Splashing Out Of The Womb

Reflection for 1st Sunday after the Epiphany Grace, Plymouth, and St. Luke/St. Anne, Roper, NC January 12, 2025 Thomas Wilson, Guest Celebrant Isaiah 43:1-7 Acts 8:14-17 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Psalm 29 Splashing Out of the Womb Most of us in the room have had the same first impression of life when we were born; the water breaks over us and we came splashing out of the womb and had to adjust to being thrust into and to seeing a whole different world. If I had been paying better attention, I could better describe was it was like for me in that hospital in St. Louis, Missouri 78 years, and a little less than a month ago. The closest I am reminded is of the words of William Butler Yeats in his poem Easter 1916, when he tried to capture the breath taking wonder of Irish Freedom from the British and the horror attending the time of struggle locked in the heart, and the times of plain stupidity that each nation will have woven into even the moments of high ideals; “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” To be born is to enter into being fully human, one way or another, splashing out of the womb. Last month we celebrated Jesus splashing out of the womb of Mary, his mother, in a the stall of a stable in Bethlehem because there was no room for this refugee family in the inn. Yet Kings came from far off lands to kneel before him in that place. At the same time, the forces of evil were gathering to try to destroy this child's message of peace on earth good will to all, but “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus comes out of East Nowhere Nazareth, walking to make a call on his cousin John down by the Jordan and a good guess is about 60 miles distance. When I go to the Y in the mornings, I get on an Elliptical and it takes me about a half an hour to cover two miles; it would take me about 30 hours to cover the distance that Jesus is walking, but between Nazareth and the Jordan is not a smooth flat walk. Lets assume he is in great shape, he is about 30, and he doesn't stop to talk with people, or to have meals with travelers, which from what we think we know about Jesus, seems highly unlikely; he can do it in three days. He makes this trip because he is called to follow a destiny. If he had stayed in Nazareth, he would have been a busy carpenter, because there were Roman dominated cities, especially three miles away, Sepphoris, a thriving center of Herod Antipas's rule. Father and son could have made a very good living. But Jesus was leaving that all behind him, because his spirit was calling him to leave. “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” This is an important trip for him as he tries to figure out what is his meaning in life. His name was Jesus, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Yeshua ,which is Joshua in English. Joshua had come to the River Jordan and according to the Bible, the Priests under Joshua leads the ark into the River and the waters part and the Ark of the Covenant crosses the River without getting wet. Jesus enters into the water, the blessed water of the Jordan which marks the boundary of the Promised Land. Except this time, Jesus gets sopping wet. He comes, not as his namesake as a powerful conqueror but as a soggy, splashing supplicant. “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” Joshua came to destroy the hated cities of the enemies. Jesus comes to bring love to the homes of his enemies. He comes with a faith that all will be redeemed, even death itself. He walks into his fate trusting the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the first lesson for today: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;” Maybe, as he goes under the waters, is he strengthened when he remembers what the Psalmist sang that he is not alone; ”The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;the God of glory thunders; * the Lord is upon the mighty waters.“ All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” I remember a day over a half a century ago. I was waiting in the hospital. My wife had just delivered a baby and I was waiting to see her. A Nurse came by and saw my name tag and asked if I wanted to see my daughter. I looked in the basket and I fell in love. She was a mess, because she had just come splashing out of the womb; and nobody looks good after that experience. I went back to see my wife and I lied and said that the baby was beautiful. In a few minutes, another nurse brought the baby to my wife's room and my daughter was all cleaned up and now she was physically beautiful. “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” My daughter is my child and she inherited a lot of my good, and not so good, traits. Her children , my grandsons, are almost all grown up, one has graduated from college and the other is a Junior at another college. Some of my most desirable, and some of my less desirable of the Wilson traits, are part of their DNAs as well. And every time I see them, I reflect: “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is born.” This last week, I attended the church that Tommy, the young man who had ministered with you so faithfully was honored for his faithful service as the Associate Rector of that church. He had been chosen to be the new Rector, the fourth Rector of the church that I had served for as the second Rector for about a decade and a half. I did not want to leave but I was reaching the mandatory retirement age of a Rector. I poured my heart into that church and I loved the time there. They had a problem with someone to fill an opening and asked me if I was available to do the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. I jumped at the chance, loving every minute of it . This Sunday is his first Sunday as Rector, it will be the Splashing Out of the Womb for him as their new Rector; and my fervent hope is that they will love him so much that they will never be tempted to compare him to me. “All is changed, changed utterly/ A terrible beauty is being born.” What is happening with you? Life is not static. What had changed? What is changing? What terrible beauty is in the process of being born for, and in, you?