Baptised to be a New Creation

In the blink of an eye, a turn of the page, one Sunday to the next, we move from acknowledging the arrival of the magi and their kingly gifts for the baby, and turn to celebrating the Baptism and commissioning of Jesus as a mature and fully formed preacher, healer and saviour! (Baptism of our Lord. Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; and Matthew 3:13-17.) And the theme of disturbance that we explored last week continues this week. Last week we considered the disturbance that the light brings to those who have much to gain by the world staying the same. This week the power of the liberator is also disturbing – even to those who desire liberation! The same power that will restore sight, and bring release to those imprisoned, will also shake, strip bare and thunder.

Sentence:

“I am the Lord; I have called you … to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from their dungeon, from the prison those sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:6-7

Collect:

Gracious God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of your peoples,

We give you thanks and praise that you have given us your Beloved Son

to open our eyes, and lead us out of our prisons

and have declared a new and life giving season for us all.

We give you thanks that your mighty power to shake and strip all things bare is so that your new purposes can be made real in us and for us.

In the name of your Beloved Son and your Spirit we pray.

Amen.

Reflection:

In the blink of an eye, a turn of the page, one Sunday to the next, we move from acknowledging the arrival of the magi and their kingly gifts for the baby, and turn to celebrating the Baptism and commissioning of Jesus as a mature and fully formed preacher, healer and saviour!

You may wish to read my reflections from three years ago.

Baptism of our Lord

The theme of disturbance that we explored last week continues this week. Last week we considered the disturbance that the light brings to those who have much to gain by the world staying the same. This week the power of the liberator is also disturbing to those who desire liberation! The same power that will restore sight, and bring release to those imprisoned, will also shake, strip bare and thunder.

I am a timid soul in many ways, and I suspect not the only one, and I would prefer restoration and the establishment of a new thing to be gentle and soothing, delighting and encouraging – not whipping up a sand storm, stripping the trees bare, and thundering through the palaces and sacred places! I want to be able to see more clearly and to be led to freedom but gently with minimal upset! I long for the tenderness of a hospice worker rather than emergency medicine but our texts this week lead me to wonder if the prophets did not foresee something much more radical and wonderfully stirring and life erupting than soft confirmation of how things already were?!

Jesus being confirmed as the Beloved of God ruptured the sky and a voice boomed loud enough to echo down through the ages. While our saviour sometimes whispers tender words of forgiveness and healing, encouragement and visions of wonder, Jesus also comes with words and intentions - that if truly heard - bring the disturbance and thrill of new creations and possibilities (and the tearing down of the old and broken).

As people of faith it is not one thing or the other – there are moments of deep peace in which nothing is needed but presence. And there are times when we need to gird our loins and work toward the new creation with courage and daring. In our inner world the new often comes with the disruption of letting go of the old. Even leaving prison can be disconcerting when we have to leave the familiar behind!

As people of faith we are also being set free in order to set others free, to be a light to those still in darkness. We are both being saved ourselves and throwing a life line for those still in situations of imprisonment, injustice, poverty and hopelessness. It is not one thing or the other. A new world requires that all are set free and given sight.

And so recalling the Baptism of Jesus and his commissioning for ministry means to prepare for the new creation for ourselves and for all. Even so, come Lord Jesus the Christ, come disturb and heal, shake us up and set us free!

Intercessions:

Gracious God,

Creator of new worlds and restorer of old things,

open our blinded eyes that we might see your might and vulnerability

in all of creation, all creatures and all your precious peoples.

We hold in your holy and healing presence those places

in the world where there is destruction and despair –

where there is flood or drought, war and poverty, injustice and division.

We particularly pray for ….

We pray for the courage and imagination of world leaders

that we might share with justice and mercy the bounty of your earth.

Jesus, Redeemer of the world, light to Israel and the Gentiles,

Inspire and challenge us to bear your light

that all might know themselves loved, forgiven and healed.

We pray for all agents of care who bring compassion to others –

may they be kept safe and courageous.

We particularly pray for …

We pray for your disciples and those who proclaim your good news

in word and deed.

We particularly pray for …

Spirit that enlivens and sustains us,

We give you thanks that you are closer

than our own breath and always with us.

We pray that your Spirit will inspire us where we are tired and flagging,

that you will guide us where we are perplexed and anxious,

and that you will bind us together in ways

that our ideas and ideology seeks to divide us.

And in our prime and in our dying may we know ourselves at home

in you with all the precious ones.

Living God,

Creator, Redeemer of all, Spirit that Sustains,

We pray in the name of your Beloved Son, the Christ, who came among us for us. Amen.

This is my work informed by all that I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others.