| First
Reading | Epistle | Gospel |
| Isaiah
42:1-7 |
Acts
10:34-43 |
Matthew
3:13-17 |
I think Peter would have been a diehard football fan. He would have enjoyed sitting
down in front of the TV with a bowl of pop corn and bag of chips. I can imagine
him falling asleep on the couch and having a dream. In his dream the quarterback
drops back to throw a pass, he has plenty of time, and he lets go a perfect pass.
Then it seems as if the quarterback has another ball in his hand, and he throws
that too, and then another and another, the quarterback just keeps throwing, nearly
a dozen balls. The TV camera pans down field, and shows a receiver catching the
quarterback's pass, and running into the end zone. Then another receiver catches
the ball, and runs into the end zone, and then another and another. The ends,
the backs, even the linemen on the team catch a pass and all score touchdowns.
The referees are beside themselves. They keep pulling out their flags like Kleenex
out of a box, and frantically signal ineligible receiver down field. Yet it does
no good. The scoreboard keeps racking up the score. Finally the announcer says,
in God's arena, there are no ineligible receivers down field. All who catch the
Holy Spirit, are in bounds and in play, and their catch counts.
I think over the past few weeks, I've been exposed to more football games than
is healthy. So I will return to the Biblical script.
In the Gospel today Jesus' baptism becomes the blessing that authenticates Jesus'
ministry. Jesus begins his ministry after he is anointed by God, but God's blessing
doesn't stop when Jesus leaves the Jordan River. Through Jesus, God's blessing
is passed on and on to others.
The passage
read today from the Book of Acts is a small portion of one the most stirring stories
of the Bible. A Roman soldier named Cornelius and Peter were brought together
by the Holy Spirit. Cornelius is led to seek Peter and Peter is led to seek out
Cornelius. Both of them were shocked at the turn of events. Cornelius has had
some association with the local synagogue and grounding in Judaism. Peter had
to teach him about the Gospel. Here were two completely different people, and
together they learned that nationality and religion were not insurmountable barriers
to each others spiritual growth. It was after both were moved to seek and to be
open, that the Holy Spirit was given to Cornelius.
Peter learned something new. He had this incredible dream of being shown all the
animals of the earth and being told, these were all God's creation. He learned
that God's grace inevitably expands rather than contracts. Peter was not a scholar,
he was not widely traveled but he was remarkably accepting of wider truth. Peter
may have been impulsive and rash, but he always kept on learning, his mind was
never closed. Even after the resurrection, Peter understood that there was so
much more of the Gospel, that would be revealed to him and the disciples. For
the rest of their lives the disciples would continually modify, change, and deepen
their beliefs. This attitude of openness did not dilute or weaken their faith,
it built-up and strengthened it.
One
of the contagious qualities of early Christians is that they were not afraid of
being led towards large horizons. They didn't see fresh visions as a threat. In
one sense, this story in Acts is Peter at his best. It is Peter looking forward,
seeking the living Jesus rather than looking back at the past for security and
comfortable certitude. Whatever his faults, Peter, looked ahead, Peter was a person
who lived by faith.
On the day we read
of Jesus' baptism, it is good to be reminded that God isn't finished with us yet.
(I don't recommend you trying this simply as a spiritual exercise, but whenever
I climb a ladder, it goes far better for me when I keep my eyes focused on the
highest point I wish to reach, rather looking down and worrying about how far
I am from the ground.) God is in some way helping to expand our minds rather than
contract them. God has not stopped giving us gifts, or stopped tossing them out
far beyond our faith circle. If Peter, the rather plain, unimaginative fisherman,
can have one of the wildest dreams of the whole Bible, and understand it not as
a nightmare, but as a wonderful vision of things to come, so we too, can dream,
and understand the future and expansion of God's blessings as opportunity.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen
