Title: The Sacred Earth
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11
1/8/06 First Sunday after Epiphany, Yr. B
Rev. Joy R. Haertig
I don't know how many of you might have watched the first hour in a Wednesday night series on Channel 9 called “Walking the Bible” with Bruce Feiler, the author of the book by the same title. It is very interesting and the photography is beautiful.
Feiler takes us right to the place where people first gathered around a fire and began to tell the ancient creation story we heard this morning in Genesis, the place was Mesopotamia:
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.”
Feiler is a traveler, a scholar and a scientist. The Bible was nothing more than just a dust collector for him even though he is Jewish and attended temple when he was young. In the “Walking the Bible” series we get to watch this change for him as he actually experiences the places where the stories of the Bible originated. Being in Mesopotamia, sitting in the spot that is THE Garden of Eden,
(“not an English Rose Garden like most of us picture it” says Feiler), but a spot where four rivers come together -
The place where humans first stopped wandering and began to settle in one area, cultivate rivers, build canals and develop agriculture -
Begins to transform his whole idea of the purpose and significance of the Biblical stories.
He began to see how the land itself shaped the ancient stories and he began to realize how those stories - in some mysterious way - were a part of him today. Not in the way that the Intelligent Design folk want to make those stories relevant, but in a way that gives his life a sense of meaning and depth, wonder and awe.
Faith only becomes truly relevant to us when it intersects with our experience. It is nothing more than an interesting study if it never gets past the intellect.
One of the things I find most powerful in both of the readings we heard today is how the stories are linked to nature.
The Genesis story is about wind and water, light and darkness and how good it all is. The Gospel reading from Mark has Jesus wading into the water of the Jordan River, going deep and rising up again, no doubt with water dripping down his cheeks and into his eyes when he hears the voice of God saying how good he is! Such an earthy story! Divinity is not just some ethereal experience but right here in the mud and dirt of our human existence.
When I ask folk to share where they feel most connected to God - to Spirit - to Divinity, particularly those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest - most of us will say “in nature”. When I'm at the beach, walking in the woods, watching a sunset, sailing on my boat or working in my garden - are just some of the things that make the list.
God becomes relevant to us when it intersects with our experience, and one of the central ways this happens for many of us is when we are connecting to this amazing earth we call home. I bet each of you could tell a story about a time when you felt connected to God in nature.
Bruce Feiler in his “Walking the Bible” has helped me see how important the earth was for our religious ancestors who first told the stories of creation and the journeys of Abraham. No doubt the earth, its beauty and its connection to God were important to Jesus as well.
Sacred moments with the beauty and the rhythms of the earth can bring us closer to God.
One of the most sacred moments I had not too long ago was snorkeling in Hawaii. The kids were doing a little body surfing so Fran and I slipped off to snorkel out a bit further on a reef. I had this kind of funny feeling - like something special was going to happen when I looked down and saw a beautiful turtle just below our legs. Fran and I took hands, held our breath and dove a bit deeper just to swim near it. Much to our surprise it ended up to be two turtles, one slipped away from our site just as the second one came near. It felt like a blessing from the waters of life for our new beginning.
And God said, “This is good”. It is good that the earth not only provides us with what we physically need and with awesome beauty, but that it also helps us feel connected to the Creator itself.
Though the meaning may vary, most religious traditions have some kind of ritual that involves water - one of nature's most wonderful gifts (though we have recently seen the chaos it can cause as well) - water is something that life cannot live without. In biblical times, when Gentiles were attracted to the Jewish faith and wished to convert, they underwent a ritual of cleansing so that they could be reborn into their new faith and identity, so John's use of baptism is not a new ritual. However, I am quite sure that the Jewish ritual for the conversion of Gentiles took place at a manmade pool on the grounds of the temple, not in the Jordan River! I rather like the image of Jesus going down to the river to feel the mud in his toes.
Sometimes I wish we did our baptisms down at the beach so we could feel a stronger connection to creation and the story of Jesus baptism, and literally feel the immersion into water as a symbol of a new beginning. (I guess there is a little bit of Baptist in me afterall!)
Regardless of where or how, baptism with water connects us to the story of Jesus, but also to the Creator and to creation itself. It connects us to our literal, physical need for water and our spiritual hunger for the Living Water of God. It symbolizes refreshment, cleansing and new life.
Because water is so crucial to life, I wish we would take better care of it. It is very sad for me to learn that the River Jordan is now barely a few yards wide and it is heavy laden with agricultural and domestic waste. And of course the same can be said of some of the waters much closer to home.
Why is it that for so many of us, our sacred moments are connected to the earth, yet we are so careless with it?
The sacred act of baptism is symbolic of the gift of God's love for us; it connects us to the life and stories of Jesus; it is not something we are entitled to but something we are gifted with.
The same can be said of nature, it is a gift, not entitlement. You may have noticed in the bulletin today that our Peace and Justice Board is hoping we will expand our Church Covenant to include a more specific intention toward care for creation. At the end of our month at our congregational meeting we will have the opportunity to vote on including this new intention in our covenant using these words: “We strive to live in harmony with nature respecting and honoring the gifts of God's creation.”
The goal being not just new words, but new action in caring more for the gift we have been given.
On this Sunday when we remember Jesus' baptism, I would like to invite you to come forward to reaffirm your baptism - to remember that you are beloved of God. Allow yourself to connect to the story of Jesus as he went down into the waters of the river and came up with a new sense of purpose and direction.
We can also intentionally notice the water on your forehead and give thanks for the gift of creation and how it connects us to the sacredness of life.
If you choose not to come forward, please use this time for contemplation and prayer.