“Water and Spirit”
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22; Acts 8:14-17 (January 12, 2025)
I guess you may have heard that this year marks an historic milestone for Anabaptists. It’s been 500 years since the beginning of this movement that we Mennonites are a part of.
Last Sunday our guest speaker, Ken Bechtel, reminded us of the characters and stories that shaped our past. Those early days were tumultuous times – for the church, and for society as a whole. Back then, being true to your conscience might actually cost you your life.
But our scripture for today takes us back even further. Today we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. And it’s this baptism which all churches hold dear.
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Baptism marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has left his early years behind. Now he’s ready to launch into something new: his God-given mission to proclaim the Reign of God, inviting people into a new community shaped by repentance and the renewal of God’s Spirit.
“I baptize you with water,” says John the Baptist. “But he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” What I want to talk about today is the importance of the Spirit in our life of faith.
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Imagine Jesus, standing there in the Jordan River, dripping wet. Notice that he’s praying. And as he prays heaven above is opened. The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. And a voice from heaven affirms his identity as God’s beloved Son.
There’s no explicit description of the Holy Trinity in scripture. But this is one of those biblical passages that points toward it.
Here we have the heavenly Father, whose voice resounds from on high. And the Holy Spirit who arrives to be present with Jesus here on earth. And the beloved Son who prays to the Father and receives the Spirit.
So … Father, Son and Holy Spirit communing together in the fellowship of prayer. It’s a snapshot of God’s very being.
The Spirit is an expression of God that resists easy definition. So when I say I want to speak about the Spirit’s importance in our life of faith, I know I’m taking on a bit of a challenge.
Here the Spirit appears like a dove, in bodily form. Which at least gives us something to visualize.
But Spirit is not always visible. The very word Spirit, in both biblical languages (Hebrew and Greek) means wind or breath.
Jesus said, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
In other words, there is mystery to this. The Holy Ghost is intangible, ephemeral.
As we think of baptism and our own incorporation into the community of Jesus’ followers, what role does the Spirit play? Has the Spirit of God descended upon you, as it did upon Jesus?
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In our second passage from the book of Acts, we see the gospel spreading beyond Jerusalem to the region of Samaria. Philip had proclaimed the Good News and they believed it! They were baptized in the name of Jesus.
Just one thing remained. The Spirit, we are told, had not yet come upon them. So the apostles prayed. And then they laid their hands upon them. And the Spirit came!
Apparently baptism, apart from the Spirit of God, is not enough! If God isn’t in us and among us, renewing us from the inside out, well what use is immersing, or dipping, or pouring or sprinkling – or any of it?
Baptism isn’t all up to us. It also involves the work of God. It is a divine act of grace.
So I want you to think about your baptism, if you can remember. Was it something more than empty ritual, a formality, a church tradition? Something that happened once but now has been set aside? What’s going on with baptism anyway?
Jesus said, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” (John 3:5) There it is again – Spirit matters!
So is the Spirit of God working in you? And if so, how would you know?
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I want to mention four things today about the mysterious work of God’s Spirit. And the first is this: The Spirit is something in us that prompts a movement toward God.
Without the Spirit moving in our lives, none of us would have any inkling about faith. The Spirit works in us before we know a thing. The Spirit draws us to Jesus.
When I go for a hike I sometimes look down at my legs and find these bothersome burrs attached. I didn’t even realize they were there!
But somehow, as I walked through the grass and vegetation, they found me. And when they did, they grabbed hold. They’re persistent! You’ve got to really work to get rid of them.
And it strikes me that’s a lot like the presence of the Spirit. Can we ever get rid of God?
Before I knew anything about Jesus, the Spirit of God was preparing my heart, creating a space, nurturing curiosity and desire.
The Spirit is that niggling something within all of us that won’t ever let go. It sticks to us, reminding us who we are. And so it leads us closer, ever closer, to Jesus.
The Spirit is God working in our lives – to bring us into that loving community with God, and others who are also part of this fellowship of faith.
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The Spirit prompts. And the Spirit is also something within us that empowers. The Spirit strengthened and equipped Jesus, guiding him in all that would follow.
We know there would be many challenges for Jesus. Immediately after his baptism, he was led by the Spirit in the wilderness where he faced temptation.
Being faithful to God does not always make life easier. That’s not part of the deal. Hard times come to everyone. The only way through is to rely on a power greater than ourselves.
The Spirit empowered Jesus for ministry. Later, his disciples found they were gifted with the Spirit too!
The story is told of a man who walked into a hardware store after a windstorm had taken down a number of trees on his property. The salesperson said, “I have just the saw for you, guaranteed to cut up 10 trees a day.”
But the next day the man came back to complain. “I only managed to cut up three trees. You said it could handle ten!”
The salesperson was confused. He assured the man it was their finest saw. He took it, set the choke, pulled the cord and revved the throttle.
“Hold on,” said the man. “What’s all that noise?”
We can do some things by ourselves, but unless the Holy Spirit is part of our lives we won’t be living up to our full potential.
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The Spirit prompts. The Spirit empowers. And the Spirit is also something in us that reveals.
The Spirit enables us to see new things. To understand our lives and the world around us in a new way.
Our scripture reading today is remarkable. Because none of the believers in Jerusalem ever expected a Samaritan to receive the word of God. Yet that’s what happened!
You know the history between Jews and Samaritans. Tensions and hostilities went back hundreds of years. The Jews of Jerusalem considered the people of Samaria to be racially impure and theologically heretical.
When word arrives that Philip’s mission to the Samaritans had borne fruit, they could hardly believe it: “I mean, why would he go there in the first place?” They send Peter and John to investigate.
The Spirit is always leading us in new ways. It was a stretch for the early church to embrace an ever-widening circle of God’s people.
And here we are, early in a new year, on the cusp of a new beginning. I wonder, where will the Spirit lead us next on our journey?
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The Spirit prompts, empowers, reveals. And finally, the Spirit is something in us that transforms our living. It changes us!
One of the great theologians of the previous century, Karl Barth, used to speak of the church as reformed and always re-forming. Semper reformanda.
One reforming of our lives is never enough.
You accepted Christ as your Saviour, and that was good, and you began to grow. But are you growing now? Is there anything that’s changing in your faith or in your life?
It’s one thing for the church to have gone through a reformation 500 years ago. But are we open to reformation now? Do we expect further changes – in our understanding, in our practice. In our discipleship?
God isn’t finished with us, you know! The Spirit is still moving in our midst.
And the only way for the church to change is as each one of us opens our lives more fully to the Spirit’s life Because, after all, the church is us.
And only as we welcome that transforming, re-shaping and renewing wind of God that brings about a new creation … Only as we allow the flame of the Spirit to burn away the chaff and purify what is good and holy … Only then will our collective community of faith be renewed.
In what ways are you being invited to grow and change and become more fully the person God desires you to be? Can you name one way? Take a moment and think about that. Maybe write it down on your bulletin.
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The Spirit prompts, empowers, reveals, transforms. But how do any of us receive this Spirit?
I want you to notice that both our scripture readings today emphasize the importance of prayer.
After his baptism, the Spirit of God descends upon Jesus as he prays. In the book of Acts, the Spirit comes upon the Samaritans as the apostles Peter and John pray for them and lay their hands upon them.
Jesus said, “If you who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” (Luke 11:13)
To receive the Spirit, maybe all we need to do is ask. Take Jesus at his word. Pray. And trust that it will happen.
Today, as we remember Jesus’ baptism, and our own, let’s pray for the Spirit to continue to be present in our lives! Amen.
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