We have all heard the news of the floods in the Pacific Northwest, and in Northern California. Some of you, I know, were up there and saw them.

Floods can be terrible, dangerous and devastating, sweeping away houses and other structures. I understand that Sacramento, which is built at the confluence of two rivers, the Sacramento and the American, almost flooded this time. People anticipated what a terrible devastation that would be. If the American River had risen a few more feet, that would have happened. I often wonder what would happen if both the American and Sacramento Rivers flooded at the same time. I am afraid that Sacramento would relocate in San Francisco.

The problem, you see, is building structures in flood plains. But, as a matter of fact, people have always done that from the beginning of civilization. They have always settled in flood plains, but most of them would move out of the way when the floods came. It is only recently, since human beings became fascinated with their own power, and seduced by the illusion of omnipotence that technology gives us, that we began to build structures permanently in flood plains.

For some reason we call such devastations "acts of God." Ancient people looked upon floods as "acts of God," as well. Only they did not see them as natural disasters, they saw them as blessings. With the floods came nutrients for the fields, and they could anticipate that by summer, and certainly by the fall, they would have a rich harvest.

They saw the floods, in fact, as a rehearsal of creation. For them it was something like a sacramental time, a time when God's governance over the world was visible dramatically before their eyes. It was a time when they proclaimed that God had recreated the world.

Ancient people, who were not only smart enough to get out of the way of a flood, but also spiritually sensitive enough to order their lives the way God has ordered nature, marked the rhythms of nature with the rituals of their lives. They acted out in ritual the pattern that they saw in nature: a time of dying, a time of being reborn, a time of repentance, a time of renewal, a time of withdrawal, and a time of return. Through ritual they incorporated the rhythm of nature into the time of their lives. At this time of year, in January, when the rains come, all ancient people celebrated the renewal of the creation.

In preparation for this sermon I ran across a wonderful bit of information, that Native Americans, the people who were here before we were here, celebrated the new year with water rituals, especially on the western part of the continent with settlements on the majestic rivers of the Pacific northwest. These people tied their lives to the rhythm of the rivers. But I like to think that the same thing happened here, that the people who first settled into Mission Valley hundreds of years ago, did the same thing. I have no evidence of this, but I am incurably romantic, which means I am going to make it up. But I think you will see that there is convincing evidence. First of all, those of you who were here in the early days of San Diego know that the San Diego River can flood. That is why this valley is here. I have seen pictures of the flood of 1917, or 1927, whenever that was, when there was water from bank to bank in this valley, a great muddy flow of water going into Mission Bay, and into the ocean.

We also know that native peoples camped here on these hillsides, high enough to be safe from the floods. We have found artifacts here, and in the canyon behind us, of people who were here before we were. When the Bell Tower was built on the shelf above us, those who were doing the construction say that they found fire circles up there, evidence that there were people here on this site, probably where you are sitting right now, hundreds of years ago.

I like to think that in the winter, when the rains come, the ancient people on this site, right here, and at this time of year, in January, during the rainy season, gathered to give their thanks to God for the gift of the creation, and with the rains, the gift of a new creation, a new beginning, and a new life for them.

We know that the Jews observed water rituals. We read Psalm 29 this morning, which is evidence of that. It is called an "enthronement" psalm. It was used at the enthronement ritual in the Temple at this time of the year. The king entered the Temple in procession, and was enthroned in the Temple, which symbolized God being reestablished as God over the creation. At this time of the year, after the floods, when the waters recede, they remembered that God created the world by pushing back the waters into the firmament. So with the receding waters, once again they proclaimed, God is Lord over all the creation, and life is restored once again as good.

This psalm was sung at that service. Listen to it again.

Ascribe to the Lord, 0 heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The Creation story says that God created the world with words. God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God said, "Let there be human beings"; and it was good. As the Gospel of John summarized the Creation with this simple, beautiful phrase: "In the beginning was the word." So the psalm pictures God once again speaking the word of Creation. "The voice of the Lord is over the waters...The voice of the Lord is powerful."

The Jews not only told the story of water at the first Creation, they also told the story of the Flood, when it rained for forty days and forty nights, and the world returned to the way it was before the Creation. It was called chaos, with water covering everything. Noah was told by God to build an ark. He took into the ark all the animals, and all the critters, and his own family, his three sons and their wives, so there were eight people on that ark, and a whole slew of animals.

After forty days of rain, it stopped, and a dove came and hovered over the waters. Then the water receded. And once again, the world was created. Once again, life was given back to us. And a covenant was made with Noah, and sealed with a rainbow after the rain as a reminder to us that God has made a promise that God would never destroy the earth with water, and there was a new beginning for the world.

Notice how Mark tells the story of the baptism of Jesus. Jesus goes to the river and enters it, and is baptized by John. Then, according to Mark, God speaks, "This is my Son; with whom I am well pleased," thus immediately drawing us back to the story of Creation in Genesis, where God created the world through a word. That is the first Creation.

Then look what happens. The Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. Which ties the baptism of Jesus to the story of Noah and the Flood, the second Creation, when God recreated the world, and gave it back to us as a gift of new life.

If you can see the baptismal font up here, you will notice that there are symbols in the mosaics around the sides. The one facing you is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the symbol of the dove. If I could rotate this font for you, you would see other symbols. One of my future construction plans for the church is to have a rotating chancel up here, so you will be able to see, in full glory, all the symbols that are up here in the chancel. You will see that one of the symbols on this font is a rainbow, the sign of the covenant made with Noah that life will always be good.

The baptismal font, itself, is symbolic. It has eight sides, just as the baptisteries in old cathedrals in Europe. Those side chapels were constructed with eight sides. That, too, is a symbol of baptism. It goes back again to Noah, when there were eight people on the ark, and also the recreation of the world after the Flood is referred to as the "eighth" day of Creation. The baptismal font, itself, is a symbol of new life, life that comes to us out of the floods.

Norman MacLean in his wonderful book, A River Runs through It, has this tremendous phrase: "I am haunted by waters." This Sunday in which we remember the Baptism of our Lord, is haunted by waters. Reminders and symbols, such as in the Prayer of Thanksgiving over the Water, which reminds us of all the ways that God created and recreated through water.

I don't know why the Baptism of the Lord Sunday falls on this Sunday every year. It is an ancient custom going back probably over a thousand years. But I think I know why. For thousands of years, people at this time of the year observed water rituals to celebrate the beginning of the new year, to announce that they could put behind them now the old, and receive the life that God is offering to them as a gift, and begin their lives over again. The floods were seen always as a recreation, offered to us so that we might enjoy the life that God has given to us.

I tell you, this Sunday is haunted. It is at this time, if we have retained any of the spiritual sensibility of our forbearers, we, too, will realize our dependence on a Creator whose voice was over the waters; whose voice was powerful and full of majesty.

The psalm ends with these words:

The Lord sits enthroned upon the flood....May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

The psalm announces that God the Creator has once again given us the gift of a new year. It petitions God now to give us strength and peace as we enter it. Edward Taylor was a Puritan living in New England in the 17th and 18th centuries. He was a preacher, and also a poet. He instructed his heirs not to publish any of his poems, which they followed, but the poems were discovered and published in the 20th century. They are a wonderful collection of poems. I printed a phrase from one as the Words of Meditation for this morning. Listen to it again.

Then ark me, Lord, thus in thyself that I may dance upon these drowning waves with joy.

"Ark me Lord." He uses a noun as a verb. And by it he means, surround me with your Spirit, strengthen me with your grace, support me with your presence in this New Year that I may face the floods that come into my life with the power of your creation.

Let us use this Sunday to remember our baptism and the covenant that it seals, that says that we are children of God, a God who sits enthroned upon the flood.

O God, give strength to your people. O God, bless your people with peace. Amen.