Scripture Text:
Genesis 1:1-5
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
Sermon:
“No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
Ouch. What a thing to have to hear from a set of fresh new disciples. Saint Paul is on one of his many journeys, founding new churches and strengthening others, and here he meets these folks who’ve apparently been converted to the brand-new way, which is so new it isn’t even called “Christianity” yet. And they were converted by Apollos, who had been through a few weeks before. And Apollos was a good guy, and he was sure trying, but didn’t quite get the whole picture. So these first Christians in Ephesus end up not knowing about the Holy Spirit and even being baptized without it
Good thing Paul showed up- because they sure got it once he did. With the touch of Paul’s hands, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
But it doesn’t end there- because here we are centuries later, and while we’ve all heard of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit is the one we’re still a little shaky on. God the Father, sure, created the universe, is the foundation of all existence, called Israel to be his own people, yep, we all have that pretty much taken care of. God the Son, Jesus Christ, yes- was born, taught and healed, died and rose from the grave, you betcha. But the Holy Spirit- most folks do not have a clear sense of what the Holy Spirit has done for them lately.
So let’s take things in chronological order. Let’s start at the very beginning- and conveniently, our first reading takes us right there. Genesis Chapter One, verses one through five. Can’t get more “very beginning” than that. Over the chaos of the formless void, with darkness covering the waters, a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. That wind that was the Holy Spirit hovering. It was the same wind that rushed into the upper room on Pentecost- the breath of God that sets God’s will in motion. Before the Word was active, before God said “Let there be light,” the Spirit of God was moving.
Now let’s move forward to the Baptism of Jesus Christ- the scene of our Gospel reading today. Saint John the Baptist is preaching in the wilderness, and proclaiming that people should repent and be baptized. They go to him, they confess their sins, and John baptizes them. But he tells them to wait- to wait for the next step- the coming of Jesus, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. And sure enough, when Jesus himself comes to be baptized, the Holy Spirit shows up, tearing a hole through the sky, resting upon Jesus, with the voice of God- you are mine, my beloved; with you I am well pleased. The scriptures do not record how John the Baptist felt about it, but I know he had never seen anything quite like it.
Finally we come to Saint Paul and these hapless Ephesians who have never heard of the Holy Spirit. Remember- they were baptized by Apollos, and only in the baptism of John. So like John, Apollos was preaching that people should repent of their sins and be washed with water, being spiritually cleansed and ready for a new start. Now that sounds like a pretty good idea, but it falls short of what Baptism became when the Spirit came upon Jesus- it falls short of the fullness of what God now does in Baptism.
When we baptize people, we expect of adults that they have repented of their sins, and we expect of children and infants that their parents and the whole church will bring them up to be regularly repentant- to return to the Lord whenever they fall into sin. But this is not all. To stop here is to reduce the life of faith to following rules and saying you’re sorry when you don’t. And that’s so important- but it’s not the whole picture. Not by a long shot.
There’s a prayer in the Baptismal rite- it comes after the water has been poured, when the new Christian is anointed with the sacred oil of Chrism. It goes like this: “Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit, you have bestowed on these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace.” So far, so good. But there’s more: “Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.”
This prayer makes it clear- the life of a Christian is so much more than following the rules and saying you’re sorry when you don’t. As baptized people, the Spirit is upon us, just as it was upon Christ at his baptism. As baptized people, we are God’s beloved children, and God is well pleased with us. As baptized people, the Holy Spirit enables us and compels us to ask questions, to work out the spiritual challenges of our lives, to stick to the faith we have claimed, to experience the presence of God, and to enjoy the bounty of the world God has made.
The difference between repentance and the fullness of life in the Spirit is this- we can repent all by ourselves. We can realize we’ve fallen short, and make an apology to God and a promise to amend our lives, all by ourselves- it can be a one-on-one private thing between one person and his or her God. But then we are left alone again, all by ourselves.
But in the Spirit, we don’t have that option. In the Spirit, we are bound together into something greater- in the Spirit we become the Church. And being bound together, we can go much farther. The things the Spirit empowers us for- the questioning, the discernment, the perseverance, the knowledge of God, and the joy and wonder- those things only come to their fullness in community. It is when we come together that the Spirit’s power shakes the Church of God, and we are brought into harmony with God and with each other. None of this happens fully when we are left alone by ourselves.
After the Spirit came on Jesus, he began his ministry to the people of Judea- preaching, teaching, and healing the sick. After the Spirit came on the Disciples at Pentecost, they, too, began their ministry, carrying the good news of Jesus to all kinds of people in all kinds of places. And since the Spirit has come upon us, we, too, have the same ministry- we bear witness to Christ in every place we go, and we take our place in the worship, the life, the ministry and the governance of the church.
We’ve begun a new year. In two weeks we’ll meet as a parish to elect new Vestry leaders, and to preview what’s in store this year. In the course of the coming year, we’re going to be planning for change and growth at Saint Peter’s, guided by the findings of the Church Assessment Tool. And by God’s grace, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will grow this year and in the year to come in discerning and enacting our ministries- and we’re going to do it together. So let us pray this day and every day for the continual strengthening of the Holy Spirit in our own lives and in the life of our parish- that we may be empowered to grow into the full stature of Christ, and manifest the love and power of God.