The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

West Point, Mississippi

The First Sunday after the Epiphany (The Baptism of our Lord) [Year C]

Isaiah 43.1-7 Psalm 29 Acts 8.14-17 Luke 3.15-17, 21-22

May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart, that

I may rightly and truly proclaim His holy Word. Amen.

How many of you here today received the Holy Spirit when you were baptized? This is not a trick question. The answer is that all who have been baptized with water in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, have received the Holy Spirit. We have each received the Spirit who gives life (John 6. 63), the Spirit who leads us into truth (John 16.13), the Spirit who endows us with every spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12). The question is not, therefore, whether we have received the Spirit, but how we respond.

Luke tells us that at Jesus’ baptism the Spirit descended on Him “in bodily form like a dove,” and that when this happened a voice from heaven proclaimed, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3.22). At this very first appearance of Jesus as an adult in Luke’s Gospel, God reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus did not have to receive the Spirit. The Spirit was in Him already, just as He was already in the Spirit. Just as Jesus, the Word described by John as being “In the beginning ... [and through whom] all things were ... made” (John 1.1-3) was with the Spirit which is described at the very beginning of the Bible as “moving over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1.2) in creation.

Jesus did not have to receive the Spirit, but we did. Absent the Spirit we would have no real life in us, no life everlasting. The question becomes again, therefore, having received the Spirit how are we to respond? How is this new life in us manifested? And manifestation is the theme of this season of Epiphany. The very word epiphany means “manifestation, showing”. So, how does each us in whom the Spirit dwells manifest to the world this life-giving blessing and power?

We do so in how we are changed. In each sacrament something real happens; we are not dealing with mere symbolism. In the Holy Eucharist the bread and wine become Jesus’ Body and Blood. He is really present with us in the eucharist, and in Baptism our souls are changed. The power of God effects a change in the being and character of each soul, calling each soul Godward; imprinting each soul with life-giving power, able to receive the gifts of the Spirit and the gift of salvation. Our souls are changed, and because “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1.37), this means that whatever we have done, whatever we have been, God can lead us into new life, into new light and truth.

A lot of folks don’t get that; the reality that change is possible, that new life is offered. They may not know God at all, but more likely they know something about Him. They’re like the folks described as baptized by John, baptized into repentance but not into new life in the Spirit. The people who went out to John the Baptist at the Jordan sought God, turned to Him, but did not yet experience the new life of God dwelling in them.

Just like the people who went out to John the Baptist, there are a lot of folks today who realize that there is more to life than self. They may describe this “more” as a “higher power”, as some principle of life, and seek to serve this principle, but then it’s very easy to confuse a “higher power” with the projection of self. And so “new life” becomes no more than a self-improvement program. They may even describe this higher power as God, but absent the Spirit they spend their lives searching for “evidence” rather than living in experience.

But what about those in whom the Spirit does dwell? How is this experience of God manifested? Stated more personally, how are you called to be an epiphany of the Lord? You will manifest the Lord in how people will see that you are changed by Him. You will manifest the Lord in how you reflect His love, how you are seen to love Him in gathering for worship. You will manifest the Lord in all the ways you have agreed and promised to be changed by Him, how in the words of the Baptismal Covenant (BCP 304) you:

Continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and in the prayers.

Persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.

Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.

Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.

Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.

You will do all these things, manifesting God’s power in your life, because in the life which He gives you you are changed.

So, let’s get practical. God has equipped you in baptism to do His work. God has given you His Spirit. What are you going to do? The first thing to recognize is that you have been equipped to work with God. Your soul has been changed to allow you to coöperate in God’s work in this world, both within you and without you. So, coöperate. Focus on seeking to do God’s will by getting your own will out of the way.

How can I do this? I can do this in little things, in practical steps that allow me to form habits of holiness. Habits like prayer, which means no more and no less than setting time aside for God: time at meals to offer thanks; time in the morning to seek guidance, and time at night to reflect on how God is calling me serve, and what He is calling me to be. Habits like offering worship; making Sunday worship more than just another priority. Habits like listening: reflecting on God’s holy word in regular encounters with Scripture. Habits like service, which means that I take the gifts God has given me and offer them in service to those who need help.

All little, practical steps, but steps taken continuously to take the new me which has been created by the gift of the Holy Spirit and “polish” this new me, to work with God to complete what He intends for me in this life. I am called and equipped by God to do His work in this world, to manifest His greatness. Work with God. Work with Him so that people will see how God has changed and changes you. When you do this you will be one little epiphany among many; one epiphany which invites all others into new life.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.