Sewing and making items to wear either through crochet, knitting, or weaving, has experienced a resurgence in recent years. Different people attribute this resurgence to different factors. Some people remark that yarn crafting and sewing can be fairly economical hobbies. A skein of yarn can provide hours of entertainment. Other people attribute this resurgence to a rebellion against the cookie-cutter clothing available for purchase. Yet others see making clothing and accessories as a way to avoid the possibilities of sweatshop goods.

No matter the reason behind these crafts, one thing that each of these hobbies have in common is that at some point a needle and thread or yarn will be involved in the project. There will be ends to weave in or seams to sew. The most skilled people with the needle are able to create seams that are almost invisible to the eye.

There comes a time though when no matter the skill of the person holding the needle, a seam cannot be made or a tear in the fabric cannot be repaired. The fracture is permanent. The gap will forever be open.

Mark’s description of Jesus’ baptism is particularly unique among the gospels. Sure the other gospels agree that Jesus was baptized, most say that John was involved in the baptism. The other gospels even include the Holy Spirit usually in the form of a dove as part of the description. Even the booming voice from heaven makes an appearance in the other gospels.

What is unique to Mark’s version is the description of the heavens being torn apart. This word about the heavens being torn apart as Jesus came out of the waters of baptism only appears in Mark’s gospel and even in that gospel, it only appears twice. The first instance is here at Jesus’ baptism. The second instance is after Jesus is crucified when the curtain of the temple is torn apart.

So what does it mean that at Jesus’ baptism the heavens were torn apart? The heavens weren’t just opened because what is opened may be closed. The heavens were ripped apart and what is torn cannot return to the way it was before.

In the Old Testament we read of various encounters people had with God. However, for most of these encounters there was a veil between the people and God. God lead the Israelites with pillars of fire and smoke. After Moses had been in conference with God up on the mountaintop, his face glowed so much from being in the presence of God that he had to wear a veil when he was around the people.

Here with the ripping open of the heavens at Jesus’ baptism, the veil is gone. God is on the loose. With those words that come down from heaven, claiming Jesus as God’s beloved son, something new is happening. The relationship between heaven and earth is fundamentally changed. The relationship between the people and God is permanently altered. The veil between the people and God has been ripped apart and we are able to meet God face to face.

The barrier that was torn apart was not from God to the people, for God could always reach the people. The barrier was a one-way barrier from the people to God. No longer are the people only able to experience God through a veil. We are now able to experience God through the flesh and blood person of Jesus. With the tearing open of the heavens God is loose in the world. The world can never be the same.

When John the baptizer appeared and called the people to repent and be baptized, this was not something that was completely new for the people. During that time, ritual washings were very common. They were part of the process of becoming ritually clean. So this idea of baptism as a ritual cleansing was not new to the people of Jesus’ time.

However, even though this idea was not new to the people, they flocked to the Jordan to participate in John’s baptism. There was a hunger for forgiveness then. We could probably say that there is a hunger for forgiveness now.

And even though what John preached wasn’t altogether new to the people, he pointed the people forward to something new. “There’s someone coming after me,” he said. “This someone is more powerful. This someone will do something altogether new. I have baptized you in water; but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

Things were changing a shift was coming. And then Jesus appeared. He joined the crowd just like the other people who had gathered by the Jordan to receive John’s baptism. He stood with those seeking to repent of their sins and receive God’s forgiveness.

You may not think too much about it now but in the early part of Christianity, Jesus’ baptism was an embarrassment at best and a stumbling block at worst. We probably just accept the fact that Jesus was baptized without giving it much thought. But let’s think about it a little bit more. The baptism that John was calling people to was for the forgiveness of sins. We believe that Jesus, as God’s Son, was without sin. So, why would a sinless Savior need to be baptized? It was a scandal. How can God be baptized?

We can read in Matthew’s version the first attempts to explain this conundrum. Matthew was written after Mark and probably tried to offer some explanation as to why Jesus was baptized. So he adds in a brief conversation between John and Jesus. In Luke’s version, John is in prison when Jesus is baptized so that offers some separation between the preaching about a baptism of forgiveness and Jesus’ baptism. It was a scandal!

And yet here we have it that Jesus walked along the Jordan’s edge along with those sinners. He entered the water and was baptized by John. A baptism that was preached as a means of forgiving sins. Our sinless savior was baptized. And yet as Jesus came up from those waters, things get even more surprising. The heavens are ripped open, a voice claims Jesus as God’s Son, and the Holy Spirit enters into Jesus. Jesus’ baptism, no matter how scandalous or surprising, ripped open the heavens and broke down the barrier between the people and God. When Jesus is claimed by God it becomes clear that something new is going on here. God is on the loose in the world.

It’s exciting and a little bit terrifying to think that this barrier between us and God has been ripped apart because behind that barrier we may have hoped to hide some of our sins. Behind that barrier maybe we could convince ourselves that we had everything under control. Maybe behind that barrier we could hope for a baptism with nothing but harmless water.

But since that barrier has been ripped apart, all our sins are exposed to God. We have no hope of hiding. With the ripping apart of the heavens the baptism we experience though we use the element of water is infused with the Holy Spirit. With that tearing of heaven, all barriers are gone. We can’t try to convince ourselves that God is some far off deity relegated to heaven. That barrier is gone. God is here. God is loose in the world.

Today we will remember our own baptism. We will remember the day when either you or your guardians chose to follow God at loose in the world. We remember the day when we renounced the power of evil in the world and dedicated our lives to God alone. We will remember the day when we received this mark of church membership.

We also remember how on that day we were not alone. For we do not decide to follow Christ alone. The church community, either this one or some other community of faith made vows on that day you were baptized. The community vowed to walk with you on your journey of faith. The community agreed to help you search for God at work in your life.

The heavens have been ripped open, God is with us. Thanks be to God.

Note: As happens occasionally, in the moment of preaching, the Holy Spirit greatly augmented this sermon. †So the text you have before you is partial. †As one great preacher noted the true experience of a sermon lies between pulpit and pew. †There was a different level of experience for those in the pews than among those reading this page.