Day and Night

Genesis 1:1-5
Mark 1: 4-11

I doubt many of us think too much on the concept of day and night. We take for granted that when we go to bed at night that the sun will rise by the time we wake up and will fall again as evening comes. Perhaps some who have lived for extended periods in Alaska where the darkness lasts well into the day in winter and the daylight lasts well into the night in summer, will understand a little more the significance of twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night.

We order our lives around the concept of day and night. In the mornings we wake up, we go to work and in the evenings we come home, make dinner and go to bed. There is order in having both day and night. There is a distinction between what we do in the daytime versus what we do in the night time. Some people, particularly women, will even have wardrobes that correspond to those times. These things you wear in the daytime, this dress or pajamas can only be worn at night. This lipstick is a night shade, this is a day shade.

So when God created day and night, he was not just giving us light so we could see and live by, he was creating order from chaos. The world was without form, it was dark and empty. Then God gave the world light and he separated it from the darkness. He deliberately made a distinction between the two.

Too often we read this first chapter of Genesis very quickly, with barely a pause. We don’t dwell on what God was doing here. How, by separating day from night, he also created a place for all creatures to feel comfortable. When he created the fish and the birds and then the animals on land, there are some that come out only in daytime, and others that come out only in the night. Then the Lord created people and many of us are defined by the time we keep. Some of us are morning people, others of us are night owls. There is a place where we all feel comfortable, where we all feel welcome because God created those places when he separated night from day.

The passage we read today in Mark, is a reminder of Genesis, when God created night and day, he also created heaven and earth. Jesus comes to John to be baptized and as he does, the Spirit of God descends upon him like a dove and the heavens are opened. This should bring us right back to Genesis where God opens up the world, with a few words, God creates the light of the world. God gives us the ability to live and grow and survive.

Jesus does the same thing when John baptizes him. In Mark, this is the first sign we are given that Jesus is no ordinary human being. There is something different and special about him. When Jesus came to the world, he created a new light from the darkness. God created the way to eternal salvation through the giving of His Son. Jesus had the ability to penetrate into the darkest places, into the deepest pits of despair and loneliness, and bring to each person the light of his love for them.

With the coming of Jesus, with his baptism, the heavens are literally torn open. A violent rendering and the Spirit of God descends upon the world. In Genesis it says that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of the deep and then God created light. When John poured the water upon Jesus’ head, those actions sparked just as powerful a creation as what we see in the beginning of the world. The heavens are ripped apart, no longer able to contain God’s wonderful, effervescent Spirit. The Spirit flows down to the dark world and as it falls upon Jesus God tells the world, “This is my Son.”

In the last few years with unemployment hovering at 10% and food and gas and utility bills going continually up while raises stay flat, we have learned a lot about the darkness of the world. We have seen those darkest parts of humanity as people viciously fight for jobs; we see businesses that once co-existed relatively peacefully now trying to demonize their competitors. We have watched as our government, instead of empowering its people, has turned against itself. Instead of the people we elect working together to help us; we see awful infighting not just among the many political parties, but inside the parties as well.  

We are left facing the darkness alone, without guidance from those who should be able to help us. We worry about the state of our finances; we worry about our homes, our jobs, and our pensions without benefit of anyone to relieve the burden. These times are the ones where we need to go back to Genesis 1 and Mark 1 and think deeply about their meaning. Only in God do we have safety. Only through Jesus do we have hope. The one sure thing in our world, the one place where we can find guidance and strength and the fortitude to continue on is found here in this church. The Spirit of God, hovering over the darkest places of the world, waiting to bring light and love when we open ourselves up.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he sent the Spirit of God to help us. Jesus knew about the dark places. He knew we needed a source of never ending light. We needed an unbiased, untarnished place where we could go and be welcomed with open arms. Jesus gave us that when he gave us God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is here now with us. It dwells in our hearts as we dwell in Jesus’ heart.

You are not alone in your endeavors, in your struggles.

Some of us start this New Year with hope in our hearts. Others of us have more worries than we ever had before. But none of us begin this year alone. None of us are left with the unsatisfying answers given by government, our employers, and the naysayers of our community. We have been given a Spirit that restores faith, reminds us that although we are sometimes crushed, we are not defeated. That while we have burdens, we do not carry them alone. We are reminded that God who is powerful and just can create whole worlds with the power of God’s Word. We are reminded that through a few words, our sorrows may melt away.

We are the light of the world. WE bring love into the world through our faith in Jesus Christ. We are given the greatest gift humanity has ever been given and if we cling to those truths, if we hold tight to that reality, we will find the rest of the world’s darkness will not seem so dark or so deep. We will find Jesus, our light, in the most unexpected of places. After all, if we are to see the light most clearly, it has to be from the darkest of places.

The dark places of the world are the ones that everyone else shies away from. But Christians, well we know that the Lord is found in those dark places. It is there that we see the heavens being ripped asunder, and the Spirit descending upon the masses because Jesus is not done working in this world. God is not done creating the Kingdom of Heaven.

May the light of God’s countenance shine upon you and bring you peace. 

Amen.