Two threads run through the Season of Creation readings today (2 Kings 2: 1-14, Philippians 3: 4-14, Matt 3: 1-6, 11-17). AND, this happens to be Thanksgiving Sunday.

The first thread… appropriate for the River week in the season of Creation…is the Jordan in both the OT and gospel readings. Here are the references.

…both (Elijah and Elisha) were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground .Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’

After Elijah was taken up Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan… and struck the water…and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

The Jordan normally flowed in response to the physics of gravity and fluid dynamics. Yet, here, physics was suspended as a sign of God’s power working first through Elijah then through Elisha. The incident was seen as a sign of the connection that these two prophets had with God. It renewed the Jordan river’s long association with God’s involvement in the life of Israel.

The Jordan reappears in the gospel.

… the people of Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region along the Jordan, were going out to John, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him …But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented.

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

The river water became sacramental: a symbol of cleansing from the sins of the past and new life. Jesus’ participation in baptism by water (and the Spirit) recognized it as a holy gift of God.

In the context of Creation Cares, we regard water not only as a molecular arrangement of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) but as a gift and holy sign that sustains us internally and externally through hydration and washing. It is also actualizes new life in God through baptism,

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The second thread of the readings is of teacher and disciple. Taking the readings chronologically:

Elijah, Elisha’s mentor in the OT reading, was a holy man of Israel. (After Elijah had revived a widow’s son, the woman said to Elijah… you are a man of God, and the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.’ (I Kings 17)) Elijah was in constant conflict with various kings over their failure to respect the Law and God.

God identified Elisha as Elijah’s disciple when he said, you shall anoint Elisha…as prophet in your place.(1 Kings 19:16) Elijah found Elisha, ploughing… Elijah… threw his mantle over him …Then Elisha set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant. (1 Kings 19:21) This morning’s first reading ends:

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’  So they went down to Bethel…and Jericho and the Jordan, together. The student followed the master.

Elisha literally picked up the mantle of Elijah. The company of prophets in Jericho recognized him as having the Spirit of Elijah, and he performed miracles in the same Spirit, favouring both commanders (2 Kings 5:1-19) and common people. (2:Kings 2:22, 4:1-7)

John the Baptist is Jesus’ forerunner in time in the gospel, but John said of him,

One who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

While John the Baptist preceded Jesus and prophesied his coming, Christ was the ‘master’ in this story. Jesus endorsed John’s message of repentance and turning one’s life to God, but John recognized him as the promised one. As with Elijah, John had confronted people, including King Herod, with their sins and urged them to repent and turn to the Lord.

Christ is Paul’s model in Philippians.

Whatever gains I had, I have come to regard these as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection.

Paul said that everything paled in value compared to the richness of knowing Christ. Whatever pain he had suffered was worth it for the sake of his ultimate relationship with Christ, in the resurrection.  

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This Thanksgiving we recall not only the blessings of family and friends but of creation itself, by which we appreciate God’s majesty but also God’s gifts of air, trees, water and land…of all creation. We are also thankful for the gift of Christ in the examples of the gospel and in the continuing presence through the sacraments and liturgy. Yet we are also reminded by the prophets and apostle Paul to turn our lives to God who will sustain us.

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  • The Jordan river, in Jesus’ day, was a rapid, swelling waterway filled with fish and bordered by willow and poplar trees, flowing south from the Sea of Galilee into the Dead Sea. Today, the flow is less than 10 percent of its previous volume because of diversion of tributaries and irrigation taking water from the Jordan, itself, and the reduction in aquifers feeding it. Meanwhile, the population in the surrounding Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian countries has increased more than tenfold since 1948 (when the state of Israel was created). As a UNESCO World Heritage site, the hope is that it will be preserved, though contemporary pictures show only small pools and modest creek, rather than a river. What is your image of the Jordan during Jesus’ time?
  • Who are your mentors? What made them worth following? Was it their wisdom? Affirming attitude toward you? Their self-discipline? Their holiness? What did you sacrifice to be with that person?
  • If you were to list the things for which you are thankful, where does a river fit in? Where does a model or mentor fit? Where does Christ fit in that list?  

Peace and Happy Thanksgiving

Michael