“A Feather on the Breath of God”
Is. 42:1-9, Mt. 3:13-17
January 13, 2008

Luke tells us that Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his public ministry. 30 years old! We know nothing about those years since he was 12 and teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. Where had he been all those years? What had he been doing? Now in Matthew, we see him emerge from obscurity, with no advance publicity, no TV ads, no videos, no web page, to the banks of the Jordan River, asking John to baptize him.

We have been celebrating the birth of Jesus for several weeks now. We are always fascinated by birth, no matter our age or our position in life. A cooing baby melts the coldest heart. Very few can resist the sloppy kisses of a puppy, or the playful scratches of a kitten.

The birth of a human is a comprehensive event: it can be described as occurring in 3 stages. First there is the physical birth, when the child begins life as a body separate from its mother, yet still dependent. Secondly, there comes a time, the most painful time for both parents and child, when the growing youth makes independent decisions, becoming an independent soul. Third is the stage that perhaps not all humans experience, yet the most important stage in the birth of a human being: spiritual birth, when the individual opens to the Spirit of God.

Certainly Jesus experienced all three stages of birth. The first stage we celebrated for several weeks, glowing in the warmth of the new baby at Mary’s breast—innocent, harmless. But even Jesus had to break away, at the expense of his parents’ feelings. Two Sundays ago we celebrated Jesus’ 2^nd stage of birth--“How could you do this to us? You’re only 12! We’ve been looking for you for 3 days! We don’t understand you anymore!”

He was growing up. And growing away. He was developing as a unique individual. Yet Jesus felt the need for more, the need for that 3^rd stage of birth, the clarification of his mission, the authorization of his ministry—birth in the spirit.

Jesus was filled with passion for his people, and burning to lead. But apparently he was willing to wait until he knew he was ready, until he was born of the spirit of God, until he knew for certain his identity—“This is my beloved son,” the voice proclaimed.

We can see three elements in Jesus’ experience of baptism. First he had to close the door on his old life. Not that it was in any way a bad life, but for Jesus it was a preparation for something more. Second, Jesus had to identify himself with those he came to serve. John’s baptism was for repentance of sins. For what sins must Jesus repent? The church has traditionally believed that Jesus was sinless. Therefore why would he ask to be baptized? Perhaps Paul provides a clue in 2 Cor. 5:21—“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin.” Jesus had to identify with the human race. Perhaps he identified so completely that he did indeed feel the need for repentance. As fully human he was fully involved in the corporate sin of his generation. He could not escape sharing responsibility for slavery in Palestine anymore than we can escape responsibility for racism in America.

The third element of Jesus’ baptism was his ordination for ministry, his authorization from God to serve the people, the affirmation of his readiness and his identity as the Son of God. “The heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” Jesus was commissioned to “fulfill all righteousness.”

Today we must learn to think of every baptism as an ordination for ministry. Every baptized Christian is a minister. The gift of the Holy Spirit to all Christians in and through baptism sends all of us out to a ministry of servanthood and liberation, and empowers us to do the job.

And what was the ministry of Jesus? What is our mission? To fulfill all righteousness. In the scriptures God’s righteousness is something that is done; it is action, not a state of being. We are called to do righteousness. Over and over again in the scriptures we hear the imperative to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, to heal the sick, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

When John was imprisoned and sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was really the one for whom they waited, Jesus simply replied (Mat 11:4-5 NRSV) "Go and tell John what you hear and see: {5} the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”

In our reading from Isaiah today we hear that we are called to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, to faithfully bring forth justice.

We live in a world that cries for us to take our baptism seriously. We can no longer be content to step forward for baptism, then retreat to Nazareth, to live a quiet, pious life. We must step into the river, identifying ourselves with all of God’s creation—the suffering, the powerless, the crushed, the oppressed, and the oppressors. We live in a world too dangerous to allow any Christian to get too comfortable. When we become involved in ministry with all of God’s people, we not only share in the thrill of helping others, but we may even experience more deeply the liberating power of Jesus Christ in our own lives.

Do you remember the opening of the movie “Forrest Gump”? A camera followed a feather on its journey carried by the wind. Later in the movie we realize that Forrest Gump is the feather on the wind, not drifting aimlessly, but going with the flow of life, submitting to the will of the life force.

The 12^th century abbess, Hildegard of Bingen, a composer, spiritual writer, physician, church politician, thought of herself in ministry as “a feather on the breath of God.” That haunting image combines two important symbols of Jesus’ baptism and our vows: the holy bird, the dove as the Spirit of God, and the spirit of God as the breath or wind of God moving over the face of the earth.

May you be a feather on the breath of God, committed to doing God’s will in your life, however the opportunity presents itself to you. May you float on the wind of God, moving over the face of the earth and bringing the fresh breeze of justice to all. Amen.