Whilst in the west the visit of the Magi is our
main Epiphany story, for the Orthodox churches it is "The Baptism of
Christ" that is the main story of Epiphany.
Both unveil different aspects of the Christ event.
The visit of the Magi and the symbolic gifts offer an unveiling of the titles
priest and king, the sacrificial death and also that the scope of Christ is universal, rather than confined to the
Jewish people.
But the Baptism of Christ reveals something even
more fundamental because its prime focus is “relationship”. I have said before
that Christianity is fundamentally a relationship with God through Jesus
Christ, and the Baptism of Christ reveals the fundamental relationship between
God and Jesus as that between a Father and Son and by extension our own
relationship with God as children of God so as Jesus told us we too can be bold
to pray “Our Father who art in heaven”
The precursor to this most important and
fundamental of relationships has been modelled and documented as the
relationship between God and the children of Israel through the pages of the
Old Testament, and in the Christ event this relationship has been universalised
to the “New Israel” the church.
And in Isaiah 43: 1-7 this morning, the prophet asserts
how unshakable is that bond that exists between God and his people. He says
that He will be with them, come what may. They are precious, called by name,
and nothing will ever be able to separate them from God. God is constant and
his Love and loyalty is unbreakable. In this respect, this is echoed very
strongly by Paul writing in Romans 8:38-39.
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How is that relationship sealed and sustained? Now
both Acts 8: 14-17 and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 major emphasis is on
the role of the Holy Spirit in our relationship with God. After all in the
gospel story of Jesus’ baptism that relationship is sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Now we cannot by reading the New Testament come up
with a systematic analysis of the work of the Holy Spirit and his relationship
with the act of baptism. It defies systematizing. In some places the Spirit
comes on people after they are baptised, sometimes the gifts of the Spirit come
before baptism and provides the justification for baptism. We have codified
things in the church, because that what organisations do, but the work of the
Spirit is much wider and unpredictable than that.
As Jesus said in John 3:8, "The wind blows
wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes
from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit".
I think it is enough to note that wherever the Holy
Spirit is, God is there working.
So In Luke 3 today we have this pivotal personal
revelation of God to Jesus "You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am
well pleased". In Matthew this personal revelation becomes a public one
(3:16,17) which others can presumably hear "This is my
son, the beloved, with him I am well pleased" but the
essence of both is exactly the same. Jesus had a profound religious experience
of the presence and power of God which propelled Him into ministry. The Holy
Spirit of God alighted on Jesus and stayed with him, energising and guiding his
ministry.
That is not to say that this is always a
comfortable experience. The first thing that the Spirit led Jesus to do was to
lead him into the wilderness for forty days to pray contemplate and be
challenged by what this personal epiphany would mean. We are children of God
and Jesus was equally convinced that we too cannot experience this primal
relationship until we too have been touched by the Holy Spirit.
Going back to Jesus talking to Nicodemus in John 3,
Jesus also says "I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God
unless they are born again"
Now what can that mean in practice? At the very
least I think it means this; Only by knowing in your heart of hearts that you
are a child of God and can acknowledge Him as "Father" can we truly
be children of the kingdom. And we can only do this by the Holy Spirit so
anyone who prays "Our Father" and means it in their heart has crossed
over from death to life. Paul, as ever, puts it so well...........
Galatians 3:26-29; 4:6,7
for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As
many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There
is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer
male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong
to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the
promise. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a
slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.
We are children and heirs of the Kingdom of God our Father. Now if you
have never thought of yourself as a child and heir of God then that personal
epiphany is yours to have and experience.
I invite you to close your eyes and pray with me now.
Almighty God, I pray that you will now fill me with your Holy Spirit
That I will know and experience you as my Father in heaven.
Come Holy Spirit and assure me that you know me by name
Assure me of your Presence, Love and forgiveness.
Come Holy Spirit and soften my heart
May I believe your promise that you will never leave me
And that I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment