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January 7, 2007 Sermon

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Epiphany 1 – C

Luke 3:15-17 Emmanuel, San Angelo

January 7, 2007 Allan Conkling

Those traveling by plane from East coast to the West coast, often refer to the Midwestern states as “fly-over country.” Living in San Angelo we have our own “fly over country”: those long stretches of drive between here and Junction, here and Midland, here and Lubbock, between here and anywhere, where our mind disengages and we pass the time listening to a CD or a book on tape, stopping occasionally to break the monotony of an otherwise long, boring drive.

For many, the time of year between January and Easter is also “fly over country.” It is punctuated every now and then by things like the Epiphany or Ash Wednesday or Lent; but as we all know many folks will often emotionally, if not literally, check out of church until the Easter lilies come. But by doing that you miss the scenery as it goes by. And it actually passes by very quickly. Today is one example.

Once every year, the church takes a short rest stop by the river Jordan. It always strange to me how we go from baby the Jesus being born just a week and a half ago, to Jesus as grown man being baptized. We have jumped ahead 30 years, and we haven’t even practiced for the Epiphany pageant yet! That is because there is almost nothing about his early life recorded in the Bible, until that moment when he appeared in the wilderness before his cousin John seeking to be baptized. Somewhere in the course of his adult life this son of a carpenter made a transition, from private life to public, from passive to active. He stepped forth into the limelight. He was shown forth…he appeared…he was made manifest—he had his epiphany.

I always wonder what was going on the minds of Jesus and John the Baptist as they met in the Jordan River that day? Could either of them ever have imagined the magnitude of events that were unfolding? Of how his life was to turn out? Could either of them envision that beginning with a small ceremony by the waterside, that the course of history would be forever changed? John would end up in prison. Jesus would later face his own demise.

As we see in the Gospel this morning [And you can read the text in full on page ____ of the pew Bible], the Baptism of Jesus was almost an afterthought…Luke’s version of “fly over country”. But if we look closer, 6 major things can be identified that were life changing for Jesus:

· First, it started his ministry;

· It fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies;

· It fulfilled a religious obligation that he was to perform;

· It was his official anointing as the chosen one, the Messiah of God;

· It was the outward affirmation of his sonship;

· And it was to be the defining moment when he would once and for all dedicate himself to God.

For Jesus it literally was literally a “watershed moment”.

So what does this mean for us today? Paul says in Philippians 2:7 that, “though being in the form of God, [Christ] emptied himself, taking the form of a slave being born in human likeness.”

These days when life seems troubled, dismal or depressed. When our time seems like “fly over country,” we can take comfort in knowing that God’s amazing, unconditional love is ever present with us. All we have to do is sit up and take notice. What makes these ancient stories so profound, so eternal in their power, and so compelling for us today is that we believe that there is a God who really does love us and wants for us to love him. Contrary to what is sometimes held or preached about the judgmental nature of God, the readings for today tell us that in fact God is really and unbelievably, pleased with us.

By now you have probably read in the paper or heard about the breakups going on throughout the country in a few of our Episcopal churches. This sad state of affairs has hit us even here in San Angelo. How it will all play out is anyone’s guess, however we must all remember that God is in control. We can take the situation as a sign that everything is going down the tubes, or as our opportunity to identify and put our trust in the One who identified himself with us. Remember that when God seems far away, that very Spirit which hovered over the waters at Creation, which descended upon Jesus like a dove, can quicken our hearts and can infuse us, and empower us in the service of others. As Paul says in Romans 8:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We may go through much of our life as one passing through “fly over country”. One thing is for certain, once our eyes become opened to the workings of God, life can never be the same. And sitting still is not an option.

Beginning with his baptism Jesus went forth proclaiming a gospel of love for all people. Can we as his followers do anything less?

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