1st Sunday after Ephiphany
John 1:4-11
Today is the first Sunday in the
season of Epiphany, the season
which immediately follows Christmas. In this society, where Christmas
carries such great cultural weight, it is easy to overlook Epiphany. But epiphany
is a very important season in the Church of Christ; for epiphany celebrates the
revelation of God in Christ Jesus—the moment God was revealed to humanity in
Jesus. Christmas—the nativity of our Lord-celebrates the moment Jesus came into
the world; epiphany celebrates the moment God told humans who Jesus is. The older word for this celebration celebration is Theophany, which means, “the
incarnation of the revelation of God.” In today’s gospel reading, we read about
God’s revelation as it occurred during the baptism of Jesus, the occasion we
celebrate today.
We
read that when Jesus came up and out of the water, the heavens tore apart and
the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my
Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” This was divine revelation if ever there was one—God’s voice
itself speaking directly. It just doesn’t get any clearer than that. On that
day, in the Jordan river God affirmed the identity of Jesus, to Jesus and to
John. There was no doubt now. There couldn’t possibly be any doubt now—about
who Jesus was and how God viewed him; for God’s Word had spoken, had affirmed
what the prophets had proclaimed, what Simeon and Anna had said when Jesus was
brought to the temple.
We hear a lot of words during the
course of a lifetime, a year, even during the course of a day—or in the
duration of a minute Just imagine all of the words spoken across the world
today, in the next twenty-four hours, in the next minute, at this very moment. We
live in an era of information—of cell phones, of texting. We live in a time
where information is exchanged constantly, where messages are sent out at the
speed of light—in an age where words are more or less a constant stream. Some
words are valuable; some are not. Some are heard; much is not. Some words are spoken and carry much
power. When the powerful speak, things happen Other words which are spoken,
carry no power—words spoken by those with little or no power, the helpless, the poor, the
disenfranchised. But, as history has shown, and
contemporary events point out, circumstances can change, and even the oppressed
can speak powerful collective words, and change can come about through those
words.
Words
can build up, and words can tear down. You don’t have to a psychologist to know
that the old adage “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never
hurt me” isn’t true. Words can hurt and destroy; words can give life and affirm.
Some words are pure speculation or conjecture, which articulate guesses, or
statements of probability or articulate empty promises
But
on that day, in that river, there was no conjecture or speculation or empty
promises. There could be no doubt about the words. There could be no doubt
because God’s voice spoke, and when God’s voice speaks the word, it is quite
literally the last and final word. God’s word -- can never be—just words.
In
today’s Old Lesson, we read the very chapter, of the very first book of the
Bible. In this passage we read God’s word speaking creation, speaking light
into being . When God said, “Let there be light,” there was no doubt, no
speculation, or maybe’s, or conjecture about probability. When God said, “Let
there be Light.” there was light. God’s word is is a verb, a doing word, the
ultimate verb, which creates, a doing word which redeems, a doing word, which
sustains. The voice of God stands above all other voices. The power of God’s
voice is celebrated in today’s Psalm, which beautifully describes, using
incredible and varied imagery the speaking of God’s voice. The voice of the
Lord thunders upon the waters; the voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees;
the voice of the Lord makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Mount Hermon ox. The
voice of the Lord bursts forth in lightening flashes and shakes the wilderness
and makes the Oake trees writhe and strips the forest bare. The Psalmist saw
all of this and responded in awe and praise.
I
am sure, Many people can relate to that kind of moment. The moment of looking
out and seeing afresh what God has made. It might be the stars, the sea, a
sunset—an incredibly stunning view, a subtle scene, a birth of a child, a sublime scene. Many
share that moment of looking out and realizing, that, yes, indeed, God’s voice
has spoken and God’s hand has created. If you have had one of those moments,
you know how utterly inspiring they can be. When astronauts first landed on the
moon; it wasn’t the moon itself which dropped their jaws. It was the sight of
the big blue life-filled marbeled
jewel which hung in the
dark vacuum which stirred their hearts, and reawakened them to the marvel of
God’s creation.
But
often too times in human thinking, we have a tendency to view creation in the
past tense. In the beginning God created. Too often this is interpreted as once
upon a time God created, and then stopped creating., and went up into heaven to
watch everything unfold. If the Bible teaches us anything, it is that God’s
creating work is ongoing
God’s
work of creation was not complete in Genesis with the Old Creation; for God had
intended a new creation. Just as God’s word had spoken something in the
beginning, it would speak something again. This would be God’s special
“yes”--God’s new word of life. And
this word of life—this special word of life—was spoken when Jesus Christ was
resurrected from the dead. This word defeated death and gave eternal life. Just as God has created the Old Adam
and Eve in primordial history our of the dust of the earth, God has recreated
humanity through his only begotten son. God did this so that He might call all
humanity his beloved children. God’s word has spoken life, where there once was
only death. God’s yes, says no to all the forces that defy life. God’s word is
speaking and God’s word is creating and recreating.
And
this word recreates in a very special place, and that word is in Holy Baptism,
which is too often thought of as a mere church ritual, or a rite of passage, or
a ticket to eternity or yet
another thing Christians can spend a lot of time arguing about.
But
let us put all of that aside and see what is really going on. Holy Baptism is a
special place where God speaks his new word of life to individual people, just
as clearly as He spoke it to Jesus over two thousand years ago. What does that
word say? That word says, “ I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit”. That word, with the water, transcends time, and space to
give new life, to recreate anew.
In baptism , God uses mere human words to speak his definitive word. In
baptism, God uses mere water, as his special cleansing and nourishing bath. In
baptism God uses earthly elements
to speak the eternal word, “ You are mine.”
We
live in a society where many voices speak to us—telling us who we are, what we
should be, how we should behave, what we are and what we are not. The question
of Canadian identity has and continues to be an ongoing matter of reflection. Strong
commercial interests want us to identify with their products, build out lives
around what they sell. Are you a Coke person or A Pepsi person? Are you an
Apple or a PC user? Drive domestic or import? A recent McDonald’s commercial struck me in this regard. It
was geared around Christmas, and showed a young couple, who had just moved into
a new accommodation. It was Christmas and they didn’t have time to unpack, or
set up a tree. So the man strung some lights over boxes and threw a table cloth
on the floor where the two enjoyed a couple of big macs and fries. The message
is that those things we might think are essential to the celebration—the tree,
the fancy table, the turkey—they aren’t essential, really. But what is
essential, what makes the holiday, what ties everything together, what holds
the occasion together is MacDonald’s—the message is that we can ultimately find
our identity under the golden arches. You are of course free to disagree, but
such commercials tell us, or try to confer identity on us. “You are a
consumer.” That is the message.
But there are other areas of life where labels are attached to people,
and become sources of identity.
Some of these identities can be positive, some not positive. But here is
the question: How many of these voices
can confer, give us, our ultimate identity? How many voices speak a definitive
voice about who we are? How many voices can confer unconditional love? How many
voices can push back chaos and darkness and give us new life?
The
sound of such a voice is sorely needed in this day, and this age, and this
place. The sound of such a voice longs to be heard by people who struggle with
infirmity or addiction, who are dispossessed, or imprisoned or quietly
desperate or depressed or anxious or confused.
Some
might think that baptism isn’t all that relevant to Christian life. But let us
ask, “ How can such life-giving affirmation?” Be irrelevant. The Christian
witness again and again proclaims that the spiritual medicine for life is found
in baptismal waters, for it is there where the spiritual sickness is healed. It
is there where the dirt of sin is cleansed It is there that the opponent of God
within us is buried. It is there where we are created anew in the image of
Christ. It is there where the Holy Spirit works this incredible change in us.
It is there where faith is created. It is where life’s ultimate meaning is
found, and the promise of eternal life enjoyed.
Most
of us will not be able to remember our baptism. But what helps us most isn’t the memory. What helps us the
faith that God has done something through the water and the Word, and what God
has done is given us our identities. What God spoke in those moments was as
powerful as anything else he has spoken. When God speaks, things happen. The
Christian Church is called by God to baptize in the name of the Triune God—and
there is a reason. The reason is to confer God’s great and glorious promise to
the individual. Baptism is God’s work—his
work of new creation. If people out there really understood that; if the people
of this nation were truly awakened to this truth, you would not be able to find
a seat in here or any other church on a Sunday.
Right
now, as we join together here today, there is—somewhere in this world or even
this city—a transaction occurring. And that transaction is occurring between a
prostitute and a client. And both people have been baptized in the name of the
Triune God. Both are people who we might not think of when we consider those
who have been baptized. In fact, we might use them as examples of people who
have not been truly baptized, and to cite them in arguments against infant
baptism. And there are some Christians who would, upon meeting such folks,
encourage them to repent and be baptized.
But what these two
people have done, or not done, has not erased what God has done for them. What
God has done for them is to communicate the same thing to them that he had to
his only begotten son, which is to say, “ You are my beloved.” God did that knowing full what they
would do—the sin they would fall in, the serious mistakes they would make. Few
human parents would ever reject their own child—even knowing that the infant
they are holding in their arms would grow up to make mistakes. Parental love
just isn’t like that. Imagine then the love of God which is so much greater
than even the most loving human parent.
The pastoral answer does not lie in asking people be baptized again—to repeat the rite-- but the answer lies in
their understanding what their baptism means. The answer lies in their claiming
the identity God has already bestowed upon them through the water and the word.
And it is no different for any of us, any time we forget who we really are, any
time any other identity consumes
us, or minimizes us, or falsifies us or marginalizes us. Remember who you are.
In the baptismal waters you will find an an epiphany—the ultimate epiphany of
God’s love for us. Now may
the peace which surpases all understanding guard your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus.
