Epiphany 1: How Much More?

Epiphany 1

Jan 12, 2014

Fr. Phil Eberhart

How Much More?

(click title for audio)

This morning is the commemoration of the Baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan, by his cousin, John, the Baptizer.  The Gospel reading sets the scene for us, and John describes the event - His protestation to Jesus, Jesus insistence for the sake of "fulfilling all righteousness," and after the baptism in water, the full presence of the Trinity - Baptizing Jesus in the Holy Spirit and empowering him for His earthly mission.  The Father's voice in affirmation, "This is my Son, the beloved.  With Him I am well pleased!"

Friends, can I ask a question?

If Jesus, the beloved Son of God, who emptied Himself of his prerogatives as God (in Phil 2, Paul writes that "Jesus did not think of equality with God as something to be grasped for, but he "emptied" himself") -  Jesus emptied himself of his omniscience - his ability to know all things; of his omnipresence - limiting himself to one place as Jesus, the man.  If Jesus, the Son of God, needed the fulness of the Holy Spirit to fulfill his mission on earth, HOW MUCH MORE do we, His followers, need the Spirit of God to do the works of God and extend the Kingdom of God in our day?   HOW MUCH MORE?

When we read the gospel stories of Jesus, often times we assume that he knew things or did things because of his GOD-NESS - his all-knowing mind or all-powerful nature as God.  Never forget Philippians 2.  Jesus emptied himself - that is why this passage and this Sunday is so important for us to remember.  The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus was made like us in every way, except was without sin.  He felt all the weakness we feel; He felt all the temptations we feel;  He was hungry, thirsty, tired, lonely, abandoned, betrayed, --- and the list can go on and on.  

Jesus emptied himself by becoming a baby and growing up naturally - he didn't arrive full grown!  He was just like us!  Just like you and just like me, in every way.  Stop the tape and think about that for a minute!

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Jesus needed the ministry of the Holy Spirit to fulfill his role as Savior, Redeemer, Healer, Teacher.  All of those things came to him as he relied on the presence of the Holy Spirit, given to him at this moment we just read about.  The instances where Jesus knows people's thoughts is a revelation from the Holy Spirit, - we could call it as Paul did in 1 Cor 12, a "word of knowledge" or a "word of wisdom."   The times when Jesus heals the blind, or casts out demons, or sets men free from leprosy or other crippling diseases, it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus, in His fulness, that can be seen!

I want you to get a grasp on this here this morning.  Jesus was not GOD, apart from our limitations, he was GOD in the midst of our limitation - because of the empowering presence and fullness of the Holy Spirit.

There is a phrase that I saw this morning in the sermon that Peter preached - in fact, he may have been the one to "coin the phrase" ---  That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: [Here's the phrase:] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 

Luke sets this phrase in the mouth of Peter, within weeks or months after Jesus' ascension.  Matthew uses this same word picture, almost exactly, as a textual "INCLUSIO" - a literary device used to set apart the details of Jesus Ministry in Galilee from Mt 4:23 - 9:35 -  He uses that same phrase in both verses to set apart what is in-between as the core of Jesus ministry in Galilee, prior to his sending His disciples out in Mt 10.

Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

It's interesting and compelling to me that in both Matthew 10 and Luke 10, we have the logical outgrowth of this ministry that Jesus was demonstrating and teaching along the way, from Matt 4 - 9.  Jesus came, not to do it all, but to share with us, with his disciples and followers, the ministry that He did - in the same way that He did it!!

Paul tells us that Jesus was the "firstborn among many brethren" - He was the head of a new kind of humanity - the instigator of a new race, called from every tribe, and tongue and nation - a race of Jesus' followers, called to look and act like Him, regardless of color or culture, of ethnicity or equality, regardless of lineage, longitude or latitude!  The season of Epiphany is all about this fact!  That ALL means ALL - the Whole world is included and invited:  "Whosoever will may come."  The banner on the front of the pearly gates!  God so loved ...?  THE WORLD.  No one is excluded of the invitation.

And friends, we are now the SENT ones.  What Jesus said and did next in those 10th chapters of Mt and Lu, is true for us today, just as surely as it was true for the original disciples and apostles.  What they had going to them, we have going for us!  What is that ... that special something that they had?   The Holy Spirit!

You all are familiar with the beginning of Acts - Luke's follow on piece, regarding the spread of the church/ the Kingdom, after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.  What was the day called - fifty days after Jesus resurrection?  Pentecost.

Pentecost was one of the ancient feasts of Israel - 50 days (thus PENTE) after Passover - called the Feast of Weeks.  7 weeks in fact, the number of fulness.  There are sooooo many layers to this all, we cannot possibly even touch the depth of God's wisdom here.  But this is important, for the one promise that Jesus gave to his disciples, whose question was, "Are you now going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?"  Jesus once again said to them, "it is not for anyone but the Father to set those times and seasons by His own authority."  And then, here are some more of those PAY ATTENTION words:

BUT YOU!   Do you remember last week we talked about those kind of words and phrases:   Therefore!!  So that...  But now ...

here's another one:   BUT YOU...

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Some today ask the 'why' question:  "Why do I need the Holy Spirit?"  

Friends, if Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to complete the work of the Kingdom that He was given, HOW MUCH MORE do we need the presence and the powerful fulness of the Spirit of God, for the continuation of that work today?  HOW MUCH MORE?

I challenge you to look closely at the accounts of the ministry of Jesus in the gospel accounts and have the list from 1 Cor 12, 13, Rom 12, and Eph 4 close at hand.  You will be able to put names on the gifts and graces that the Holy Spirit gave to Jesus throughout his ministry in Galilee and down to Jerusalem - from his baptism to his death - Jesus was filled with the Spirit of God, not because he was God's Son, but because God was well pleased to be IN HIM by His Spirit and working THROUGH HIM by His Spirit.  Jesus was just like us friends - a vessel and instrument in the hands of His Father "whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power"  to "go about doing good, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, teaching in their synagogues and healing all who were oppressed with every kind of disease and every kind of sickness, for God was with Him."

This is our legacy and charge in the Body of Christ!  Do what Jesus did - How Jesus did it.  We have the same "equip-ment" friends, the equipping of the Spirit of God.  But don't ask, "Why do I need the Holy Spirit?"  Isn't it plain for us to see ...

If Jesus Christ himself, who made himself just like us here on earth, save the sin, needed the Holy Spirit to do His work and to complete the Father's will for him, HOW MUCH MORE do we need that same presence and power that has been promised to us and given at Pentecost?  HOW MUCH MORE?  INDEED!

Shall we pray?

God our Father, send your Spirit this day upon us, who wait for You;  Enlighten our minds and empower our lives, that we may be salt and light in the world around us, and that we may do the works of Jesus as He did, in the power of Your Spirit, teaching, healing, sharing Good News of great joy.  By your Spirit, reach out and touch the world in the Name of your Son, Jesus Christ through our hands - As you moved through Jesus, move through us, dear Father.  We offer ourselves as your vessels in this present world, that your Kingdom may come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  To the glory of Your Name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.   Amen.

The Mark of Identification

The Baptism of Christ

Epiphany 2

January 13, 2013

Fr. Philip Eberhart

 

The Mark of Identification

 

Have you ever noticed that people who divorce or who are being unfaithful often take their wedding rings off?  Why is that?  What is it about a wedding ring that is so special?  I mean it’s not like the ring of Bilbo Baggins – “one ring, to rule them all” – a ring really doesn’t have magical powers for evil or for good, for that matter.  So what is it about the ring that is so special?

Obviously I’m fascinated with rings these days, as is my daughter and her new fiancé.  But today is the Sunday when we commemorate and remember The Baptism of Jesus Christ. 

Those words themselves ought to make you sit up and take notice.  Baptism was, in Jesus’ day, a sign of repentance.  His cousin, John the Baptizer, made it abundantly clear that what he was doing was bringing masses to repentance as a forerunner to the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Baptism was that cleansing bath from sin – a kind of first-fruit of real repentance and a transition point into a new life.

So why was Jesus baptized?  He had nothing to repent of.  John even points this fact out to him as he is coming down into the water!!  “I should be baptized by you!!” John whispered to Jesus.  In Matthew’s account we hear the conversation between Jesus and John:   Jesus answer, “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Sacramental Power

In our theology as Anglicans – our Sacramental Theology – we use a phrase in the Prayer Book that these things that we do are “means of grace.”  We acknowledge that they have actual power, not just attributed power.  But not a power that is like what we see in the fantasy world – say in the Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, recently released – this is a different kind of power.

In Sacramental Theology there is a differentiation between the sign of the sacrament and the grace of the sacrament, if you will.  The grace of God is the effectual working of God’s power in our lives, that we access through the means that He has appointed.

In our theology there are two primary “means” by which grace is communicated to us:  through the water of baptism for salvation and through the elements of bread and wine for “our daily bread.”  As Sacramental Christians we seek to have an understanding of these realities, as points of contact between heaven and earth.

We access the power and presence of God by faith.  And when faith meets one of these points of contact, grace is released.  Now I have to add the caveat that I don’t think God the Omnipotent is limited to giving us His powerful grace in only these ways, but they are commanded by Him and we need to pay more close attention to why!!

Jesus himself, as I indicated earlier, was baptized.  Was he accessing grace as we do through baptism?  Probably not.  He WAS grace.  John knew that and said it to him, but Jesus pressed him to “fulfill all righteousness.”

Jesus was under orders!  As the baptism of Jesus unfolded an extraordinary thing happened – The Whole Trinity became visible and audible and John witnessed this fact in his testimony.  It was in fact, the “sign” he had been told to wait for and it was after that that he pointed to Jesus on the shore, in the hearing of his disciples and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  John was sure of it.  He was there and saw the dove of the Spirit and heard the voice of the Almighty Father affirm his love and blessing of His one and only Son.

Jesus was baptized as his willful entry into the obedience of full identification with us in our humanity.  He had been born of a virgin mother, a baby in Bethlehem;  he had grown up in a carpenter’s home and shop, learning the trade of his earthly father, Joseph;  he had learned the scriptures in the synagogue in Nazareth at the knee of the local rabbi; he engaged the teachers in the temple in Jerusalem, His Father’s House, when he was 12, the age of accountability.  But here Jesus comes to his purpose, out and away from that of his earthly family, and owns his own destiny and ministry as the Lamb.

Here Jesus is, as we are, filled to the fullness of God with the presence of the Holy Spirit – “without measure” one writer exclaims.  Jesus entered into the life that we have available to us, by the Power of the Spirit!  Jesus in fact, is now the baptizer, as John foretold just before His baptism!  “One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals;  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” 

Jesus baptism was one of IDENTIFICATION.  And this is a piece of the puzzle that I want to explore in my remaining minutes.

In the book of Revelation we are told of the Mark on those who believe.  Likewise we are told of the mark of the beast – and we love to speculate about its meaning, especially as we encounter various new technologies for numbering things and people in our culture.  But this mark is not one that is visible to the naked eye, not a tattoo or a chip.  Both marks are sacramental marks -  outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.

So when do we receive this mark and what does it mean?

How many here have been baptized or confirmed in the Anglican / Episcopal church?

Do you remember what happens right after the baptism?

The Bishop or priest, standing for the Bishop, takes a bit of holy oil, called Chrism, and marks it on the head of the newly baptized.  Each of you, who raised your hand a moment ago, had that happen.  And with that action, the celebrant says these words:  “N, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.  Amen”

Chrism is specially consecrated oil, by a Bishop, for this act.  It is not the usual anointing oil, and there is a specific prayer of consecration that goes with this oil:

Eternal Father, whose blessed Son was anointed by the Holy Spirit to be the Savior and servant of all, we pray you to consecrate this oil, that those who are sealed with it may share in the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.  Amen.

“That those who are sealed, may share in the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ.”

Here is the power and the purpose of the sacramental sign.  In Baptism, we come to share – to identify with and take our place in – the actual position and ministry of Jesus in the world and in the heavens.  Paul tells us we are “seated with Him in heavenly places.”  John tells us that we have been given only one power or right as Christians who believe in Jesus:  the power to become!  Paul talks of the great exchange in 2 Cor 5:21:   “For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Baptism, Eucharist and to a lesser degree the other sacraments identified by the church:  Marriage, Reconciliation, Anointing of the sick or Holy Unction, and finally Confirmation and Ordination – all of these carry with them a part of this power of identification and they all transfer the power through simple signs of identification.  No magic involved, but the power of God, granted to be both with us and in us, as partners with Him now, just as He partnered with us at His baptism by John.

So what’s so special about a wedding ring, a dob of oil on a forehead, a piece of bread and a drink of wine?

God is so special!  God is willing to communicate Himself to us humans in such human terms and in such simple, every day ways!  If nothing else we see in the sacraments the extent and simplicity of the love of God our Father!  We see how God is willing to be “made available and accessible” to us.  At the death of Jesus the curtain was torn from top to bottom, because His obedience unto death had finished the work of redemption and opened a way for us to come back to His Father from our own far country!

Sacraments remind us of that truth, in every day ways, and invite us to come in. Come into relationship with the Living and powerful, all knowing and all loving God – the true God, not made with hands;  very God of very God!  Sacraments are for our sake, not His!  Because we are weak and we need these earthly, earthy signs to remind us of who we are and of whose we are:

So remember:   You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.  Amen.

 

Let us pray:

I want to pray the prayer that each of us had prayed over us at our baptism:

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sins, and have raised them to the new life of grace.  Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.  Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.

Amen.

 

Also the prayer for those who are “confirmed:”

Almighty God, we thank you that by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ you have overcome sin and brought us to yourself, and that by the sealing of your Holy Spirit you have bound us to your service.  Renew in these your servants the covenant you made with them at their Baptism.  Send them forth in the power of that Spirit to perform the service you set before them; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

Amen.