Matthew 3:13-17 NRSVUE

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 

15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 

16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Last week we were reading the passage right before this, that introduces John the Baptist, a passage we usually read before Christmas, even though it happens at the beginning of Jesus’ adult ministry and here in verse 13 Jesus enters the chat.

John is out offering a traditional Jewish ritual bath in the water of the Jordan – a mikvah – a ritual of spiritual and physical cleansing and transition.  And John is being John, saying the kind of things that got him beheaded by Herod, son of Herod.  Calling out the brood of vipers who had taken over the government of Judea and sold them out to the Romans.

When Jesus walks up to him and before Jesus can even say, “Hi cousin John,”  John, who has known Jesus since before he was born…and still thinks Jesus is cool…

Do any of you have relationships with your cousins like that?

My cousins were my favorite people when I was growing up.  

The Nicene Creed tells us that Jesus was fully human and fully God, so I like to think about Jesus’ human side sometimes.

So before Jesus can even say, “Hi cousin John,”  John is already talking about Jesus being too cool for school — or at least too important for John to perform a ritual bath on.

But Jesus knows that it’s his time.

The time of transition from just being Mary and Joseph’s kid to transitioning into the role of Messiah has come.

And Baptism is a ritual of transition.

Before we had the Nicene Creed – Before Christianity was a religion — back when The Way was still a movement within Judaism, Baptism was still practiced like John did it – a Mikvah in running water or clean water.  A ritual of spiritual and physical cleansing and transition.

When a first century or second century Christian was Baptized, they changed their life.

Early Christianity was 100% nonviolent, so if a Roman Soldier became a Christian, he quit the Legion and Baptism was the ritual of transition from a life of violence to a life of peace.

And this was why there were so many arguments about circumcision and head coverings for women between the Apostle Paul and the Jewish Christians.  The question being – at Baptism what was a gentile believer transitioning into – were they becoming Jewish and therefore subject to all the Laws of Moses and the laws of the Patriarchs who wrote Deuteronomy and Leviticus, including circumcision?

And because Christianity was a dispersed movement – the original title of Bishop meant the leader of the Christian Community in a particular geographic area – each Episcopal Area, if you will, had their own creed, their own local worship customs, their own gospels, their own collection of letters from the Apostles, and their own Baptismal customs.

So when Roman Emperor Constantine first, decided to make Christianity the official religion of Rome he didn’t like a few of things.

1.  Constantine didn’t like that there wasn’t ONE unified version of Christianity.
2. He didn’t like the emphasis on peace. It was not at all useful for his wars of conquest to have his soldiers quitting when they converted!
3. He didn’t like the messy,  bottom up, good news for the poor, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, feminist, share economy, we are all one in Christ Jesus – “Wokeness” of Christianity.  It’s hard to maintain a dictatorship when the people believe everyone has value in the eyes of God!

So Constantine gathered as many Bishops as he could, and locked them in a room (you think I’m kidding — seriously — he locked them in!) and wouldn’t let them out until they came up with, a statement on  ONE definition of God – that’s what the Nicene Creed is.  An attempt to define God.

Let’s read through it together.  You can follow along on the screen or in the Hymnal it’s #880 in the back:  Follow along and be thinking about what you notice about the Nicene Creed.

Nicene Creed 

We believe in one God,
the Father, the almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
 With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

What do you notice about the Nicene Creed?

There are no wrong answers!

What I notice.  It’s 100% teachings about Jesus –  an attempt to define the substance of God.  An attempt to define Jesus – 

“begotten not made”

In the original Latin – the phrase “of one being with the Father,” actually reads, “of the same substance of the Father,”  There was a huge argument about whether Jesus was of similar substance as the Father or the same substance as the Father! 

What I notice the most is that the Nicene Creed contains precisely 0% of the teachings of Jesus.

There is no “good news for the poor,” in the Nicene Creed.

There is no “love your neighbor as yourself” in the Nicene Creed.

There is no “whatever you do for one of the least of these who are members of my family, you do to me,” in the Nicene Creed.

By focusing solely on trying to define the Mystery that is God, they entirely missed the point of the teachings of Jesus.

And the Nicene Creed waters down the transformational ritual of Baptism to just forgiveness of sins.

Did you know that Emperor Constantine refused to be baptized until he was on his death bed, because he wanted to save his one baptism to clean up all his sins right before death so that he could make sure he got into heaven?

As if it is the ritual bath that saves us, not God’s commitment to mercy.

As if God’s love is bought obedience to rituals.

Back to our Bible reading for today — in verses 16 and 17 John baptizes Jesus at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

In the gospel of Matthew in chapter 2 Jesus is a baby refugee in Egypt and in chapter 3 Jesus is grown.

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus hasn’t done anything yet.

No getting lost at the Temple.

No wedding at Cana.

No teenaged eye roll at Mary, “Mooooommmm, it isn’t my time yet”……

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus hasn’t done anything yet.

When the Spirit descends like a dove and the voice of the proudest Dad ever says, 

“That’s my son!  I love him sooo much, and I’m just sooo proud of him!”

I think God said it that way – Translators are so dry and stiff with their language!

This is the God that I experience in Baptism!

This is why Methodists baptize infants or people of any age.

Not because we think babies are sinful, but because there is nothing we need to do to earn God’s love.

You don’t need to earn baptism.

You don’t need to understand baptism.

You don’t need to be able to define your faith or recite creeds that contain nothing of the teachings of Jesus to be Baptized.

And you don’t  need to promise to be good for the rest of your life.

When I Baptize people, every time, every time, all I feel is the love of God, saying, “THIS is my Beloved and I’m so proud of them!”

And I’m about to start quoting our United Methodist Baptismal Vows, so you can turn to page 34 of the Hymnal if you want to fact check me.  Please do!  I love it when people fact check me!  It means you’re taking responsibility for the content of your own faith! Pages 34 and 35.

Baptism is a transition into Beloved Community.

A community where we promise to “surround one another with a community of love and forgiveness” (UMH p35)

A community where we commit ourselves to “reject the evil powers of this world” and “accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” (UMH p34)

And then we recite the Apostle’s Creed, which is older than the Nicene Creed, but still does not include the key teachings of Jesus…

I mean how hard would it be to insert just one line about what Jesus did while he was here?

They could have stuffed it between birth and death, like

“Born of the Virgin Mary”
Taught us to love our neighbors,
“Suffered under Pontius Pilate
Was crucified, died and was buried

Then we bless and pour clean warm water and it doesn’t matter if we dunk or pour or sprinkle, because Baptism isn’t about the ritual.  Baptism isn’t about what we do.  

It’s about how much God loves us.

I believe beyond believing, especially in times like this,  that we are most certainly called to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves – I mean, I bought the T-shirt!

But the most important thing is Love.

God’s unconditional love for every single sparrow and lily and human being, no matter who they are, no matter what we’ve done or left undone, is our WHY — for everything else.

So friends,  remember your baptism and remember that you are beloved, and you are beloved, and you are beloved, and so are they — all the people whom we are finding hard to love in this moment are still beloveds of God.

Which doesn’t mean that they aren’t also a brood of vipers who need to change their ways.

It just means that God still loves them.

Remember, in the midst of everything, we are God’s Beloved.

All of us.

Matthew 3:1-12 NRSVUE

3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

    make his paths straight.’ ”

4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

How many of you know what winnowing is?

How many of you have winnowed?

I had never done this before I practiced it this week!

I chose to simulate winnowing with paper and candy, rather than trying to buy a sheaf of wheat.

So the idea is that rather than trying to shell your grain crop by hand, you first thresh the crop — basically beat it with sticks to dislodge the wheat from the straw.

Then rather than trying to pick all of grain out of the straw you toss it all in the air and let the wind do the work.

The lighter straw blows away and the heavier grain, falls onto the threshing floor, where it is swept up and placed into clay jars for storage.

Winnowing would have been a very familiar practice at the time today’s Bible reading was written, and for many centuries following, until the invention of the Combine machine, which cuts, threshes and winnows in one machine that leaves the straw behind for convenient bailing.

In modern farming the Combine leaves the chaff with the straw and it is used for animal bedding and garden mulch. 

But before Combines, the chaff was a mess of prickly, small, sawdust like stuff that was often full of bugs and mold – so the best thing to do with it was to burn it.  Burn it to kill the bugs and the mold to prevent the bugs and fungus from infecting the soil or getting into the grain.

So John the Baptist is saying a lot in verse 12!

Most of us just don’t have the agricultural context to hear it!

So John is out by the river telling people that God is up to something new — 

The Kingdom of God is among us, so repent — turn away from your sins – turn away from the things that harm others and harm ourselves.

And John was offering a ritual bath – Mikvah is the Jewish word for a ritual bath that involves full immersion into clean or flowing water.

Some Jews still do observe Mikvah — as a ritual of purification after illness, or childbirth….or as a ritual of transition or healing.

https://www.jewishportland.org/ourcommunity/rachels-well-portland-mikvah

So John wasn’t doing something brand new or distinctly Christian, when he began baptizing people in the Jordan.  John was inviting people into a ritual of purification and transition.

Right now, we are in a season of transition.

The post world war 2 era that was the second half of the twentieth century is over.

COVID didn’t start this transition, but COVID is a time marker – a sticker on the calendar of our imaginations that feels like it draws the line between how we used to live and how things are now.

Everything is being called into question.

Church membership.

Our form of government.

How we work and how much we work.

How or if we retire?

Most importantly – our values and daily choices are being called into question.

The first Century was also a season of transition.

A season of political change.

A season of religious change.

A season of social change.

That’s why people went to be baptized by John.

Their lives felt uncertain, so they came to John for a ritual of transition.

A ritual bath to help them commit to letting go of what wasn’t working in their lives and reorient themselves towards God.

When John saw the Pharisees and the Sadducees he didn’t believe that they were there to commit themselves to change.

John didn’t believe that the Rich and Powerful Rabbis and Priests were there to let God winnow their lives.  John thought the rich and powerful were there to use John’s baptism as a publicity stunt to justify themselves and keep doing what they were doing.

John yells, “You Brood of Vipers… do not presume to say to yourselves,” that you’re right with God just because your ancestors were members of the faith.

 That’s why John starts talking about fruit trees and axes and winnowing and burning chaff.

Because in seasons of transition…

When God is doing a new thing…

When the world has gone crazy….

There’s no room in our lives for chaff.

So with everything being too much right now, I’m asking myself 3 questions:

Is this mine to do?

This week a colleague asked me if I could participate in a climate action.  I believe that climate change is a critically important issue.  I care about climate change.  But that’s not the work I’m being called to do right now, so I said no.

Is this mine to do, doesn’t mean that something isn’t important or good, it just means that it’s somebody else’s work.

We are the Body of Christ together and God has called somebody else to do that work.

Is this mine to do?

Is this chaff?

Is this chaff that is infesting my schedule and eating up my time and energy, without producing anything good?

It’s so easy for me to get sucked into arguing with people on social media.  I try to be pastoral, but still, most of those accounts aren’t even people – they’re bots.  Spending time arguing with them doesn’t change hearts or minds.  It just sucks time and energy out of me that is needed for important things.

For me, that’s chaff and I need to let it float on by.

Is this chaff?

Is this fluff?)

Is this fluff?

I think it’s important not to confuse chaff with fluff.

We all need some fluff in our lives.

Fluff being the soft, comforting things that get us through hard times.

For me fluff is spending time with my guinea pigs, playing games with my family, or going on Star Trek the Cruise, and visiting NASA, February 19th- March 2.

For me the difference between chaff and fluff is that chaff drains my energy and fluff restores my energy.

Fluff is the harvest of cotton balls, that are lighter than the hard shells they are grown in, that can be woven into the warmth and shelter that we need to get through difficult times.

In times like these, I find winnowing helpful.

Is it mine to do?  Or someone else’s.

Is it chaff? That drains my time and energy

Is it fluff?  That restores my soul.

Matthew 2:1-14 First Nations Version

1It was during the days of the bad-hearted Chief Looks Brave (Herod) that the Chosen One was born in the village of House of Bread (Bethlehem) in the Land of Promise (Judea). After his birth, Seekers of Wisdom (Magi) traveling on a long journey from the East came to Village of Peace (Jerusalem).

2They began to ask around, “Where is the one who has been born to be chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)? We saw his star where the sun rises and have come to humble ourselves before him and honor him.”

3When Chief Looks Brave heard this, he and all who lived in Village of Peace (Jerusalem) were troubled. 4He called a council of all the head holy men and scroll keepers and asked them where the Chosen One was to be born.

5“In House of Bread (Bethlehem), the village of the great chief Much Loved One (David),” they answered. “This is what the ancient prophet said: 6‘But you, O House of Bread (Bethlehem), in the Land of Promise (Judea), even though you are small, you have a good reputation with the chiefs who watch over the land. From you will come a Great Chief who will guide my chosen people—the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).’”

7Then Looks Brave (Herod) called a secret council with the Seekers of Wisdom (Magi) to find out when the star first appeared. 8He then sent them to House of Bread (Bethlehem) and told them, “Look everywhere for the child. Find him and tell me where he is, so that I may also come and honor him.”

9After listening to Looks Brave (Herod), the Seekers of Wisdom (Magi) went their way. 10When they saw the star rising in the East, they jumped with joy, and with glad hearts they followed until the star stopped and rested over the place where the child was. 11They went into the house and saw the child and his mother, Bitter Tears (Mary). As soon as they saw the child, they bowed down to honor him. Then they opened their bundles and gifted him with gold, sweet-smelling incense, and bitter ointment of myrrh.

12The Seekers of Wisdom (Magi) were warned in a dream not to go back to Looks Brave (Herod), so they returned to their homeland by a different road.

13After the Seekers of Wisdom (Magi) had gone, a spirit-messenger from Creator warned He Gives Sons (Joseph) in a dream. “Rise up!” he said urgently. “Take the child and his mother and go quickly to Black Land (Egypt) and remain there until I tell you to leave. Looks Brave (Herod) is searching for the child to kill him!”

14That night He Gives Sons (Joseph) took the child and his mother, and they fled for their lives to Black Land (Egypt).

 

I was volunteering at the Federal Court Housing, doing Clergy Accompanyment, when a young couple with the most adorable baby came to the door.  The baby was small and dressed all in Pink.  Pink dress. Pink carseat liner.  Pink tights with frilly pink socks to keep her brown little toes warm.  A Pink hat with a little pink bow on it.  The parents were young and lean, too lean, like they were putting everything they had into that little baby girl.

They spoke only Spanish, so my clergy colleague, Scott, employed his fluent Spanish to tell them what we were there to do and make sure they had legal representation.  When Pastor Scott was done talking with them he told me their story.

They were from Venezuela.  They were at the court for their asylum hearing.  The legal process of seeking asylum is that you must first enter the USA, you cannot apply for asylum while physically in another country.  It takes money to get some sort of visa to come here in a documented way – like an education visa or vacation visa.  Many people seeking asylum are fleeing for their lives so many of them are undocumented.  It is not illegal to seek asylum, even if you are undocumented, despite what ICE says.  That’s why we do clergy accompaniment.  To be a moral witness and challenge ICE agents to follow the law and let families like this one follow the legal process for seeking asylum.

Anyway,  Momma, Daddy and Pink Little Baby were at the court for their asylum hearing.  

They are here because, before the Pink Little Baby was born they had 2 other children, a 5 year old boy and a 2 year old girl.  

One day, the drug cartel came to their house, to recruit the Father to work for them.  The Father said no.  The cartel members dragged the little family outside their home and shot their 5 year old and 2 year old right in front of them.

Matthew 2:18 reads,

“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

What do you do in times like these?

When bad-hearted leaders choose violence?

What can we do in times like these?

I think it depends on who you are.

And what your priorities are.

Mary and Joseph’s priority was their baby.  And like that young family from Venezuela, Mary and Joseph had no power or privilege with which to protect themselves.

When you are vulnerable or protecting vulnerable people sometimes the best thing to do is to seek safety.  To stay home or run to seek asylum.

The seekers of wisdom had privilege, but they also had the wisdom to know that it was not their business to interfere in the government of another country, no matter how bad that government is.  I mean, the Wise Guys *could have* organized a military operation to try to arrest Herod for being a bad-hearted King, but capturing another country’s head of state is an act of war.   They were wise enough to walk away from the whole situation and not assist Herod in his madness.

And the people?  The everyday people like you and I?

There were Jewish rebels – the sicarri, named for their long curved knives.  They ambushed trade caravans and travelers trying to disrupt the flow of taxes to Rome.  But violence justifies violence which leads to more violence, which eventually led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 69 AD.

There were some folks, some Pharisees who staged peaceful protests and publicly spoke out against Herod.

And there were people with privilege, like the Apostle Paul who used his Roman citizenship to try to argue for religious freedom under the Roman law… and Paul was executed by Rome.

The reality is that in times like these, even people with privilege, doing legal things, like Renee Good, who was acting as a Legal Observer – a Constitutionally defined role –  just like the people I serve alongside every month.

….even when we’re doing the legal thing, in times like these, our white privilege, our citizenship, our middle class-ness may not protect us from the Herod’s of this world.

My neighbor’s teen wants to visit the ICE building with me and I had to tell her mother, in all good conscience, that I am willing to accompany them to ICE, but I cannot guarantee my own safety or there’s  

And if you’re Herod?  

Just don’t.

Just don’t be Herod.

And please.  Don’t stand with Herod.

It’s never too late to change your mind.

To say, this isn’t what I thought I was voting for.

But the reality is…There’s always another Herod, because the system of Empire is designed to produce Herods.

The system of Empire is a system of Greed and Might Makes Right.

It’s a system that has always been… 

…since Cain killed his brother Able, thinking that his might would make him more right with God.

…since the people of Sodom and Gomorrah chose violence towards strangers instead of hospitality towards strangers.

…since Abraham grew up in a culture that made him think that God demands child sacrifice.

BUT God has shown us another way.

Abraham wasn’t ready to believe that his God didn’t need a sacrifice, so God substituted a ram instead of Issac.  And the sacrifices of the rich and privileged people trying to get something from God became free food for the poor.  Just as the monetary gifts we give to the church now, become food for Haven Dinner and will become Housing for the unhoused.

And Jesus showed us what the Prophets, like Amos and Micah had already told us – that God doesn’t want sacrifice, or violence of any kind!  God wants justice and mercy and Good News for the Poor and the Oppressed.

But of course, The Systems of Greed and Might Makes Right will tell us that good news for the poor is too expensive…

…and yet there always seems to be enough money for bombs and bullets.

The Systems of Greed and Might Makes Right will tell us that only the “worthy” have earned the basics of life, like shelter, food, clean water and air, healthcare and a future for their children.

And yet… God calls us to Dream of a Better World.