Jesus and Light

The New Testament
Acts 19:1-7


While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied— altogether there were about twelve of them.


The Gospel
Mark 1:4-11


John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The Sermon

This reading from Acts tells a lot about the change brought by Jesus. Paul meets with some disciples of John the Baptist. They tell Paul they have been baptized but they are clueless when Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit. I think that is true for many of us. The holy spirit is often represented as wind. You can feel the presence of wind. You can see what it does. You can even welcome its presence on a hot summer day. But, you cannot see it.

When Jesus was baptized by John the Spirit came down upon him like a dove. That is all we know. Because of that, when we depict the holy spirit, we use a dove. Doves are beautiful, graceful birds and I think that is why we use them as a symbol.

I would like you to close your eyes for a moment and picture in your mind how this scene might have looked. What do you see?

In my mind I see a brilliant light in the heavens and the Holy Spirit coming down in the form of a white dove. I am dazzled by this event.

I don't believe my baptism was anything like that but I still believe the Holy Spirit was present. When I think of the holy spirit I think of a light and we use light as a force for something good in our lives. We have so many ways that we use the word light in our language and culture. If I shine a light on a subject it is easier to understand. In comic strips if a light bulb goes on over a character's head it means he has a bright idea. If some one is enlightened it means they have a fuller understanding. If I say someone is all sweetness and light it means that person is a joy to be around. There are shining examples of light everywhere. Our reading from Genesis says God said let there be light and there was light and God saw that it was good.

So, where is the light in our world today. Sometimes when I watch the evening news I feel that we are living in dark times. Then, I have to remember that there are so many good things happening in this world. There is light in this sometimes dark world. We just have to look for it. Let me give you an example. While I was at the ministry center yesterday getting an estimate for a new sign, a man pulled up and told me he had a box of deer meat for the food pantry. He asked me to wait a while and he would be right back with it. In a few minutes he returned with the meat and after he put it in the freezer he said, “I really appreciate what you folks are doing here and I want to thank you.” These relatively sensational stories never make it into the evening news but they are woven into the fabric of our lives.

The dark side of this story is that we really need a food bank in Lucas County. The light shining through all of this darkness is that we have an abundance of people who come forward to donate their time and treasure to feed those who are in need.

Amen