January 13, 2008 Sermon
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Epiphany 1 - A
January 13, 2008 Emanuel, San Angelo
It happens this way every year, and always it seems odd to me: On one hand, we have barely put away the costumes from the Epiphany Pageant and cleaned up the parish Hall after the magnificent feast last Wednesday. But today we have jumped ahead 30 years! Today Jesus is a grown man being baptized as in the Jordan River. It is strange to suddenly go from the Manger to the Jordan River so quickly.
I begin my sermon not in Matthew, Acts, or even Isaiah but with the Psalm for today, Psalm 29. Rarely do we give much thought to the Psalm. It gives a good starting place:
"Ascribe to the Lord, you gods, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength."
Psalm 29 begins with a command given to all Creation:
"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
Some scholars say that this is perhaps the oldest Psalm in the Bible. In fact they say it is older than the Bible, and may have been taken from an ancient Canaanite song to the god of the mountains: Think of Zeus sitting on the top of Mount Olympus, his thundering voice bringing earthquakes and fire upon the earth. Think of Vulcan raining down thunderbolts on the earth:
"The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire...he makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare." He shakes the hills and valleys like Jell-O.
This is a power image. This is a God to be feared. This is a God before whom everyone should be afraid...very afraid.
"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him..."
We are reminded of our own baptismal covenant and the words said at every baptism:
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good news of God in Christ?
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?
Yesterday, when I first saw that there was another lengthy article about the Episcopal Church in the Standard-Times, I took a deep breath: Episcopalians worldwide playing high-stakes game Here we go again! Yet once again as I read about our Presiding Bishop calling the Anglican Communion to greater honesty, I felt as though we are on to something...that we are being urged to a different understanding about God and what God's "power" is all about. Yes, God rules and is Almighty, but God has shown that power is not through hellfire and destruction, rather through love and servanthood to one another. We are being shaken from complacency!
Isaiah's promise of the Lord doing "new things" is echoed by Peter in Acts: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality..." Or as the Peterson translation (the Message) states it,
"God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you're from--if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open."
What good news that is!
Some time in the course of his adult life, the son of a carpenter, born not in royalty but in a stable in Bethlehem, made the move from private life to public. He stepped forth into the limelight. He was shown forth...he appeared...he was made manifest. He had his Epiphany by submitting himself to baptism. What makes these ancient stories so profound, so eternal in their power, and so challenging for us today is that we believe in a God who really does love us; who wants us to love him, and worship him; to be his hands, feet and voice to the world around us, and to bring light to the darkness.
These days when life seems particularly difficult and is moving so fast, we can take comfort in the promise that God loves us and has a plan for us. Psalm 29 gives a hint as to what that plan is:
"The Lord shall give strength to his people; the Lord shall give his people the blessing of peace."
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Revised: 02/04/08