Rector's Sermon
26 February 2012

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Genesis 9:8–17	Psalm 25:1–6	Peter 3:18–22	Mark 1:9–15

       An old proverb that variously has been attributed across different cultures and centuries goes, “Do not limit your children to your own learning, for they have been born in a different age.” The ancient Biblical story of Noah is meant to mark the transition into a new age, where the old learning does not apply anymore. Heretofore, most ancient peoples had a myth, based on a long remembered ancestral memory, of an overwhelming flood that practically destroyed civilization as they knew it. It was something so destructive that it was logical to assume that it was the gods who were angry and who were responsible for sending this catastrophic event. The Bible editors knew it would be futile to attempt to change past myths. Rather they took a story shared by many of the ancient surrounding peoples in the Middle East and weaved into it the prologue of a new era. Noah and his family lived through the great flood. They are the survivors from the previous time of catastrophe. They learn that the vagaries of nature are no longer acts of a divine force or attributable to God’s displeasure. That is past. God is now to be understood as wishing humanity well. To be sure floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and draught may occur, but those things are now to be understood as acts of nature, not acts of God.

       Noah was not the founder of a great nation, as those heroes in Greek or Roman mythology. Rather Noah was the one who understood that all living things were somehow connected. Hence he gathered into the ark, a pair of all the animals, and once the flood had passed, released them so that all life could begin again. Noah has become the symbol for the one who first recognized that if humanity were to survive on this earth, it wouldn’t be because we have appeased the gods from using nature as a weapon against us. It will be because we have recognized that all living things are somehow connected to one another, and that going forward, all of humanity is at their very being, related to one another. Noah was a pivotal figure in Bible because he showed all of humanity who would come after him, the courageous example to begin again, even after the threat of annihilation, and the wisdom to know that we must begin and live together as a family, connected to one another.

       The story of Jesus’ baptism is read at Epiphany, for like the story of the magi who discovered Jesus in Bethlehem, it reveals to the larger world whom Jesus really is. It is read also on the first Sunday in Lent, as we begin to mark Jesus’ final days as he and his disciples and followers make their way to that last week in Jerusalem. In Jesus’ baptism, his mission is confirmed and validated by God.  In the forty days of temptation that follow, Jesus realizes that his future will not be without conflict and challenge. A life of purpose and integrity inevitably brings trials. Then Jesus begins proclaiming good news, news that the time is fulfilled: repent, turn, change, a new era is upon you! Jesus, like Noah, announces and leads people into a new age. Jesus will make clear that we are all neighbors to each other, that God’s heart has no boundaries and recognizes no barriers. In Christ there are none of those things that we like to use to divide and box in people; in Christ the whole human family is reconnected to one another again.

       Baptism is for our benefit, not God’s.  God does not need to be reminded that we are called to be a member of God’s family and to treat others so, too. We are the ones who need to make the connections and to teach our children that we are sisters and brothers to one another. Baptism becomes our sign that we are all called to a lifetime of making connections. Our families have the potential to yield wonderful occasions of joy. Our careers may have promise to be very satisfying and fulfilling. Our neighbors may be discovered to be the salt of the earth. Church fellowship can be very supportive and caring. None of them are perfect. They may involve relationships that disappoint, hurt, and let us down. Nevertheless, baptism reminds us that in our relationships we are to seek and serve Christ in all persons, strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.  Indeed it is difficult and we constantly need God’s help. Yet we are also assured that we can always begin again. We are inevitably leading those we love and we are being lead by those who love us into a new era, an era that somehow encompasses all creation, an era Jesus blesses with his support and presence. 

       We welcome Owen into the world with all gifts and joy in its wonders. In the spring of 1982, I baptized Owen’s father Andrew and his uncle Alan.  It never crossed my imagination that some thirty years later I would be baptizing another generation. I tried to find what I said back then, but it has long since been lost and gone forever. That’s OK. No one swims in waters of the same river twice and no one splashes in the same baptismal water more than once either. Today begins a new era for you Owen, for Melissa your mother, and Andrew your father. Some thirty years from now you may be standing before a baptismal font again. Remember, Owen, you, too, will be entering a new age.

       And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.