Sermon - January 11, 2009

The Fountainhead of Life

Genesis 1:1-6, Mark 1:1-12    

     Mark's Gospel does not begin with the nativity story: the anticipation and beginning of Jesus' earthly life. Instead, Mark begins his story some thirty years later with Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. John doesn't live where most people of his time would live. He has a weird diet, and he doesn't dress like his peers.  John  lives in the wilderness. People have to come out to him to hear him preach.  He wears a camel hair tunic, not exactly a trendy fashion statement, but the uniform of the ancient prophets, and he eats locusts and honey. In short, for all appearances, John is a standout, and for good reason. He has a message that stands above all the rest: repent and be baptized. When Jesus came down to the Jordan to be baptized, to identify with sinners for all time, John pointed to Him and cried out, "this is the one who is greater than I, whose sandals I am unworthy to untie. I baptize with water, but He will baptise with Holy Spirit."

   In Genesis 1 we see the work of the Holy Spirit in the beginning of creation. The Holy Spirit hovered, brooded over the void that was to be earth and the heavens.  God spoke forth and created night and day. In verse 6 we read Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  God distinguished water that was of the earth and water above the firmament. Water, perhaps for a higher purpose.

   Christ's baptism was the inauguration of His ministry on earth. When an infant, a child, a youth or an adult is baptised, we are identified with Him, with the kingdom of God. For the rest of our days on earth, we are living in the stream of those higher waters, Christ, the fountainhead of life. That fact should make a total difference in our life.

   On January 2, 2006, TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va., there was an explosion in the Sago Mine in West Virginia. Initial reports claimed that one man had been found dead, and that 12 men were trapped. A false report came to family members who had gathered in a local church saying that the twelve men were found alive, when in reality, only one had been found alive, the rest had died. We later found that the men who died in this accident had been alive for many hours before they died, and that they had written notes to their family members. In some of the first note released to the public, in addition to expressing love for family, one of the miners had written "not so bad, just going to sleep" and "see you on the other side."

   This is such a selfless note. The man's life is passing from him, and he seeks to comfort those who will mourn his death. This is so like Christ who just hours before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, comforted His disciples with the words, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, you may be also.   This man's note demonstrates his faith in Christ that he will one day be rejoined with his loved ones.  I wonder who among us, if we knew we had only hours our minutes left to live, would write such a selfless and faith-filled note.  For this man, even in the darkest hour, Jesus was a fountainhead of life.

   Our baptism operates by applying our faith. Only God baptizes, an infant, child, youth or adult, it is God's work through the Holy Spirit to create a new spiritual creature in the person baptized. And our spirit is to grow and transform under the teaching of the Fountainhead of Life.

   An author named Bret Harte wrote a story about the Wild West, called "The Luck of Roaring Camp." Roaring Camp was the meanest, toughest mining town in all the West. No where anywhere around had more or as many murders and thefts. Roaring Camp was inhabited entirely by rough-hewn men, except for one woman , Cherokee Sal. She made living in the only way she knew how – and it wasn't doing laundry or mending sox.

  Cherokee Sal became pregnant and gave birth to baby girl. She died in childbirth.  No one knew who the father might be. The men put the Cherokee Sal's infant girl in a wood box with some old rags under her. Somehow that just didn't seem right, so one of the men rode 80 miles to buy a Rosewood Cradle. When they put the rags and the baby in the beautiful new cradle, the rags just didn't look right. Another man rode to Sacramento and purchased some silk and lacy blankets. So they the Rosewood Cradle with silk and tucked the new blanket around the little baby girl. But then someone noticed that the floor under the cradle looked dirty.
   The next thing you knew, a few of those big, tough men got down on their hands and knees and scrubbed the floor until it was spotless. But then the walls and the ceiling, and the dirty windows looked awful. So they washed down the walls and the ceiling, and they even hung some clean white curtains on the windows. Things were beginning to look a lot better. But soon they realized they had to give up their carousing and fighting. After all, the baby needed a lot of sleep, and babies can't sleep during a brawl. Besides a that, angry voices or frowning faces made the baby cry. So the men started smiling and talking in pleasant, cheerful tones. Since babies shouldn't be left alone, they set the cradle by the entrance of the mine. One of the men stayed next to her while the others worked.
   Then somebody noticed how ugly the mine entrance was. So they planted some flowers and made a small garden near the cradle. As they worked, the men looked for shiny little stones that they could show to the baby and watch her gurgle and coo. But when they held the stones down near her, they saw that their hands looked black and dirty. And they didn't want to scare the little baby with their scraggly hair and wild beards. Pretty soon the general store sold out of soap and shaving gear. The men and the camp were transformed by their care and love for this little baby.
   The Infant that we celebrated on Christmas is the Savior, who washed away our sins, and who also brings change and newness of life to all who will believe in him. Upon His baptism, His eyes were already fixed upon the cross of Calvary. His baptism was a statement of what he was about to do to make possible our new birth and salvation. He identified with sinners  in His Baptism so that identifying with Him in our baptism  our sins are forgiven,  we are saved, and we live washed and nourished by the streams fed by the Fountainhead of Life. Amen.   

 

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