Today Orthodox Christians celebrate their Christmas. The western church where we are a part remembers Jesus’ baptism.

Welcome (Genesis 1:1-5)

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; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Preparation: In His Time

Call to Worship (Psalm 29)

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over mighty waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, "Glory!" The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Hymn: Because he lives

Prayer

God of grace and glory,
you call us with your voice of flame
to be your people, faithful and courageous.
As your beloved Son
embraced his mission in the waters of baptism,
inspire us with the fire of your Spirit
to join in his transforming work.
Witnessing his baptism we bring glory and praise.
Through his baptism, recreate us yours once again as we worship.
We ask this in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Scripture: Mark 1: 4-11

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Sermon: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

Yesterday, Saturday January 6, was Epiphany. Epiphany is the celebration in which we recite the story of the magi arriving at Bethlehem. The whole idea was that Jesus was revealed as the long awaited messiah to the world. This is how Matthew introduces Jesus and brings the readers to the fact that Jesus is God’s Son with the story of Baptism. In the Gospel Mark, the way Jesus is introduced is quite different. We are told immediately in the first chapter through this baptism story that Jesus is the Son of God.

We would not have paid much attention to Jesus’ baptism without the recording of this speech from above. That simple sentence makes us confront our own faith. Do we really believe that Jesus is God’s Son or do we think of Jesus as just another human being like any prophets who came before him? Depending on how we hear and accept this statement, we reveal the nature of our faith in Jesus. Our faith is challenged to believe totally or somewhat when we hear this voice. It really does not matter whether this voice was real or imaginary. Every time we read this passage, we are asked to examine our faith. Faith, after all, comes from hearing according to Paul.

I do not know and the Gospels are not clear how many people became believers that day. Whether all others who were there including John the Baptist heard the voice or some other sounds, we do not know. Whatever they heard, it is clear that John the Baptist had to question Jesus through his disciples asking if Jesus was truly the one later on. For others who were there near Jesus, whether they heard the voice is not clear also. They certainly did not become his followers by hearing that day. Their faith remained the same as before. That was why many of them neither followed nor let the world know that they witnessed the messiah among them on that day of baptism or following days. Indeed, no one made the link between baptism and his death and resurrection.

Christians did their best to witness Jesus as God’s Son throughout history. Since the 18th century European historians and biblical scholars have argued over whether or not the writers of the Gospels added the voice from heaven later into the Gospels to explain Jesus’ divine origin. In many cases, far more number of Christian scholars express their comfort in the theory that this heavenly voice witnessing the Sonship of Jesus was the later addition. Their arguments are as logical as any other possibilities posed by scholars. In arguing so, these scholars have shaken many people’s faith.

Does it matter whether we know for certain that there was this voice witnessing Jesus as the Son of God at the very time Jesus came out of water or the later Christians who wrote and followed Jesus added this part in? After all, how did any Gospel writers who were not present at his baptism hear the voice from heaven when no one was there to hear it with their own ears? Even the 12 disciples who followed Jesus became followers some time after this event. If John the Baptist who was there was not sure how can we settle this matter once and for all? If John heard it and understood it fully that Jesus’ was God’s Son, how can we explain the question he sent through his disciples asking if Jesus was the one?)

Someone argued that Jesus was the only one who heard the voice. This, too, is difficult for us to accept. There is no indication that he alone heard it and later he shared it with his inner circle. This passage is very much like the temptation passage. Without the disciples or anyone around, there is no way of knowing exactly what happened and argue against the notion that these stories were created by imaginative writers with poetic licence. In many ways there are those who claim with a strong voice that these are mythic stories justifying Jesus’ divinity after his earthly life in a similar way that early people indulged in drawing a straight line from God/gods to heroes in their lives like Romans.

However this story comes to us, we are now left to deal with it. Do we believe it? Do we have to believe it? If we think this is a mythical story or a story added to let the world know that Jesus was very special and was indeed God’s Son, should it make any difference to our faith? Do we become ones who are deceived by clever early writers? Of course, there are many people around the world who chastise our naivete for accepting this fairy tale and other tales like it as part of the true account of Jesus’ life. There are also Christians who attack others for questioning the truth of this story. For them, if we do not accept this and many others like this as the gospel truth, then, we are only revealing our weak faith or not faith.

Regardless of our position on this story’s origin, all Christians are given the opportunity to glorify and praise God. For some, obviously it matters that this story is a true historical event. For others they focus more on faith and appreciate the story as the story pointing to the mystery of the divinity of Christ. There is a small number of Christians who pay no attention to this type of stories because for them the most important thing in faith is to focus on Christ’s teachings. For them, Jesus’ command to love God and neighbours is far more important than focusing on whether Jesus was indeed witnessed as God’s Son or not.

Ultimately for all Christians, this speech, “This is my Son, the Beloved,” is a confessional statement. By this, I am saying that to read this speech as from God and say it as what I believe to be true is to remember my relationship to God and Jesus as well as to live out that relationship in reality of my love for neighbours. Everything about me hinges on how I read, understand, accept, trust, rely on and believe this statement as one that ultimately tells the world who I am, what I do, why I am the way I am, where and how I live. All that I am is grounded on my response to this short sentence. It reveals who I am to the world more than whether God is or who Jesus is or indeed that the voice from heaven was really there.

What does it mean for you to hear or read, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”? Do you feel moved? Do you feel nothing? Do you feel sad? Why do you think you feel the way you do? If this statement means nothing, little or everything, it helps to understand why. It is not always these particular words that move us. Many of us are inspired more by stories of forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus than this short sentence. Many of us respond with excited faith to Jesus’ parable more enthusiastically than to this one. Trying to see what this sentence means to you is not to insist that this is the most pivotal statement in the Bible.

Yet, for many of us, “This is my Son, the Beloved,” sums up who our God is and how God loves us unconditionally. It focuses our eyes solely on God’s grace that did not withhold God’s own Son so that we may live life in God’s presence always as God’s people. In this sense, historical or not, we read this passage as our understanding of who Jesus is as he rises out of water in his baptism. It is a faith statement we inherit from our faith ancestors who wrote this so that we may continue in this long salvation history journey doing our part with our absolute best efforts. Reading and hearing this voice, our whole beings witness along with the voice that we are part of this wonderful revelation where our lives become real.

On this day, as we glorify and praise God witnessing Jesus’ baptism and hearing this voice, we testify to the world that as he rose out of water after the baptism the world came to see Jesus as God’s Son and our only hope for salvation. In response we love God and neighbours as we continue our life as the followers of God’s Son, the Beloved with whom God is pleased.

Prayer

Lord God,
you revealed your Son in the waters of the Jordan
and anointed him with the power of the Holy Spirit
to proclaim good news to all people.
Sanctify us by the same Spirit,
that we may proclaim the healing power of the gospel
by acts of love in your name.

As your children, may we not forget your children all around the world. We pray especially for those children in war zones like Gaza and Ukraine. So many are dying as people kill each other without regard to the sanctity of your breath in each person, young and old. Bullets, bombs, shrapnels and debris snuff out lives. Everyone in these places lose their humanity, the very images of you in each and everyone. Restore their sights to see your images in each other. Purge their evil and angry hearts with your Spirit. Vitalize them with love and peace. Fill us with your courage to be the voices of suffering, dying and dead. Strengthen us to confront others with your unconditional love.

As your servants, may we not forget your servants who are weakened or less and less able due to their declining health. So many suffer silently in our world filled with indifference. Be with them as they do their best to recover, recuperate and continue in life full of meaning and love. Be with them. Bestow your love on all their loved ones, caregivers, medical personnels. Give each one your abundant love so that your love may be shared among them all. May no one feel excluded, alone or in despair. Through your presence in spite of diseases of body and/or minds, may they know that they are not forgotten.

As your disciples, may we not forget those who seek you in despair. Our world has become so less humane. Money, power, fame and success entrap us to be less loving, caring and compassionate each day. Too many of your children are being deceived and are lost to sin. Though they seek, yet, their weakness for self-survival leads them to situations where they lose all in pursuit of false dreams. Instil in them faith and hope. Lead them to a life of peace and contentment by sharing grace, mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion. Be with us as we bring your good news to them as your disciples. Prepare their whole beings to receive you.

Lead us. We are your people gathering here because you sent us here to worship, glorify, praise and pray to you. You are our only hope. Hear our prayers when we open our hearts in silence to you and by repeating the prayer your Son taught us.

Silence

Lord’s Prayer

Offering/Offering Prayer

Announcements

Session Meeting
Elders will be meeting on Tuesday, January 9 at 6 pm. We will be planning for 2024. Please pray for the elders.

January and February Activities
We will announce all our events and activities for January and February after the session meeting.

Hymn: Glory be to God the Father

Benediction