The warnings that fire is coming are frightening and scary. Fire brings destruction and loss. What happens when we bring the right water to the fire?

Wildfire in the news

Day after day, fires have been burning in Los Angeles. The number that stuck in my head is 12,000 structures damanged or destroyed. A big contributor has been the santa ana winds that come down off the mountain and fan the flames. Wind and Fire. 

Jesus prays, heavens open/veil is torn back/oh my

Here we also read about wind and fire. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The words john uses here can also be translated Wind and Fire. It’s a striking combination to before going on to talk about the farmer after the harvest. The wheat has been separated and all that’s left to burn away the chaff, the material that the farmer can’t sell or put to use, the clutter, the noise, the things he doesn’t find valuable.

There’s an inevitability to both sets of images. John describes it as a fire that can’t be put out. And, like most wildfires, the battle against the ones in California is about containtment, when the fire will burn itself out. 

from troubled & fearful rich & powerful to expectant people (from risk to opportunity)

Last week’s passage and this weeks are strikingly different in one way. Last week, we were inside the room as the magi met the king. The rich and powerful, those in power were troubled, afraid, worried concerned about the change that was coming. Here, John warns about the fire and the people who have come are expectant. They seem to be looking forward to the destruction John warns about and what it can bring. 

When everything burns down, it changes the landscape. And if, like John, you are focused on everything that is wrong in people’s lives and the world, it can be something you welcome. For those who’ve lost homes or are just trying to endure living in a town or a valley filled with smoke, it turns lives upside down. We as a conference are already joining in the work of responding to the needs of those who have lost so much in Los Angeles. 

Second Succession.

BUT, our reading has a second part. In between, in the portion we didn’t read, we read that John has aggravated the newest Herod on the throne and John has been put in Jail. Before our gap, John says someone greater than me is coming. After the gap, Jesus comes down to the water. 

John’s time has come to an end and part of what Jesus’ baptism represents is that another has been annoited to do the work of John. John has warned of the scale of change and now the change agent has arrived. 

From Destruction to Transformation

A friend of mine taught High School biology for decades before he retired. When wildfire came up, he said look up second succession. In fire and other events that disturbs an ecosystem, the soil and some nutrients remain. This allows new species to recolonize the area, and the ecosystem to eventually develop a new stable state. 

Destruction has come, life has been lost, and something new develops. Transformation has come. When life is about transformation, change is part of what has to happen. When fires burn through our lives, there is loss and destruction and change will happen. What that looks like is up to us and the journey we are on. When space has been cleared, it opens the possibility for us to build something changed and new.

Jesus prays, heavens open/veil is torn back/oh my

Here, the change begins with succession, with baptism. Jesus prays, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit, descends upon him. In the form of a bird, like a dove, so we imagine her flying down and resting on his shoulder. There are times when prophets spoke of being carried up into heaven and getting a glimpse behind the curtain, here it is heaven that comes down in this completely unexpected way, a bird like a dove circles down to finish the baptism. 

A Book on Baptism

We Methodists have literally written a book on Baptism called by water and the Spirit. If there’s a greek translation I assume it could be read by Water and the Wind. In baptism, we choose grace, we are affirmed and embrace a shared identity. 

Grace

It speaks of grace, the grace that makes the moment of baptism possible and the grace that is possible in baptism, for the one being baptised, for those present. If grace is god’s action in the world, here we see grace pouring out in this moment.

Shared Identity

in Baptism, someone becomes part of the body of Christ, part of the community of all Christians, part of a family of faith. In Baptism we are choosing to not just be ourselves but also take on a shared identity. Here we see that played out in detail. The Holy spirit, the creator’s spirit, the divine spirit, joins Jesus, as close as sitting on his shoulder.

We are Affirmed and Belong

And then the voice is heard: You are my child… My child that I love dearly… and You make me happy. 

What an amazing thing to hear. Knowing that you belong, hearing (and being convinced) that you are loved, and realizing that in just that relationship of belonging and love that you make someone happy.

Longing For Home 

How many movies and lives are driven by a desire to hear words like those? For people longing for home, those are words that can bring tears, tears of longing, tears of joy, tears.

Together

In baptism, we choose grace, we are affirmed and embrace a shared identity. We don’t just speak of Jesus, or the Messiah Christ but but Jesus Christ son of God, baptised with the spirit. Those arn’t just words and titles but a portrait of family relationships at their best and most brilliant. Even as John preaches fire. Even as a Herod continues to rule. Even as people long for a world transformed.

Conclusion

Fire catches our attention. Warnings are shouted, people flee, others work to slow it down, contain it. When we step back from that moment, we face hard questions. What will we do when the unforeseen burns through our lives? Do we always have to wait for the unforeseen before we change? Can we choose transformation ourselves. 

And Jesus, in a simple act of going to the river and praying models something different, what to do after the destruction costs someone –like John– everything, what to do instead of waiting for the fire to come to you. 

So much comes down from Heaven here. Some are mysterious… the Spirit as a Dove. Some pour into our deepest longings. You are my child… My child that I love dearly… and You make me happy. 

Creator, spirit and child come together. Grace, community, affirmation, belonging… all those things that mark home come together in this moment.

You are my child

My child that I love dearly 

You make me happy