The reading
Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole
Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and
were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was
clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate
locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed,
"The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy
to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with
water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of
Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water,
he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And
a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well
pleased.
The Message
Things feel a little different here this morning. Our
Christmas tree is gone, the wreaths are wrapped and stored away for next year,
the poinsettias, those red plants that filled our church are growing in other
places (and a few are still available in the office if anyone wants one). The
familiar Christmas carols, the beloved songs that tell the story of God’s love
for us, are no longer a regular part of our service. Even at our homes, all of
the Christmas gifts are opened, used, returned, or exchanged, the wrapping
paper and boxes are recycled, many of the lights are off and decorations packed
away.
Growing up, I never wanted to take down the tree or put away
the Christmas decorations. The tree would be dried out and spikey pine needles
would be all over the living room floor, I would say, it just needs some extra water
and it’ll be okay. I did not want
Christmas time to end. Even now the
little star and lights in our front window at home are still on for a few hours
each night. I know that the event of Christmas, the birth of Christ our savior,
continues to fill may life, work, and world with comfort, joy and peace, but it
is still sad to see all of the external signs of it disappear.
The fact is though, as a church, we have a whole story to
tell, we need to talk about what happened after Christmas, what the child born
that night taught and did and why it matters. We are now in the season of
Epiphany, the time set aside for us to think about what exactly it was that happened
on Christmas. This church season will take us from the days rights after
Christmas to Ash Wednesday and that start of Lent. At this time, we follow the
stories of the first people, the men and women, shepherds and kings, priests
and prophets, who figured out, saw or, had revealed to them, exactly who this
child born in a barn that night was.
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to
all, The words from Pauls’ letter to
Titus which I have repeated so often during this Christmas time are a great place for us to start this
transition to Epiphany, The word Epiphany comes to us from the ancient Greek
world,: literally coming from the root word for appear or manifest. Back then,
it was used to describe the sunrise or dawn, the appearance of an enemy during
war or the appearance of a god to a worshipper. It also had a specific meaning
in the study and structure of ancient Greek theater; there Epiphany referred to
the big moment in a drama when the main character learns or realizes something
that completely changes his or her understanding of what is happening. In the New Testament the word epiphany is
used 5 times to refer to Jesus second coming and once to refer to this birth or
post resurrection appearance.
My understanding of the epiphany, the one I want to share
today, comes out of that theaterical meaning, The season of the epiphany begins
with the same two events each year, the arrival of the wise men or magi with
their gifts for the newborn Christ and the baptism of Jesus by John, 30 years
or so later. In each story, we see that this child born on Christmas, was no
ordinary child, not even close. This child was God with us. Our understanding of how God interacts with
us and our world, of how God forgives, of how God keeps promises, of how God
expects us to live and care for each other, all completely changes.
With the story of the three kings and their gifts, we see
God’s plan to heal and restore us. The gifts tell a story: the gold indicating
Jesus kingship and royalty, the frankincense (an incense used in worship) shows
Jesus divinity and the Myrrh (a perfume used to anoint the dead), foretells that Jesus would bring salvation to
the world through his death and resurrection. We do not know too much about
these travellers, although there are a lot of stories around them, we are not
really sure who they were, where they came from, or even how many made this
trip. (historically, people have assumed one each, 3 gifts = 3 people, but
there is no real reason for us to think that). All we basically know is that these
travellers are among the very first people to figure out what happened on
Christmas and since they are complete strangers and outsiders, they show us
because of Christmas, God’s kingdom has plenty of room for all people.
In the first sentences of Mark’s Gospel, we have the other
story that is central to the season of the Epiphany, the story of Jesus
baptism. In Mark’s Gospel, there is no Christmas story, no shepherds in the
fields, no sheep wandering around, no angels singing, no donkey ride to
Bethlehem, no birth announcements, no star and wise men. In Mark, the story of Jesus, the story of
God’s saving work in the world, starts with John the Baptist, the Baptism of
Jesus and the start of Jesus healing, teaching and public ministry. Mark, which
is the earliest and shortest Gospel, has a sense of extreme urgency. In Greek,
the words “Kai Ethos” (and immedieatly) occurs at the start of every few
sentences throughout the book. Within
the first few sentences of his gospel, there is the epiphany, Jesus identity is
known, we hear God’s voice declare “you are my son, the beloved, with you I am
well pleased” and then Jesus work begins.
There is Christmas in this story too, we hear the forgiveness of sins
and the keeping of God’s promises, we see the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, and
we see the grace of God appearing, bringing salvation to all.
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