Hot Chocolate and Fruitcake Communion

Epiphany 1C

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

St. Matthias

January 13, 2019

           One of the best things about seminary was that you got to sit around and discuss theological stuff.  I mean – what else would you do in seminary?  Don’t get me wrong – there were lectures and tests and papers and way too much reading like in any other graduate school – but we also had these times when we were supposed to THINK theologically.  They were called Theological Reflection Groups – and we would ponder deep theological questions and share our ponderings.  Like consider this one – Would it still be the Eucharist if we used fruit cake and hot chocolate instead of bread and wine?  OR – since Jesus was fully human and fully divine – did he get colds and the flu? 

           Then came the day when Eugene Kohlbecker asked the question – if Jesus was the Son of God and did not sin – why was He baptized?  In this morning’s Gospel, Luke gives us the short version of the story.  John the Baptist is baptizing people in the River Jordan.  Not just in case, you thought that Christians invented baptism – well we didn’t.  Pretty much all of the major religions have baptism in one form or another and with different understandings and this was the case with the Jews.  You were baptized in cold, rushing water to cleanse you from sin.  This is why John the Baptist was standing in the River Jordan baptizing Jews.  And we know from the other Gospels that John didn’t think he should baptize Jesus – but Jesus insisted.  And the Holy Spirit descends like a dove and God’s voice is heard – “You are my Son, the Beloved, and with you, I am well pleased.”

           And God says the same to us.  In our baptisms we are marked as Christ’s own forever – we actually say those exact words.  We are God’s children – the Beloved – and with us, God is well pleased.  In other words – God loves us and as Bishop Sloan often says – God loves you more than your mama.  God looks at us and sees the very best in us and loves us and calls us His own.  One of my favorite Kee Sloan stories is about the time it was his mother’s birthday and his older sister’s told Kee that he must go out and buy a birthday present.  They had already purchased a new pair of bedroom slippers for her.  His brother was giving her a big bottle of perfume that he found at the drug store on sale.  But Kee did not know what to get.  He also didn’t have very much money.  He’d spent most of his allowance.  He went to the Dime Store and to the sale table.  There he found a plastic fish in a fake Conch shell.  It was sort of pink with green sparkly things.  It was not exactly pretty.

           On his mother’s birthday, they sang Happy Birthday.  His sisters had baked a birthday cake with yellow frosting and blue candles.  When it came time to open presents, Kee wanted to run and hide.  His father gave their mom a new bathrobe and it was really pretty.  His mother put it on right then and there even though it wasn’t bedtime.  His sisters gave her the house shoes that perfectly matched the bathrobe.  She put them on, and they too were beautiful.  Kee’s mother opened the perfume, smiled, sprayed some on her wrists and said it smelled really good and it was a good thing there was so much of it.  Finally came Kee’s present.  He wanted to run away. His mother opened the little box.  His sisters gasped.  His brother snickered.  His mother held the plastic fish in the fake Conch shell up for all to see, gave Kee a big hug, and said, “It is beautiful.”  Kee says - that fish in a fake Conch shell with the ugly green sparkly things stayed on her nightstand until the day he went off to college.  God looks at us – and even when the rest of the world seems to bring out the worst – God calls us his own – God calls us beautiful. 

           And this is how we should live every day.  Live knowing that we are loved by God as God’s Beloved and with us, He is well pleased.  Too often we think of our baptisms as something that happened in the past on a specific date that maybe our mothers remember.  We forget that we are loved by God and allow all the frustrations of life and busy schedules to separate us from God.  God’s still there – but we are just not paying attention.  Martin Luther once told the people in his church that every day we should dip our fingers in water – make the sign of the cross – and give thanks that we are loved by God remembering that we are baptized. What if that is what we did?  Wet your fingers – make the sign of the cross – and go through your day knowing you belong to God – knowing that God looks at you with more love than even your mama. 

           You’ve all heard me say it before – something happens in baptism, at communion, anytime we celebrate the Sacraments – God’s outward and visible signs of God’s inward and spiritual grace that say we are loved – eternally.  It’s a deeply theological miracle to ponder where ever you are.  So, get you some fruit cake – a cup of hot chocolate – dip your fingers in the water – and feel the love.  God’s love for all of us with whom God is well pleased.   AMEN.