Be Baptized in the Spirit Known by Many Names
by Rev. Cory Coberforward
Readings
Mark 1:1-8
This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It began as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“God said, ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you
to open the way for you.’
Someone is shouting in the desert,
‘Get the road ready for the Lord;
make a straight path for him to travel!’”
So John appeared in the desert, baptizing and preaching. “Turn away from your sins and be baptized,” he told the people, “and God will forgive your sins.” Many people from the province of Judea and the city of Jerusalem went out to hear John. They confessed their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River.
John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He announced to the people, “The man who will come after me is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to bend down and untie his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Read the written message below with music videos
As we start to awaken to the Divinity at our core, it’s typical that we begin by realizing there are greater truths out there than we may have thought, and come to centre on a specific set of spiritual truths that are helping to wake us up, deepen our walk, and that have spoken to us in a way that may make more sense to us than others we’ve heard about. According to the 18th-century scientist-turned-sage, Emanuel Swedenborg, these spiritual-natural truths are represented by John the Baptist in the well-known biblical story – calling us to let go of our sins and be baptized, promising that there are greater truths, a greater connection to Jesus, to come. Indeed, Swedenborg believed that all the Biblical stories (or any truly scriptural story, for that matter) represent more universal things than we often give them credit for and are not limited to describing one religious walk, he supported these claims by exploring all the ways our scriptures keep saying just that!
We can’t say that every spirituality is made equal for each of us, because, depending on the ideas presented and how we interpret them, some spiritualities may invite us into a deeper place of relationship with God more powerfully than others. We all have seen how each religion can be interpreted and carried out in a myriad of ways, from what seems to be healthy approaches, to others that are more destructive and selfish. This plethora of approaches is natural to us human beings, as each of our minds and walks are different than others in beautiful ways, which is why the diversity of religious and spiritual approaches is quite the healthy and natural thing for our world.
Whatever these truths are for each of us, Swedenborg believed that our initial engagement with them is represented by John the Baptist, as, like John, they are more externally centered than the one to come (Jesus). What he means by this is that our initial faith tends to centre on more natural or external things, like “stop doing this sin and start doing that good deed,” or, “start thinking about this thing this way instead of that way, or say that you are of this religion instead of that one.” This is why John, who represents these more natural-spiritual truths, says he baptizes with water but the one to come will baptize with the Holy Spirit. And also why everything we’re told about him is so natural; he preaches in the outskirts, the wilderness; his clothes are made of camel’s hair and leather; and his food consists of locusts and wild honey.
In a sense, from Swedenborg’s point of view, the prophecy about John from the Hebrew book Isaiah is also a prophecy about each of us connecting further with Divinity: God tells us that before we truly awaken to our true selves, before we awaken to our intrinsic connection to God within, that “[God] will send [God’s] messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.” This messenger is whatever set of truths starts to “make a straight path for [God] to travel” within us.
And what comes next? According to the story, a deeper connection with the living God at our core is next, an awareness and a living of all the things that Jesus described. This includes us coming to know we are one with God, as Jesus knew and asked of us. As well as coming into our fundamental innocent, wise, and loving state. However, these are not things we must “put on” as we go deeper, but instead must “turn to” within, just as we’re told Jesus constantly preached “turning around / repenting” back toward the God who is awareness and love. This deeper state can be found whether we believe in the historical Christ or not, as the Living God has been known by many names (even in the Bible) and is always knocking at the door to our minds and hearts. This means that God is always ready to awaken us, no password required, but a way must often be prepared before we have a desire and an openness to turn toward and then open this door.
In a way, our turning toward God within entails us letting our controlling hold on our personal John the Baptist go loose a bit, letting our narrower religious and spiritual-natural ideas open more to the depths of love and wisdom within. This, in a way, is what it means to truly listen to John and eventually start following the one who John says is much greater than he. Jesus tried to redefine what was important to many of his religious followers, focusing more on love and the openness of love than on specific trappings or external beliefs. We can all miss the fundamental message of this in our spaces of worship when we have to do everything according to tradition “or else,” and especially when we spurn others for not fitting in, not living up to our judgmental lens, or not using the spiritual terms we find important.
Let’s celebrate our traditions by leaning into their hope and promise: a greater awareness of the peace of God within. As we follow John, we seek to be baptized not just with water or tradition, but with the Holy Spirit itself. Always there within, this Spirit asks us to turn toward the light of awareness itself already whole within, the unity of Divine wisdom and love at the core of all things. In this space of loving compassion, we stop taking every whim of our minds so heavily, coming to know that there is greater life in the endless sky of awareness than there could ever be in just the passing clouds - allowing ourselves to be enveloped fully in the Divine and Infinite Spirit for our true baptism.
Peace and presence to you,
Rev. Cory