In Biblical times it was common for water to be used for cleansing (not just washing).
John did it differently when he immersed people, baptising in Jesus’s name.
Inviting them to be partners for God and into the warmth of God’s goodness and then taking goodness into the world, for all to partake of.
John was God’s bulldozer! He prepared a road in the wilderness.
God chooses unlikely people in unlikely places to bring about his purposes.
‘Deserts’ for many people are very different places – places with guilt, disappointment, loss.
The way out of deserts is repentance then forgiveness, to bring about Grace and Peace.
Jesus came into the world as the ‘upside down’ king – his kingdom is not of this world.
To commit to following Jesus is not to go along the pathway of power, authority or prestige.
Rather to relate with humility, through compassion, holding fast to a righteous way of living. The turmoil of the heavens was a sign that a new creation was in the making.
In Christ’s birth God proclaimed that the reality of peace had dawned on earth.
The proclamation of peace is costly…even Jesus and his parents became political refugees in Egypt.
In the struggle for liberation all must be connected and so we need each other.
Jesus came into the world as the ‘upside down’ king – his kingdom is not of this world.
To commit to following Jesus is not to go along the pathway of power, authority or prestige.
Rather to relate with humility, through compassion, holding fast to a righteous way of living.
Like Hannah, when we have faith that God is at work in the world, and God will find ways to overcome the abuse and power and status, we will find signs of hope around us and within us.
Generosity with possessions, time and mercy is a good and precious gift – a sign that we have been touched by the generosity of God.
Systems that seek to manipulate and exploit are not the ways of God – be wary!
Jesus travelled light – stripped away all that was not necessary.
In times of much transformation – we need to travel lightly.
Let the unnecessary go. Simply carry with you the Love of God who loves you.
Love yourself, neighbor and even enemies.
James and John struggle to get the picture of what Jesus was telling them.
However Bartimaeus, even though he was blind, did get the picture.
He had faith to become part of that contingent that walked with Jesus towards Jerusalem.
Sometimes our the path to God may mean ‘turning around’ (Metanoia) and seeing things differently.
Jesus and Martin Luther King Jnr had many things in common.
U2 in a song about the assassination of MLK Jnr said, “Free at last, They took your life, they could not take your pride, In the name of Love”
Jesus and MLK Jnr were both Servant Leaders, who enabled social change and both died, for their commitment and respect for the powerless and a new way of looking at the world.
Commitment to this new way was at personal cost. Jesus needs His disciples to know this.
God invites us into deep relationship that is not based on being rich, having all the earthly needs we require or being, good enough.
To follow Jesus we have to see ourselves differently – die to our old selves and be born to a new life.
A new life of generosity, trust in God, free from things that hold us back to simply receive the inheritance of love and grace on offer.
