Mikell Chapel
First Sunday after Epiphany
January 8, 2006
7:45 A.M. and 9:00 A.M. Holy Eucharist
Genesis 1:1-5
Acts 19:1-7
Gospel: Mark 4-11
A Sermon preached by the Reverend Canon Carolynne G. Williams
When Jesus was baptized by John there was a divine affirmation.
HE WENT DOWN INTO THE WATER as John the Baptist, baptized him. As Jesus came out of the water, the heavens opened and the spirit descended like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
“With you I am well pleased.” Those are words that we as Christians covet. We want to please God. We want to do what is pleasing in the eyes of God. We believe that in all of our sophistication, intelligence and wherewithal, somewhere out there we in our heart of hearts want to appeal to the one whom we believe loves us.
We want to carryout our lives in such a manner that if we truly believe in the promise of God, That is, being forgiven for our sins and being sealed through the holy Spirit… if we truthfully believe this, we want to live into catching a glimpse of the face of God. This glimpse leads us to consider the possibility of understanding the beginning of the mystery of God.
The mystery of God takes us to the beginning. It takes us to Genesis.
It takes us to the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth.
It takes us to the places where God said in the midst of creating our island home…., Let there be light and there was light.
It is our nature as creatures of God to want to be pleasing in God’s sight.
When we are one with God we recognize our sinful nature. We understand that we are born into sin. Not because of anything that we did wrong, but because of the inheritance that came to us from the beginning with Adam and Eve.
But yet under the newness of Christ, The newness of life given to us by the blood of the Lamb, we have an opportunity to be as we were called to be… children of God. It is through Jesus being baptized in the river Jordan and receiving the Holy Spirit that we, you AND I, are forgiven.
He died for us so that we may live through him.
We have been forgiven for our sinful nature because God loves us unconditionally and more importantly, he died for us.
Acknowledging our sinful nature and accepting the love of God for us allows us to live in the freedom of God’s grace.
Living in this freedom, does not give us free reign to do as we please, living in the freedom of God’s love for us allows us to become who we were created to be in our fullness.
This fullness comes to fruition through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit within us.
We seek that which we are convinced that we have been called to seek and we nourish that which feeds us. However, to ensure that we are on track, we like Jesus can live a life through our baptism that seals us and protects us through the Holy Spirit.
Being led by prayers and communion with God and living in community with God helps us to carry out our mission in life.
When Jesus was baptized by John, God was pleased. You may ask yourselves, why would it even be necessary for Jesus to be baptized?
After all he was The Messiah. He was the one anticipated, expected and welcomed by all who had heard about him and the miracles that he was performing. Those who had heard about him, those who knew of the reputation of the one coming, were ready to receive the gift that they had heard that he was bringing.
The gift of freedom in Christ was something that the people wanted. It was a highly sought after gift because of what it represented. This gift represented something that was done for the people of God.
This gift begun with baptism and sealed and manifested through the presence of the Holy Spirit fulfills the promise of eternal life in Christ.
Why do we seek this way of Being? We seek this way of being because our Christian understanding of wanting our lives to reflect meaning and purpose dictates that we have to go beyond ourselves. We seek the one greater than ourselves. We seek to fill the inner void. The inner void is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes alive like a fire in our belly when we become aware of our limitations and seek the favor of the one who is ready to help us.
The hunger within makes room for a relationship with God to continue to grow. Spiritual growth begins very early with us and the seeds germinate with our baptism. When we are sealed and marked as Christ’s own forever.
Remember, Jesus was baptized by John and walked and lived on the earth as we are called to do. He is our maker and redeemer and understands what it means to be human.
When we are in the wilderness, in the nameless, placeless times of life, it is prayer that opens our lives to affirmation and direction.
On the first Sunday after The Epiphany, we always read of Jesus’ Baptism by John, in this light filled season of the church year, as we celebrate the revelation of God in Christ, we focus our attention on a nearly incomprehensible Event. God in heaven acknowledging God in flesh.
One of the elements in today’s world that causes doubt and confusion is the lack of trust and more importantly, the lack of belief in the baptism of our lord.
I imagine that it was more than a shock to see the Lord appear on the banks of the Jordan River asking John to baptize him.
According to William Willimon, author and theologian, a “radical sign to the world was necessary.”
The same is true and questioned today. The doubt and unbelief often translates into fear. This fear is expanded when one finds him or herself in the wilderness and there is nothing substantial to lock into as a strong foundation.
All that we have is the GRACE of God to see us through.
If we ignore the bearer and carrier and giver of this grace, we have turned our backs on the giver and sustainer of life.
The spirit of adoption given at baptism by the Holy Spirit becomes diminished and grows ever so slowly when the light within is not permitted to shed light. There in translates a diminished aspect to one’s living and our way of Being is somehow directed and attracted to other avenues of journeying.
The radiance of Christ’s Glory is authentic.
The authenticity comes from God’s love and is reflected though us to one another.
Being authentic within ourselves allows for the abundant love of Christ to flourish.
Being real within ourselves allows the power God to penetrate those places that we may have forgotten are a part of us.
Living without fear because of the freedom that it gives us allows for the power of God’s love to bear witness.
Our Baptism gives us permission to spread the good news.
Our Baptism gives us power to share the love of God.
Our Baptism gives us power to let our light shine.
Our Baptism gives us the power to hear the word of God and see where it is lived out by God’s people.
The ministry of Jesus, The ministry of each of you and the ministry that we all seek to carry out is affirmed and carried out through living out and believing in our baptism through the Holy Spirit of God.
This enables us to connect with community.
The community that we serve gives us the power and permission to be who we were called to be.
WE are sealed through the Holy Spirit and our baptism calls us back to be attentive to what Jesus has accomplished and what we are called to do. What could be odder than this?
In the words of fourteenth century Byzantine lay theologian Nicolas Cabasilas, “The water of baptism destroys one life and reveals another: It drowns the old man and raises up the new. To be baptized is to be born according to Christ, it is to receive existence, to come into being out of nothing”.
What could be more mysterious than that?
This is a new day. “The day that the lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
We are reminded of the seal; the symbol that we carry as baptized Christians, this protection, this mark of identification reflects the power of the Holy Spirit in each of us. Let us claim it and carry it, the seal as our own.
Amen.
Comments? Contact The Rev. Carolynne Williams: cwilliams@stphilipscathedral.org