Bugs and Honey

I think in what we might consider the normal order of things, John is right.

I mean, there he is in the wilderness, snacking on bugs.

And honey infused with the essence of bugs.

And artisan bugs from southern plains of Judea harvested under a blue moon once a year.

He’s rocking the animal skins; he’s got this whole wild-man aesthetic vibing out there by the river Jordan.

And people are really digging it.

They’re coming from miles away, walking down to the river saying, “hey, John, baptize us.”

And he gets up, wipes the bugs and honey from his hands and replies, “Sure, come on down.”

And he does this over and over and all the while he’s telling folks, “Y’all’ve got to repent.”

And “You know, I’m going to baptize you, but I’m here to tell you too that the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

He talks to folks about Isaiah, about needing to prepare the way of the Lord, make the Lord’s paths straight. Fill the valleys, lower the mountains.

The people continue to come from Jerusalem and all over Judea, they come to get cleansed by John in the river Jordan.

They are cleansed by this man in camel hair belted with leather.

They confess to this man, they confess their sins for they wished to be washed of them; they are dunked into the water by a man whose beard is sometimes fleck with the leftover remains of locust legs and antennae.

Now, not everyone is pleased with John.

The authorities stop by every now and again to make sure everything is on the up and up; the Sadducees and the Pharisees made John particularly angry.

He’d call them a brood of vipers and other names.

He didn’t like it when they came to the river and now they too were looking for baptism.

But he saw them as hypocrites, as folks looking to be cleansed but not to repent or change their ways.

He grew angry at them.

He spittle flew when he enunciated the b sound in brood and his s sound in vipers was elongated and trailing as he stared those down who looked for but a ritual bath and not a complete change of direction in their lives.

To them especially he spoke of fire, the chaff that would burn.

But then he appeared.

John knew him of course, they were cousins.

They would see each other every now and again growing up, they would hang out and do cousin things.

But John always knew his cousin Jesus was different.

He knew he was special.

He knew he was greater.

And there he is.

Maybe they haven’t in each other’s company.

Maybe John was having a snack in between baptisms and Jesus comes up beside him on the river bank.

Perhaps John is surprised as he assesses his cousin standing before him; mouth hanging open a single locust digit hangs precariously from his bottom lip.

He cannot do this.

Jesus says, “baptize me.”

John replies, essentially, “wut?”

Well, actually John’s reasoning is pretty solid here.

John has been baptizing folks and all the while, he’s been telling them, one greater will follow him, the one with the winnowing fork and the fire.

And John knows this will happen, he is doing this work at least in part because he knows the kingdom is soon to arrive.

And there before him, before John is the kingdom.

And the kingdom, the one for whom John has made low mountains and raised up valleys, is standing before him asking to be baptized.

No, no, no.

It is John who should be baptized by Jesus; this makes no sense.

“I need to be baptized by you,” says John.

“I need to repent,” says John.

“I need to be cleansed,” says John.

The river is here.

Baptize, me, Lord.

I am a sinner, Lord, relieve me of my sins.

No, says Jesus.

No, says Jesus, this is the way things are supposed to be.

And John, John understands.

This one greater than him is human too.

The kingdom that stands before him will be cleansed, not of sin certainly but cleansed just the same.

For it is through water we are baptized.

It is through water we are cleansed.

It is through water we join the family of God.

And it is made so.

Jesus is lowered into the waters and just like in Genesis, God flies above of them and from the heavens, God proclaims God is well pleased.

God’s desire is met.

God’s son has been baptized.

God’s kingdom arises, a new promise fulfilled.

Perhaps this shouldn’t have been such a big deal, but a big deal it was.

For John, for the world, for us.

Yet Jesus is human.

Jesus is the incarnate body of the Word.

He is flesh and blood.

And his flesh will be cut and he will bleed.

He is the son of God, the Son being fully human.

And as a human can be, maybe even should be, Jesus is baptized.

This is not a symbolic act.

Jesus is fully participating in the human experience.

Just as we are all subservient to God, so to is Jesus here on earth, there is no escaping God’s authority.

And it shows just how radical it is for God became man and as a human being, God chose to fully experience such a condition.

God shared the story of God’s saving grace through the mouth of a mortal.

God breathed through lungs of a human being in order to speak of our salvation.

God’s lips were human lips that formed the words that told of the coming of God’s kingdom.

God became fully human and was baptized by one fully human and both were made righteous.

So, perhaps it should not have been such a big deal.

John was baptizing all along, but along came Jesus and it was all suddenly a very big deal.

And it was a very big deal because it is a very big deal.

Our baptism allows us a path to the eternal; a path to reunion, a path to God.

Every time a person is baptized, we renew our baptismal vows.

And in a month from now, our bishop will be visiting and we’ll once again renew those vows.

We will renounce evil and proclaim our belief in God.

Once again, we will state our faith out loud and bathe in the presence of the Spirit flying amongst us.

And it will be a very big deal.

So, I like to think that we celebrate the baptism of our Lord for the special thing it is on its own as a celebration of God’s humanness coming to be with us and to be washed with us and share in our righteousness.

I hope too we celebrate this baptism as a connection, a direct connection between not just God and us, but with Christ as well.

We experience the same humanity as Christ and like Christ we are washed clean with the waters blessed by God.

And though, in a sense we may feel some unworthiness to inherit such a relationship, that perhaps we feel more worthy to eat bugs and honey rather than to place ourselves on the same plain as that of Christ, by the very nature of God we do share in and receive God’s love.

When we are baptized, when we reaffirm our baptismal vows, we are confirming our love for Christ and committing to that love through action and word forever.

And forever we will be a part of God’s family, marked as God’s own forever.

Amen.