The Baptism of Our Lord, 2024
Genesis 1:1-5
Psalm 29
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Back when I was in seminary, I took a class on the Gospel of Mark, and each of us had to write an intensive paper based on primary and secondary sources. I originally thought I was going to write a paper about Mark’s use of the Cosmic Inclusio. But instead, I wrote a paper based on the missing definite article in the Centurion’s statement at the foot of the cross. I’m sure that important paper on the lack of the word “the” is somewhere in my personnel file.
And so now this morning, let’s go ahead and talk about the paper I didn’t write. Mark’s use of the Cosmic Inclusio. I swear it’s more interesting than it sounds.
A good storyteller knows that the way to get people to keep listening is to drop a large elephant in the room at the start of the story, and then ignore it until the end. That way people keep listening to every word, thinking, “I hope he finally gets around to explaining why there’s a large elephant in the room.” Riddles work this way. As do some jokes. You start off with something unusual, or surprising, and then people will listen until you give them the answer. It’s just the way we’re wired.
So, this year we are in the gospel of Mark. And that means most readings--or, I guess about half of the readings--will come from Mark’s gospel. There are some very unusual things about Mark’s version of Jesus’ life. And I don’t want to give away any clues that will spoil the anticipation, but I want to tell you a few things about Mark’s gospel.
Most importantly, for today’s reading, you need to know that Mark was spoken long before it was ever written down. This entire book was a story, told to listeners. Sort of like a one-person play. Though we don’t know the specifics of that, I always imagine someone standing on a corner in a bustling market and dramatically telling the story to people standing around listening. As people come by, they need to be drawn into the story. They need to think to themselves, “I hope he finally gets around to telling me why that elephant is in the room.”
And as another technique, the word that gets translated as “immediately” comes up 41 times in Mark. Which is kind of like saying, “All of a sudden . . .” Somebody walking by might hear that and stop . . . Go on . . . All of a sudden, what?!? If you think of Mark’s gospel as a story, it helps us understand the urgency of the whole thing, combined with the little phrases to catch your attention. Right off the bat in today’s reading we hear that bizarre description of John the Baptizer. Clothed in camel hair? Combined with a leather belt? Where does this guy shop for clothes? Eating locusts and honey? That would get your attention, right? Walking by you’d say, “tell me more about this elephant in the room named John!”
And now the speaker has the people’s attention, and it’s time to lay out the Cosmic Inclusio! Okay, okay, I’ll tell you what that fancy phrase means. Eventually. In the gospel of Mark, there’s this Greek word, schitzo that only appears twice. You can kind of tell what this word means by our related words, “schism,” and “schizophrenic.” It means, to split something. But it means to split something violently, with great force. So, in our translation the heavens are “torn apart,” and in the King James they are “rent.” This word schitzo comes up just twice in Mark’s gospel, and the first time is right here, at the baptism of Jesus.
Jesus comes up out of the water, and the heavens are torn apart. (The narrator has dropped an elephant into the room, and will now leave us hanging until the very end of the story.) This word comes up twice, and it’s an image that gets your attention! The heavens are torn apart? You expect the next sentence to be, “and then fire rained down upon the people,” or “and then all the oxygen was sucked up into the outer atmosphere.” The heavens are torn apart, we’re thinking, “something huge is about to happen!” And something does . . .
The Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. And a voice comes from heaven saying to him, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” This is dramatic, for sure. Heavens torn apart, Spirit descending, voice from heaven speaking . . . Okay, you got us narrator of Mark’s gospel standing on a soapbox in the market square. Then what? Well, immediately, Jesus is driven out into the desert, but that’s another story, for another week. But we’re listening, aren’t we? We want to know what happens next. This is a very big opening to the story, for sure. We want to know what happens next. And we want to know what happens to John the Baptizer. And we want to know when that schitzo word is going to come up again.
Ah, not yet. We have to let these elephants sit in the room. First we need to look at why this event is so important. Why all the drama at the moment Jesus comes up out of the water? I mean, this story doesn’t start with “One slow day, yet another guy saw the heavens open and the Spirit come down . . .” The main drama of this story for the people hearing it would be how crazy it all sounds. And by that I mean beyond all the bells and whistles of the schitzo and the dove and the voice . . . It’s crazy because the “barrier” between heaven and earth has been shattered. Suddenly, the separation between God and people has been broken apart. Suddenly God is close. Scary close. And that doesn’t feel comforting, when you consider it. God is breaking through into the world in this moment, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a first. A Very Big First.
Here we have God in all three Persons. Here we have the Trinity. Here we have a completely new revelation of God, and it happens at the Baptism of Jesus. God is breaking into our world in a completely new way, and it is through baptism. Everything is different from this point, because God is present as Father, Son, and Spirit together at the baptism of Jesus. More importantly, in the person of Jesus, God walks among us. God has broken through, you see. The heavens are torn apart, and God has entered into our world in a whole new way!
And then, if you look for it, all through the gospel of Mark, you can see echoes of this “breaking through.” Seeds breaking through the ground, ears opening up to listen, eyes open to seeing, hearts receptive to Jesus, friends being lowered through the broken-open roof to be healed. Immediately, things break through, are torn apart, and God enters creation. Which leaves us with one big question . . . Where’s the other schitzo, right?
Back to the scene in the market . . . You’ve heard the opening of Mark’s gospel, when the heavens are torn apart. And you’re standing there listening to some speaker telling all these amazing stories about this man named Jesus, and it all leads up to his arrest and crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. And, as he is hanging on the cross, at the moment of death, we hear that Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.
And — Schitzo !— the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The curtain of the temple was schitzo, torn asunder, rent from top to bottom. That’s the cosmic inclusio. The story ends by reminding you of how it began . . .
At the baptism of Jesus, the heavens are torn apart; at the death of Jesus, the temple curtain is torn apart. This is what the theologians call, Mark’s Cosmic Inclusio. And the thing is, those listening to this story would know that the massive piece of fabric in the temple is what separates God from those who come to worship. No one was allowed behind this curtain, because that curtain separated people from the Holy of Holies—the place where God was thought to dwell. Jesus leaves the water of baptism and the heavens are torn apart. Jesus leaves his earthly life, and the temple curtain is torn apart.
What does it mean? Well, it could mean a lot of things, and it does. But what it means for you and me is this: the things that separate you from God are torn apart because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is now nothing that can separate you from God. At your own baptism, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God was present just as God was present at the baptism of Jesus. The heavens are torn open, the Spirit descends, and God claims you as a beloved child, in whom God is well pleased. And, today, when you come forward to receive the sacrament, I ask you to remember that nothing separates you from the love of God. Nothing prevents you from receiving this blessed gift, because the heavens have been torn apart . . . for you. End of story.
Amen
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