A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL on Sunday, March 1, 2009
Genesis 9: 8 – 17; Psalm 25: 3 – 9; I Peter 3: 18 – 22; Mark 1: 9 – 13
As I looked at our three lectionary readings for today, the first thought that came into my mind was, “Water, water, everywhere!” True enough, all three readings, from Genesis, from First Peter, and from the Gospel according to Mark, all have to do with water: Noah’s passage through the Great Flood (Genesis), a look backward at the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection and its connection to our baptisms (First Peter), and the account of Jesus’ baptism (Mark).
But, lest I get ahead of myself, let’s be sure we have three principals in mind as we reflect on all of these readings this morning. The three principles, shared by all of today’s readings, are:
- Water passages, which serve as boundary markers,
- The covenant aspect of the passage through the waters,
- God’s acting and our response in faith.
Now, let’s look briefly at each of these aspects of the readings that are before us this morning:
Water passages: Water crossings are a key and recurring theme in Holy Scripture. Consider (in addition to the accounts of Noah and the Flood, and Jesus’ baptism) the crossing of the Red Sea as God’s people left Egypt on their way to the Promised Land and the crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land, for example.
In all cases, crossing over/through water forms a boundary, in which something is lost, but something greater is gained.
Moreover, with the water crossing, a new life begins as God enters into a new covenant with His people.
Now, with today’s reading from Genesis, we hear about the workings of God in saving Noah and his family as the waters of the Great Flood subsided. Two points are to be made with respect to the Flood (and to all water crossings): 1. God’s provision, made in advance of each passage, allowed a safe passage over/through the waters; and 2. A response in faith to God’s provision was necessary to allow a covenant to be established after the passage of the waters was complete.
In the case of Noah, we can see these two principles at work: God’s provision, made in advance, came in the form of God’s instructions to Noah that he was to build the ark. Recall with me that God’s instructions were complete down to the measurements of the ark and the method of construction. Then, Noah responds in faith, setting to work to create this enormous vessel which would be the means of God’s saving a remnant of people, for we read that Noah “found favor with God.” [1]
Likewise, God makes provision in advance for a safe passage through the waters in the baptism of Jesus Christ. Where Jesus has already led the way, we are able to follow. As surely as Jesus’ death leads to His resurrection, we are able to boldly and safely enter the waters of baptism. St. Peter, writing late in his life, reflects back on Jesus’ death and resurrection, and makes the same connection that St. Paul does in Romans, chapter six: entering the waters of baptism is to be “buried with Christ in His death,” [2]
Establishing a new covenant: God establishes a new covenant with Noah, and with us, once the passage through the waters is complete.
Notice that God establishes this new covenant with Noah, sealing it with the sign in the heavens, the rainbow, saying, “Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Likewise, Jesus’ entry into the waters of the Jordan River mark the beginning of His ministry among us, transforming Jesus from the carpenter He had been in the first 3o years of His life into the Messiah, the “Holy One of God.” [3] It is by this transformation that Jesus is able to establish a new covenant with us, and with everyone who enters the waters of baptism.
God’s acting, and our response in faith: Notice where the initiative and the power come from: from God!
It is God who takes action, telling Noah to build the ark, because the flood is coming.
It is God who takes action, sending Jesus to live among us as one of us, [4] living out by example an obedience to God the Father in His baptism, in His temptation, in His teachings, passion, death and resurrection.
But then we respond in faith: Noah set about building the ark, probably a highly unusual task, not to mention a monumental one. [5] Jesus entered the waters to be baptized by John, even though he had no sin for which to repent and be baptized. We, too, respond to God’s acting, entering boldly by faith the waters of baptism, sure that God will raise us up on the other side, just as He secured Noah’s passage, just as He ensured Jesus’ resurrection.
On final point is worth making: The possibility of going back to the former way of living was always there, for Noah, for Jesus, and for us.
Think about it: Noah could have re-established the same sort of wicked world that existed before the Flood. Jesus could have returned to working with wood in Nazareth. We can regress into our former lives before our baptisms.
But the water boundary, when combined with God’s prior action and our response in faith, mandates that we honor God’s acting, God’s plan, the evidence of God’s power to save, and our covenant relationship with Him, by not returning to the way things were.
Lent offers us a yearly passage, wherein we are offered a chance to renew our Baptismal Covenant. [6] Lent offers us the opportunity to recall God’s prior actions in our own lives, preserving us as we cross difficult and choppy seas that are part of this life. Lent offers us the opportunity to remember that there’s no returning to our former life, where we were separated in part - or in whole - from God.
For God has redeemed us by His own acting in the life, work, teaching, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his Son.
There is no going back.
We have only to realize that we will lose some more of our previous identity as we cross this threshold of Lent again and again, year after year, only to gain the great good blessings that God has in store as our covenant with Him is renewed.
“Water, water, everywhere!”
Thanks be to God, the God who comes before us, the God who provides the means of safe passage, the God who establishes and renews His covenant with His people, that we may lose that which He directs, in order that we may gain that which He desires: a holy people, created for relationship with Him.
AMEN.
[1] Genesis 6: 8.
[2] Romans 6: 3
[3] Mark 1: 27
[4] This point cannot be lost: Jesus’ coming among humankind as one of us is the great mystery of the Incarnation, and it is this understanding that marks Christianity off from all other systems of belief. Simply put, we could characterize the Incarnation thusly: “God cared enough to send the very best, Himself. Moreover, He came to take up our humanity in every respect, fully immersing Himself in our human experience.”
[5] The ark was about 450 feet long, for example.
[6] See the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, pages 304 – 305.
