Starting to Serve

In that moment in the Jordan
the king, anointed by the Spirit
starting to serve, as he was led to the desert
the man who was Jesus, became the Christ
Emmanuel, in that moment
The Spirit, like a dove, bodily landing on him
a physical presence of God
descending from the torn curtain
the heavens opened, revealing for a moment
for the Christ, a glimpse of heaven
the voice of God, inaudible until that moment
speaking words of love, affirming the identity
the truth of who he was, the Son of God
rising up, as the people did, in the arms of John
the one crying out in the wilderness
within our savior in his hands
An ordination in the waters,
the living waters of the Jordan

January 12, 2009
Mark 1:4-11
Mark 1:12-13
Acts 19:1-7
and sermon, “Child of God”,
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, January 11, 2009
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
and sermon title, by Reverend Peter Hey,
Wesley United Methodist Church,
Concord, NH