Sunday, January 12, 2014 (full size gallery)
Looking back on this week it is a hard to believe Epiphany was only 6 days earlier. The extremes in the weather may make it seem weeks ago. From artic blast with temperatures approaching 0 with punishing winds earlier in the week to a mild day on Sunday, Jan 12 with temperatures in the low 50’s under brilliant sunshine, it was a quite a week.
On this remembrance of the baptism of Jesus, we had a good crowd of 44, including visitors, particularly John and Sylvia Sellers and Tommy Segar.
Unfortunately Zeke was the only child. However, as Catherine said, Amy Turner got to process and celebrate close to the anniversary of her ordination.
We celebrated the birthday of Terri, Linda and Cookie during the service.
As was emphasized in the announcements, a busy week with Vestry, ECW, and Village Dinner Planning. Looking ahead we have the Congregational meeting next Sunday. Beginning on Jan 27, you can attend a special class online (the "Crazy Christian" class) with Bishop Michael Curry online. He is a dramatic and dynamic minister.
The bulletin is here and the sermon. Due to the length of the sermon Catherine cut the first part but the link provides the full text.
Here are some of the key points from the sermon:
1. "Every time we come to the readings for the first Sunday after Epiphany, I find myself wondering—why did Jesus get baptized? For Jesus, righteousness meant being obedient to God’s will and also carrying out God’s saving plan. By being baptized, Jesus lets us know that he is completely, and irrevocably, one of us.
2. "And here’s the second and equally important reason that Jesus got baptized—to show us that he is a willing servant, ready to serve God and to carry out God’s saving plan for the universe.
3. "And so Jesus would have known the scripture from Isaiah that we have heard today, and would have known that he was like God’s servant in Isaiah, the one in whom God delights.
Jesus knew that this passage from Isaiah was his job description.To bring forth justice to the nations, to faithfully bring forth justice, to establish justice in the earth.
4. "As people who have been baptized into the body of Christ, this is also our job description—to live in solidarity with one another in our humanity and to bring forth justice on the earth
5. "One last thing—we don’t do these things alone—because without God, these actions would be impossible
6. "And the psalmist reminds us, that as we do God’s work, God will give strength to us, and God will give us the blessing of peace."
Today’s scriptures focus on Jesus’ person and ministry, as revealed in his baptism. Isaiah describes a servant called by God, who will persist until he establishes justice. In Acts, Peter preaches about Jesus of Nazareth, anointed by God and the Holy Spirit. In today’s gospel, Jesus receives the anointing of God’s Spirit and hears the voice of God’s affirming love
Baptism as an act was a step beyond the norm at the time. The Jewish saw it is a cleansing but not as extensive as the Christian which changes you from within. Baptism also brings you as a member into the church. Some objected to gentiles being brought into the church.
The conversion of Cornelius in Acts marks an important turning point in the outreach of the Church. Some Jewish Christians rejected and feared the possible inclusion of Gentiles in the Church, but Luke shows that Peter began the mission to the Gentiles under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Rev. Canon Lance Ousley of the Diocese of Washington writes about the significance of this passage. "What Peter’s 1st century audience hears that we often miss is that the kingdom of God has broken forth into the world. And those who are, or become, baptized disciples of Christ are compelled to proclaim and enact this reality through word and deed as Isaiah describes unveiling this truth in the world. So often it is through this public ministry that we each discover for ourselves that we are all God’s children, we are all beloved and God is well-pleased with us. And we are transformed."
The baptism of Jesus is a central event in Matthew’s revelation of God in and through the incarnate Son. Matthew examines both Jesus’ role and John’s to answer questions raised by the baptism: (1) Does this mean that Jesus is sinful? (2) Does it imply that Jesus is somehow subordinate to John?
Both concerns are met by Jesus’ reply in verse 15. Though sinless, he identifies himself with sinful humanity. He also emphasizes his obedience to and fulfillment of Old Testament expectations.
Rev. Canon Lance Ousley wrote this week "Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John proclaims the beginning of his public ministry and marks his solidarity with us and us with him through our baptisms. "
Bishop Michael Curry says it this way "In baptism, Jesus has made us family. I am convinced that God came among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to open the way and to show us the way to become more than merely an aggregation of individual self interests, more than simply the human race or the human species. Jesus came to show us the way to become the human family of God."
Matthew describes the words of the “voice from heaven,” which of course is God’s voice, as a formal (“This is”), public proclamation of Jesus’ divine Sonship (v. 17). The words themselves, drawn from Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1, identify Jesus as both King and Servant.
It’s easy to understand John’s protest when Jesus lines up with all the thieves, cheats, liars, unfaithful and unfragrant people who clearly need this rite of purification.
To John’s objection, Jesus offers a simple explanation: it is fitting for them to participate in God’s plan. The saving activity is God’s; human justice is our effort to respond, to be true to all we have been given.
Jesus combines two qualities that might at first seem diverse: the deep dignity of God’s Son and sensitivity to the burdens of a troubled world. As Isaiah foretold, he would be known not for a loud outcry, but for tender restraint, not for clinging to power, but for liberating others.