The Sunday Journal
Greetings and a warm welcome to all. Happy Epiphany 2010. The twelve days of Christmas have passed. We have celebrated the birth of our Lord, and we are now settling in for what appears to be a long, cold winter.
Today is the first Sunday of the Season of the Epiphany, and according to scripture the Three Maji have arrived at the home of Mary and Joseph to see for themselves the baby Jesus. They have seen the star, and they have heard the wonderful news. The light in the darkness led them to witness Jesus, and to deliver to him precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In a dream they were warned of Herod’s intentions to kill the baby Jesus, and so they returned home by a different route in order to avoid sharing any news, or Jesus’ location with Herod. The three were in awe and mesmerized with their encounter with the new born messiah, and were willing and able to protect him.
On this day we focus on the Baptism of our Lord. The Gospel writer Luke gives us this holy event in his usual clear and concise language, creating for us a powerful image of God at work in the life of Jesus. With the arrival of the Holy Spirit descending upon him as a dove, Baptism marked the beginning of his earthly ministry.
The Holy Spirit shares this call to ministry with us in our own Baptism. We are joined with Christ, and marked as his forever. We may experience many losses in our lives such as loved ones, jobs, homes, friendships, even at times our own sense of self, but nothing can take away the identity we share with Christ in Baptism. We are reminded of this today when we renew our Baptismal vows following this sermon. May we take those vows to heart and manifest them in the spirit of the Epiphany both outwardly and inwardly.
I welcome our parish travelers back from their holiday journeys. Let us remember to continue to hold in prayer all those among us who continue in their travels and to give thanks for our abundant blessings bestowed on us through God’s grace, and love.
Shalom,
Deedie+