"Splitting Heaven Open"
Mark 1:1-11
If you ever watched Sesame Street you might remember the song: "One of these Things is Not Like the Others."
There would be a short vignette with, perhaps Cookie Monster looking at four plates of cookies.
Three of the plates would have 2 cookies each and one of the plates would have three.
Then Cookie Monster would sing: "One of These Things is Not Like the Others."
Sometimes it would be Grover trying to figure out which circle was bigger than the other three.
Or maybe Big Bird would have three number 2's on a board and one W.
He would sing the song while the children watching at home on t-v were supposed to try and figure out which of those things was not like the other.
Pretty cute idea.
In any event, this morning we are starting at the very beginning of the Gospel of Mark.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas, we focused mostly on Matthew and Luke.
Matthew and Luke both begin with Jesus' birth.
There are shepherds, there is Mary and Joseph and no room in the inn.
But unlike Matthew and Luke--where Jesus first comes on the scene as a baby--in Mark Jesus shows up for the first time in the midst of the crowds of sinners who have come from near and far to be baptized by John in the muddy waters of the Jordan.
And there isn't any special attention drawn to Jesus.
There aren't any angels singing the heavenly chorus.
Jesus simply goes down into the water with all the rest of the folks.
Instead of being set apart from the rest of us sinners, Jesus takes part in the same baptism; He joins all the "unclean" people in the water.
John was "calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and wanted God to forgive their sins."
And John baptized people as they were confessing their sins.
And without a word of explanation, Jesus comes and is baptized along with all the rest of the people.
Does this imply that Jesus was a sinner who repented and confessed His sins when He was baptized?
Not at all.
Jesus' baptism, does though, make clear that if a firm line is being drawn between the holy, sinless God and fallen sinful humanity, Jesus is taking His stand on the side of sinful humanity.
Jesus is standing in solidarity with you and me and everyone else who has ever walked this earth.
Jesus is standing on the side with you, me and everyone else who has ever been lost in the darkness, broken by sin and despair, harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus--God made Flesh--is identifying Himself with humankind.
He comes humbly.
He doesn't come as a king, He comes as your average, everyday person.
"For God so loved the world..."
In Jesus' day just like today, when kings would take office there were all kinds of ceremonies that were performed.
There was pomp and circumstance.
All attention was given to them.
Thousands would watch as oil was poured on the forehead of the royal king, and it was believed that God's spirit came to rest upon that king when he was anointed.
Jesus begins His work with an anointing as well, but not a kingly one where He is on a stage far from the crowd.
There are no precious oils.
There is no band...
...no confetti...
...no parade.
Instead, Jesus' anointing begins when He gets in line with all the others and walks into the dirty Jordan River to be baptized with everyone else.
Rather than setting Himself apart and above the rest of us sinners, Jesus partakes of the same baptism.
Jesus' baptism was done in the same way as everyone else's, but at the same time, it was not like anyone else's.
This is because, "While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him.
There was a voice from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.'"
Another way of saying that heaven was "split open" is to say that heaven was "torn apart."
And tearing doesn't happen neatly or with a pair of scissors.
Hands are usually involved.
God's hands, in this case, rip open the chasm between heaven and earth.
Mark uses the same language at the moment of Jesus' death when the veil in the temple, a symbolic barrier between God and humankind, is torn in two.
The "spitting open" of heaven means that there is now a new connection between God and people.
It means that God, Who was once far away, has come close.
It's an answer to the prayer of Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 64:1 which says: "If only you would tear open the heavens and come down!"
This is exactly what happens when Jesus is baptized.
This is also what happens to you and to me when the Holy Spirit comes down and rests on us.
On a dark and stormy night Will and Lisa Sampson were headed out on a date night for a rare steak dinner when they saw a man holding a sign with the words: "Helping Hands Rescue Mission"
Lisa dug in her purse saying, "It's got to be hard.
That mission's the last stop on the line for a lot of people.
They feed a ton of people."
The soaking wet man approached their SUV.
Will rolled down the window and dropped a couple of twenties and some ones into the bucket which held more water than money.
"God bless you," Lisa said to the man.
"Oh, God does! God really does!" he replied.
A few minutes later Will pulled into a parking space at Burger King and turned to his wife.
"Well, there went our date money. How much you got left?"
Lisa slid out her wallet and slipped a thumb in the billfold. "Five bucks. How about you?"
Will lifted himself off the seat and took out his wallet.
"About six and some change," he answered.
"How about we split a Whopper and then go to Starbucks?"
Heaven Split open and the Holy Spirit rested on this young couple.
That night changed their lives forever.
They eventually moved out of the suburbs and into the city where they could be closer to the new passion God had laid on their hearts--helping the homeless.
Bob Homer was a young boy with a paper route living in a small town in Upstate New York.
Bob had never set-foot inside a church.
One of the persons on Bob's paper route was the pastor of the local Methodist Church.
One day the pastor told Bob that he could really use Bob's help.
"Our church has no one to pass out the bulletins on Sunday mornings.
I know you would be really good at it; could you help us out?"
Bob had no idea what a bulletin was nor did he know what handing them out entailed, but he showed up at the church the following Sunday.
By the time Bob graduated from high school the people in that church had become like a second family to Bob.
Following college, Bob went off to Seminary.
Bob served the Lord faithfully for many, many years.
He introduced countless people to the love of Jesus Christ.
He encouraged many, many young people to enter the ministry including myself.
Heaven Split open and the Holy Spirit rested on Bob when he agreed to hand out bulletins at the local Methodist Church.
That invitation changed his life forever.
It also influenced the lives of everyone who knew Bob.
Where and how is God splitting the heavens open in your life?
Where and how is the Holy Spirit descending?
Are you answering God's call on your life to be used to help usher in the power of the Holy Spirit on a lost and broken world?
I was speaking on the phone to a retired Methodist Pastor friend of mine who spends part of his time down here in Chattanooga and part of his time up in Jamestown, New York where his wife is still serving a church.
He was just "checking in."
I asked him how things are going.
His answer was, "My life is pretty easy up here.
I get up.
I eat breakfast and I read a book."
Then he added, "I have been volunteering at the local Food Kitchen. That is what brings purpose and meaning to my existence."
This led me to ask him if there is as much poverty up there as there is down here.
His answer: "It's worse; much worse."
I thought to myself, "that's hard to imagine."
Jesus was baptized alongside the poor, the hungry, the marginalized, the sinners, the crippled, the disfigured.
"While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him."
The greatest power in the world comes down on Jesus.
But Jesus' power won't be the kind of power that kings and dictators wield: with swords and guns, bombs and missiles.
Jesus' power is the power of the Mightiest of the Mighty Who has come to love and serve, to heal and feed and redeem.
When God announces to Jesus: "You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness," God is allowing God's heart to be vulnerable to great pain and loss.
For the death of Jesus will strike deep into the heart of God.
But that's how God's love works.
Jesus died so that we can live.
And when we, in following Jesus, allow the heavens to split open and the Spirit to descend upon us like a dove our lives are changed forever.
In Jesus' baptism, God was making known His love for His Son.
When we are baptized, the same thing is happening.
It is a proclamation by God, that we, through faith in Christ--are God's beloved children in whom God finds happiness.
I can find no greater reason to celebrate and be glad.
