"Get Weird... For Your Faith"

Mark 1:4-11
1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

1:5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

1:6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

1:7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.

1:8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

1:11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Out of the four gospels, I have always been drawn more to Mark.  I cannot really put my finger on it as to why this is but I think my prep for the sermon this morning may have lead me to an answer.  Mark has no birth story, it has no mention of Jesus’ youth.  John the Baptizer is the primary focus of the start of Mark.  Jesus’ baptism in the other gospels appears to be more of a public event and in Mark it seems that while John baptized Jesus, we are offered a very close look at the relationship between God and Jesus. In verse 11 it says that a voice came from the heavens and says, “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  I just imagine God saying this softly to Christ.  In other gospels, this scene seems to much larger, much more of a public display so that others see just how God ordained Jesus.  In Mark, we just have a whisper.  From the outset, the other gospels want you to know exactly the importance of Jesus but in Mark the reveal comes softly and slowly through the entire gospel.  It’s almost like the writer of Mark was writing this gospel in a way that they were trying to keep Jesus a secret.  Maybe it wasn’t so much that Mark was trying to keep Jesus a secret as it was the personality of the author.  We must understand that the Bible was written by human hands who had their own faith and personalities just like we do.  And I think this is why I have been drawn to Mark because my personality most resonates with the author of Mark.  For me, God speaks through the whisper and through a very personal and close relationship.  While for others, God interacts with them much differently.  The beauty of God found in our differences.  

I titled this sermon the way I did because there is so much about faith that is weird but we are we live in a country where most of us are considered “normal” despite our faith.  On the other hand, John the Baptizer, I saw this phrase this week and thought it was awesome because it makes John seem like a superhero.  “I am John, John the Baptizer,” and then splash! he baptizes you in the name of the repentance and forgiveness.  And then he flies on down the Jordan River with his camel hair cape and jar of locusts dipped in honey.  That may be a little extreme but John the baptizer was undoubtedly a strange fella.  He was a man of the wilderness proclaiming that another man name Jesus would come baptize in the Spirit.  In today’s world, the ol’ baptizer would have been seen as a crazy person and in all likelihood, he was most likely considered crazy back then.  Here we have John eating locusts and declaring that the one who will come after him will baptize in the name of the Spirit and yet God speaks to Jesus through a whisper.  Quite a contrast.  John was considered by many a strange cat but we cannot deny that God was with him and that he was on fire for his faith.  

John’s style certainly does not appeal to me but I am sure it does to others.  But even though my style is way different than John’s I can appreciate his weirdness.  In all honesty, I think this weirdness is something that we should take to heart a little bit.  We are all a little weird in our own way.  Our faiths are much different from one another and we are each unique.  So, this morning I am encouraging you to get out of your shell a little bit.  Do not be afraid to be a little “weird.”  

Our scripture this morning is about new beginnings all the way around.  John the baptizer and his teaching are finally justified through the baptism of Christ.  All of those who deemed him crazy and felt that he should be locked away now finally see and start to understand that he was preaching the truth about Christ.  In the gospel of Mark, this marked the beginning of the story of Jesus.  It marked the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  And recalling our own baptisms, or what we grew up knowing about baptism if you were baptized as an infant, either way, baptism marks the dawn of a new era.  Even if you were baptized as an infant, you were still made a part of a family of believers.  Baptism represents a whole new creation.  Jesus is that new creation and through our baptism we are reborn into weirdness of Christ.  And a relationship with God is exactly that because it makes us do things that the world may deem as strange.

A serious relationship with God changes who you are.  It will cause us to give our hard earned money to the church and other organizations.  It will cause us to help those in need.  It will give us a tender heart for those who are hurting.  It will help define a more precise definition of justice.  It will put our hands and feet into motion to bring the love of the cross to many.  Jesus may have been the Son of God but he shared that inheritance with all of us.  He was baptized just as we are.  If nothing else, Jesus’ baptism shows us his human attributes.  Jesus didn’t baptize himself in the name of himself by his own spirit.  In his baptism and death, these two instances offer to us the human side of Christ.  We are able to see ourselves through Christ’s baptism and death but I am telling you that the “weirdness” of Christ offers us even more than that.  Since we are baptized like Christ, since we die like Christ, DOES THIS NOT MEAN WE ALSO GET TO LIVE AGAIN LIKE CHRIST??  If we are baptized in Christ, with God’s Spirit, which means that we are promised eternity.  It means that we will suffer like Christ so we CAN ALSO LIVE LIKE HIM.  It means that we will love like him so that we can help others find their way to Christ.  We share in all things with Jesus.  This is what I mean about faith changing who we are.  We cannot see God in all his glory and not be changed by it.  Moses had to hide his face when he came down from the mountain because the afterglow of God’s presence would harm anyone who would see it.  And yet we get to live in God’s presence every single second because of what our Lord, our Brother, our Messiah did.  We get to share in all things with Christ.  Knowing this, more importantly, living a life that exalts this is what changes us and what causes others to want what you have.  It causes others to want to be weird for Christ as well.  

Do you want to hear the weirdest thing of all when it comes to the faith that Jesus lived and gave us the blueprint for?  It was meant for everyone.  There is no event, circumstance, race, gender, ethnicity, culture or religion that can keep us away from God’s love.  We walk around this earth with nothing but God’s love and grace surrounding us.  The sooner we realize that we have a responsibility to God and to our fellow man then the sooner we as mankind can find peace with one another.  Here is what I want you to take from today: Faith is not about everyone believing in exactly the same thing... or about living that faith in exactly the same way... Faith is about your personal relationship with God while giving others the space to develop their own relationship with God.  We get into trouble because we think that one way of faith is better than another but when we realize that God’s love transcends all the garbage in our lives then we will find true faith in God and understanding with each other.  Amen.