God of the living word, give us the faith to receive your message, the wisdom to know what it means, and the courage to put it into practice. Amen.
Holy Spirit, as you drove Jesus into the wilderness when John baptized him and the heavens opened, drive us to wrestle and reflect so that we may fulfill the voice heard at our baptism, and live your life of victory. Amen.
A political candidate stands before supporters and confesses, “I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice.”
In spite of much cynicism, media analysis, and head scratching, this might have been a genuine and humble moment for Senator Hillary Clinton. Regardless of who will be the best candidate for the job of our country’s leader, we hear a human moment when, amid all of the political contrivance and hubris, a person feels caught up short. In a time of reckoning of the heart, a new light, a chance to take a new path may be revealed. We all know such moments.
Senator John McCain could barely get through his victory speech in New Hampshire. Overwhelmed by an unexpected victory, McCain struggled to express himself.
When John and Elizabeth Edwards spoke to the media last spring, acknowledging Elizabeth’s troubling recurrence of cancer and their choice to continue John’s candidacy, we were privy to a most personal time in a public life. As the Edwards faced a time of reckoning, we were left to reckon with ourselves.
In what seemed to be a collaborative maneuver, the television pundits, print press, evening news commentators and various experienced pollsters tried to take charge of the primary in New Hampshire by crowning a new king—even before voters went to the polls. The state’s voters seemed just as collaboratively to speak in a different voice: no kings, no obvious frontrunners, not now.”
Over and over again in the next few weeks….and months…and ad infinitum…we will hear many scripted voices, leaving us to discern the best possible future for a troubled country and world. Perhaps on this first Sunday after the Epiphany, the Sunday we call the Baptism of our Lord, we can find perspective through a few moments of Bible study.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we are introduced this morning to two key people. Matthew’s account tells us that, while John the Baptist and Jesus have never met, they are related as cousins to each other.
We know little of Jesus’ early childhood, but we can well imagine Jesus as a young adult in his late twenties feeling a call, a voice in his conscience, to leave home and go south. Jesus is not sure just what this inner voice means, but he knows he feels called to make a profound choice of unclear consequence.
Jesus knows about his odd cousin, John. Like many leaders in Jesus’ day, John preaches about salvation. He calls people into the waters of baptism…into a sacramental death and resurrection in the River Jordon.
Why heed this call of John? What is it about John that is so compelling that Jesus feels a certain call above all others to express for his love of God? Distant yet so near, elusive yet strong and clear, Jesus’ inner voice speaks: Leave your home, go south, and seek the River Jordon.
We can imagine Jesus taking contemplative walks, thinking, praying, wondering, before he ventures on this strange journey. Jesus knows well the words of Isaiah:
“I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols…the new things I now declare.”
As Jesus leaves home and journeys to the sacred place on the River Jordon, he feels more sure of his decision. Jesus moves through the crowd of people all gathered around the eccentric prophet. John stands in the river up to his waist and Jesus goes out to him, asking to be baptized. In Matthew’s words,
“Suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice…a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” A voice from heaven names the Jesus we know as The Christ.
We know the story from there. Everything changes from that moment--the life of Jesus, the life of John, the lives of all God’s people throughout the ages. God’s voice of hope has been revealed. A new Epiphany light shines forth.
Jesus shows us his humanity by taking this journey. As Jesus, we have felt the claim, the pull toward a new presence or a cause. In that River Jordon, in the waters of baptism, death and resurrection are revealed. A new voice called, and through our response, the message brings us to new life.
A year ago, your staff, vestry and other church leaders returned from our annual retreat with the upbeat message that Holy Comforter’s vision looks healthy. We acknowledged a faith budget for the year of 2007, saying that, with parishioner pledges yet to be made and in spite of a potential 2007 budget deficit of $23,000, a new voice had been heard: “We believe in the people of this church family – a family pleased with the good work coming from Kim Futrell, recently-hired Director of Christian Formation, and her committees—a family feeling excited about a new Minister of Music (now Laurie Ryan)—a family challenged by new parish-wide outreach ministries, including the Millennium Development Goals with leadership from Susan Lambeth.”
Holy Comforter’s “faith budget”--$23,000 still to be pledged--culminated with $3,000 “in the positive.” We’re on our way.
At annual retreat 2008 last weekend, the vestry made a similar “in faith” decision. While we have a budget with some pledges still unknown and due, Holy Comforter will move forward. Your vestry lauds the continuing good work of Christian Formation, Laurie Ryan’s new leadership in music and worship, and the kick-off today of our parish commitment to the international Heifer project.
The voice we heed is positive and hopeful. The voice is humbling and sacramental.
“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.”
We move forward together, good folks of Holy Comforter, into our shared call, the ministries for 2008 at Holy Comforter, always listening to the voice of the one we call Jesus, the Christ.
Amen.
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter, a parish of The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina
Copyright ©2007 The Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter. All rights reserved.