Surely the Presence of the Lord
Is In This Place
January 11, 2015
Mark1:4-11
The Baptism of Our Lord
Let us pray… Come Holy Spirit, fill
the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us
the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit
and we shall be created. And You shall
renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy
Spirit, instructed the hearts of the faithful,
grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may
be truly wise and ever enjoy His
consolations, Through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.
It’s pretty easy to find yourself in an
emotional valley this time of year. The days
are short and the weather goes from rain,
rain, rain, to snow and cold, cold, cold…
Then you add to that, the natural let down
after the high of Christmas, the start of a
New Year, the biggest event in Trinity’s 149
year history, a birthday, and the birth of a
new grandson and you’ve got the makings
of a pretty sizeable valley. Mountain top
experiences are great, but we can’t stay up
there forever. Eventually you have to come
back down to earth. That’s exactly where I
found myself during the latter part of this
week. The Christmas decorations are all
down and put away for next year and we’re
back to “normal.” The problem is I don’t
want normal any more. I know there’s more
to do and more to experience, and more of
what God is calling me, and us to do. So the
old normal just won’t do at least not for me
in the new year of 2015!
Have you ever noticed how God
seems to have a way of meeting our needs,
sometimes even without our ever asking? I
mean, I knew I was getting into a sort of a
funk after all the excitement wore off from
last Sunday, but it really never occurred to
me to ask God to get me through it. I guess
I have thing about praying for myself, it just
seems, well, selfish. Yet there’s God, the
Church, and the people who put the Revised
Common Lectionary together to the rescue.
This story of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus,
full of grace and love and hope, right smack
dab in the middle of the time when, not just
me, but I’m sure many of you are going
through your own times of letdown. Today
we heard the familiar story of how Jesus
came to receive the Baptism of John the
Baptist. Immediately afterward the heavens
are ripped apart and God’s Holy Spirit
descends on Jesus, filling Him with power,
and purpose. The dome of the sky is torn
asunder and God’s voice thunders out,
proclaiming Jesus to be God’s Son, the
Beloved. Jesus is the one with whom God is
well pleased. Wouldn’t it have been great to
witness that mountain top experience? To
actually see with your own eyes the heavens
rent asunder and the Holy Spirit coming like
a dove; that would surely be a sight to
behold!
We don’t have to wait or wish for
that kind of epiphany, it’s happening all
around us! In my 57 years on this earth I’ve
never seen the Holy Spirit pouring out
God’s power and love as I have these past
17 months that I’ve been associated with
you all here at Trinity. The Holy Spirit
certainly has descended upon this place.
One of my favorite songs I learned from my
Via de Cristo weekend is called Surely the
Presence. The words go like this:
Surely the presence
of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel God's mighty power
and God's grace.
I can hear the brush of angel's wings,
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence
of the Lord is in this place
Every time I step through the door
here in this place I feel God’s presence.
When I’m here with you all, it’s pretty easy
to literally feel the brush of angel wings.
That’s what you all are, angels. Angels are
God’s messengers and if that doesn’t
describe this congregation, then I don’t
know what else would. I’m getting to know
most of you more and more the longer I’m
here and I’ve seen some of you in action,
outside the walls of this building. Other’s
I’ve heard stories about the things you’re
doing like teaching and mentoring people
who have English as a second language,
bringing the joy of art into the lives of
children, sharing the wonders of reading
with students, and making toys for children.
Add to all these we’re touching many lives
through the FISH pantry and Wernle Home.
This congregation brings God’s Spirit
everywhere you go.
Today we’re going to get yet another
chance to see God’s Holy Spirit poured out,
right here in our presence. When I Baptize
Rhyan in a few minutes she will receive that
same gift of the Holy Spirit Jesus received at
His own baptism. Rhyan will be given the
gifts of the Spirit and be joined to Jesus in
His death and His resurrection. She will not
only be given the gifts of the Spirit, she also
receives a new purpose for her life. The
gifts of the Spirit she receives today are like
the little embryonic genes that will someday
develop into full blown characteristics.
When she was born she had all the genes
and chromosomes she will ever need to
grow into a full grown woman. Similarly, at
her rebirth, she receives all the Spiritual
Gifts she will ever need to follow the call
and invitation of Jesus. These Spiritual
Gifts are usually divided into three groups.
There are the gifts of revelation, namely
wisdom, knowledge and discernment. There
are the gifts of power, namely: faith,
healing, and working of miracles. There are
also the gifts of inspiration: prophecy,
diverse tongues and the interpretation of
tongues.
We all received some combination of
these gifts of the Spirit at our own Baptisms,
that’s where the power for your ministry
comes from. Along with the Spiritual Gifts
we also join with Christ and become a
member of the Body of Christ which is the
Church. That’s where the purpose for our
lives comes into play. As the Body of Christ
we’re all bound up together in the mission
Jesus turned over to the Church when He
was physically on the earth. We’re to use
the gifts given in our Baptism in pursuit of
that mission, which is to create new
disciples by Baptizing and teaching these
new Christ followers all those things Jesus
commanded.
Today Rhyan joins us in our mission
of seeking, welcoming, and serving all
people. What good news that is for the
world! We actively seek out those who are
lost, sick, or forsaken. We welcome them
with warm hospitality, rather than judgment.
We serve them by offering them ourselves,
our time, and share what we have with them.
We serve them by teaching them about Jesus
and by helping them to see what God is up
to around here. Sometimes it’s hard to see
what God’s up to. The only way you can
see the Spirit is with the eyes of faith. I’m
not quite sure how you get those eyes. I’ve
never found the store that sells faith glasses,
or faith contacts. Dr Stahl down there in
Dayton doesn’t have a Lasix Surgery that
can provide 20/20 faith vision. The Bible
says faith come from hearing the Gospel.
The Gospel is preached in many ways. The
obvious way is right here in this pulpit, but
there’s lots of other ways as well. For
example, the Gospel is preached with every
quilt that’s sewn, every school kit and every
personal care kit sent to those in need. The
Gospel is preached every time we give a gift
to Wernle Home and the children there who
are mostly lost and forgotten. The Gospel is
preached when you send cards or pray for
those who are sick or hurting. How about in
the sharing of our wealth through the
FriendshipFest event or the gifts to the
Gateway families or the many other gifts
freely given through the adult Sunday
school? Every time you offer a word of
encouragement or forgiveness you are
preaching the Gospel. It doesn’t take lofty 5
syllable seminary words. Sometimes it’s as
easy as saying, “I’m sorry”. Sometimes the
Gospel comes in the form of food brought to
a homebound person.
Of all the places where I’ve seen the
Gospel preached around here over the past
17 months, and there have been too many to
name, the most evident is at the Lord’s
Table and the Baptismal font. Baptism and
Communion are two times when we receive
the guaranteed promise of God’s presence
among us. I don’t know if we’ll see the
heavens torn open or God thundering out
loud today, but my faith surely knows the
presence of the Lord is in this place.
Getting back to that valley of funk I
found myself in the last couple of days,
nothing I know of can cure the funk of
walking through the valleys after being at
the mountain top better being in the
presence of the Lord. Surely the presence of
the Lord is in this place!
May you know the peace of God’s
love poured out to you through the Holy
Spirit. May the power of that same Holy
Spirit recreate you into the angel you are
meant to be. May you hear the brush of
angel wings and see God’s glory on each
face every time we gather together as the
Body of Jesus Christ. Amen.