Mark 1:1-4 - "Original Value" (1-11-09)

John the Baptist said, “I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals.” His Wayne’s World like confession reminds us today of our value before God. Then we hear the voice of God that only Jesus hears speak the words, “You are my beloved, in you I am well pleased”. These words of affirmation remind us of the great value that God has for what Christ is doing to restore the value to humanity. By his life, death and resurrection, Jesus will restore the original blessing and value we hear about in the book of Genesis.

So today I want to talk about “Original Value”. We’ve heard a lot about the home values going down below market value. I discovered the original title from my parent’s only home they ever owned this past week. We had been living on Clybourn Avenue on the near northwest side of Chicago near Palmer. We had rented there and had lived a few years in Cabrini Green before that time, one of five white folks in the building. When we moved in 1968 when I was 1.5 years old, my older siblings said it seemed like we were moving to the suburbs. The original value of the home was $18,000 in 1968.

In the Genesis creation story, we hear that the original value of everything that was created was good. God spoke words that brought life to all of creation and it was “good”. Then in the creation of humanity, God spoke life and it was “very good.” Great value and worth were a part of the original blessing and plan of creation. There is recognition of who we are and whose we are as created by God.

Yet the value and worth of humanity begins to crumble based not solely on the value instilled by God but upon our own desire to make meaning and purpose out of our lives separated from God. The devaluing of the relationship with God caused the market to drop in our relationship with God and we put our investments in our own abilities.

The human struggle to reclaim that original value began. In the 1980’s pop-psychology developed this self-talk process. I remember reading that I was to look in the mirror and say something positive twenty times everyday. By the third day, I said “whatever”. This self talk was best expressed by Stewart Smalley who would look into the mirror and say to himself: I’m good enough; I’m smart enough and gosh people like me. Al Franken wanted people to know that they counted and he still wants people to count and recount again and again in Minnesota. In this self talk culture, there has obviously been a need for positive and life giving self talk due to the human reality of brokenness. I found comfort in the African American preaching style described by Henri Mitchell.[1] He talked about how the recording over your inner tapes that reside in the gut or soul of the person can only be healed by the power of the preached word. One needs to hear again that their identity is rooted in being a child of God.

In 1992, I was struggling with those inner tapes and my value. I had been adjusting to living in the middle class world instead of the lower class experience in our culture. One rainy day returning back to my apartment in Philadelphia, I found in the gutter an orange teddy bear. I thought about knocking on a few doors but put it in the car and drove home. After throwing it into the washing machine, he cleaned up pretty good. Well it was sitting on my basement office shelf this week and it started to preach to me. Orange you glad you found me and remembered what value you had after God threw you into the water and cleaned you up for a new purpose.

Today we remember as we look back on our lives that whatever great things we have done in our lives, we have yet to overcome the world’s struggles and we place too much emphasis on us and very little upon God. All we have to do is hold up the mirror.

Also, anytime we think too little of ourselves we can recall that we have been washed in the waters of baptism and we are called to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to others.

We gather to remember whose we are and who we are today! We hear the John the Baptist encouraging people to come and be cleansed by the washing in the Jordan. And the people came to see this un-kept man who was eating locust and honey, surviving on the bare minimum. We hear the words of John, “I am unworthy to untie his sandals” and we too know that we are not good enough yet Jesus calls us again today for the purpose to restore value and worth to our lives, this community and to the world that we might live into the light and love of God that brings freedom.

Then we see the Holy Spirit descend upon us like a dove as the heavens open up. The voice speaks, “You are my Son and daughter, because of Jesus, I am well pleased.” Jesus has restored the original value and blessing of the goodness of creation. Jesus restores the order of creation and reclaiming the original value. Jesus then begins his public ministry of preaching to Gospel, the good news; he is a herald (angel) to all. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

We turn around and see that our value is in Christ. We are children of God. I was baptized! I AM BAPTIZED.[2] Not just a past event! We hear the good news: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.” We had thirty preachers here on Wednesday evening. They were sitting in a circle and they were proclaiming to one another these words: “Name, you are a child of God, never forget! The original value has been restored in Christ so that we might have life and love. Never forget!

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[1] Henri Mitchell. Celebration and Experience in Preaching. Nashville: Abingdon, 1990.

[2] www.laughingpastor.blogspot.com