Baptism of Jesus - Epiphany Sunday - Commitment
Sunday
Today is a day on which many things are celebrated. First, as
with every Sunday, we gather to celebrate the resurrection of our
living Lord. It is our understanding of Scripture with respect to
days of the week that he was crucified on Friday and rose on
Sunday morning. So we gather weekly to celebrate that.
Today is also Epiphany Sunday. That is, the Sunday closest to
the 6th of January, the 12th day of Christmas, which in many parts
of the world is the day on which Christmas is celebrated, the day
the wisemen arrived bearing gifts for Jesus. An "epiphany" is a
'revealing' a 'manifestation of something not seen or understood
before,' a 'flash of insight' or the 'event that brings about that
insight.' It is called "Epiphany Sunday" because on that day we
celebrate the revealing to the Gentiles (non-Jews) of Jesus as the
Christ. We carry on the tradition of gift giving, but we don't
just give gifts to Christ, but to each other. Every gift we give
at Christmas is really to celebrate the birth of Christ. Hopefully
you had Jesus at the top of your list and didn't forget him. I
know some of you have picked up on the practice I suggested and
that is, on every gift tag you write (besides the "to" and "from")
something like "in honor of the birth of Jesus" or "to celebrate
the birth of Jesus." Many children focus on the gift giving of
Santa Claus, and that's fine, but they should also know that Santa
brings the gifts in the name of Jesus to celebrate HIS birthday.
And today in the Christian church calendar is the day we
celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, as you note from today's Gospel
reading( Luke 3) and our remembering our own baptisms in the
'aspersion ritual'.
And finally, in our congregation, the Stewardship Board
recognizes this day as Commitment Sunday at Trinity. It is a
wonderful way to start the year by focusing on one's commitment to
Christ through one's participation in the life of the Church of
Christ on earth. Commitment to serving others through serving in
the church, through sharing the time and talent and treasures with
which God blessed each of us, and gives them to us to share with
others; they are not given for our benefit alone. It's a wonderful
time to be specific and make a commitment to God. If you aren't a
member of this congregation, it is still an opportunity for you to
make a commitment to your home church, or a commitment to God of
just how you are going to be faithful in committing your time and
talent and treasure to share that with others in the world.
It's very easy for any one of us to slip into putting
everything else in our lives first and letting God have what's
left over. It's especially easy when one doesn't commit to
anything specific-even if you don't tell anyone but God, you still
make a specific commitment. And we should; after all, God is
totally committed to us, so why should we not do likewise rather
than slight God?
The Stewardship Board gives one the option of putting one's
name on the form to turn in. Some folks, even with that option,
refuse to turn in a commitment form. I am really old school on
this, and think if someone is willing to make a commitment, they
should stand by it with their name. Yes, it's between you and God,
but we are a community. Whether you are a member, or whether you
attend here regularly as a friend, you choose to be part of the
community of Christ. This is a wonderful, caring, loving place
where folks support each other-share both in joy and in sorrow. We
are there for each other. So, yes, your commitment is to God, but
I think you should be happy you are part of a wonderful, friendly
community. Being part of a community, we are committed to working
together for Christ and sharing that love in many ways with
others, in our church community, in our community of Taneytown,
our county, state, country and the world.
When we are baptized in Christ we are committed to the
teachings of Jesus, and we believe in Jesus-believe he did indeed
rise from the dead and indeed broke the bonds of death so that we
may have life eternal after this life on earth is finished.
But our baptism means so much more than just the promise of
eternal life. It means experiencing the fullness of life NOW. When
we have our children, our babies, baptized, we are saying that we
want them to be part of this loving community of Christ. We are
committed to raising them in that community. We as a community,
support the parents in helping the children grow in the knowledge
of the fullness of that love so that their life will be full, and
they will understand that being open to the love of Christ will be
a support for them throughout their life.
So today we celebrate Jesus' baptism and we celebrate our
commitment to Jesus because we were baptized in his name; and by
calling ourselves Christians, we are committed to following his
teachings and sharing his love and forgiveness with others.
I, as your pastor, want you to experience the fullness of the
joy of being committed to Christ and his message of love and
forgiveness. I want to open every door for you that will lead you
to a deeper, fuller, richer experience of his love. The Holy
Spirit can use me to open those doors, but only you, through
making a commitment of how you will walk through those doors in
using your God-given gifts of time, talent and treasure, only you
can experience the fullness of what God has for you as you make a
commitment to God.
I hope that each of you, whether a member or friend of Trinity,
or a visitor here at Trinity, will make some specific commitment
to Christ today. As Christ's followers, we hold out a hope, a
light for the world. Jesus wants us to be committed to that hope
and light for the sake of the world-the world he loved enough to
come to, even to give his life for you and me and our world.
I hope that you will be here week after week sharing-giving and
receiving-making our community in Christ stronger, a better
support for each other and a solid arm to reach out through the
doors of this, Christ's church, to help others in need-especially
those in need of knowing the love of Christ.
Now, I said I wanted to do everything I possibly could to help
you make a commitment and so.....I'm going to have cots placed
behind the back row of pews for those who say, "Sunday is my only
day to sleep in." The ushers will have sweaters and blankets for
those who say it is too cool in the sanctuary and fans for those
who say it is too hot. We will have steel helmets for those who
say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church." We will
have hearing aids for those who think I speak too softly and
cotton for those who think I preach too loudly. Scorecards will be
available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. There
will be TV dinners for those who can't go to church and cook
dinner also. One section of the Sanctuary will be devoted to trees
and grass for those who feel they can commune better in nature,
like at the beach or skiing or on a golf course. And finally, the
sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and
Easter lilies for those who have never seen the church without
them.
But mostly, I want you to know how much God loves you, and want
you to be able to experience the blessings of the peace of Christ
that come through commitment to him; it's an inner peace we can
have even in the midst of the frenzy and chaos of our world.
And....I want you to know how much I, and others, miss your
energy, joy and sharing when you are not at worship or involved in
the life of our community at Trinity.
Amen.