Sermon Mark 1:4-11 The Spirit Descends

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Mark 1:4-11 The Spirit Descends
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
January 11, 2009

This is a very exciting week for our church. We received a grant from the Self Development of People program of the Presbyterian Church USA. Dirk Lowther is now administering the project, Toni Mackenzie is setting up the financial system, and homeless people from our community are being trained to sew LED lights on reflective safety vests. This makes the vest far more effective because they will go beyond being reflective to actually glowing with light. I have already spoken with the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, the LA Police Department and the LA Mayor’s office and everyone is really excited about this project. Next week we will take the group and some modified vests to the presbytery meeting to show them how we are using the grant. This is a very exciting time for us, and I want to thank you for support our ministry to the poor in Eagle Rock.

Will you pray with me? Lord Jesus we thank you for all that you are doing in this church. We thank and praise you for the growth of the church, our Christian Education and ESL classes, our evening service and dinner, and for all the energy that you are providing to the church. We praise you in the highest. Amen.

Mark 1:4-11 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Shortly after arriving in California I decided to spend one afternoon in Hollywood. While growing up in the east I often dreamed about being in Hollywood with all the movie stars and celebrities. It seemed like a magical placed. So I got in my car in Pasadena and drove south on the 110 looking for the 101. I got on the 101 and after driving for a few minutes realized that none of the exits said anything about Hollywood. I kept drive assuming that Hollywood would soon appear and saw that I was driving south. It occurred to me that maybe I was going the wrong way. So I had to turn around, but I didn’t know how. I took the next exit, found myself on another freeway, and was completely confused and lost. I ended up in a place called Long Beach which I now know is far away from Hollywood.

From time to time we find ourselves going in the wrong direction. Despite all of our preparation and planning we find ourselves in places we never intended to visit. We work hard to find just the right partner, get married with the hope of a lifelong relationship and then find ourselves divorced and lonely again. Or maybe we are in school with the promise of a bring future, but after months of partying our grades are slipping and we can’t shake the bad habits we have acquired. Or maybe we are in a beautiful new home with the job of our dreams, but our company downsizes and the bank forces us out of the house and into the car. We think we are on the way to the Promised Land and somehow we end up in the wilderness.

This is what happened in our gospel lesson from Mark. The people of God who had lived in the Promised Land for hundreds of years were passing through the Jordan River to reenter the wilderness. After God’s people had followed Moses for forty years in the wilderness Joshua led the people though the waters of the Jordan into the Promised Land. But in the time of John the Baptist people were returning though the Jordan to the wilderness. They were going the wrong way.

Whenever we are going the wrong way, doing those thing God does not want us to do, or not doing those things God insists on, we need to stop, change direction and go the other way. The people of God in the first century who were headed to John in the wilderness needed to stop, change direction and go back. This process of stopping, changing direction and going the other way is called “repentance”. God is calling on us to stop our sinful behavior, change direction and return to him.

Repentance always starts with confession. When we confess we truthfully admit to ourselves and to God that we have fallen short of God’s expectation. This is why we find ourselves on the way to the wilderness. Confession is what allows us to stop and change direction. It signifies our awareness that a problem exists and permits us to make the necessary changes. We realize that we are not living the lives God created us to live. This realization is necessary if we are to make real changes in our lives. So I invite you to confess your sins to God and ask for help in stopping, changing the direction of your life and returning to the Promised Land.

Whenever God hears our confession God responds with three gifts: forgiveness, direction and empowerment. Let’s look at each of these.

First, God provides us with the gift of forgiveness. God hears our confession and pardons us releasing us from deserved punishment, guilt and shame. All of our offences are purged from our history. All of our debts are paid in full. Whatever we are running from is removed and this allows us to return to where we were created to be, in the Promised Land.

The second gift that God provides is direction. In ancient times God provided Joshua who led the people though the waters of the Jordan River into the Promised Land. For us a new Joshua, or in Hebrew yeshua, or in English Jesus, has come to meet us where we are, in the wilderness, and lead us through the waters of baptism to the Promise Land. By following Jesus we know where we should go so we can repent: stop, change direction, and go to where we are suppose to go. We follow Jesus by following his example of living a sinless life and obeying his teaching to love God and to love our neighbors. When we do these things Jesus becomes the Lord of our lives. We decide to follow Jesus wherever he might lead us. And Jesus leads us though the waters of baptism to new life.

And the third gift that God provides us is empowerment. Without this gift our hope of repentance to new life would evaporate. Without empowerment how could we ever end addictions or reconcile relationships. Left alone we will continue to stumble in the wilderness of sin. But with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we are enabled to follow Jesus through the waters of baptism to new life of obedience to God in the Promised Land.

So this is what baptism is all about. It starts with a confession that we have fallen short of the expectations of God. This allows us to receive from God the gift of forgiveness which allows us to turn away from sin and head to new life. In baptism we realize that we need to follow Jesus to that new life, and that following Jesus requires a public declaration that Jesus is our Lord and savior. Once we make this declaration we then pass through the baptismal waters where we die to our old sinful lives and are resurrected to new life in Jesus Christ. And when we emerge from the baptismal waters we are empowered by the Hold Spirit who descends upon us to help us to live the lives of obedience that we were created to live.

So if you find yourself in the wilderness going the wrong way I urge you to stop, turn around and go the other way. Do this by confessing your sins to God who will forgive you and allow you to return to the Promised Land. Jesus will lead the way. And the Holy Spirit will empower you to make the changes that need to be made in your behavior. If you have not been baptized I urge you to do it. I will help you prepare for baptism in the New Members Class that begins today at 3PM. If you have been baptized then I urge you to remember you baptisms and the other baptisms you have seen, confess your sins, follow Jesus, and accepted the empowerment to new life from the Holy Spirit.

Dear Jesus, we have confessed our sins this day and are ready to repent. Lead us in the way of God and empower us with your Holy Spirit to lead the lives we were created to life. We pray all of this in your faithful name. Amen.