I like Epiphany. I like the fact that our church marks the different seasons of the church year. The church calendar is for me a great gift that enables us to focus (in turn) upon different aspects of the work of God. But amongst the seasons Epiphany reminds me of my baptism: I was baptised at this time of year in Hereford Cathedral by the then Bishop, John Eastaugh. That moment was, for me, hugely significant and the fact that Bishop John was still in Hereford when I was seeking to be accepted for training for ordination some years later turned out to be one of those God-incidences that enabled something to come about that may not have done.
The main themes of Epiphany are the revelation of Christ to the nations (represented by the wise men), the baptism of Christ (which we celebrate today) and the transformation of all things which we see in the story of the wedding at Cana and the water turned to wine.
For today however, we’re considering the Baptism of Christ. I’m going to use Rudyard Kipling’s rhyme to help us look at our readings: Kipling wrote:
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
Firstly: What? What is God doing in our readings? What is His purpose? In the Isaiah reading He is doing a new thing (vs 9) His purpose is to set people free (vs7). He wants to open eyes that are blind, to bring people out of prison. His aim is to establish justice in the earth. As far as the Almighty is concerned the world is not as it should be and the way people relate to Him, to one another and to creation falls far short of what He would desire for us.
Why? But why does God act? He acts because change and transformation are needed. These things were needed for the people of God at the time of the prophet and they are needed for each one of us. But we cannot save ourselves. The imagery of being in prison and needing release that Isaiah gives us is helpful here. Similar imagery appears in Wesley’s hymn ‘And can it be’? ‘Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night’. Remember the apostle Paul’s frustration that ‘I can will what is right but I cannot do it’. We can try. We can, (and should) try to live well in the world, but we need deliverance, we need rescue (from ourselves as much as anything else), we need salvation. We need to be moved from darkness to light and only God can do this for us. Sometimes our struggles just make the chains tighten even more but God wills our salvation, God wants to bring us back into relationship with Him and one another.
When? ‘Now’ would be the easy answer. Yes, we need the work of God in our lives every moment of every day, but we might say a little more. God’s work (which will be carried out by His servant, His Son) is ongoing. Notice that in verse 4 of the Old Testament reading the servant does not stop his work, he doesn’t give up or pull stumps on trying to bring justice to the nations and he will not stop until he has established Justice in the earth. This work of transformation is ongoing, it is still taking place and it will not cease until (as the prophet and hymn say) ‘the earth is filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.’
So we turn to How? How does God bring freedom to His people, indeed freedom to the whole of His creation? The answer to this question lies particularly in the first part of our Old Testament reading but also in the humility shown by Jesus as he presents himself to John to be baptised.
God works through an individual. This individual’s work is hidden: ‘He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street’. God’s servant works carefully and gently in ministering to others: a bruised reed he will not break, a dimly burning wick he will not quench.’ God’s work is therefore slow. It involves faithfulness and perseverance. This capacity to endure, to keep going is what reveals God’s power. There will be setbacks – the temptation to ‘grow faint’, the possibility of being ‘crushed’ – but God’s work, through his servant carries on moving slowly forward.
And how does God act? Quietly. His action isn’t show-y. But we might also add here that he acts faithfully towards his people and towards His world. The servant, the one we recognise as the Son, Jesus is given ‘as a covenant’ to the people. That’s an unusual phrase to use of a person: ‘I have given you as a covenant to the people’. He, himself is God’s gift to us. In my own mind I’m hearing verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8, a chapter that speaks of struggle and endurance, the hope of the whole created order for redemption. And that chapter ends with those wonderful words, ‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ?’ Nothing. Not ‘death nor life, not angles or rulers, or things present or yet to come, not 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’.
God’s action is seen in the person of the servant who brings redemption, freedom, salvation to the world. Here we have the where and the who of God’s work.
Our Isaiah reading most definitely makes clear that God’s work of making all things new is not restricted to His chosen people but is for the nations of the world. The vision of the prophet is for justice to be established in the nations. We’re told that the ‘coastlands’ wait for the servant’s teaching. In His self-description, God, in verse 5, describes himself as having given breath to the people upon the whole earth. ‘There is a wideness in God’s mercy’, says the hymn which we must always seek to emulate and resist narrowing. And in the Gospel? Remember that last week Matthew showed us the nations of the world recognising the King Jesus as the magi laid their gifts before Him. Remember too that it is Matthew’s ‘Jewish’ gospel that ends with the commission for Jesus’ disciples to go out into all the world to make disciples, to heal and baptise. And, in passing, just notice that the Spirit that descends upon Jesus at His baptism does so in the form of a dove: might this just be a reminder of the dove in the Noah story which ends with God’s covenant with the whole of creation being celebrated in the rainbow in the sky.
Where? The whole world, the whole created order. Who? ‘My servant, my chosen, the one in whom my soul delights.’ The one ‘called’ by God, the One who has been anointed by God’s Spirit, the One led by God (‘taken by the hand’), the One given by God as His covenant to the people, the One we know as God’s Son, the Beloved, Jesus, the Christ. Here He is, at the River Jordan, His work of salvation (of transformation and making all things new) about to begin and about to catch up the world afresh to be offered to God in praise and worship.
And He calls us. He call us from darkness to light. He calls us to follow: ‘my chains fell off, my heart was free’. He calls us and shares His Spirit with us and, as we celebrate His baptism we recall our own baptism. ‘Shine as a light in the world’ we were told, ‘to the glory of God the Father’. Ours too is the call to lead others to freedom. Ours too is the summons to patiently work for justice in the earth. Ours too is the challenge to persevere, to endure, to minister faithfully and quietly (without show or acknowledgement) in our families, in this community, in His name so that God’s purposes might be fulfilled and the whole world ‘see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ our Lord.