t a church is not difficult, but the other options I got on that search were football stadiums. Which is a place where worship happens, but not always of God.

I found a picture of Solomon’s Temple, which is above and on the right. It is God’s house as prescribed in God’s written word to His chosen people. But is this the house we are all going to? It was destroyed around 72 CE.

So where is or what does the House of the Lord look like?

Well according to Audio Adrenaline it is a big big house with lots and lots of room. There is plenty of room for all of us at the dining room table and there is a big yard where we can play football.

It is a wonderful place that we will all be filled with joy to go to.