Take a look at your bulletins. On the cover and on the first page on the inside, it says this is The Third Sunday after the Epiphany. You may recall that the Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th of January. On the Epiphany we celebrated the visit of the Magi to the Christ child. An Epiphany is a revelation or a manifestation. And so, on the Epiphany we recall that the visit of the Magi reveals that Jesus is the Savior of the whole world, not just the Messiah for the Jews.
Epiphanies don't have to be biblical, of course. There are epiphanies of all kinds happening every day. For instance, this past week I read that last October researchers released a completed map of nearly 140,000 neurons in a fruit-fly brain. They think the fruit-fly brain could help experts understand how we humans process thoughts, make decisions, and store memories. It took them 10 years to complete this map. You know how little a fruit-fly is. It’s one-tenth to one and a half tenths of an inch. For something that small to have 140,000 of anything is amazing to my simple mind, and to be able to study it and make conclusions from it to the human mind is even more amazing me. It was a real epiphany to learn about this new discovery. In this season after the Epiphany, the Gospel readings point us to some amazing epiphanies concerning our Lord. Today’s Gospel is one such epiphany. Jesus has returned to his hometown of Nazareth, where he had grown up. Here was the son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter, who had lived and worked among them, returning as an itinerant rabbi. He was given the honor of reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Standing, he read the messianic prophecy, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then he handed the scroll back to the attendant and sat down, which was the way rabbis preached, and he gave one of the most amazing sermons the people had ever heard He said, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." In that sermon, our Lord Jesus gave the people of Nazareth an epiphany, a revelation, for he basically told them, "I am the Messiah. I am the anointed One of God who will redeem Israel." Jesus elaborated on that messianic theme, and probably sensing their lack of acceptance, said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.” Before long the people were so angry with him because of what he was saying that they wanted to kill him by throwing him over a cliff. At that time there was another epiphany for all who would perceive it; St. Luke tells us he simply passed through that angry crowd and went away. Not many people could do that, except perhaps the Son of God. There were many messianic prophecies in what we call the Old Testament and there were even many different messianic prophecies in the book of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus could have used any of those to introduce himself as the Messiah to the people of his hometown. For instance, he could have found this passage in Isaiah and read it: "The government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Instead, he chose the characterization of the Messiah that identifies the Messiah with the lowly and underprivileged, the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, the needy. This was at the beginning of his ministry, and of course this was the theme he would choose over and over again in many different contexts and stated in many different ways. "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Are you pretty much perfect as you are? Do you have no faults, no needs, no sins? Do you understand all truth? Is there no emptiness in your life, no void to fill? Then you probably won't find much of use from what our Lord Jesus has to offer. If, on the other hand, you know you have a need for God, if you haven't got it all together in your life, if you’ve made some pretty major mistakes, if you’re imprisoned in some way by choices you have made, then take comfort because you’re in the right spiritual condition to be able to receive the healing touch of our Lord Jesus Christ. The most important epiphany that can happen to a person is to discover that there is an aching hole in one’s life that can only be filled by God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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In my 43 years as a priest, I’ve been privileged to be the Rector of three parishes and Interim Rector of two. In all of these parishes, it was the practice never to have weddings in the season of Lent. In the parish customaries, however, there was always a provision that the Rector could, for pastoral reasons, allow a wedding to take place in Lent.
Only one time in my ministry did I feel that I needed to allow a wedding during Lent, and that was when I was Rector of Grace Church in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1992 I believe. We had a couple from Nigeria, who wanted to be married in the month of March. Their families were going to be in the United States only for a couple of weeks in March and would not be able to be present for a wedding any other time. So, I said that they could be married that March, but I told them it would need to be low-key, not too large, and that the reception could not be elaborate, since, after all, we would be in the season of Lent. They agreed to my stipulations and said that they would restrict it to only family and close friends. The day of the wedding came, and both bride and groom wore traditional Nigerian wedding garb. The bride and the groom wore clothing that was made of the same material, so the bride’s dress, which was made of yards and yards of material, matched the groom’s caftan. The material was brilliant shades of red, gold, and blue. The bride wore a kind of turban to match, and the groom had on a hat that matched as well. Many of the guests had similarly elaborate dress, although none so exquisite as the bride and groom. It was spectacular. I took one look at this couple, and their guests (apparently they had a lot of close friends), and I said to myself, “There is no way that this wedding is going to be low-key! I might as well get used to that fact right up front and go with the flow.“ And it wasn’t low key. It was a very joyous, celebrative affair with a very Nigerian flair. It was quite an experience to be a part of that, one that was unlike any wedding I’ve ever been a part of since. Experiencing that wedding made me really realize why you can’t normally have weddings in Lent. Lent is penitential and there’s no way that any wedding can, or even should be, penitential. Why? Because, of all of the events that take place in this life, nothing is more joyous than a wedding. Our Lord Jesus was just beginning his earthly ministry. He and his disciples went to Cana in Galilee in order to attend a wedding. It’s a several day affair, and the wine gives out. The bride and groom will be disgraced for this breach of hospitality. Jesus’s mother tells him of the crisis and then tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. He directs six large jars to be filled with water and then changes it into the finest wine. And not just a little wine – between 120 and 180 gallons. The party will go on! St. John finishes his telling of this story by saying, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” Now remember, in his introduction to his account of the Gospel, St. John has painted a picture for us, showing us that the God who made all things, visible and invisible, the immortal, invisible, omnipotent, omniscient God at one point in time, took flesh and became a human being in Jesus of Nazareth. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.“ Now this Jesus, this Word made flesh, has come of age. He’s entering his earthly ministry. The first thing he does, after calling his disciples, is go to a wedding and it becomes clear that the wedding could not continue without him. It’s a sign of what has come upon the Earth, or better put, of Who has come upon the earth. St. John calls it a sign, but what’s it a sign of exactly? It was certainly an amazing fete, showing that Jesus, unlike any other human being, is able to alter the matter of nature. As important as that is, St. John sees it as a sign of something even more profound. This miracle is a sign that Jesus is here to usher in a whole new reality. This miracle at the very beginning of his ministry is symbolic of everything that is to follow, for Jesus is changing life at its core for all who will follow him. Just as he changed dull, tasteless water into the richest, most interesting wine, that’s the kind of revolutionary change he will make in a person’s life. This miracle of changing water to wine is a sign that the Messianic Age has begun. That doesn’t mean that life in Christ is one big party. You have to read on to know where the joy that characterizes life in Christ is to be found. To sum it up, it begins and ends in sacrifice, in knowing that Christ died for you and me, and that the way of the cross, the way of sacrifice, is the way to true life. Jesus spoke of his death on the cross as his glorification. When we learn that way of sacrifice, that way of glorification, we will experience water turned to wine. But what does that sacrifice look like? It’s related to what Saint Paul was talking about in his First Letter to the Corinthians. First of all, you discern what gifts God has given you and then you put those gifts to work for the common good. He talks about there being varieties of service and of working. He mentions some gifts specifically like the utterance of wisdom and the utterance of knowledge, the gift of healing, and the gift of working miracles. That’s not an exhaustive list. Whenever we offer our gifts to the glory of God for the common good, we’re living lives of sacrificial love. Look at the lives of the people you admire the most, who are most full of life. Are they the people who have devoted every ounce of their resources to fulfilling their own happiness? Or rather are they the people who give and give and give again of their time, talent, and resources to the glory of God and the benefit of his people? They have discovered how God figuratively turns water to the richest wine in their own lives. This parish is full of people through whom God turns water to wine. You may not have thought of it that way, but it’s true. Thanks be to God. Have you ever heard the slogan, “Christians aren’t perfect; just forgiven?” I once saw it on a bumper sticker, on a car that had just cut in front of me in traffic. Then I saw the bumper sticker, almost as a taunt: Christians aren’t perfect—just forgiven.
There’s some truth in it. We certainly aren’t perfect. It speaks to a misperception some people have about the Church, that it’s a place for people who “have it all together,” or at least for people who think they have it all together. Christians aren’t perfect. And Christians indeed are forgiven. We’ve been baptized for the forgiveness of sins. We confess our sins regularly, not to wallow in them, but so they can be forgiven and we can be given a fresh start. But is that really a way to summarize the Christian experience? No, it’s misleading at best. What we celebrate today speaks clearly to what Christians are and to what we’re called to be. Christians aren’t perfect, but there’s much more to us than just being forgiven. St. Luke tells us that John the Baptist preached that after him comes one much more powerful, “the straps of whose sandals he is not worthy to stoop down and untie.” He baptized with water, but this one “will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” After this brief introduction of John the Baptist, Jesus appears on the scene and is baptized by John in the River Jordan. As Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens are opened and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove, and God the Father’s words are heard, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” It’s an epiphany, a manifestation, of who Jesus is right at the beginning of his ministry. Jesus is the Son of God, revealed to be so by the Father himself, and through his baptism he’s anointed by the Holy Spirit to perform his ministry. He’s anointed to teach and preach and to heal. But most of all, his baptism is his anointing to redeem the world through his death on the cross. Many wonder why Jesus was baptized since he was without sin. In his baptism, Jesus identifies fully with sinful humanity. Taking humanity’s sin on himself, his going down into the water prefigures his death and burial, and his coming out of the water prefigures his resurrection. Thus, his ministry begins as a pre-figuring of its end. Jesus’s baptism also tells us about ourselves, for his baptism is the model for our own. Through our baptism we receive forgiveness of sins and become children of God by adoption and grace, and therefore it’s through baptism that we actually become Christians. Through our baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God himself. And through our baptism we participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. So, let’s re-do the bumper sticker: Christians aren’t perfect, but forgiven, plus are members of the Body of Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit, and follow in our lives, by the grace of God, a lifestyle of sacrificial love. Now put that on a bumper! When we’re baptized, we’re initiated into a different reality, and that reality is the Kingdom of God. And, while we aren’t perfect, our goal is perfection. We realize we won’t make that goal in this life, but we continue to strive to become all that God created us to be. That’s such an exciting life, life with tremendous meaning and purpose and great joy. But we do lose sight of the goal. It’s so easy just to go through the motions, forgetting to live lives of thankfulness and praise for all that God has given us. That’s when we really need to confess our sins and return to the Lord and live the life of fullness of joy promised to God’s people. Of what does that fullness consist? It’s summarized in the Baptismal Covenant, which we’ll all renew in just a few moments. Basically, it can be divided into belief and practice—the belief summarized in the Apostles’ Creed, and the practice summarized by the five questions and answers which follow. Fullness of life contains belief, worship, prayer, study, repentance, bringing others to Christ, serving Christ in others, loving those around us, and striving for justice and peace—these are the marks of one living in Christ, and when we really live that way, that’s a life on fire with the Holy Spirit! There’s a story about the famous pianist, Vladimir Horowitz. He gave a brilliant performance one evening. Afterward, a woman who had been in the audience said to Horowitz, “I would give my life to play like you played tonight.” Horowitz answered, “Madam, I have given my life to play like that.” When people see a Christian, they should see a person whose life in every way is so transformed by Jesus Christ, that they want to have what that Christian has. That only happens when Christ truly becomes Lord of every aspect of our lives. Like Horowitz and his music, we must give our entire lives to Christ. Christians aren’t perfect, but forgiven, are members of the Body of Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit, and follow in our lives, by the grace of God, a lifestyle of sacrificial love. |
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