Revelation 21:1-52

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

Mark 1:4-11

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away ... And he who sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” And then from Second Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away.”

The old and the new. The new and the old. One of life’s great dichotomies. Like up and down, black and white, life and death and many others. But now, at the beginning of a new year, thoughts of the old and the new seem to weigh heavily on our minds and on our spirits perhaps more heavily than at other times.

Now personally, I have a penchant for things that are old. I collect old stamps. I do genealogy and trace old ancestors. I love doing church history and, as many here know, I am excited and energized by the fact that in spite of our church celebrating a mere 140th anniversary in 2007, Colesville UMC is actually over 200 years old. I like old maps and old documents. One of my most prized documents is a hand-written will from one of my ancestors dated 1802 - over 200 years old. And it may be just as well the I like things that are old because when I look in the mirror and see - well I don’t think I want to go there.

But over and in contrast to that, there’s my favorite phobia - new-phobia. That’s a term I just invented. Fear or avoidance of new products - new packaging, things that are new and improved. I don’t want new and improved; I liked the old product. It seems like every week or two, some favorite product of mine disappears from store shelves. Recently, I sent an e-mail to a company asking if I could still order the old product that I liked online. Or I thought that perhaps it was still being marketed in some other part of the country and could get it that way. They replied that the old product had been discontinued but they were sure I would like the new improved product and they sent me some discount coupons. Well, I didn’t like it but I’m stuck with it And then of course, at a whole different level, there’s the matter of computer software. A new version comes out before I’ve even begun to figure out how to use all the features of the old version. I am stubbornly using the older version of several softwares simply because the old software, like old shoes and old blue jeans is just more comfortable.

But when we think of things that are old, we have to include the Bible. as we all know, the Bible itself is a very old document. Incidentally, I have some wonderful old Bibles including a huge 150-year old family Bible with about 4 generations of family history in it. But parts of the Bible itself date back thousands of years - how many thousand may depend on how you view the calculations of Bishop Usher, but that’s another story. And yet as old as it is, one of the major thrusts of scripture is newness. This ancient book - really group of books - seems constantly to be looking forward, to be looking at what is new, even as it tells us the stories of what is old, that is, what has gone before. And so I want to suggest that perhaps we’re not doing the Bible justice when we look at it as a repository of what is old; when we focus primarily on the historical aspects of the scriptures.

Certainly many of the best-known parts of the Bible deal with what has gone before: The Creation Story, the story of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood, the story of the Exodus, Moses receiving of the Ten Commandments, Joshua and the Wall of Jericho and on and on. All old accounts and in many cases the subject of rancorous debate among scholars and often bitter arguments over when, or where and even whether they ever really happened. Was the universe really created in 7 days? Where did Adam and Eve’s daughter-in-laws come from? How could a flood cover all the earth? Enormous time and energy have been spent debating and investigating and arguing about these and other points - these issues from the old side of the Bible.

But I say this morning, as we leave an old year behind in the hands of the historians and look forward to the promise of a new year, even a new year fraught with problems, perhaps we should also concentrate more on the promise that the scriptures hold for what will be, for what will be new and less on what was.

Based on what I said a few minutes ago, this will require some realignment of my thinking and it may pose the same problem for you. We have all grown so accustomed to seeing the Bible as a window on the past that it’s hard to turn that window around and look through it the other way, to look at the Bible as a window to the future, as a harbinger of what is new.

So where shall we start on this journey through the window from the other side? It always seems best to start a journey from where we are. In the movie, “The Longest Day” based on the D-Day invasion of Europe, John Wayne, as a paratrooper colonel, having jumped in the darkness, is on the ground about 4 in the morning, looking at a map and he says, “As near as I can figure, we’re about 10 miles from our drop zone.” And one of the junior officers says, “Colonel, what are we going to do?” And John Wayne says, “We’re gonna start our war right here.” And since today is the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, I propose that we do the same start. As John Wayne said, we’ll start right here.

So what is new about The Baptism of the Lord. Our word “baptism” comes from the Greek word “bapto” which means to dip or to wash. Now there is no question that Jewish people of the Old Testament were big on cleanliness and on washing and when the word “bapto” or the Hebrew equivalent, is used in the Old Testament, that’s exactly what it means - nothing more nothing less. To dip or to wash, . The word is used in Second Kings, for example, when Namann, the commander of the Syrian army, afflicted with leprosy, was told by the prophet Elisha to wash himself in Jordan River 7 times to be cured. But nowhere in the Old Testament is there any mention of baptism, that is of dipping or washing, as a sacred ritual. So when the Gospels, all four of them in rare perfect agreement, tell of John baptizing people in the Jordan for forgiveness of sins, that was something totally new. This was an innovation. The background is that in those times, it was widely believed that the end of the world or the end of the age, as is sometimes said, was at hand and that a new - here again, “new” - that a new age about to dawn. And John was preaching that with new age, the judgement was coming and to enter the new age, a person had to repent of their sins and that baptism - the ritual washing or dipping in the Jordan - was essential. The bapto, to use the Greek word, was a washing away of the sins so that the person could stand in the judgement and enter the new age.

But why then did John baptize Jesus or why was Jesus baptized at all? After all, Jesus was without sin and therefore he had nothing to repent of and nothing to be washed clean of. John himself asked this question. In Matthew 3;13-15, is recorded that Jesus came to be baptized and John objected saying it would be more fitting for Jesus to baptize him. But Jesus said for him to do it because, he said cryptically “It is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.”

One of the wonderful and liberating aspects of the theology of the United Methodist Church is that we have considerable latitude to read and study the scriptures, to search our own conscience and to listen to the still small voice of the spirit and to seek our own understanding of God’s mysteries. So with that in mind, I will try to impart what I believe to be the answer to this conundrum. All four Gospels tell us that when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. But look now at Acts 19: 1-7. Paul, speaking to believers - the Bible calls them disciples - in Ephesus. (Read) “And he said to them.....the Holy Spirit came upon them.” And so I suggest this morning that Jesus’ baptism served, you might say, as a model - as a demonstration, as a teaching tool if you will. It served to show to the world that when a person is baptized invoking the name of Jesus, that likewise, the Holy Spirit will come upon them and that baptism in the name of John will not suffice. And Paul, in his Second letter to the Church at Corinth, in chapter 5, verse 17 that we heard read this morning, underscores this when he says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ (that is, if anyone is baptized into Christ’s baptism) he (or she) is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”

So today when Addison Victoria was baptized (or when Addison is baptized) she received (will receive) the Holy Spirit and became (will become) a new person, a new creation. This is why is some branches of the Christian faith, a baptismal name is taken. That is the name of the new creation in the Holy Spirit.

But we can find even more new things in the Bible. Of course there is the new testament or New Covenant that changed our relationship to God forever. Jesus preached the new commandment - that we love one another.

But as we move into a new year even greater new horizons lie before us. Going back almost to the time when Jesus walked the earth in human form, the faithful have been looking forward to a time variously known as the New Age, the Second Coming, the end of time, or the great Apocalypse. It will be they say a time when God himself will reign on earth. It is a time spoken of in the Book of Revelation when all will be new. John, the author, says in these powerful words we heard read this morning, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first earth had passed away...the new Jerusalem. ... And he who sat on the throne said, Behold I make all things new.”

I don’t know when or where or how this is to happen. In Jesus’ time, it was thought to be imminent. Every new century, every new millennium there are those who look for it to happen. We hear of groups of believers selling all they have and gathering on mountaintops, waiting to be taken up into heaven in the rapture. But I will say this morning these visions aside, every new year, every new dawn is a time for us to celebrate God’s new creation. Every day places before us new opportunities for new service, new dedication and new witness. God in Jesus creates and it creating. Each day we are reborn a new creature. The old is past and as a new creation, we are called to go forth in God’s name to do the work of the church and the work of the kingdom. Yet oddly enough, it is a memory from the past, from the old, comes to my mind at this moment and points to the new. How many here remember the general Confession that was part of the old Communion ritual that we used when I was a youngster. It is still etched in my memory: Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time most grievously have committed by thought, word and deed against thy divine majesty. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings. Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father. For thy Son Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the end that the Kingdom of God may come upon the earth. All honor and glory be unto the, Father almighty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Serve and please the in newness of life.

Blessed be the name of the Lord God, our Creator who forever makes us new. Amen

Benediction

And now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you new, renewed and faultless before the presence of his glory; to the only wise God our Savior be dominion and power, glory and majest,y now and forever more. Amen