The Rev. Rob Fisher
Epiphany I
St. Dunstan’s, Carmel Valley

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit—Amen.

The Christmas Eve service here was filled with music, warmth, children and candlelight—and so many people that we needed to set out the folding chairs.

I count that service as one of the best Christmas gifts of all for me this year.

It was something that could only happen when a community comes together, everyone sharing their gifts.

Being so, it was a gift not from any single person, but a gift from God—God working through us.

The other most special gift this year—which came three days before Christmas—was that my sister Mary had a baby boy.

Again, this was not a gift that any human could have given, but it was a gift from God.

My family went down to Santa Barbara for a few days after Christmas to see the new baby, whose name is Luke.  (Star Wars fans will get this: My brother-in-law, Tony, holds him in his big hands and says in his deepest voice, “Luke, I am your father!”)

This is my sister’s first child, and it is my only blood-related nephew.

While we were down there, I discovered a new favorite pastime – holding my little nephew!  Words cannot describe the blessing it is to hold this little six pounds of new and precious life.  This wonderful gift that God has given, that only God could give.

***

Today is the first Sunday in Epiphany.

Epiphany is the season after Christmas, the season of discovery

It is an epiphany to have the truth revealed to us, to go from darkness to light.

The specific epiphany that we celebrate this time of year is the epiphany that God sent his son Jesus into the world, and that Jesus’ existence in the flesh of humanity elevates our own humanity.  That is what the wise men discovered when they visited the child king.  That is what those who heard John preach in the wilderness discovered when the saw him baptize Jesus in the Jordan, when they saw the heavens open up, and the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and the voice of God proclaiming Jesus as his son, the Beloved, in whom God is well pleased.

This passage harkens back to the words of Isaiah, which put the warmth and passion of God into poetry that will stir us if we dare to open our ears and our hearts to it.

God says:

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.”

***

These lofty stories and wonderful words may seem far off from our everyday regular lives.

It can seem distant to think of Christ as a baby in a manger, having the fullness of God dwelling in him.

It can be hard to relate to Jesus in the waters of the Jordan being baptized by John.

But the Epiphany is not a distant thing.  It is close!  It holds meaning for each of us here and now, this morning, in this building, in our own bodies even.

Christ has crossed the great chasm between holy and worldly, between heaven and earth, between God and man.  And by his life, death and resurrection, he will stand in that space between, with his arms outstretched, drawing both heaven and earth towards him.  And by the sacraments he initiated—baptism and receiving the bread and wine—we are accepted into the life of God, incarnate now on earth

We have been accepted as part of the body of Christ.

We are part of God’s own living and moving in the world.

We say it in the prayer we pray every week, when we say: “God, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son.”

Our flesh and blood is the flesh and blood of God.  As a wise person once said, God has no hands and arms, no lips or feet in the world but ours.

***

Just as becoming a parent changes your identity forever, our identity is forever changed with this epiphany that we are embraced as the sons and daughters of God.

My sister is just now taking on a new identity.  She has a new name, which is “Mommy.”

Our new name is “Beloved.”

***

The grace that God gives is beyond anything we could ask for or imagine.

Perhaps that is why it is so hard for us to receive it.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, we foolishly chase after the finite grace of men, when we should be looking for the infinite grace of God.

Being a son or daughter is not something that can be earned.  It is grace, which means that it is a gift.

This is a gift that can only come from God.

***

And how then shall we live?

We have received graciously.  Now it is our turn to live graciously.

We have been loved by a great and abiding love, and we can therefore afford to give our love to the world.

Not only can we afford to give love, but we can’t afford not to.

In the poetry of Isaiah, God speaks to us saying:

I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD, that is my name;

This is the good news of grace, and it is before our eyes this morning, waiting for us to receive it, to be changed by it, and to share it with the world.

Happy Epiphany!

—Amen.