FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR B

January 7, 2024

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Warwick, R. I.

 

Genesis 1:1-5 

Psalm 29

Acts 19:1-7

Mark 1:4-11

 

Today’s readings combine to convey the message that Christ’s baptism in the River Jordan signals the beginning of a new creation. The Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove as Jesus emerges from the waters evokes the mysterious image from Genesis of that same Spirit—the ruach, wind, or breath of God—moving over the primordial waters in the beginning of the old creation. By submitting to John’s baptism of repentance, Jesus, the sinless one, identifies himself with our fallen humanity, subject to sin and death, so that, incorporated by our baptism into his renewed humanity, we may rise with him to eternal life in God’s new creation.

 

And notice that in both the old creation and the new creation, God speaks. Not only is something done, but something is said. “In the beginning, God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” 

 

Psalm 29 echoes this divine speech in the wonderful poetic imagery of a thunderstorm coming in from the sea over the forests and mountains: “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters.” The psalm uses the phrase “the voice of the Lord” no fewer than seven times: “the voice of the Lord is a powerful voice … a voice of splendor”, which “breaks the cedar trees …”, which “makes the oak trees writhe … [and which] strips the forest bare.” At the Baptism, however, this same voice speaks words of loving affirmation and approval: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

 

Commenting on Christ’s baptism, the fourth-century Church Father Gregory of Nazianzus writes of the Spirit descending and the voice from heaven as divine witnesses: “The Spirit comes to him as an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin.” At Christ’s Baptism, then, God bears witness to God! The First and Third Persons of the Holy Trinity bear witness to the Second Person, now incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth. Just as in the beginning God said, “Let there be light,” so now the Father acclaims his Son as the Light of the world.

At our baptism, we’ve similarly been committed to bearing witness to Christ. In the words of today’s Collect: “Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior …”

 

Two of our baptismal promises take this form: Question: Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? Answer: I do. Question: Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord? Answer: I do. Then, in the Baptismal Covenant, there follows: Question: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Answer: I will with God’s help.

 

“By word and example.” Notice again the combination of something done and something said. A certain saying is sometimes misattributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” I hope it doesn’t come as too much of a disappointment to be told that he never really said that. The things he did say had more to do with the preacher’s need to conform his life to his words in order to be credible—which in St. Francis’s case was certainly true as one of the greatest preachers and holiest saints of the Christian tradition.

The point is simply that in fulfilling our baptismal promises, good deeds by themselves aren’t enough. Today’s readings invite us to consider the very personal question of what more we might be doing in our own lives to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ,” and “boldly confess him as Lord and Savior.”

 

I will be the first to acknowledge that this is easier said than done! We live in a society that doesn’t really encourage public professions of faith; and the culture of our own beloved Episcopal Church sometimes tends to be a bit reticent and reserved about discussing spiritual matters. After all, they’re very personal, and we don’t want to subject our most cherished beliefs, feelings, and experiences to misunderstanding and ridicule. That’s all very understandable.

 

Look, by contrast, at the example of the disciples whom Saint Paul encounters in Ephesus in today’s reading from Acts. When he asks them into what they were baptized, they reply, “John’s baptism.” But as John the Baptist himself says in today’s Gospel, “I have baptized you with water, but the one coming after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” So, when Paul baptizes and lays hands on these Ephesians in the Name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes upon them powerfully so that they prophesy and speak in tongues.

Now, not all Christians are called to speak in tongues and engage in what used to be called “religious enthusiasm.” (I love that phrase!) On the other hand, some are called to such spiritual expressions, and it’s not our place to judge them. Part of the richness of life in the Body of Christ is the diversity of gifts to be found in the various parts of the Church. 

 

The deeper point is that those disciples at Ephesus received the grace to proclaim Christ in their own time, in their own way. And we’ve also received the grace to proclaim Christ in our own time, in our own way. At our baptism we received the same Holy Spirit who descended upon Jesus at his baptism in the River Jordan, and who came upon those Ephesian disciples at their baptism at the hands of Saint Paul the Apostle. 

 

The grace of our baptism is itself what empowers us to fulfill our baptismal promises. We need only ask God to stir up the Spirit’s gifts within us; then we’ll be given the right words to say in precisely those moments when we really need to say them. In this way, God equips us to keep the covenant we have made, and boldly confess Christ as Lord and Savior.