Whose Epiphany? Preached for Wollaston Congregational Church On January 10th, 2021 Scripture: Mark 1:4-11 This past Wednesday marked the last of the twelve days of Christmas, and also the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi, or the wise men, to the infant Jesus. This day is Christmas in many traditions, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Spanish and Latin American Catholic Church. Over the next few weeks we will observe the season of Epiphany, a word that means revelation. This is one of my favorite liturgical seasons, which encompasses our remembrance of the Baptism of Christ today. The season is a celebration and a reminder that God reveals God-self to us in Jesus. The symbols of this season are light, Jesus is known as the light of the world, and water, which is itself a powerful symbol of baptism. The message of this season, revelation, comes over very powerfully in the scripture we read this morning. In the story we heard, Jesus comes from Galilee to be baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. John is gathering crowds, calling them to repentance and then to be baptized in the river. It is the first appearance of Jesus in the gospel of Mark. John has already told the people that he will be coming. He has prepared them for someone greater than himself. Now the moment has come for Jesus to be revealed. Jesus presents himself for baptism. John knows his role. He pushes Jesus down under the river water. As Jesus emerges from the river, the water streaming from his hair, his beard, his clothes, and we hear of the heavens being torn open, and the voice of God booming loud and clear. As if to crown this moment, the Spirit of God descends on Jesus. This is not a calm and gentle event. The Spirit does not flutter down, but practically dive bombs Jesus. There is no doubt who this is. It has been revealed, loud and clear. Jesus is God’s beloved Son. This is the moment we have been longing for, from the time we read from of the prophet Isaiah back in Advent: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” How many times over the past year, as unthinkable things happened, have we longed for God to be revealed in our midst. How we have longed to have the same clarity as on the day of the Baptism of Jesus, that Jesus is the Truth come to the world. Jesus cuts through the noise, knows the way of peace and justice, and can guide us on our way. On January 6th, 2021, this Epiphany, the unthinkable happened. There was an attack on the Capitol building in Washington DC. An attack on a building where all the senators and representatives were gathered to affirm the election of the next President of the United States of America. This event is traditional and ritual. There is no expectation that anything other that the outcome of the election would be confirmed. And still, like the rituals of religion, it is vitally important for the stability and unity of the nation. The storming of the Capitol did not happen without warning. Protesters of the election, some of whom were known to be armed, were known to be gathering in the city. Anxieties about a disruption of the process were circulating in mainstream media. In genera in the nation’s capital, the police, the Secret Service, the National Guard … to name a few … are ready for all kinds of protests, disruptions, and even riots. But, for some reason, only a small contingent of the Capitol Police were on guard, and were completely overpowered by the mob. Members of this crowd had brought automatic weapons, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. Many brandished confederate flags. Five members of the mob died, including one woman who was shot by police. Members of the Capitol Police were seriously injured and since Wednesday one officer has died. The lives of the Capitol staff and members of the government were threatened. This must have been a terrifying experience for everyone who went to work in the building that day. At the end of the day, some of the rioters were arrested and many others were free to leave. We are left wondering what happened, and why was this terrible event was allowed to happen. We are left wondering why the same level of security and response was not used as when Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter protesters came to the capital. The fact that this crowd was invited, encouraged and cheered on by the sitting President explains a lot. We will have to wait for investigations to be done, before we get the answers to some of our questions. And I am sure there will be some questions that are never answered to our satisfaction. What we do know is that many Americans are living completely different realities from one another. What we describe as an attempted coup will be explained as a patriotic protest in other settings. The people, who came from many parts of the United States, believed in what they were doing because they have absorbed messages that make no sense to you and me. These messages have come from their news sources, their internet feeds, their communities and even their churches. Occasionally I have tried to understand the kinds of messages that spurred on this mob, but I can make no sense of the supposed information. It is confusing and chaotic. We know that people can be misled if they are fed a diet of conspiracy theories and lies. They have been gas-lighted: fed a false narrative they have internalized. This week, I hoped and prayed that the Americans who are influenced by the false narratives would experience an Epiphany. I hoped that the attack on the Capitol would be a defining moment in which the scales on many eyes would fall off. And perhaps that has happened in some cases. But, this is not the meaning of Epiphany and the Baptism of Christ for me. My hopes for others gaining greater clarity through this Epiphany distract me from the need for my own discernment of truth and clarity. A hymn that has been quoted often this week says “Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.” Epiphany needs to begin with us, you and me. These past few days I have been pondering what it means to discern the difference between reliable information and misleading messages. I’ve come to a couple of conclusions. First, it’s important to remember that no news source will contain the pure truth. All writers and reporters are influenced by implicit biases, even the writers of our foundational national documents and our sacred scriptures. I have my favorite podcasts and news presenters, but I need to look further afield to gain a broader perspective. One way I can do that is to listen to sources outside the United States reporting on the events that take place here. Sources like the BBC won’t always get the nuances of life in America but they will offer a fresh perspective. A gentler source I loved in the past was “Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America.” My dad would play it every Sunday morning, as he prepared the Sunday bacon after attending early communion. Cooke’s report was of the long, slow variety, filled with deep historical perspectives on the weekly events in the USA for listeners across the pond. We could benefit from that message today. [1] Second, it is easy to absorb our own biases from our families and communities of origin. Were you told, growing up, that you shouldn’t talk to the family across the street because they were Catholic, or Protestant? Were you taught to avoid Muslims or people who spoke with a foreign accent? And then later as you expanded your horizons you learned that Catholics, Protestants, Muslims or foreigners could be your friends and their families were no different from your own family. We disentangle ourselves from the false narratives we learn in childhood when we are ready to listen, form new relationships and experience new revelations. This applies to what we hear and read in the media, as well as what we read in the scriptures about God revealed in Jesus. Again, I look to a number of sources for fresh perspectives on our faith and other world religions. The “The Christian Century” is like my trade journal: articles and editorials written from the perspective of the American mainline Protestant Church. But “Sojourners” magazine prompts me to look harder at justice issues, and “Christianity Today” informs me of what the more conservative Church is thinking. And still, I return to “The Upper Room Disciplines” reflections on the daily lectionary readings with contributions from a variety of traditions and cultures from all around the world. The news and other information comes at us at lightening speed. But our processing is best done deeply and slowly. Ultimately, moderating our consumption of media information and spending more time in scripture study and prayer will open us to the deepest revelations. When Jesus is baptized and emerges from the waters of the Jordan River, there is a revelation. God blesses Jesus, calling him God’s beloved Son. Something that seems like a barrier or a veil between heaven and earth is torn open. God is breaking into the world in the person of Jesus. This is not a military take over, or a mob riot like the one we saw on Wednesday. This in-breaking is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry of healing, justice and peace. It is the in-breaking we long for, particularly in times of chaos and trouble. It is an in-breaking of clarity. We may be despairing that conflicting voices and arguments in our culture will never be reconciled. We may be longing for God to break through the heavens and come down to mend and heal our nation once and for all. In all this desperation, we may be missing a truth has been in the midst of us all along. God’s tearing open the heavens is not really so rare. And there is not really so much of a barrier between heaven and earth, other than in our heads. And so, my prayer this week, is that we take in the powerful revelation of God made known to us in Jesus. That we drink deeply, the long and slow truths of the gospel, through times of study and prayer. And then, we come to our news with fresh clarity, open hearts and open minds. May all God’s people say, Amen [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f6hbp
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
If you enjoy a sermon or have a question, please leave a comment. If you would like to quote any of my material in your own sermons or writings, please use appropriate attribution. I look forward to hearing from you!Archives
April 2022
Categories |