Heaven torn, a new creation born.

         One of Lisa and I’s favorite shows is “For All Mankind” an alternative history of the Cold War where Russia makes it to the moon first, 

This puts space exploration front and center as the conflict point of the Cold War…

         One of the ever-present dangers in the show is the vacuum of space
—a tiny rip in space suit tears the whole thing wide open, 
a chip on a window can pull apart whole sections of ship or even destroy a lunar base.

 

         In Jesus’ Baptism at the Jordon, we get just such an unpredictable hole, 
a dangerous tear
—as Jesus comes up out of the water, he sees “The Heavens Torn Apart” 
rent in two—ripped open! 
Yes, at the start of the Gospel, a tear big enough for a dove—the Spirit
—by the end… it is a hole torn wide enough for a new world to enter in! 
Heaven torn, a new creation born.

Prayer

 

Heaven torn, a new creation born

         There is much in our world that seems to separate us from God and neighbor
—in Mark’s Gospel the major barriers are Stigma and Sin, Illness and Death.

         And maybe those walls humans build up are not confined to the pages of the Gospel, 
maybe Mark picked some timeless categories… 
-maybe we still stigmatize folk who are different than ourselves
—every ism in the human vocabulary… 
-maybe we still judge the failures of others more harshly than our own
—“Hey Preacher, why don’t you talk more about sin”… “no no! Not my sin… that’s guy’s sin!”
-maybe we still look at sickness and misfortune as God’s judgment
—or at least a sign that surely someone did SOMETHING wrong….
-maybe we are so afraid of death, that we don’t live the life God has given to us…
we’re afraid to love because it might lead to loss.

         All of these barriers humanity erects can wreck us, leaving us imprisoned, 
confined to a tomb of our own creating, 
our best bet, repentance and confession
—starting again in the empty desert where John resides…

 

         Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as in heaven.”

         And Jesus can see that reality! 
Heaven ripped open
—God’s will for the world flooding through that pinprick, into our world… 
the Spirit whooshing in and filling us all with new life! 
No one else sees it yet, 
but God is on the loose, nothing will be the same... 
nothing can separate us from God! 

         Don’t believe me? Just look to Jesus!

 

Heaven torn, a new creation born

         Jesus’ ministry is that of reconciliation
—of bringing holiness to an unholy world… 
of returning the stigmatized to community, 
offering sinners a way home, 
healing the sick, 
overcoming death.

 

         Look to Jesus, who the Spirit names as: 
God’s son, the One Who Pleases God, the Beloved…
These titles are also references to verses in Hebrew Scripture, that when you unpack them, map out the ministry of Jesus:

         Jesus is the One Chosen by God, 
to gently right the world, 
by living a life that doesn’t end in death.

 

         Chosen by God
—anointed for a task, 
like the Blues Brothers, on a mission from God
given a particular, unique, vocation
—role, relationship, and responsibility.

         To Gently Right the World
—to justify, to save, to redeem
—the cart is tipped he’s going to untip it, 
the ship is sinking, he’s going to bail it out, 
the patient is dying, he shall revive her…

         A life that doesn’t end in death
—Resurrection, new life
—do you remember the first time you went to a concert and the crowd called for an encore? 
It felt like it was all ended… 
and then the band bursts back out and wowed you for another magical hour!

 

         When Mark writes that Jesus is “God’s beloved and pleasing Son.” 
He’s saying Jesus is on a mission to right the sinking ship with an encore beyond imagining. 
That’s what is pouring into this world through that ever-widening tear
—that’s what it means that God is loose in the world!

 

Heaven torn, a new creation born

         God is on the loose in our lives as well! 

         If you want to look at that gaping hole between heaven and earth
—as it opens wide, 
just look there, 
at that font. 
Just remember that you are baptized.

         In that water is forgiveness, redemption, salvation
—it is pure gift, 
you are accepted, embraced, and moved by the Spirit… 
in it you find a promise that you can trust! God is righting this world! 
In that water is Jesus’ unimaginable encore… Resurrection and New Life!
In it, our calling, our vocation, our mission
—daily die to the Old Creature, that the Human One might emerge!

         Our Baptized life is the continuation of that pinprick in the space suit that Jesus saw
—it is our entrance into the inevitable New Creation. 
It is, even, the New Creation’s entrance into our old life,
nothing will be the same
—God loose among us and in us!

 

Heaven torn, a new creation born

         The Gospel is first greeted harshly by our world. 
Our world armored and isolated, 
segmented and divided, 
sinking under its own self-defenses, 
desperately in need of saving, 
and God does so, 
sending Jesus on a mission to make all things right, 
rescue God’s good world in a way that ushers in a profound new goodness on account of the intervention.

A goodness we’ve been grasped by in Baptism, 
given a new mission, 
a new life;
Called, Gathered, and Sent by the Spirit.

A goodness that continues to rush into this world, 
filling it and changing it, transforming us all, 
so that we might affirm, “Thy will is done on earth as in heaven.” 
The Spirit is among us and we are a New Creation. Amen and Alleluia!