Homily for
The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Sunday 8 January 2017
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
A Parish of the Diocese of Bethlehem and The Episcopal Church
Readings:
Today, as we celebrate the feast of the Lord’s Baptism, the
Church calls us to remember our Baptism also.
One of the ways we do this is to affirm the Baptismal Covenant. So let's take a look at this Baptismal
Covenant in order that when shall affirm it shortly, we will be very much aware
of what it is we are affirming..
Before we profess the Apostles Creed in this rite, I as the
celebrant of this Mass will ask you a simple question:
Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew
your commitment to Jesus Christ?
This is the most fundamental question that we as Christians
can be asked. If we cannot affirm this,
there is no point in doing anything else.
Everything we do hangs on affirming Jesus Christ.
Having affirmed Jesus, we profess the creed and then answer
a series of questions on the living of the faith. The first of those questions is my
favorite. It also happens to be the one that we need to unpack the most:
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God’s help.
This breaking of the bread is no ordinary bread. This is nothing
other than the Eucharist. Having been clothed in Christ, we are made
worthy to partake of the bread that is the flesh of Jesus Christ. The
beauty in this of course is that we are not in the least bit worthy to partake
in the breaking of this bread. And yet we are worthy. But how can
this be? It is so simply because Christ makes us worthy. Jesus has seated us at the Altar, at the
table where he is both host and meal. He desires for us to come again and
again, longing to receive the Eucharist, knowing in our hearts that we need
this bread that we might live, not just in the next life, but right here and
right now, this very day. In committing ourselves to the breaking of this
bread, we are committing ourselves to be here Sunday after Sunday, and every
other available opportunity. We do so not that others might think how
good it is that we do so. Rather we do so because we know our very life
depends this, and our deepest desire is to be at the Altar as often as
possible.
We also commit ourselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship.
Before Jesus revealed himself to them, he first taught them the
Scriptures. At each Mass Jesus opens up the Scriptures to us. The
voice of the ones who read the Scriptures and who preach the Word of God may
sound familiar to us as other baptized Christians whom we know as brothers and
sisters in Christ. But I encourage you to listen closer and hear the
voice of Jesus. He is the one who reads to us and teaches us the things
of God and of the Kingdom. And he uses this teaching and preaching as the
means to draw us to the breaking of the bread, that moment in which there is a
connection between the Word of God and the Blessed Sacrament. In that
connection our hearts burn with the awareness that it has always and only been
Christ and none other who speaks to our hearts and draws us to the heart of
God.
And having been drawn closer to God, he then shows us the fellowship of
all the people of God. Jesus does not save us in isolation. He
gathers us in community and reveals that we are a family. We need Christ
to be sure. But Jesus also reminds us that we need one another. If
we think it's all just about "me and Jesus," we are sadly mistaken.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God’s help.
Here is grace! We will fail. Inevitably we will miss the mark
both with one another and with God. The challenge is to address this head
on. There is a reason why perhaps the most difficult phrases we ever say
to one another as well as to God is "I'm sorry" or "I was
wrong" or "forgive me." But Christ gives us the strength
to do this. And in that strength we commit ourselves again today to do
this whenever it is necessary. With God we have the promise and the
assurance that forgiveness is always available.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News
of God in Christ?
I will, with God’s help.
This is one question that we as a community should not rush over too
quickly and respond too lightly. Who proclaims the Gospel? Is it
just the ordained? No! All the baptized are called to proclaim the
Gospel and make Jesus known in the world. Sadly it is commonly thought
that this is the role of the clergy alone and is restricted to preaching and
the spoken word. Let me remind you that
far more often the power of the Gospel has been revealed in moments where not a
single word was said, but actions have screamed the Gospel and the love of
Christ in deeds that we might think are insignificant. Let me also remind
you that the baptized have the ability to make a deeper impact often than the
clergy. The world around us expects the clergy of the Church to act and
sound like Christians and like Jesus. Quite frankly even those who have
no faith are offended deeply when the clergy fail to do so. But when
someone “like them” sounds and acts like Christ, they are aware of that
witness.
Will you seek and serve Christ
in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God’s help.
This is pretty simple. We are called to see the face of Jesus in
every last person for whom he endured the cross. We see in them the love
that Christ has for them, even when, or perhaps especially when, we have
difficulty wondering how anyone including God could love them. And then
we remember that Jesus calls us to love them to. In fact he even
challenges us by telling us that the proof of our love of him is our ability to
love and to serve them.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and
respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God’s help.
This is nothing less than love put into practice. And it is here at
last that we are most fully reminded that the baptismal life of the Christian
who pays more than mere lip service to the Catholic faith is not easy!
But then again did we ever think that Jesus actually said that the life of
faith would ever be easy? If we think so clearly we need to reread the
Gospel. Jesus is pretty clear in showing us that following him in faith
is demanding, even difficult.
But there is something that Jesus has promised us. He has promised
to be with us always. He has promised to be our strength and our
shield. We can live this life of faith because he is in our midst.
With that assurance, we can once more commit ourselves to all these promises of
Baptism, trusting in the blessing that ends the covenant and the sprinkling of
the Holy Water that reminds us that like Jesus we walk dripping wet in the
waters of Jordan, the water of life and new birth:
May Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and bestowed upon us the
forgiveness of sins, keep us in eternal life by his grace, in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
Amen
Father
Timothy
Alleman
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