Sermon 184 - 2023 Theophany

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

January 06, 2023

Mt 3:13-17, Ti 2:11-14, 3:4-8  Ez 36:25-28,33-36

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

        The image of the double-headed eagle is most frequently associated with the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. Its interpretations vary to include the double sovereignty of the emperor over both secular and religious matters and/or dominance over both the Eastern and Western branches of the Empire. Balancing the tension between the two realms of sovereignty was always problematic. In Christian faith we enter into another challenge: to balance in our minds and hearts the tension between human and divine.

       The Festal period bounded by Christmas and Encounter [Presentation] is also known as the season of lights. These feasts  serve as epiphanies of Christ as the Son of God, signs signaling Christ as both human and divine. Theophany, the Baptism of Christ, is the most unambiguous of them all, with the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus as God's son. God entering into our world as a human being can be a frightening, overwhelming, prospect. The God we learn about in the Hebrew scriptures that we cannot look at without dying, is now flesh and blood facing us. However, Christ's message takes us in a direction away from fear.

       Christian doctrine clearly shows us the human and divine sides of God, but is there possibly another double image here that we might overlook? The inimitable grandeur of God, the God of magnificence, power and omniscience coupled with the unmistakable humility of Christ's life and teachings. Our Christian understanding of the sacred needs to hold at once both of these images in tension.

       Throughout this season we see the grandeur of God, the creator of the universe, entering into our human reality: becoming a little child, enduring circumcision, being presented in the temple and submitting to baptism. And John's baptism of Christ, inaugurates his ministry. A ministry revealed in the gospels where we encounter many other signs of Christ's humility, a humility he teaches by preaching, as in the Beatitudes; by parable, as in the publican and the pharisee; and by example, as when he washes his disciples' feet. And this lesson is a seamless one beginning, as it were, from on high, with God condescending to become a child and culminating with Jesus freely consenting to death on a cross.

       When we contemplate the enormity of God's power as the creator of the universe, we are humbled by our insignificance. But when we face ordinary challenges to our own sense of importance, we can easily forget humility and resist God's movement in the daily ebb and flow of life.

       In today's feast, John the Baptist had to deal with the humility of overcoming his objections and do what Jesus asked. The purpose was beyond what John could understand, but he complied with what Jesus' said needed to be done. It was a seemingly small part of a larger plan for our salvation.

       This is a conundrum that we face in so many of our tasks. They look small and insignificant and yet the fabric of our lives and circumstances is sown together by many small stitches. In the end, God sees and evaluates the entire tapestry from a viewpoint beyond our own. So we need not flinch from doing the those little things that seem so humble and unnecessary. After all, God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. [1 Cor 1:27]

 

Glory be to Jesus Christ

Sunday after Theophany

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church
January 08, 2023

Isaiah 9:1-6, Ephesians 4:7-13, Matthew 4:1-17

After Jesus is baptized by John in the river Jordan, he is driven into the desert to be tempted by the devil. We usually think of temptations as being bad, as being enticements to do wrong or take a wrong way. But in other languages, the word “temptations” can mean to test a person.

A great and uplifting truth is that the tests are meant to enable us to conquer wrongdoing. We have all heard the saying: “If the stress doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger.” Jesus passed the test by not succumbing to the illusions presented by the demons. Jesus had been led into a desert where he could be alone. His task had come to him from God, and he needed to consider how to go about the task God had given him. Being alone helped in overcoming these first three temptations. We need some time alone so that we can discern what choices to make in our own lives. It may be that we make many a mistake because we do not give ourselves a chance to be alone with God.

In the Scriptures we often read that Jesus frequently went off to pray. It seems obvious that the tempter did not stop with these three temptations any more than we only have to overcome one temptation and we have it made for the rest of our life. Vigilance is needed, as we do not reach a stage in this life where we will no longer be tempted. Frequently it is through our gifts, our strong points, that these temptations come. A person who is gifted with the power of words will be tempted to use this command of words to produce glib excuses to justify his or her conduct. A person with a vivid imagination will undergo agonies of temptation that some other person will never experience. A person with great gifts of mind will be tempted to use the gifts for himself and not for others, to be the master rather than the servant. Where our gifts are strongest is where we must be on the watch. Also, our weaknesses, our insecurities can make us want to destroy the gifts of others because we see them as a condemnation of our own brokenness.

Today is the Blessing of Water, which connects with Jesus being baptized with water.  As the new Adam, Jesus’ baptism symbolizes the cosmic fact that everyone and everything can be washed, renewed, and energized with grace for all the tests and challenges that come to us whether through our weaknesses or our strengths.

 One of the recent talks on Ancient Faith Ministries brought up this idea: “Matter matters.” For centuries our prayers have indicated that Jesus came to save our souls – only the spiritual part of us. Death is welcomed, as it allows us to leave our bodies behind. These bodies of ours, though, are what we need to be united with divinity. Too often, the world and all material things have been linked with evil or that which takes us away from God. The Blessing of Water is a visible sign that all creation is filled with the holy-making presence of God. God became human so that we can recognize the God within everything.

Many people have a feeling that all living things, not just human beings, are living from the same LIFE, like leaves on a single tree. Whatever form, whether human, animal, or plant, is the basis for a sympathetic affinity, indicating a unity deeper than our everyday superficial relations. Are we not filled with a mystical longing, for belonging, for profound union in an ultimate meaning?

We have begun a new year. Let us trust the voice of God the Father, who invites us to walk with Jesus as we meet all the tests and challenges that come our way. ​