Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized y him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” It is a beautiful moment, one that has inspired so many paintings and images; Christ. arms raised in praise, or perhaps head lowered in humble submission. The dove descending, surrounded in a holy light, hovering about Christ. The Holy Spirit lighting upon the Son… with whom God is well pleased. We often imagine the Holy Spirit as it is thus depicted: a dove, peaceful, grace filled, beautiful, softly cooing God’s inspiration into our hearts. Sometimes that is so, and the Spirit does come gently, nudging us in the right direction. Just as it is written in Isaiah today, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;” No raised voices, no harsh calls, even the most damaged, tired or burnt out person he will not quench. This is the aspect of the Holy Spirit we need in our lives, when we are ourselves tired, broken and crushed by sorrow and woe. This is the Spirit of Christ that walks with us through the symbolic death of baptism, that we may rise as Christ rises. But today I want to draw your attention to the other verses from Isaiah, for just as we are told that the Spirit-filled servant will not break even a bruised reed. We also hear that the same Spirit-filled Christ will bring “forth justice, … be a light to the nation, … open the eyes that are blind, … bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness”. Which is what is meant by Jesus when he mentions the need to fulfill all righteousness. Righteousness, not meaning to be right, or do things the right way…rather a righteous person is a person who has a solid relationship with God. A faith filled, active and obedient relationship with God. People in our tradition and those on trend with current theology, (and yep that’s a thing) might say righteousness is living out your baptismal vows. Which are the promises you make for yourself or on behalf of the baptismal candidate, and are as follows: · Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? · Will you persevere in resisting evil and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? · Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? · Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbour as yourself? · Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? · “Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth? Living out these vows in our daily life, is how we behave righteously, how we live out a righteous relationship with God. But when I look at the verbs in the baptismal vows; persevere, repent, proclaim, seek and serve, strive and safeguard, respect and renew. They are very active, very forceful. So if I think of the Holy Spirit as a dove or even as the Holy Ghost, I struggle to see how the Spirit is supposed to help in such robust activity,. Ghosts being transparent, disembodied and by definition unable to affect anything in the earthly realm. Doves being the epitome of all things gentle and tame. Doves…ghosts… if the this is how we imagine the Spirit who helps and how are we to live into righteousness? Now I know that we know these are just words, words we have used to try and explain the inexplicable, and we don’t really think that God is a physical dove or a ghost any more than we believe God is a mighty bearded fellow sitting on a cloud far, far away. But our image of a thing unknown does impact our interpretation of that thing. So, I am grateful to the great breadth of tradition in our church, because the image of the Holy Spirit in Celtic theology differs greatly from that of our tame dove. In Celtic theology the Holy Spirit is depicted as a goose. Now before you laugh. Just imagine the differences there…we as Winnipeger’s are intimately familiar with the behaviour of Canadian Geese…which would you rather have back you up…a dove or a goose? Yeah. I thought so. The Wild Goose of Celtic tradition is passionate, powerful, noisy and active…it cannot be contained and it cannot be stopped. It seems to fit better with the references to the voice of the Lord in our psalm: The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice; the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendour. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon; The voice of the Lord splits the flames of fire; the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare. This sounds far more goose than dove to me! However, it doesn’t really matter what image we have in our heads, whatever image we chose the Spirit’s task is the same. To guide, inspire and lead us into the way of righteousness. To help us live out our baptismal vows and always seek to grow in a faithful and active relationship with God. Sometimes that requires the gentle coo of the dove, the breath of the Spirit gently leading. Other times we need the loud, insistent squawking and powerful wing beating of a goose driving you ahead of it. (I tend to find the later seems to be needed with me, too often accompanied by a strong nip to the behind!) In his baptism Christ was setting an example of righteousness for us, giving us a pattern to follow, so that we who are children of God can know what is needed. So that we who rely so heavily on pattens, symbols and images would have a sacrament to lean back on. A way of expressing our commitment, an outward demonstration of an inside affirmation to live out a faith full life. After all that is the very definition of sacrament, an outward and visible sign and of inward and invisible grace. (thank you St. Augustine) In Christ’s baptism perhaps he made an inward commitment to follow the path laid out before him…to live out his Godly mission of salvation, a salvation that is for all of us. In our baptisms we are asked to do the same, to live out that righteous life we promised to live, as delineated in our baptismal vows. So today, as we remember Christ’s baptism, I invite you to recommit yourself to that life of righteousness Christ committed to. Please stand as you are able and respond I will with God’s help if you do commit to these vows: Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? · Will you persevere in resisting evil and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? · Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? · Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbour as yourself? · Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? · “Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respect, sustain and renew the life of the Earth? May the Holy Spirit, who has begun a good work in you, direct and uphold you in the service of Christ and his kingdom. Be that by gentle coos or insistent squawks. Amen.