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Sermon: Epiphany 1, Year B, RCL

Centennial Celebration Sermon

Sermon: Epiphany 1, Year B, RCL

James L. Thibodeaux
January 11, 2009
St. Peter's Episcopal, Seattle

Introduction

On January 6th we entered into a new season of the year, Epiphany. It is the third season of what we might call the "Christmas Trilogy." This "Trilogy" begins with Advent, the pre-dawn, where we anticipate the coming Messiah. The dawn arises at Christmas, where the Messiah is born and the True Light becomes flesh and enters into humanity. Epiphany then is the morning, where all things are illuminated by the Light of the Messiah, where we gain new insight and understanding into who Jesus is (God), and through him, who God is. On January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany, the Church celebrated the arrival of the Wisemen who came to worship Jesus, the Messiah. Symbolically, this was the first of many invitations in the New Testament that God makes to the Gentiles to become part of the People of God. Today, the first Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, and more generally the Sacrament of Baptism, for Baptism is the gateway through which all must pass in order to become God's People.

Let me explain…

Beginning (Jewish Baptism) - from Marion Hatchet's Commentary on the Prayer Book

When Abraham, who is the religious founder common to Jews, Muslims, and Christians, heard the voice of God, he listened and followed. Seeing his faith and faithfulness, God made a covenant with Abraham that he would make a people from him and Sarah. A sign of that covenant was the circumcision of all males, and this sign identified God's People. Now, typically circumcision was done 8 days after a boy was born. This way of marking the people of God assumed that one was male and that one was born into the People of God. Now God was never content to include some into the Divine Family and exclude others on the premise of lineage and gender only. Thus, if one was an adult gentile, male or female, and wished to become a part of the People of God, that is a Jew, there was a ceremony involved. And, in brief, this was the ceremony:

The community gathered at the nearest river, stream, lake, or sea. The candidates who were to be adopted into the People of God, having been prepared through instruction and fasting, would then disrobe, leaving themselves naked and vulnerable as a newborn before God and the community. Then being charged by certain questions, they would answer and thus take new vows that established within themselves the covenant made between God and God's People. Next, they would enter into the water, cold and uncomfortable just like birth itself. They would wash themselves of their past identity, of their sins, and of their previous life. Returning out of the water, born anew into the covenant with God and into God's people they were given new clothes and perhaps a new name befitting their new identity. They were also sealed with a tau, the letter 'T', upon their forehead, a sign that declared that is was YHWH for whom they stood and to whom they belonged. This was Jewish baptism.

Bear in mind that this entire ceremony was for converts to Judaism, only.

John's Baptism

Now comes a man name John. A monkish hermit of a man, he dresses in camel's hair, eats wild locust and honey, and lives in the wilderness. And he is radical! He preaches to the People of God, those born that way and those adopted, that God is about to do something new. The Messiah is coming! And if you would truly be God's People, you must repent and be baptized. It was a controversial message, for St. John was preaching that being born into God's People was not adequate - being a Jew didn't necessarily and truly make you a part of the People of God. Repenting of not following the Law and turning to follow the Messiah, made one a true Jew, a true member of God's People. And this was marked by the rebirth that happens in baptism. Therefore St. John the Baptist baptized Jew and Gentile persons, male and female alike, into the People of God.

Christian Baptism

Then came Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. When St. John sees Jesus, he fulfills his mission by declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, God's Son, who is at the forefront of God's People. And to St. John's surprise, God's only begotten Son asks that John baptize him. In other words, the Son of God asks that God adopt him. This, Jesus tells us, is done "to fulfill all righteousness." And this marks the beginning of Christian Baptism, for as St. John the Baptist taught, to be a part of the People of God is to repent of our past errors and the old life and to follow the Messiah, who was baptized.

What Baptism Means for us - from C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity

So what does baptism mean for those who follow Jesus, the Messiah?

It is a Covenant - Baptism is the continuation of the covenant of Abraham, the mark that says "we are the people of God." It is the promise that we will follow God, through God's son, and through Jesus' ministry and sacrifice for us, fulfill the Spirit of the Law, which was given to Moses. That spirit, Jesus says is this, "To love the love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself."

Baptism is a Rebirth - The use of water in baptism is no accident. Water is a mystical substance. Too much of it can kill you, as in drowning. But we cannot avoid it since too little can also kill, as in dying of thirst. Water is the substance in which we are carried in the womb and upon which we are dependent all our physical lives. Thus water can be both life-giver and life-taker, womb and grave.

In Baptism we are washed, submerged if possible, like being buried in a grave, and the water takes away our old life with all its sins. Thus we participate in Christ's death and are buried with him. This is the death of our mortal life, the crucifixion and death of our sinful identity.

But Baptism is not only death. As Christ did not stay in the grave, we do not stay in the water. Instead we reemerge, we are resurrected, reborn out of the womb of the Baptismal Font, to a new, immortal, eternal life. This new life is marked by being filled with the Holy Spirit of God and thereby being made one of God's people, a family member of God, a sister or brother of Jesus (God's un-adopted adopted Son). And the sign of our adoption is the cross marked upon the forehead with oil, just as Jewish converts were marked with a 'T'.

Baptism is a Rule of Life - Baptism, like being born or even like getting a tattoo, isn't over once it is received. The purpose of birth is not over when one is born. The intent of getting a tattoo is not simply to be pricked with a needle and ink. In birth, tattoos, and Baptism, the meaning is in what follows - the identity that is created. In Baptism God creates in us a new identity, which we either affirm or deny by our own choices. Thus today, right now, whatever you are thinking this very moment is bringing or denying meaning in your Christian life, your eternal life. You may be straying from the code of conduct established in Baptism or you may be building it up. Either way, the meaning of your Baptism, your relationship to God and to all eternity, is being determined this very moment.

The Great Commission - The All in all wants all of all

That is a very heady thought, perhaps even daunting! Fortunately you are alone in this predicament and you are not left without help. When God adopts us, it isn't to make things harder on us. It isn't to make morality impossible. Rather, when we are baptized, God is making it easier for us to act as Children of a totally righteous and good God. In Baptism, God unites us to Christ, the only human ever able to fulfill God's call to perfection in this life. In Baptism, God gives us the Spirit of God, which is the power and guidance to follow God and the Messiah throughout the particular circumstances of our own lives. And so God is with and in us through the Holy Spirit given us at Baptism. God is continually making a home in our lives, making a temple of our bodies, abiding in our very hearts, and not only becoming related to us, but making us one with the Divine.

Now, if we are becoming one with God, then we are also becoming one with all whom God is one with. Thus, in Baptism we are also not alone in that God gives us a new family - a family who shares the same mindset, purpose, and aims as we do. And though this family is not perfect on earth, it is being made perfect on earth by God's grace, and finally made perfect and whole in Heaven.

Notice I say God is making us perfect by God's grace. That makes it sound very easy. It is and it is not. Living according to our Baptism is as difficult as relaxing. You see the challenge in Baptismal life is this: We do not wish to be totally reborn. We do not want to totally give up our old lives. We still want to think that Life's goal is happiness, or contentment, or finding love, or acquiring riches, or fame, or our children, or our parents, or our lover… the list can go on. However, the purpose of life revealed in the Christ Jesus, the Messiah, the one in whom we are to follow, is to be united with God. There IS nothing else! You are created, defined as other than God, in order that you may remain other and yet still find union with God! All other things, love, happiness, contentment, and family are all secondary fruits of being one with God.

Too often what we are trying to do is be half Baptized (or some other percentage but not 100%). We want to be happy and be one with God. We want to be rich and one with God. We want to be in love with someone or something else and one with God. And we are not willing to give up either. This of course means we will suffer terribly! For Christ tells us "we cannot serve two masters." Our old self will try to take over and our baptized self is also trying to take over. In this struggle our lives become a battleground between the old and the new selves. In many ways it is easier to be 100% committed to becoming a Christian or deny Christianity 100%. Then there is no battle. That is why I say living a into our Baptism is as easy or as difficult as relaxing - all we have to do is relax our grip on our old lives and habits.

You see, Christ has not come for a part of you, just as he did not come for only a select few. God came to rescue everyone who would receive it. Similarly God has come to rescue ALL of every person, not just a part! God is the All in All who want all in all! From ancient times it was the whole body that was drenched in the waters of Baptism. For a time the church has forgotten that. It has been satisfied with less water and perhaps with less than 100% conversion to the new life in Baptism. And our compromise has lead to the decline of the Church, both in numbers and vitality.

Make no mistake. God is a jealous God. The Almighty wants all of you and will stop at nothing, save stripping you of your own free choice, to have you. God wants you - safe, sound, loved, and cleansed. If that means God must first come to us, so be it! God was made flesh in Jesus. If that means you must be born again and start life all over, so be it! God will make that happen in Baptism. If having you safe and sound and loved and cleansed means you need lots of help, so be it! God has sent you the Holy Spirit.

Whether you accept Baptism or not, whether you live into your Baptism or not, God will never leave you or forsake you. It is we, who must choose from moment to moment whether to abide with or leave God. Even then the worst I think we can do is ignore God's presence.

I'll finish with this: The news is this: (you may find it good or bad or both depending on who you know God to be…) God is out to get you and to get all of you!

Centennial Celebration Sermon

The Rev. James L. Thibodeaux
Pentecost 7, Proper 8, Year A, RCL
Jer. 28:5-9
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
Rom. 6:12-23
Matt. 10:40-42

OPENING - WHAT'S IMPORTANT?

During high school, one of my teachers made a point of teaching her students to take good notes. She wanted us to learn how to sift through all the vast amounts of information that was being taught us and pick out the most important parts. She told us that if it was in bold print or the title heading in our textbook that it was important. She told us that if the teacher wrote a word or date down on the chalk board it was important. She also told us that if a word, phrase, or concept was repeated twice it was important. If repeated three times it was crucial.

Our Gospel lesson this morning is short - only three verses long. And yet the word "welcomes" is repeated not two or three times, but SIX times. If my teacher was right, and I think she is, this is the crucial concept of this passage.

WHAT DOES WELCOME MEAN?

I don't know about you, but I have seen, heard, and used the word "welcome" so many times I'm not sure what it means anymore. After all, someone says, "Thank you!" and we say, "You're welcome."

I see the word on doormats everywhere, and I wipe my feet on the word!

And since the 1940's or 50's the Episcopal Church has sometimes casually, sometimes purposefully put outs signs and bumper stickers that say, "The Episcopal Church WELCOMES you." So what's the deal with "welcome?"

DEFINITION OF WELCOME

When I turned to the dictionary I found that the word "welcome" comes from the Old English word wilcuma. It can be broken down into two words, wil- meaning "pleasure" and desire" and -cuma meaning "comer." The word expresses a combination of feelings, as if to say "We want you here," "You are desirable; you belong here," "Your presence brings us joy." That is what it means to welcome someone.

JESUS AND WELCOME

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us that to Welcome God is to welcome all those who God sends. Jesus includes himself in that as being one sent by God. He also includes the prophet and the righteous person. If we were in the Jewish context of Jesus day, we would immediately recognize these as persons who are repeatedly rejected, even by God's People.

They are, unwelcome. And so Jesus tells us that if you would have God reward you and cherish you as a prophet, welcome the prophets, or if you would have the reward of a clean conscience and a "direct link to God," characteristic of a righteous person.

Welcome the righteous. Then Jesus pulls a surprise on us. Just as we're thinking it's about rewards for serving Holy People, The Big-wigs of God's Kingdom, Jesus says, if you welcome a child, The lowest in stature, The one who has little standing, The one who seems to have little to offer or for whom there is no reward, And you will be rewarded as if you had welcomed a disciple, Even as if you had welcomed one of the Twelve. The point Jesus is making is not about rewards. The point is the importance of welcoming all those that God loves, regardless of stature or importance.

A recipient of a gift does not usually get to choose the gift. The selection of that gift is an expression of the giver's love and thoughtfulness. Likewise, as the People of God, we do not get to choose who God sends us. Instead, being a welcoming people we see each person as a gift sent from God, just as they are. Whoever God sends - is who we want, is the one who brings us joy, is the one who belongs, is the one who is welcomed.

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

This weekend's celebration of our Centennial is a Celebration of Welcome. We look back at the last hundred years and receive them with welcome. It brings us joy to revisit them, to remember our brothers and sisters who have gone on before us, to recall the good times and the hard times we have shared together and how God pulled this community through and pulled us together. THE SECOND CENTURY

But this weekend we do not only welcome the past, we welcome the future. We now welcome our second century. Much of our context has changed since we began our ministry a hundred year ago.

Our surroundings have changed. This is no longer the daily hub of the Japanese American community. Some families remain. Many families have dispersed. Our neighborhood is now also the home of Vietnamese, African Americans, Latinos, African immigrants, and the next generation of young Seattleite families.

For many of us the challenge to change is daunting. After all, welcoming does mean inclusion and acceptance of others, whomever they are, whoever God has sent us, with whatever needs and gifts they bring, of people different than us.

And so welcome becomes an act of vulnerability, of placing our desires and needs after those of others. This is the same vulnerability that took Jesus to the cross.

RESURRECTION

It is also the same vulnerability that took Jesus to the resurrection.

St. Peter's, it is no accident that you are the ones here today, facing this second century. I think God has taken one look around and said, "Yes. St. Peter's - This is the people I want to welcome those who need me, those who want me, those who are hurting in Seattle's International District."

You see, if anyone knows the need to hear the Good news of God's Welcome it is You.

You know how tantalizing the promises of this country are, and how illusive they can be. You know what it is to be told you are different and therefore unwelcome.

You know what it is to hear society saying, "We will only welcome you if you change, if you try to be like us, and maybe not even then."

You know what it is to hear, "We do not want you, and you are unwelcome." I speak, of course, of the relocation camps during WWII, but I also speak of countless other social slights and prejudices, of other disparaging government policies as well. St. Peter's, you have experienced unwelcome. But you, St. Peter's, also know of God's Welcome. You have walked in the Faith for 100 years. You know the Lord who loves you. You know what REAL Welcome is. You know the value of being told, "We want you here; you belong here. You are accepted for who you are here."

100 Years ago St. Peter's was founded as a mission congregation. It's purpose was to go and seek out those of the Christian faith and those not, to welcome them in and provide for their needs - Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Social.

We now call ourselves, "St. Peter's Episcopal PARISH," But in some ways we have not changed. We are still "St. Peter's Episcopal Mission." We know that Welcome is not a passive endeavor. Welcome is a MISSION. It is something we tackle with purpose. Something we perform with valor. Nowhere is that more evident than in our mission statement: "The Love of God calls St. Peter's to invite all people to a life of faith…"

St. Peter's, the challenges you have faced in the past, The ones you have overcome by walking in faithful discipleship, Those are the same ones That others in our neighborhood and in this city, All around us are facing.

And I know your hearts. In my short time here I have felt your love deeply. That is why I do not think it is an accident that you and I are here, facing the challenges of Welcome at the beginning of our Second Century.

You are uniquely suited for this mission. You are a people formed by welcome in the midst of unwelcome. You are a people who know intimately the God who gives Welcome. You are a missional people.

So I say to you this morning: Don't be afraid. God has been with us. God remains with us. The challenge God has placed before us today is not to abandon our heritage. No, indeed. God's challenge, God's mission to us is to live more fully into our heritage throughout our Second Century because, St. Peter's, we are God's People of Welcome.