Pastor Paul E. Hoffman

The Second Sunday after Epiphany 
Texts: Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-11, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, and John 1:29-42

Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What are you looking for?

It is a common occurrence  in our Seattle home for me to be standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open and my wife to be asking, “What are you looking for?”

More often than not, my response will be something like, “I’m not sure, but I’ll know it when I see it.”

It is not unusual for this play to have a second act, when the fridge has been frustratingly slammed shut and I find myself now standing in front of the pantry.

I don’t think this is an uncommon scenario. Whether it’s played out grazing in the kitchen, clicking through channels and live streams on TV, surfing on the Internet, scrolling through FaceBook or other social media, we seem to be always on the prowl. At least I do. I am looking for something.  I’m not sure what.

Jesus wastes no time as his ministry begins in John’s Gospel to zero in.  What are you looking for? As a matter of fact, these are the first words he speaks in John’s account. Christ wants to know our hunger. Christ longs to slake our thirsts. Christ is eternally interested in us. Beloved ones: what are you looking for?

Flummoxed, as we might be, the disciples answer Jesus’ question with a question. And at first, “where are you staying?” might seem shallow, even a sort of stalling tactic, perhaps. But they are not asking for a street address and zip code, but rather a declaration of identity. Who ARE you, Jesus? What makes you tick? If I choose to lay down the remote, or close the refrigerator door, or stop googling through endless pages, what might I expect to find in YOU?

Come and see. What are you looking for? Come and see

There can be no mistaking that John is laying the foundation in this opening chapter that sets up his Gospel as the story of the New Creation. From “in the beginning was the Word” in the sweeping prologue to this seven-day intro to the spirit blowing over the wedding waters about to become wine as chapter 2 opens, Jesus is identified as the one who will make all things new. By Gospel’s end, and in the most unexpected means, by his own crucifixion, he will seal it, just as the first creation was sealed: “It is finished.”

Into our Gospel journey, this path through noise and silence, this way of daily give and take, Jesus invites those who are looking. “Come and see” Jesus says to the first ones gathered around him, and he says it to us in our looking.  Here.  Today. “Come and see.”

Come and see. Come and taste new wine, join the ranks of those born again, quench your thirst with living water, catch a glimpse and promise of one you love be raised from the stench of the grave, know that this Lamb of God is the one, the only one, who can truly, eternally satisfy you, and goes ahead to prepare a place for you.

But know also that the winding path we make with Jesus, with those who also make the pilgrimage and sojourn by his side, will end up at the foot of the cross.  Even today – even this very day! – you will come to the foot of the cross to feast on a body that is broken, a cup that is poured out. For it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

From the get-go, Jesus knew that this would be a journey we could never make alone. And so, by the grace of God we are washed together in the same waters, fed and nourished on the same loaf, drinking from the one cup. Look around you. These are the ones with whom Christ calls each of us to be a light to the nations. These are the ones Christ calls each of us to work tirelessly with for peace and justice for every single child God has created.

It is too light a thing that we would do this for ourselves only. We are called to work together to bring this love story to the ends of the earth. It is mighty, holy work, and the Divine, Eternal Lover will sustain us every step of our way into the New Creation.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Pastor Paul E. Hoffman

The Baptism of Our Lord, Year A
Texts: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 3:13-17 

Beloved in Christ, grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Luther so beautifully teaches us, baptism is not water only, but water used according to God’s command, and connected with God’s Word

And with equal beauty and power, Matthew sets out the story of Jesus’ life lived in love for others with that connection of water and Word, in the River Jordan, at the hand of John.

Do you see this powerful intersection of those immeasurable gifts in this story? Water and Word. As Jesus come UP from the water, the Word comes down from heaven.

It is not an unusual pair for our Creator to pull from the Goldy toolbox…

Crashing waters/paired with the thundering Word at Creation
Flooding waters/paired with Noah’s obedience to the Word
Parting waters/paired with the Word at the parting Red Sea
The waters of birth, bringing the Living Word into our own flesh
Cleansing waters/paired with the Word at the Jordan
Purifying waters at the Word of Christ turned to life-giving wine
Healing water, with the spoken word of Jesus, saying to
the Samaritan woman, “I see you…”
By no means the last example, saving waters flowing from the
pierced side of the Crucified, Incarnate Word.

Wasn’t it Coleridge who said,
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink?

And therein lies our problem. There is water everywhere in our sacred Scriptures. There is likewise never a paucity of the Word. With beauty and power our forebears, St. Matthew, Luther, and a host of saints more recent implore us to dive in to this soothing grace of God in Christ for us. And yet we choose instead that which does not satisfy. The very next line in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner summarizes our self-inflicted plight: The very deep did rot, O Christ/that ever this should be.

Just so, our Creator’s heart breaks as we turn away from these precious, life-giving gifts: Water and Word. Water and Word. Water and Word.

It is not for his own washing and regeneration that Christ comes John at the Jordan. Maximus of Turin, preaching in the 5th Century makes that clear for us. Listen to what he says:
It was not so that Jesus would be made holy by the water, but that the water by Jesus would be made holy.

When those cleansing waters closed around the one foretold, they are not doing so to get Jesus all shined up and ready for his own human walk of daily dying and rising. They are instead to join the waters of the world with the Word and begin the initiation of God’s New Creation. This baptism of his is the beginning of our baptismal hope.

All water for all time. The water running over the body of Jesus, then down the Jordan, into the ocean, evaporated back up into the clouds, watering the earth, flowing in the oceans, creeks, rivers, and sounds. And eventually out of our faucets and quenching, washing us. The water in which we are immersed is immersed with Jesus. The water with which you were sprinkled just today, is water that was sprinkled from John’s hand over the head, the hands, the feet of Jesus. It is holy water. Holy, holy water.

In nothing less than an act of pure, unmitigated, love and grace, God surrounds us with that holy, holy water as a daily reminder. 60% of our bodies – water. 71% of our bodies – water. 85% of a bottle of wine – water. We come into this life in a rush of water, and loving, tender hands wash us with it at our life’s end.

Because of Jesus’ immersion, not water only, but water connected with God’s Word follows us everywhere. Even when our own following fumbles, or flounders or just plain fails. No richer grace than our God’s so mercifully tends us.

On our worst days, when we are as a broken reed, God will not break us. When the wick is burning dimly, God will water us anew, rather than snuff us out.

The water. And the Word. The same water and Word who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from him. That same water, that same Word is with us. Is with you. Given for you. Shed for you. Rejoice and be glad. Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.