O Lord, open my lips and my mouth, shall proclaim your praise.
In the name of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Please!
As an Episcopal Priest, I don’t preach a long sermon, but if you don’t have enough, when I have finished, please, raise your hands, and I will start all over again.
Today is the first Sunday after Epiphany. Epiphany from Greek “epiphaneia” meaning manifestation. In our context, it is the manifestation of the light of God in this dark world through Jesus the Christ. It is the shining of light to all people, gentiles as well as the Jews.
For that reflection, I raise two questions.
The first is what are the best ways to shine the light of Christ to the people around us?
The second. for what reason do we need to shine this light?
In the sixth century of our common era, the Muslim people tried to destroy all the Christian churches in the Middle East. When they got to the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem, they saw the picture of the wise men offering the messiah gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh; and they stopped. They did not destroy it. This church still exists today as the oldest Christian church in the world. The wise men, through their journey from the East to Bethlehem, let the light of Christ shines not for their own glory but for the glory of God. They became obedient to the voice of God to follow a new direction after worshipping Jesus and gave him gifts.
They could have returned to Herod and had a position in his government, instead, they were following, not Herod’s way but God’s way through Jesus, the light they have found.
In the gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the light of God, as the beloved Son of God. When Jesus came to him to be baptized, he said to him: Jesus, you come to be baptized by me? No, I am the one who needs to be baptized by you. Why are you coming to me? John the Baptist felt unqualified. That makes sense because Jesus, the light of the world, the beginning and the end did not need to repent. He did not have any sin. However, Jesus insisted, and he said to John, for now, you should baptize me. There are four reasons for which John should baptize Jesus, according to the gospel of Matthew: first, to fulfill all that God requires through the prophets, Micah, Isaiah and others. Second, to mark the beginning of his ministry. Third, to demonstrate he was truly God’s Son and lastly to redeem us through his death and his resurrection. Then, John did it. By doing so, he made the light of Jesus shine in the world of darkness.
Right after Jesus’s baptism, as he came out of the water, the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. A voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Here God the Father affirms his love for his Son, and his divinity. All that we need to do is to continue to proclaim our faith as we used to do through the Nicene Creed every Sunday by saying we believe in our Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him, all things were made.
The best way to shine the light of Christ to the people around us is not to do all for God’s glory and love one another without ceasing?
The light of Christ cannot be shined with only the services that we offer in the church. Are these just to feel good and be proud of ourselves? We must put ourselves in John’s shoes. He was a great apocalyptic prophet. God sent him to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness to the people of Israel and the gentiles. Do you know what he did? He laid down his life so that his generation could build a relationship with Jesus. He said this, someone who is coming soon is greater than I. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. When I read about this man, John the Baptist, I am impressed. He really understood the mission that God had sent him to do. It was not about him at all, but it was about Jesus. Could John the Baptist be a model for us today? Can we be like him? Can we put our egos, our own interest, our profitable work aside in order to make Jesus known in the world? I ask the question again, when we serve in our church, our community, is it about us? Or about Jesus. In all that we do, are we willing to attract people to see us as great leaders or to see Christ as the Beloved Son of God and the Redeemer of the world?
I used to have people ask me that question: Fr Rock, when did you start your ministry at John’s Episcopal Church in Bridgeport? I correct them and say that I do not have any ministry, and I don’t pretend to have one. This is Jesus’ ministry. He called me to do his ministry in the community of Bridgeport, CT. In other words, He is using me as an instrument, and my job is to make Him known in all that I am saying and doing, just like John the Baptist. Jesus’s ministry goes on with us and without us. It is so true, my predecessor at St John’s spent 15 years there, and he is not there anymore. I have taken over since November 2020. After a few years, I will not be at St John’s anymore either, and Jesus’s ministry will go on. Jesus has called us to do his ministry for a period of time in a community. What can we do? Is it not to make Him known and bring the outsiders, the non-believers, back to him?
During this first Sunday of Epiphany, I would like you to know that when we do Jesus’ ministry, the good news is that we are joining with Him in baptism, we are joining with Him in death and resurrection, and we become beloved sons of God (Romans 6: 4-5).
The wise men who came from far away to make Jesus known in Bethlehem offered him their gifts. John the Baptist walked through the wilderness, preaching the baptism of repentance and forgiveness to make Jesus known by saying there is one who is more powerful than I. Through Jesus’s baptism in the River Jordan, God makes it known, saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Matthew tells us that we are the light that Christ has set in this world of darkness. We are given a great privilege, a noble task of shining bright so that God could be seen, heard, felt, and be praised and glorified by all people.
Let shine the light of Christ into this world of darkness is the purpose of our life as Christian.
We can only do it through love, forgiveness to one another. May the season of Epiphany be a moment where we set apart to adore the glory of the Almighty God through the light of his Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
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