Morning Prayer: Tom Lyda Choral Amen Hymn of Faith *We Call Ourselves Disciples* Witness of Scripture: Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 Anthem *Jesus, Lover of My Soul* Gregory M. Pysh. Chancel Choir, Angela Walker, oboe, Rob Bradshaw, cello Sermon *Fire in Your Belly* Steve Graham
Recorded on January 12, 2025
The New English Bible translates Luke 3:15: “The people were on the tiptoe of expectation, all wondering about John, whether perhaps he was the Messiah.” The “tiptoe of expectation” perfectly captures my posture and privilege as I join you on this significant day and in the coming days. Jennifer and I have a sense of anticipatory joy being with you in worship and witness, learning from you, and discovering the unfolding journey together.
I carry a small index card in my sermon file reminding me that week after week, I am surprised anew upon entering the sacred gathering place where two or more are gathered in Christ’s name. There, we encounter the one John proclaimed as Messiah. The note reads, *“I come to this place, like no other place, because it is here, more than any other place, that I expect something to happen.”
We have come together expectantly, longing for something to stir within us or someone else. If transformation happens to another, we dare to hope it might also happen to us. This Sunday, following Epiphany, we gather with a readiness to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire.
We seek the warmth of that fire, even while knowing it carries risk. The fire that warms can also burn. Still, deep within, we desire to be refined by fire, to wade through the complexities of life, and uncover the core of our existence. We cry out, “Jesus, help us! Give us light and warmth. Guide us beyond the shadows of our faults and failures.”
Longing for Light and Warmth
One Sunday I was startled by the appearance of a friend I had never expected to see. Before I could stop myself, I foolishly asked, “Why are you here?”—a question both insensitive and revealing. She came for the same reasons I had: to feel the warmth, to be blinded by the light, to become *alive with wonder* at what our lives might be in Christ Jesus.
John the Baptist shared the good news: “I baptize you with water, but One greater than I is coming. One whose shoelaces I am not worthy to untie. It only takes a spark from Him—this One who places the Holy Spirit in you and fire in your belly. He will change you from the inside out.” John proclaimed that this One would clean house, placing all things in their proper place before God and discarding what is false and harmful into the fire.
The Dryness of Being
The film *Big Fish* tells the story of a son grappling with his father’s exaggerated tales as he nears death. In one scene, the father, soaking in a bathtub, emerges and says, “I’m drying out.” Many of us know that feeling. Life can leave us parched, our spirits cracked from the relentless pursuit of performance and external affirmation.
Faith, as Carlyle Marney reminds us, addresses the essence of existence. It is less about “what I do” and more about *who I am*. Faith becomes real when these two converge worthily.
Isaiah 43:1-7 illuminates what it means to be baptized by fire and to be named by God, the Creator who calls us by name. When we face the flames, God’s voice reassures us: “You are mine. When you are in over your head, I will be with you. When you pass through rough waters, you will not drown. When you face the fire, you will not be consumed, for I am the Lord your God. You mean so much to me because I love you.”
Rediscovering Identity
This parched world invites us into the water. Early believers were mockingly called “the Baptizers.” Before this term loses its power, let us reclaim it in its truest sense. In baptism, we discover who and whose we are. When the endless pursuit of doing and having more no longer suffices, Christ meets us in the waters and ignites our spirit.
To be Christian is not merely to know or do, but to *be*. One day, when Jesus visited the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, he reminded a flustered Martha that “One dish is enough for a meal” (Luke 10:42). On another occasion, a wealthy young man asked Jesus what he must *do* to inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16-22). Jesus responded by redirecting him from doing to being. Similarly, when Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of night, seeking to merit eternal life, Jesus spoke of rebirth—a new way of being born from above (John 3:1-21).
Who is helping you sort out your life? John the Baptist proclaimed that the One who is coming will sort through it all, separating wheat from chaff. Baptism reveals our essence, allowing us to stand firm in the weight of our being.
A Hymn of Transformation
Thomas Troeger’s hymn, *What Ruler Wades through Murky Streams, reflects on Christ’s baptism and the muddy waters of the Jordan. It celebrates a Savior who challenges worldly values and reclaims us for God:
*What ruler wades through murky streams*
*and bows beneath the wave,*
*Ignoring how the world esteems*
*the powerful and brave?*
*Christ gleams with water brown with clay*
*from land the prophets trod.*
*Above while heaven’s clouds give way*
*descends the dove of God.*
**Refrain:**
*Water, River, Spirit, Grace.*
*Sweep over me, sweep over me!*
*Recarve the depths your fingers traced*
*in sculpting me.*
This text was inspired by the materiality of Christ’s baptism, where divinity meets the earthiness of our humanity. We yearn to let God dwell within us, sorting through our lives and igniting a fire in our bellies. We long to identify the mark on the horizon toward which we most desire to walk.
The Courage to Act
As a young pastor, I wrestled with this understanding. Seven years earlier, our fledgling Baptist fellowship boldly adopted non-sexist language for ministers and deacons. Yet year after year, women were nominated, yet someone would invariably object, “Now is not the time.”
Eventually, we formed a committee to lead us forward and enable us to find the agency to do what we already knew was right. During this period, I read Sam Keen’s *Fire in Your Belly*. He identifies two essential questions for personhood:
one, where are you going? and two, who is going with you?
Keen warns of chaos when these questions are approached in reverse. Theologically, this order is significant. What others think is secondary to what you think. Where are you going with this one precious life? Is Jesus Christ the mark on your horizon? Is He the fire in your belly?
Jesus as Lord
When Jesus is Lord, we discover our identity. When Jesus is Lord, we are set free by a fire that cannot be extinguished. In Jesus Christ, God enters our longings, making sense of them. He mends the torn places and anoints the scars. He touches the center of our being, commissions us, and transforms our identity into a holy response.
To live with fire in your belly is to embrace your identity as God’s beloved. It is to walk toward Christ, the mark on the horizon, alive with wonder at the possibilities of a life set ablaze by the Spirit. May this fire guide us as individuals and as a community, shaping our being and our response to God’s unending love.