January 5:The Second Sunday After Christmas Day
St. Paul’s, Monroe, NC
Opening
At the beginning of the liturgy, in the collect we prayed: "O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: "
At the “head” of the new year, incorporating the “new” gifts of Christmas, I can just begin to imagine what these words are getting at.
As we take stock of where we’ve been and try to imagine where we’re going, many of us can well-identify with the need for some kind of restoration.
The prophet Isaiah cries out with passioned voice.
And in some fashion or other we have responded to the cry with a yes! Yes I will sing your praises, Lord. Yes I will call out for help in time of need. Yes I will give you the glory.
In some way or another, at one time or another, each of us here this morning has heard a voice from beyond us, a voice that beckoned us, that invited us, that reassured us, that gave us strength when we needed it, that gave us a nudge when we needed nudging – and we have responded, “Ok, I’m coming with.”
Baptism as a “commissioning”
In a few moments we will be commissioning new vestry members. We will hear words that call to mind our baptism.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we are all baptized by the one Spirit into one Body, and given gifts for a variety of ministries for the common good. Our purpose is to commission these persons in the Name of God and of this congregation to a special ministry to which they are called.
These brothers and sisters have said “yes” and as a result we “commission” them for a ministry.
The need for coordinating the various parts of the Body of Christ. I owe the profundity and insight of that sentence to a young man with cerebral palsy. Much of the world around him sees him as uncoordinated. They don’t see the depth of his faith in God, the riches of his devotion to helping others, and the glory of the love he has to give. He knows about coordination.
What do you do?
I heard an interview some years ago with a woman from Salt Lake City who went around the world teaching and organizing for care of the earth and building up the role of women in the world. Not generally issues that one identifies with Utah.
She noted that as she travels around the world, she is regularly asked by people wanting to get to know her, “What do you do?” Usually people are not looking for a thoughtful answer to the question – it’s a bit of a throw-away. But it is intended to get a reading on what this person does for work, often so that you know where he or she is in the pecking order of influence and power or prestige.
I was inspired to hear her response, and I have not forgotten it. In fact I use it sometimes. When people ask her, “What do you do?” she answers, “About what?”
In the opening of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul has heard what the Ephesians are doing. And he’s impressed.
I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.
Paul knows that when one is called – when the voice sends a notice of attention – one has to respond. That to hear the calling, and to say YES – means that one is now commissioned for the Body of Christ.
The church recognizes the need to respond – recognizes the question “About what?” – when it addresses those who have said “yes” to baptism – a series of questions:
- Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? …
- Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? …
- Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? …
- Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? …
- Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? …
Next Sunday is The Baptism of the Lord
It is one of 5 appointed days that the Prayer Book recommends for baptisms.
This Sunday we are passing from a celebration of the Incarnation – Christmas – through the Epiphany, the recognition of the Lordship of Jesus – on to the moment when, as an adult, Jesus says, “Yes” to the voice. And his ministry begins.
Matthew
This account of the magi and their visit to Herod and then on to the Holy Family in Bethlehem, follows a similar pattern to what we have been describing. They have heard the calling – in their case it was a star. They have said, “Yes”, by the very act of setting out on their journey. They brought the gift of themselves to present as an offering. The same as we do each week when the plates are offered, with envelopes and gifts of various kinds – it’s our offering of ourselves.
Herod acted as the foil, the catalyst, for the magi’s “Yes.” Herod was frightened by the magi asking about the child and sent them on what he thought was his own self-serving agenda. He didn’t know that God was in charge.
He sends the magi to Bethlehem, and they approach the Holy Family and offer their gifts.
The Epiphany narrative
Whenever a Christmas pageant is put on, there is an expectations that there will be shepherds and there will be kings. Today’s gospel passage provides one of those expectations – the kings. And, of course, they would have traveled on camels. So there are camels.
But this comfortable narrative we are so familiar with, carries a message for each us, a message with great importance. The magi have heard a call. The call can come in an infinite number of ways. How it comes is not so important as our answer. And its a binary question. The answer is either yes or it is no. The magi said, “Yes.”
Having said yes they were prepared to do whatever it took to accomplish the assignment, the commission, of the call. They used Herod to help accomplish their mission. Herod, of course, thought that he was using them.
Having said yes, and doing whatever it took to accomplish the mission, the action itself was to make a gift. No matter what we are called to do – in the end all that we can do is make a gift of it.
Our baptismal narrative starts with a yes and then outlines what the mission is. Then we make a gift of it – with our very lives. I close with a prayer that brings this together in a powerful way:
The world now is too dangerous
And too beautiful
For anything but love.
Love is a blessing.
So may your eyes be so blessed that you see God in everyone
Your lips - so you speak nothing but the truth
Your ears - so that you hear the cry of the poor
May your hands be so blessed that everything you touch becomes a sacrament
Your feet - so that you run to those who need you
And may your heart be so opened
So set on fire
That your love
Your love
Changes everything.
Amen.1
Notes:
Epiphany blessing
For use from the feast of the Epiphany through the following Sunday; and on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany in Year C.
May Almighty God, who led the Wise Men by the shining of a star to find the Christ, the Light from Light, lead you also, in your pilgrimage, to find the Lord. Amen.
May God, who sent the Holy Spirit to rest upon the Only- begotten at his baptism in the Jordan River, pour out that Spirit on you who have come to the waters of new birth. Amen.
May God, by the power that turned water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana, transform your lives and make glad your hearts. Amen.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever. Amen.
or this
May Christ, the Son of God, be manifest in you, that your lives may be a light to the world; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always. Amen.
Commissioning of Vestry members document before the offertory at both services. Who are the sponsors? Names of this year’s members? What are the “tokens” to be given them?
Jeremiah 31: return, mourning into rejoicing
“He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
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