This is my first post in more than a month. I took a break from writing as we have been traveling to visit family for the past month. Before returning home a couple of days ago, my wife and I were able to visit a church for worship on Sunday morning.

We have visited this church before when staying with our son and his family. It is an old, downtown, mainline congregation which has become multi-cultural as the population of its neighborhood had continued to shift. We have returned to this church during our stays because of its excellent music and its tradition of passing the peace—people roam the aisles and greet one another accompanied by music which is difficult not to dance to.

This past Sunday we enjoyed the music and the passing of the peace and we were also treated to a very moving service celebrating the baptism of Jesus. The whole service was tied together and energized by the sermon that was preached by the water.

The pastor’s sermon was on baptism and belonging. It was well thought-out and relevant; it was well written and delivered with confidence, feeling and openness.

But the real sermon wasn’t in the words. She really didn’t begin to preach until she came down from the pulpit to the level of the pews. She made the sermon “interactive” by asking questions of the people and listening carefully to their answers. She jumped into the middle of the life of the congregation by asking questions such as, “Who might not feel like they belong in this church?”

Descending in order to be united with others, this is what Jesus did throughout his life and in particular at his baptism. He came down off the banks and into the water in order to be baptized by John. Diving into the middle of things in order to communicate, this is how Jesus lived and how he came to be baptized. He sank down into the Jordan and rebuffed John’s attempts to keep Jesus in separate position of superiority.

This is the way of water. Water always seeks the lowest point and in the process it envelopes and is enveloped by any other water it finds along its way. This is water’s sermon: come down into the mix.

The pastor’s words were informative, and even challenging, but it was her actions which clearly and truthfully proclaimed the gospel. She has been listening to the preaching of the water—whether she is aware of it or not—and has incorporated it into her life and her ministry.

On Sunday, many people in the congregation heard the preaching of the water.