St. Peter's News

I. Theme – Participating in Jesus’ Baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit

Baptism of Christ – Fra Angelico (1400-1455)

The lectionary readings are here  or individually:

Old Testament – Isaiah 43:1-7 Psalm – Psalm 29 Epistle – Acts 8:14-17 Gospel – Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

The first Sunday in Epiphany is traditionally about Jesus’ baptism. However, this year, the focus is less on Jesus, and more on how God’s people are invited to participate in the baptism and to receive God’s Spirit.

Isaiah suggests that God chooses and gathers us to bring compassion and justice to a suffering world In the Psalm, God’s voice is celebrated, which shakes the earth, but which also – by implication in the Psalm – strengthens and brings peace to God’s people, even as God’s voice affirmed Jesus. In Acts, we witness Peter and John spreading the good news of Jesus Christ beyond their comfortable social and ethnic borders. In today’s gospel, Jesus is baptized, and we are invited to acknowledge him as God’s “Son, the Beloved.” It is significant that Jesus begins his public life with baptism. Not only is he baptized, he also hears the assurance of the Holy Spirit. A voice proclaims him God’s beloved, empowering him and sending him to the blind, the lame and the prisoners awaiting his good news.

We read about baptism year after year because God is still at work in the world, and still invites us to participate in God’s saving and liberating work. But, to do this, we, like Jesus, will need to be strengthened and empowered. We will need to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. We surrender our usual sense of control, because we must sacrifice what we are for what we might become.

This Sunday provides an opportunity for people not only to reflect on their own experiences of baptism (as participants and/or observers), but to wonder together about Jesus’ baptism.

Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell writes of the symbolism of the waters in the passages

” The waters were a symbol of trial and tribulation, a boundary to be crossed, perhaps the Red Sea or the Jordan River in ancient times. For the people who had been exiled, the waters may have symbolized the entire time of exile—a turbulent time in which all they knew had been taken from them. For Christians, we seem the waters of baptism as a symbol of those trials and troubles, a symbol of death itself, and we come out on the other side, with the gift of new life, the hope of resurrection, everlasting life in Christ. We commemorate the baptism of Jesus today, reminded that we all have the gift of new life, of starting again with God, of renewing our commitments and reorienting our lives to God. The same God whose voice called out over the waters, who called down from above over the waters of Jesus’ baptism, is the same voice that calls us Beloved, and calls us into the promise of new life”

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The Season after the Epiphany – Epiphany is all about establishing the identity of Jesus. Now that he has been born who is he ?   Epiphany continues to define who Jesus is – healer, preacher and the Messiah, the last one comes early in Epiphany and continues.

Epiphany refers to the appearance of Jesus Christ as the savior of the world—of Israel and the Gentiles.  For this reason, Epiphany is commonly associated with the visitation of the Magi (or “wise men”), who were almost certainly Gentiles, in Matthew 2:1–12.

We focus on the mission of the church to reach all the peoples of the earth with the great gift of God’s grace in revealing healing truth and light to the world.”

It is very much present oriented. The main idea of Epiphany is that Christ is the light of the world that came at Christmas and now beckons us to travel with Him ths year. The story of the Epiphany is about discovery—following a star to the source of salvation.Epiphany is filled with unexpected revelations that change our minds and ways – we have to be willing to experience them.

Epiphany is our jumping off spot. From the Eucharistic Prayer – “With each new day, you call us to feed the hungry, bring recovery of sight to the blind, liberate the oppressed, heal the broken hearted and bind up their wounds, and keep watch for the dawn of your reign on this earth. ”

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“Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….and remember I am with you always.” – Matthew 28:19-20

Baptism is…..welcoming into the community of faith & the Body of Christ.

Baptism is…..belonging to God as “Christ’s own forever.”

Baptism is….washing of our sins and renewing our life in faith.

Baptism is…..a holy sacrament, an outward sign of God’s inward grace.

Baptism is…..a gift of God’s grace through the Holy Spirit.

“Why baptize? God has no need of our baptism. But we do. We need to hear; we need to know. Whether emerging from the waters of the womb or the waters of a river, we need to hear again that we are beloved.” – JoAnn A. Post in the Christian Century

Michael Curry – From Crazy Christians A Call to Follow Jesus

“We come to the mountain, then, and experience a deepened and revived relationship with God and with each other.”

“You will notice this three-fold pattern in how Jesus forms his disciples and sends them out. First he invites his disciples to come. “Come and see,” he says, “Follow me” (John 1:39; Mark 1:17). Jesus beckons his disciples to him in order to enter into a deepened relationship, through him, with God and each other in community. That is what baptism is about, a deepened relationship with God and each other in Christ.”

“If you look at the words of the Great Commission, you’ll see this is precisely how Jesus forms his disciples. After the resurrection, Jesus takes the disciples to a mountain. He tells them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). We form disciples through baptism and teaching so they might come into a deepened, transforming relationship with God and each other, as we learn and live the gospel of Jesus.”

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The Setting for Sunday

We have just celebrated the birth of Christ and will experience his death and resurrection on Easter. However, one key event we should put in the same category is Jesus’ baptism.  We have various  weeks set aside for baptisms – first Sunday after Epiphany (Baptism of Jesus), Easter, Pentecost,Feast of the Transfiguration (Sunday nearest Aug. 6), All Saints Sunday, whenever the Bishop visits) .  Whether we have a baptism or now, we usually include the section in the prayer book for the renewal of the Baptismal Covenant in the service. In the past we have also “sprinkled” people.

From the SALT Project – “Jesus’ baptism is Mark’s Christmas story, so to speak, the moment when Jesus is reborn through the waters of baptism as God’s Child, God’s Beloved. In that sense, Mark and his community likely thought of Jesus as miraculously adopted, as opposed to miraculously conceived (as in Matthew and Luke) or miraculously present as God’s only begotten since “the beginning” of creation (as in John).”

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I.Theme –  God/Christ as Redeemer and Revealer 

Guido of Siena,13th Century Italian

The lectionary readings are here 

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Psalm 84

Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a

Luke 2:41-52

Matthew 2:13-15,19-23

The details of the Gospel story, the flight into Egypt, makes it easy to forget the intent of it that shows God in control and not Herod or his son, even though it looks that way on the face of it with Joseph’s family side stepping the political moves of the day and winning out. God is leading us and with us even when events do not go our way.  We are not alone.  We have to look at the bigger picture, often difficult to see while we are going through life. 

This is a realistic story with our current world situation – the numbers of babies killed in Syria and the migrations away from that worn-torn land to Turkey and Lebanon. 

In Ephesians God has revealed his will in the sending of Christ, and he seeks to "gather up all things" in both heaven and earth in Christ. Christ is therefore both the Redeemer and the Revealer through the Holy Spirit. God’s accomplishing all things according to his will in Christ’s resurrection and reign. 

The idea of redeemer and revealer is present in the Old Testament reading of Jeremiah. The people deported from Jerusalem in Babylonia will return. There are images of redemption – God’s love and faithfulness to promises made remain intact through Israel’s infidelity and consequent judgment. God rescues this and builds a new life out of the rubble. There are images of revelation and promise – those who lived on the outside of society will not live that way. The hope is those who have suffered.

This psalm praises God as the longed-for goal of the pilgrim. The “dwelling” of God is the Temple (and perhaps also the land of Israel). To live in the Temple is greatly to be desired: those who live there have security and happiness, even the birds (v. 3) who nest in the Temple area. Making a pilgrimage to the Temple offers these hopes. 

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Epiphany occurs January 6!

Adoration of the Magi – Bartholomäus Zeitblom (c. 1450 – c. 1519)

The English word "Epiphany" comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means "appearing" or "revealing." Epiphany focuses on God’s self-revelation in Christ.  

Epiphany celebrates the twelfth day of Christmas, the coming of the Magi to give homage to God’s Beloved Child.

The Epiphany celebration remembers the three miracles that manifest the divinity of Christ. The celebration originated in the Eastern Church in AD 361, beginning as a commemoration of the birth of Christ. Later, additional meanings were added – the visit of the three Magi, Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River with the voice from heaven that identifies Jesus as God’s son, and his first miracle at the wedding in Cana. These three events are central to the definition of Epiphany, and its meaning is drawn from these occurrences. 

In either case, the emphasis is upon God making himself known to the world through Jesus, the divine Son. During Epiphany, the divine words at Jesus’ baptism—"You are my child, my Beloved"—are spoken to every child of God.

The theological essence of Epiphany is found in 2 Timothy 1:10: "And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News." If you were reading this verse in Greek, you’d find the word epiphaneia where we have "appearing." God has made "all of this" plain to us through the epiphany of Christ.

1.  Epiphany is the season of the Church year from January 6 to the beginning of Lent  which we experience the unfolding of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God through scripture and song.

2. Epiphany is the season of wonder. Epiphany invites us to take the long view of her or his vocation and God’s ministry in the world. The season of Epiphany joins, like Christmas, mysticism and mission in revealing God’s vision for all creation and humankind.

3. Epiphany is about the unexpected: unexpected joys and synchronicities and unexpected challenges and tragedies. Epiphany is filled with unexpected revelations that change our minds and ways.

Some examples – In Epiphany, the magi take another road home; Peter discovers that God’s grace is wider than he ever imagined; and the disciples experience Jesus as transfigured, like Moses, on the mountaintop and then, to their chagrin, realize that beyond the transfiguration stands a cross on the horizon.

Let’s take the magi. The magi left the land they knew, following a light to a place of uncertainty, and discovered the savior of the world, and it changed, literally, the direction of their lives.

As Matthew puts it, "They returned home by another way." The old way of traveling would no longer work. They needed to follow a different path.

At a critical moment in their journey, they realized what the lyrics of that song say: "

Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten."  Changing direction

Eventually, all of us take routes that we had never expected to travel, whether these involve changes in employment, health, relational, or economic status. When life forces us from the familiar highway onto an uncharted path, we are challenged to experience holiness as we travel on another road. The path is seldom easy, but within the real limitations of life, we may discover unexpected possibilities for vocation, mission, and transformation.

4. But, a spirituality of Epiphany reminds us that God is a fellow adventurer on every road we travel. Awakened to divine companionship, every path can become a holy adventure with surprises and epiphanies around every corner

While Christian wisdom has affirmed that God is omnipresent, most of us have never fully explored what it means to assert that God is everywhere. At the very least, the doctrine of divine omnipresence means that God is present as our companion on every pathway—in certainty and uncertainty, and in celebration and grief. It means that as we face the call of new horizons, whether by desire or necessity, often as pilgrims without a map, there is a divine wisdom moving through our lives, giving us insight, providing synchronous encounters, and awakening us to unexpected energies.

It is about what happens to those who are searching, and who encounter Christ.

It is, whether we realize it or not, about a kind of conversion; about finding another way of walking the journey of life, a way that has been transformed by a star. By a light. By Jesus Christ himself.

5. Fundamentally, the story of the Epiphany is about discovery—following a star to the source of salvation. The readings are overflowing with references to the light: "Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem," Isaiah cries out. "Your light has come. The glory of the Lord shines upon you."

There is a sense of redemption and relief, of deliverance and hope. Indeed, once the magi arrive in Bethlehem, they cannot contain themselves. As the gospel puts it: "They were overjoyed at seeing the star." They had arrived at the source of all their yearning, and all the searching. They had found what they were looking for.

People claim in our lives of "having an epiphany." In this case, an epiphany has come to mean a sudden insight into the truth or reality of an event or situation. Here, the word "epiphany" means seeing more than meets the eye; discovering the sacred embedded in ordinary events; and seeing our context as if for the first time, bathed in God’s presence. The reality of divine wisdom invites us to awaken to holiness in the quotidian.

6. Epiphany is the season of light and transfiguration. On Epiphany, the Church is drenched in light. It begins with a star guiding the magi and ends with dazzling light illuminating Jesus and his followers. For those who live in the spirit of Epiphany, all things dazzle with divine light. Even darkness reveals divinity in the hidden movements of growing things, whether in the womb or in the good earth.

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