John the Baptizer Sermon

8/9/2019 John the Baptizer Sermon

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John the Baptizer: Preparing for God's Just Liberation

[quietly, slowly] Prepare the way of the Lord!

Prepare the way of the Lord!

[a bit louder, still slow] John, the baptizer" #lothed with $a%el's hair" &atinggrasshoppers"nd wild honey"

Pro$lai%ing"Preparing"Ponti($ating"

)n the wilderness" )n the desert" )n a region populated by robbers" By brigands" Byterrorists" Politi$al outlaws" wilderness that bespea*s austerity" uthenti$ity" wilderness signifying both the people of )srael's re+e$tion of God's lo ing and

%ira$ulous *indness -. God's e er faithful deli eran$e or liberation" /he powers that be, na%ely 0erod, 0erod's $ourt and it's $onne$tion to 1o%e, arefearful of what happens when $rowds gather around a $haris%ati$ (gure in the

Judaean desert"

/i%e and again, Josephus reports, si%ilar (gures gathered together in the dustyand barren pla$es or in the hill $ountries"

nd before long %otley rebels assault the allian$e between 1o%e and Jerusale%" John the Baptizers' wilderness is e ery bit as politi$ally $harged and dangerous as

the $a es of /orra Bora, in the nether regions between fghanistan and Pa*istan" 22

3e are in 4ar* $hapter one"

3e are in the ti%e between the preparations of d ent and the Preparations of the Lenten season" 3e will generally be following the le$tionary %aterial throughthe Gospel of 4ar* in the $o%ing %onths"

4ar* begins his gospel, belie ed to be the (rst one written, by e5pli$itly referringto what he is up to as gospel,! so%ething none of the other three gospel writers

do in their opening words" /he beginning of the good news, or Gospel, of Jesus#hrist """

Gospel or glad tidings were generally asso$iated with the announ$e%ent of agreat %ilitary i$tory" Good news6 3e won6

'Prepare the way of the Lord, %a*e his paths straight,'

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John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness, pro$lai%ing a baptis% of repentan$e for the forgi eness of sins"!

4ar*'s style is spare and sudden" /he shortest of the Gospels" )t beginsi%%ediately w7 John the Baptizer and Jesus' baptis%" -o infan$y narrati e" -o

Jesus in the /e%ple" -o 8ights of philosophi$al theology as in the Gospel of John'sprologue"

John the baptizer appeared" )n the wilderness"

ppearing" 9uddenly" 9traightway" )%%ediately" /hese are the hall%ar*s of John4ar*'s style and are words that will be repeated often" /ransitions are abrupt"Be$ause repentan$e or $on ersion is de%anded now"

4ar* e%phasizes Jesus' su ering death" /his is the great se$ret" /hat God's%essiah $o%es not in splendor, but to be $ru$i(ed" 3here dis$iples or spirits

threaten to re eal this plain %an's true status, Jesus qui$*ly hushes the%,ordering that nothing be re ealed until after the 1esurre$tion" 4ar*'s gospel is,a$$ording to this style and others, apo$alypti$" /he ti%es are $hangin'" /hehea ens do not %erely part, in our passage this %orning" 1ather they are tornopen, as in the boo* of 1e elation"

nd +ust as Jesus was $o%ing up out of the water, he saw the hea ens /;1-apart and the 9pirit des$ending li*e a do e on hi%"!

4ar*'s Gospel ends with a word that appears %ultiple ti%es in throughout thisGospel" /&11;1"

9o they went out and 8ed fro% the to%b, for /&11;1 and a%aze%ent hadseized the%< and they said nothing to anyone for they were =1 )."!

=ro% our prologue here with the e er strange John the Baptist to those $losingerses, 4ar*'s Jesus is on a %ission to $hange people's entire way of being" John

the Baptizer $alls not %erely for a $hange of %ind or heart, but repentan$e" radi$al $hange of lifestyle" 4etanoia" $hange that begins in the heart and withdeeds of righteousness but that is so thoroughgoing that it $an only truly be a$tedout by a $o%plete i%%ersion of one's body in $leansing water" nd, with the$o%ing of Jesus, by the presen$e of a new, di ine, rushing, ho ering 9pirit"

P1&P 1& /0& 3 > ;= /0& L;1.!

??

[quietly again] ) a% so%eti%es $alled a prophet by other people"

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) a% not so sure"#ertainly not in the sense of foretelling the future" ) a% terrible at predi$tions"

But perhaps %ore so a$$ording to the li%ited way of thin*ing of prophets aswilling to spea* truth to power" 3hen John the Baptizer is as*ed in the Gospel of

John whether he is a prophet, e en the @ nd $o%ing of &li+ah, he plainly says no"

)nstead he insists that he is the one foretold by the prophet )saiah, as in erses @?A as read this %orning" 9ee, ) a% sending %y %essenger ahead of you, who willprepare your way< the oi$e of one $rying out in the wilderness:

Prepare the 3ay of the Lord"!

??

But what does it %ean Prepare the 3ay of the Lord! 3hat did it %ean for Johnthe Baptizer's audien$e =or the initial readers of the Gospel of 4ar* 3hat does

it %ean for us, at Li ing 3ater" )n #hi$agoPerhaps we %ight start so%ewhere between all those questions" 3hat %ight itha e %eant to the writer of the Gospel of 4ar* hi%self ) want to start there for anu%ber of reasons"

/o begin, ) was stru$* this wee* by a boo*, +ust a few years old now, entitled /hefri$an 4e%ory of 4ar*: 1eassessing &arly #hur$h /radition"

=or eighteen $enturies or so, it was si%ply widely a$$epted in the #hur$h that4ar* was an fri$an Gospel, written by a Jewish %an whose fa%ily had li ed,

perhaps e en for $enturies in the diaspora, in the hills of Libya, in -orthern fri$a"#hur$h tradition tells us that John 4ar* was fro% a Le ite fa%ily in #yrene, that hetra eled widely with Paul and Barnabas, was related to 9t" Peter as well asBarnabas, and that he e entually settled in le5andria in &gypt"

nd further%ore, that he is the patron saint of fri$an #hristianity"

Ger%an Bibli$al s$holarship in the nineteenth $entury be$a%e rather dis%issi e of this iew, often for ery ra$ist reasons" /he s$holar /ho%as ;den has re$o ered%any of those traditions about John 4ar* and persuasi ely %a*es the $ase that$hur$h tradition is essentially $orre$t" /hat 4ar* is an fri$an gospel, by an

fri$an Jewish #hristian" nd that we will do well to iew the Gospel and its%eaning through that lense"

4ar*'s fa%ily would ha e %o ed to Libya during ti%es of great perse$ution of Jews by alternating for$es fro% 9yria, 1o%e, and &gypt" /he long ter% settle%entof a Jewish?1o%an allian$e in the 0erodian dynasty for o er a $entury would notha e sat well with John 4ar* or his fa%ily"

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-o %ore so than it did for a ast nu%ber of iolent and non? iolent re olutionariesand regular old people of the land of )srael"

People who ery often, li*e Jesus' %other 4ary, e5pressed in song and in writing alonging, for a deli erer, for a great %essiah who would return )srael to its rightful

pla$e where worship of God and politi$al $ontrol of the land were $entred in Jerusale%, on the /e%ple 4ount, free fro% foreign interferen$e"

s suggested already, %any powerful (gures gathered dis$iples, gathered for$es,really, in the hot dry desert regions, the forests, the %ountains """ /0&3)L.&1-&99"

-ow, there is a great deal of debate as to whether John the Baptizer had anyrelationship at all with the &ssenes or the $o%%unity that produ$ed the .ead 9ea9$rolls" /he &ssenes and7or the .ead 9ea 9$roll #o%%unity also gatheredtogether in the $rags and in the tu$*ed away pla$es in the deserts and %ountains"

4u$h li*e John, they prea$hed a %essage of holiness, of preparation, a $leansingof the heart through $leansing of the body" /he .ead 9ea 9$roll #o%%unity had anu%ber of baptis%als or ritual bathing pla$es whi$h were $entral to theunderstanding of purity within the $o%%unity"

nd while John the Baptizers %essage di ered quite %ar*edly fro% the .ead 9ea9$roll $o%%unity's in ery i%portant ways, the .ead 9ea 9$roll $o%%unity drewhea ily fro% )saiah's ision of renewed purity and holiness before God, aspreparatory for politi$al renewal"


)t has long been noted that our passage in 4ar*, for the %orning, quotes fro%)saiah $hapter CD erse A" oi$e $ries out: )n the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, %a*e straight in the desert a highway for our God"! /hese passages andthe following erse ha e re%ained politi$ally potent generation after generation"

) though for a bit about playing for you one of %any 4artin Luther Eing Jr"spee$hes or ser%ons where he fa%ously quotes the following erse in )saiah CD"Ferse C: & ery alley shall be lifted up, and e ery %ountain and hill be %adelow"!

/he .ead 9ea 9$roll $o%%unity, in parti$ular, e%phasized the 30&1& of thepreparation" /he land itself needed to be $leansed in preparation" Prepare in thewilderness the way of the Lord,! is how a $ertain .ead 9ea 9$roll translated thispassage"

)n fa$t, as another boo* ) $onsulted this wee* puts it, the Gospel of 4ar* is

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stru$tured as a way to re?present )saiah's ision of a -ew &5odus" new liberationthat would allow e5iles in &gypt and beyond to return to the land of )srael and$lai% rightful ownership o er it"

)n this sense, it is worth noting that John the Baptizer, in the Gospel of 4ar*,e$hoes not only the )saiah passage, but wea es it together with lines lifted fro%

&5odus $hapter @A and 4ala$hi $hapter A"4ar* $hapter : 9ee ) a% sending %y %essenger ahead of you who will prepareyour way"! &5odus @A:@D: ) a% going to send you an angel [or %essenger] infront of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the pla$e that ) ha eprepared"!

)n other words, the words we ha e before us this %orning resonate deeplythroughout God's sal ation or liberation history with the people of )srael"

?)n &5odus, as the $hildren of )srael depart &gypt and head for the pro%ise land, in

the days before betrayal and wandering in the wilderness"?)n )saiah, as God's people languish in $apti ity in Babylon, longing for a new dayand a new start in the land of )srael"? nd yet again in 4ala$hi $hapter A: 9ee, ) a% sending %y %essenger to preparethe way before %e, and the Lord who% you see* will 9uddenly $o%e into histe%ple" /he %essenger of the $o enant in who% you delight H indeed, he is$o%ing, says the Lord of hosts"

By this point, a return fro% e5ile has been a$$o%plished, but all is still not right"4ala$hi $loses out our ;ld /esta%ent with a longing for so%eone who will rule inthe land with righteousness and +usti$e" /he 4essiah"

nd so this %orning, John Baptizes Jesus in the 1i er Jordan, and the 9piritdes$ends """ all after John has de$lared that he is not worthy e en to la$e thesandals on Jesus' feet"


John will e entually be e5e$uted for spea*ing truth to power, or, as Josephus tellsus, be$ause 0erod feared that his dis$iples and he $ould o erturn the politi$alorder"

??

9o what of this Baptis% John prea$hed

0ow does John's Baptis% square with an nabaptist or belie ers $hur$h insisten$ethat you %ust follow Jesus in your heart (rst, not as a way of $leansingpreparation, but as an outward sign of surrender to the 3ay of Jesus

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) grew up as a Baptist, not an nabaptist, but these little phrases here in 4ar* :C,and also in $ts $hapter @, ha e always %eant a bit of theologi$al ner ousness:what does pro$lai%ing a baptis% of repentan$e for the forgi eness of sins!suggest )s baptis% itself what $leanses us and %a*es us right before God

/o shift gears slightly and to let a question hang in the air, $hur$h people ha eery often understood Baptis% as so%ething basi$ally $o%pletely new in the -ew /esta%ent" John's i%%ersion is, indeed, as a $o%%entator ) read this wee* put it,

so%ething no el and e5traordinary! in )srael's sal ation history, but also$o%prehensible Bibli$ally"! )%%ersion, in fa$t e en i%%ersion in li ing water,!goes ba$* to the heart of the /orah itself as a way of re%o ing un$leanness"

3e often thin* of i%purity or un$leanness in the ;ld /esta%ent as a *ind of yu$*y,$rude proto?understanding of sinfulness"

)n fa$t, e5isting in a state of un$leanness was fairly nor%al and a$$eptable" 9in

and un$leanness are not synony%ous" s one of %y profoundly respe$tedprofessors put it in a $lass on$e, %ost Jews were un$lean %ost of the ti%e in Jesus' day" part fro% the priesthood, %ost Jews only thought of the%sel es asneeding to be ritually $lean when they brought their sa$ri($e to the te%ple on$eor twi$e a year, on pilgri%age"

Bodily $leanness was required only at ery unique ti%es when one purposelyapproa$hed that whi$h was %ost 0oly and .i ine"

/he &ssenes or the .ead 9ea 9$roll $o%%unity see%s to ha e set itself apart as a$o%%unity by uniquely atte%pting to be $o%pletely ritually pure, at basi$ally all

ti%es, in preparation for a $o%ing liberator" /his required $onstant bathing,ablution, washing, i%%ersion, or baptis%"

John the Baptizer's baptis%, %eanwhile, is a one ti%e e ent, so%ething thato$$urs as part of a radi$al life $hange, a reorienting of the entire person awayfro% a life of unholiness, toward God, and in his day, a renewed relationship with

/orah"

/here's a $urious little episode in $ts I where a unique bran$h of dis$iples of Jesus, also followers of John the Baptizer, en$ounter Paul and the %ain $hur$hleaders of the day" /hey ha e apparently not been pri y to the e ents of

Pente$ost and *now nothing of Baptis%'s $onne$tion to the 0oly 9pirit"

[ 9/;-)90&.] )nto what then were you baptized ! as*s the postle Paul withgreat astonish%ent" )nto John's baptis%"! &lsewhere Paul spea*s as well of a

baptis% into 4oses"! 0ere, Paul gi es the followers of John and Jesus a se$ondbaptis%, an anabaptis% if you will" baptis% into the na%e of Jesus! to re$ei ealso the 0oly 9pirit"

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=or the $hur$h, this %o%ent at the outset of 4ar* is of tre%endous i%port" Jesusis Baptized as an adult, uniting his wor* with the wor* of the 0oly 9pirit andlaun$hing his publi$ %inistry"

=or a good long ti%e now, as already dis$ussed this %orning, the 0ebrew people

in Judea and in the far 8ung diaspora beyond Judaea, longed for the end of theage that was, for a new beginning, for a new reign of .a id in Jerusale%"

#riti$al in that ision was a reinfusion of )srael with God's 9pirit"

3e dis$ussed 4ar*'s po$alypti$ language already, the signal of a politi$al andhistori$al o erturning in progress, """ John dressed as &li+ah, the wilderness,hea en torn open, and now here the 9pirit arri es, whirring, rushing, as a iolentwind, but ho ering pea$eably, li*e a do e, anointing Jesus, and a$$o%panied by a

oi$e, >ou are %y son, the Belo ed: ) a% pleased with you"!

ll of this now re$alls another s$ene fro% )srael's s$ripture: .aniel by the ri er inBabylon" /here is water there, of $ourse, and the ngel or %essenger Gabrielarri es in swift 8ight" nd there is 3isdo% and a ision i%%ediately after the%essenger announ$es:

you are greatly belo ed"!

=ro% the ery (rst pages of 9$ripture, the 9pirit and 3ater, 3isdo% itself, ndbelo edness, are un%ista*ably =e%inine instantiations of God"

/he 0ebrew fe%inine noun 1ua$h or 9pirit ho ers o er the pri%ordial waters of

$reation in Genesis $hapter "

9he swoops"

nd she ho ers"

9he gi es birth boldly, wonderfully, e5pansi ely to new life, new understanding,and to entire new politi$al orders" -ew orders that arri e on the wings of waterswhi$h dra%ati$ally 8ood away old, $orrupt orders" Baptis% in the 3ater of the9pirit and baptis% by (re are indistinguishable"

) *now that ) ha e perhaps o erwhel%ed so%e this %orning with %aterial %orea*in to a hea y le$ture" ) want to draw so%e strands together now and then as*what all of this %eans for our understanding of the opening erses of 4ar*" ;f baptis%, repentan$e, and %ost of all what it %eans for us to

Prepare the way of the Lord"!

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??

) spo*e earlier a bit about )saiah's -ew &5odus as a the%ati$ in the boo* of 4ar*"

Politi$al i$tory in this ision required?repentan$e,

?obedien$e,?a new relationship to the land itself?and a new understanding of ritual washing"

=or intertesta%ental people $o%%itted to )saiah's -ew &5odus, a negati eresponse to the %essenger or forerunner's ision of a -ew &5odus by leaders andthe people would %ean a $urse on the land"

4eanwhile, we see that ti%e after ti%e, a reinterpretation of baptis% ori%%ersion has been seen as radi$al, politi$ally dangerous" Kpsetting to those )n#harge"

?/he &ssenes reinterpretation of baptis% was at the heart of a new, set apart$o%%unity that was e entually destroyed by 1o%e at the $ul%ination of theGreat Jewish war around D "."?John's baptis% gathered a $o%%unity so o ensi e in its willingness to spea* thetruth that he was i%prisoned, then beheaded by the grandson of 0erod the Great"?Jesus' Baptis% laun$hed a publi$ %inistry that three years later saw hi%$ru$i(ed"?Baptis% into the -a%e of Jesus in the (rst $enturies of the $hur$h lead to $on8i$twith other for%s of Judais% and, to a %u$h greater e5tent, with the 1o%ane%pire"

?1e?baptis% be$a%e a highly politi$ally $harged question as the 1o%an &%piretransitioned fro% pagan to ostensibly #hristian"?#enturies later, nabaptists su$h as &lizabeth, Balthasar, 4enno, and Pilgra%upended the assu%ption of a s%ooth plane between #hristianity and &uropean$itizenship with our re+e$tion of infant baptis%"

??



) ha e no new radi$al re? ision of baptis% to un eil this %orning" )t is often saidthat propheti$ words should $o%fort the aMi$ted and aMi$t the $o%fortable" )n%y iew, Li ing 3ater and the wider 1eba #o%%unity are neither aMi$ted nor$o%fortable" /here is a great stability here, born of nearly ND years of e5perientialtrial and error and, abo e all, of great faithfulness"

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>et the Li ing 3ater $ontinues to ta*e new ris*s" ) was e5traordinarily proud of thediO$ult (rst step, and ) do hope it is only the (rst step, in wal*ing out of this$hur$h and into the interse$tion to pro$lai% that Bla$* Li es 4atter here"

3hen Jodie and ) $onsider what it %eans to prea$h a radi$al ser%on in -orth%eri$a, we ery often dis$uss how to $hallenge $hur$hes to ta*e Jesus tea$hing

to the ri$h young ruler literally: sell all that you ha e and gi e to the poor and youshall ha e eternal life"

-ot e eryone here for understandable reasons, but %any, we *now here and at1eba pla$e, do share abundantly, e en all, in a $o%%on purse, in dedi$ation toli ing si%ply so that out of your abundan$e, others %ay be drawn into new,powerful relationship with God and God's $hur$h"

-e ertheless, ) want to end with a si%ple but ery hard question this %orning" hard question perhaps %ost of all for those who ha e been here the longest andare the %ost dedi$ated"

question that $a%e up in ery tough ways for the #hur$h in and around 9t"=ran$is' day regards not +ust the wealth of indi iduals, but wealth for the $hur$hitself" >es, indi idual #hristians are $alled to gi e all, but should the $hur$h itself be poor ! it was as*ed" )t was soon dis$o ered that indi idual austerity $ouldgreatly enri$h the #hur$h as an institution"

%inor the%e that ) ha e pursued throughout this ser%on is the relationshipbetween preparation, repentan$e, our baptis% in #hrist """ -. the ery landitself" 3hose land is it 3ho should rule in the land 3hat new relationship arewe to prepare for between the land and God's %essiah 3hat does our ery

substantial property holding as 4ennonites in and around #hi$agoland %ean

=or %any of us in -orth %eri$a, the $onquest of this land we li e on is so%e fardistant in+usti$e" )t's so%ewhere in the past" 3e really ha e no way of rightingthat wrong"

But is it really so distant

/his question stru$* ho%e for %e as a street pastor in /oronto where one of %y$losest pastoral relationships was with an )nuit %an" n )nuit %an na%ed9i%eonee who li ed on the land, slept in an )gloo in winters until he was si5 years

old" t that point, the #anadian go ern%ent destroyed his fa%ily's pa$* of hus*ies on the preten$e of health regulation" /his dro e the% o the land and intosuburban housing where a *it$hen (re soon landed 9i%eonee in hospital in4ontreal for nearly a year"

/he ad ent of a new and atro$ious politi$al order, of e+e$tion fro% the land is stilla ery li ing %e%ory for %any of our %ost out$ast neighbours here in -orth

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%eri$a" =or people li*e %y friend 9i%eonee and his large fa%ily, this li ing%e%ory is e en %ore present and realisti$ than for others"

) do not wish to belabour the point, nor to di$tate the out$o%e of this line of questioning"

But what would +usti$e in the land of #hi$ago and & anston loo* li*e for Li ing3ater and 1eba Pla$e with respe$t to land

3hat would it loo* li*e to repent of our people's sins /o ena$t +usti$e and preparefor a -ew &5odus

&5odus has long been the te%plate for bla$* resistan$e in -orth %eri$a" 3hatwould we do if we were to ta*e seriously a renewal of land +usti$e for our -ati e

%eri$an or =irst -ation tribal neighbours

??

[Long pause """ F&1> L;-G]Prepare the way of the Lord"!Prepare the way of the Lord"!nd as John the Baptist $ontinues a$$ording to the Gospel of Lu*e """Prepare the way of the lord"nd all people shall see the sal ation of our God"!

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John the Baptizer Sermon