2ND Sunday after Epiphany, January 18, 2009 “Series B”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Lord, in each generation you call forth those to follow you, and carry the message of your redeeming grace to those around us. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your call, and teach us to listen for your leading. Make us eager to respond to your call, and grateful to carry on the work of your church in our world. This we ask, in your holy name. Amen.
Our Gospel lesson for this morning brings to a close the opening chapter of John’s Gospel, which is quite a different introduction to the life of Jesus the Christ, than is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. As a result, I would like to begin by offering a brief summary of this key chapter of John’s Gospel, in which I believe there are several epiphanies to behold.
First, John opens his Gospel with these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And through the use of a chiasm, the next thought that John expresses is that this “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” As I have stated before, the term “grace and truth” should really be translated as “the steadfast love and faithfulness of God.”
Nevertheless, here in these first two verses of John’s Gospel, we have our first epiphany. In Jesus the Christ, we behold the very essence of God, his Word become flesh. And the fact that John uses the phrase “In the beginning” to introduce this epiphany, is a reference to God’s creative activity, which, “In the beginning,” separated light from darkness in the creation of the universe. As a result, John is telling us that through the incarnation of Jesus the Christ, God is about to create something new. And as in Genesis, God separated light from darkness, John tells us that the incarnate Word will shine light into the darkened world of our lives.
Next, John’s Gospel tells us that there was a man sent by God to bear witness to the incarnate Word of God, to not only prepare people to receive Jesus as the Christ, but to point to him as the one whose sandals he was not worthy to untie. And in the verses that precede our text for this morning, John the Baptizer does just that. He proclaims Jesus to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” And as a result of this second epiphany, or manifestation that Jesus is indeed the Christ, two of John’s own disciples become disciples of Jesus.
Then, after these two disciples spent a day with Jesus, we are told that one of them, Andrew, went and found his brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah, (which is translated, the Anointed.)” After Jesus met Simon, Jesus said, “You are Simon, son of John. You are to be called Cephas, (which is translated Peter.)”
Here we have two more epiphanies. One when Andrew searched out his brother and proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, and the other when Jesus assumed authority, in renaming Simon as Peter. For as in Genesis, for Adam, who has the authority to name every living creature and plant, was the one who, created in the image of God, had dominion over them.
Thus, before we even come to our lesson for this morning, John’s Gospel has already given us at least four epiphanies. Of course, John ends his first chapter with yet another manifestation to Jesus being the incarnate Word of God. In today’s text, Jesus himself calls Philip to be one of his disciples, asking him to follow him. Following the example of Andrew, Philip went and found his brother Nathanael, who told his brother that he had found the one “whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Epiphany number five.
Of course, Nathanael was a little skeptic of his brother’s claim, but yet he followed him to meet this person that had so captured his brother’s awe. And when he met Jesus, Jesus greeted him with an awareness of him as a person, and knowledge of his skepticism. Epiphany number six. And as a result, Nathanael responds by saying, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God!” Epiphany number seven.
Clearly, John wants to make it clear, right from the opening chapter of his Gospel, just who Jesus is. Listen again to these epiphanies. 1) Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, who took part in the creation of the universe and became flesh to reveal the light of God, which is God’s steadfast love
and faithfulness. 2) John the Baptizer points to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 3) Andrew, one of John the Baptizer’s disciples who follows Jesus, seeks out his brother, Simon, and proclaimed him to be the Messiah. 4) Jesus claims the authority of God, given to Adam in creation, to rename Simon as Peter. 5) Philip tells his brother Nathanael that he has found the one whom Moses and the prophets wrote. 6) Jesus acknowledged pre-knowledge Nathanael and his skepticism. 7) Nathanael responds by acknowledging Jesus to be the Son of God.
Personally, I believe this is an extremely powerful statement and witness to the identity of Jesus, which begins John’s Gospel. From John’s point of view, Jesus was clearly more than a carpenter from Nazareth, or the first child born to Mary and Joseph. He was the very presence of God among us, in human form. And through his life, death, and resurrection, he came to reveal God’s steadfast love and faithfulness for our redemption.
But did you notice something through these various epiphanies that John recorded in his Gospel? I believe that it was the Spirit of God, working in and through Jesus, that enabled and empowered others to witness to that which God was doing in Jesus the Christ to bring about our redemption.
Think with me for a moment. It was only through the power of God’s Spirit, working in and through John, the author of this Gospel, to grant
him the insight to describe our Lord’s incarnation in the way that he did. Granted, John was a theologian, who was able to phrase and make sense out of the events that took place in Jesus’ life. But without the witness of the apostles, he would have had nothing to work with.
To push this thought even further, I would say that all of the epiphanies that are recorded in this first chapter of John’s Gospel, result from the witness of those whom Jesus embraced as his disciples. And isn’t it interesting, that the first thing that Jesus does, as the incarnate Word of God, is to solicit us normal human beings, to assist him in his ministry of helping to spread the light of God’s redeeming of creation to our darkened world?
Right from the beginning of John’s Gospel, he tells us, through several examples, that Jesus is not only the incarnate Word of God, but that he also calls us to share the light of God’s grace to those around us. Jesus does not just call us through our baptism to be his disciples, we are also equipped for the task, through the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, to enable us to witness to the grace of God we have experienced through Christ’s death and resurrection.
I realize that I have taken a rather deep and theological approach to this sermon, but I hope that you might gain the insight that God calls us all to become witnesses to his redeeming grace in Jesus the Christ. I am so appreciative for your ministry and witness to the grace of God in what is manifest to us in Jesus the Christ, through the Gospels. Your work in our congregation, through teaching and serving on various committees, by providing for fellowship hour and helping our youth to grow in faith, your care of the facilities and service on council, all reflect the call of Jesus to continue his new creation – his church.
This leads me to propose a new epiphany, that we all might come to embrace, through the power of God’s Spirit. And that is that all of us have been, like those early disciples of our Lord, been called to witness to the love and faithfulness of Christ, through our service to the church that he founded.
After all, the church has existed throughout the centuries since God revealed himself in Jesus, the Word incarnate, who shed the light of God’s redeeming grace for us on the cross. And through the gift of God’s Spirit, has promised to empower us for our ministry.
Amen
