Humans want to be included. In fact, we have a fundamental need to be accepted, welcomed, even wanted. We long to be invited. We hope to be included. We want to belong.
And so we gather. We get together in groups, or neighborhoods, or clubs, based on things we share in common. We gather in stadiums (Skol!), in arenas, in homes, in restaurants, in breweries, in community centers, and in churches.
I was curious. So, I did a little bit of research this week. I was thinking about this human instinct to gather into groups, and so I looked at different kinds of clubs; different ways that people connect. What I found was…well…interesting.
The largest “club” in the United States is the AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons. They have 38 million members. They also have the largest direct mail recruiting budget of any organization or club…I know, because I think they spend most of it on me. (No…not yet…).
The most expensive club in the United States is “The Bear’s Club” in Jupiter, Florida. It was founded by golf legend, Jack Nicklaus. The cost of membership is a one-time fee of $90,000 plus $25,000 a year in dues. Suddenly, the AARP doesn’t look so bad.
There are other, more unusual, niche clubs:
- The Martin-Baker Ejection Club is a club, exclusively for pilots who had to eject out of an airplane prior to its crashing. Each member gets a tie, a tie pin, a membership certificate, a patch and a membership card.
- In a similar vein, there is the Caterpillar Club, for military and commercial aviators who have had, the web site says, a “life-saving experience with a parachute.” It is called the Caterpillar Club because at the time the club was formed, parachutes were made of silk, which came from the Caterpillar. The club has over 100,000 members. Members have included the likes of President George H.W. Bush and Charles Lindberg.
- There is a club called “The Sons of Lee Marvin.” It is open to anyone who has a facial structure similar to the famous actor.
- There is the British Lawn Mower Racing Association (I don’t really need to explain that one)
- And my favorite is the “Not Terribly Good Club.” This was a club for people who considered themselves completely mediocre. They excelled in nothing. Interestingly, this club closed itself down in 1979 after they had a huge surge in membership. The “Not Terribly Good Club” disbanded after it was decided that they had become a success.
- And, there are many, many more.
My point is, to belong to something…to someone…to somewhere…is, a basic, fundamental human need. Humans need to belong. Humans want to know that someone wants them.
This leads us straight to our Gospel text for today…the story of the baptism of Jesus.
Jesus traveled out into the wilderness to find John, the Baptist. John was preaching about the coming of Jesus and was baptizing those who believed. When Jesus approached John and said that he wanted to be baptized, John didn’t want to do it. After all, why would Jesus, who was perfect…who was without sin…need to be baptized? But Jesus insisted. Why?
Well, I want you to notice what the scriptures say when Jesus comes up, out of the water. It is at the end of verse 11. It says that as Jesus came out of the water, the “heavens were torn apart and the Spirit descended on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven. Let’s read this line together…the voice says: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” You are my Son, the Belloved. With you I am well pleased.
Three really important things just happened:
- The heavens were torn apart.
- The Spirit descended on him like a dove.
- And a voice said “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
I had never really noticed before this past week that in Mark’s Gospel, the sky…the heavens…are described as being “torn apart.” That’s an interesting turn of phrase. Matthew’s version of the story simply says that the heavens “opened up” and the Spirit descended. But Mark says “torn apart.” This implies a suddenness…an unexpectedness… and that the skies were opened in almost a violent kind of way. Mark intentionally chose that phrasing. I think Mark is trying to make a point here…one that’s easy for us to miss.
To see it, we can look back at our first scripture reading today, from the beginning…the very beginning. Genesis 1. In the story of creation, the scriptures say that there is chaos…and then the Spirit of God moves over the waters…and separates the light from the dark and in verse 7 it says that God created a dome…the sky…something that separated the earth and the waters from all that was around it. God created a separation between the heavens and the earth.
And then the rest of creation…the earth, the plants, the animals, the people…were all created under the sky, within that dome. And to get along…to live together in this world, God gave us the law to guide us, and to teach us how to live.
But it didn’t work. We couldn’t follow the law. It was too much. Because of sin, because of brokenness, we couldn’t become who God wanted us to be…hoped us to be…created us to be. And we remained separated…from each other…separated from God.
Until the day of Jesus’ baptism.
The Hebrew word that Genesis uses to describe this dome…this separation, is the exact same word that Mark uses here when he talks about the sky being torn open. This cannot be a coincidence. Mark chose this word on purpose. I think the point that Mark was trying to make is that as Jesus came out of the water, that dome…that separation between heaven and earth…was torn open…and God’s Holy Spirit was set loose in creation, and descended on Jesus…inhabited Jesus…and inhabited the world.
And that was the day…the day that Jesus began his ministry. That was the day that Jesus began to heal, and to teach, and to perform miracles.
But…as they say…that’s not the end of the story. Because after the sky was torn open, and after the Holy Spirit descended, God spoke to Jesus, and God said, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
I really like the way that these words from God to Jesus is phrased in a version of the scriptures called “The Message.” Because in that version, God says: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, you are the pride of my life.”
“You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, the pride of my life.”
Those are powerful words. I remember growing up, that the words of my father that I most longed to hear were the words “I’m proud of you.” When he said that to me, it was like my heart glowed. There was no greater compliment. To be honest, I think that these are words that we all long to hear. That we have been chosen. That someone is proud of us.
These are the words that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, heard from his Father after his Father tore open the heavens and sent him the Holy Spirit. God the Father was saying to Jesus…and to all who were there that day, that you are mine. You belong to me. I am proud of you.
Those words…they are words that we also hear. Because that day 2,000 years ago when the heavens were torn open…it was just the beginning. It was just the first time the Spirit descended, and God spoke those words of promise.
In the same way, every single time that we pour the water…every single time we baptize, God’s Spirit descends, and we hear the words, “You have been marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit…forever.” In your baptism…God was saying to you “you are mine. I chose you. You are marked by my love. You are the pride of my life.”
We all have a need to belong. It is basic. It is foundational.
What the story of Jesus’ baptism reminds us of today is that we belong…we are “in”…we are welcome…as we are…warts and all.
It’s not a club in the same way we think of clubs…because for clubs, there are people who are included, and there are people who are…excluded.
But it is a community. And through the waters of baptism, it is a community of people who have all been claimed by God. It is a community of grace, of love, of welcome and acceptance. God doesn’t care who you are…what you look like…who your family is…how much money you have…or who you love.
My friends, you all belong.
- You have been claimed by the God who created you.
- You have been redeemed by the God who went all of the way to the cross for you.
- You have been blessed by the God who tore open the heavens and descended on and into you.
Know that even now, even when God feels distant, there really is no distance. Because God made a promise to you. And God never breaks promises.
No. God is with you now. And in your baptism, and every day since then, God has looked at you, and has said: “You are my child, chosen and marked by my love, you are the pride of my life.”
You belong to God. You belong.
Amen.
Test Driving Theology 