A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on January 8, 2012. This service was titled, “An Epiphany Celebration”, observing both The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord (January 6th, but ordinarily observed at Trinity on the Second Sunday after Christmas, when allowed by the calendar), and The Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord (observed as the First Sunday after the Epiphany).
The Great Reveal
Matthew 2:1-12 and Mark 1:4-11
I was surprised to learn that later this week, the program Extreme Makeover-Home Edition will air its 200th episode as its final weekly installment. Now, I must confess that I did not watch this program often. But when I did, I was always impressed by the wonderful work that was done for the deserving families they built these new homes for.
Those who watched this program know the climax of each episode was the moment that the family returned to see their new home. With the gathered crowd chanting, “Move that bus!”, the crew’s travel bus was moved to allow the family its first view of their newly built house. And with shouts, screams, and squeals of joy, this “great reveal” gave each family a glimpse into the new life that awaited them through this gift of new place to live.
Today, as we bring our Christmas celebrations to a close, we celebrate the Epiphany—the manifestation, the making known, the great revealing—of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in today’s liturgy, because of this year’s calendar, we actually recall the events of two great Epiphanies of our Lord: His Epiphany seen in the visit and adoration of the Magi and His Epiphany seen in His Baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Both of these important events in the life of our Blessed Redeemer are “Great Reveals” done by God to show all people the new life that God has in store for all who call on His Name and on the Name of His Son as God opens His everlasting kingdom to all believers.
In the coming of the Magi to worship Jesus, we might think from what we hear in the text, and from some of the things that tradition has put into the text, that this revealing wasn’t really all that great. It doesn’t seem all that grand, for who really saw it? Tradition thinks that this revelation only came to “three wise men”, so that doesn’t seem much. If we wanted to include Herod and his advisors to whom the Magi reported their “Star Trek”, that doesn’t widen the revelation circle any wider, especially seeing that Herod didn’t believe a Savior had come, but instead he saw a threat to his power and throne. So what do we make of this event? How does it become the great reveal that God seems to make of it?
Yes, from human perceptions and appearances, what happened when the Magi came to the house where they found the Child and His mother seems rather small and insignificant. But, look at it a little differently—from God’s eternal perspective—and we make an amazing discovery. The Magi are just the beginning of this great reveal. God uses the Magi as a sign to the world of who it is exactly that He calls to become His people. The Magi are used by God to represent all of us—all people whom He seeks to draw to Himself by this great and marvelous Sign: His only Son. God drew the Magi to come and see the great thing He was doing by setting that star in the sky, and God is still inviting people to come and see and discover their great salvation by beholding His Son as He is still found by “wise” men, women, and children who come by faith to see and learn and believe in Jesus the Christ.
And when we come to see this same Jesus “all grown up”, standing on the shore of the Jordan River, this scene too seems less than remarkable. Now sure, the voice of God booming out on to the scene, making the great declaration: “This is My beloved Son”, seems to be a “nice touch”. But who really saw this? Who took it to heart and saw it as the great revelation that God meant it to be? At that time, maybe not all that many. We don’t even really know how many people might have been with John for baptisms that day. Yet, once again, the great reveal has more to do with God’s perspective on things, and not our desire for some sort of show-stopping grand production that just screams: “Hey, over here, you really got to come and see this!”
No, what we see here is the quiet way that God makes another great reveal, making the important statement of who God sends to His people and also why and to whom this One is sent. Sometimes we read this text, and we fail to do something important—we fail to see ourselves there. Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism helps us to do this. Notice, Jesus is there, and yes, He is still the center of attention, especially after He is baptized and God the Father makes His “grand announcement” concerning His Son. But notice what is happening before Jesus is Baptized and where Jesus finds Himself. Jesus is really just “one in the crowd”. He too comes to the Jordan, just like everyone else, to hear John and to be baptized by him. Now, yes, Jesus does not need this baptism for the same reason that everyone else has. Since Jesus had no sin, He did not need a “baptism of repentance”. Yet, Jesus, by being there, makes a very bold statement—that He came for sinners and that He stands right alongside sinners and identifies with these sinners for whom He came to save.
And this is exactly where we see ourselves in this picture. Our Lord Jesus, who came to save sinners, stands right here with us, for we too are the sinners He came to save. Just as He stood in the waters of the Jordan and was baptized to identify with sinners, so also He still stands in the waters of Holy Baptism today, claiming through the power of the Water and the Word the sinners for whom He lived, died, and rose again, causing us to share in His very life, death and resurrection, and opening the very gates of heaven to us who faithfully believe in His saving work. And at those waters of our Baptism, we too hear a joyous announcement as well: “You are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter; with you I am well pleased.” Hearing those words, we also leave those blessed waters to go and to live out our lives, serving the One who has forever claimed us and our lives as His own.
In these great Epiphanies, God, in a powerful way, reveals the extent of His love for the children He created and for whom He sent His only Son to redeem. And so, we too find ourselves there with the Magi, worshipping this One whom we too have been drawn to, beholding His Light which forever banishes the dark night of sin and death and the devil’s power. And we find ourselves dripping wet in the waters of the Jordan, marked as God’s beloved children, forever loved and forever claimed by our God. For the great revelation of God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord, we give God our thanks and praise, for He has made Himself known even to us. Thanks be to Christ! Amen!
