Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 12 January 2020, is the First Sunday after the Epiphany.
The Readings: Isaiah 42: 1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10: 34-43; Matthew 3: 13-17.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
Introducing the Readings:
The three traditional events in the life of Christ that are associated with Epiphany are: the visit of the Magi; the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist in the River Jordan; and the miracle at the Wedding in Cana.
The lectionary readings next Sunday reflect on the Baptism of Christ by Saint John the Baptist, presenting Christ as the fulfilment of the Law and the prophets and presenting this Epiphany event as a new creation.
This is a Sunday that also offers an appropriate opportunity, at the beginning of a new year, to consider the renewal of our own Baptismal promises.
Isaiah 42: 1-9:
This reading from the Prophet Isaiah includes one of the four ‘Servant Songs’ in this book. These ‘Servant Songs’ are poems about the Suffering Servant, God’s special agent, who will fulfil God’s purpose for the faithful community. Although he is innocent, he will suffer for his people.
God has already spoken to the Israelites scattered around the Mediterranean (see Chapter 41), calling them together and telling them to face judgement. Other nations, and the gods they worship are powerless.
In this poem, the people are told that while other nations choose their gods, God has chosen his servant, and speaks in him through his Spirit. Unlike kings and other rulers, this servant will be humble and gentle, respect others, be patient, teach, and bring forth justice throughout the earth.
God reminds his people that he will continue to do what he did in the past. He is the creator and the source of all life. He has led Israel as his people, made a covenant with them. They are to be a light to the nations, to restore the sight of the blind, to set the prisoners free.
God is going to see these things happen through his servant and a new age is dawning.
Psalm 29:
This psalm invites all powers to acknowledge the supremacy of the Lord God and to give the glory to him.
The voice of the Lord speaks out of the storms in the waters and in the skies, in the waves and in the thunder, as they sweep in across the land.
The Lord sits enthroned above the water flood, like a king on his throne for evermore. He gives strength and peace to his people as his blessings to them.
Acts 10: 34-43:
The Apostle Peter is visiting Cornelius, a gentile and a Roman officer who is a believer in God. Saint Peter is breaking Jewish law and custom by visiting a Gentile in his own home. Saint Peter tells people present that God does not favour Jews over others: anyone, of any nationality, who reveres God and does what is right is acceptable to God.
Saint Peter then summarises Christ’s earthly ministry. He refers to prophecies found in Isaiah to Christ (Isaiah 52: 7 and 61: 1). Christ is the Lord of all: the word Κύριος (Kyrios) was also used in the Septuagint or Greek Bible to replace the Hebrew words for the name of God.
When Christ was baptised by Saint the Baptist, God the Father anointed Christ with the Holy Spirit and with power. Christ then spread the Gospel or the message of good news throughout Galilee and Judea. He went about doing good and healing all.
When he was crucified, God raised him from the dead, and he sent his disciples out into the world, to bring good news and forgiveness to all.
Matthew 3: 13-17:
Saint John the Baptist is at the River Jordan, calling the people to repentance, to turn back to God’s ways, to return the way of life to which the people committed themselves in the Covenant with God.
Saint John tells the people that the Kingdom of God is near, that the time has come for the fulfilment of God’s promises to people. A new era is arriving, when God rules.
At first, Saint John tries to dissuade Christ from being baptised. But Christ insists, he wishes to fulfil the Father’s will; this baptism shows Christ’s continuity with God’s will that has been revealed through the Law and the Prophets.
The words spoken by the voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’ (verse 17) sound like the words of Isaiah in our first reading: ‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights’ (Isaiah 42: 1).
Christ is the Suffering Servant, the messenger of God, who will suffer for others. He is God’s Son, chosen for ministry to God’s people, and he prepares his people for the coming crisis.
The Baptism of Christ … a stained glass window in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Matthew 3: 13-17 (NRSVA):
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ 15 But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’
A reflection on the readings:
There are three Gospel stories that are traditionally associated with Epiphany: the visit of the Magi; the Baptism of Christ; and the Miracle at the Wedding in Cana.
The Gospel reading (Matthew 3: 13-17), an account of the Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan, marks the beginning of Christ’s public ministry.
It is an Epiphany or Theophany moment, and it is a Trinitarian moment, when the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come together, acting as one, with distinctive personal roles: when Christ is baptised, heaven opens, the Holy Spirit descends upon Christ ‘in bodily form like a dove.’ And the voice of the Father comes from heaven declaring: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3: 17).
This morning’s Gospel story is also a reminder of our Baptisms, and it is the story of a new creation.
The Baptism of Christ is about new beginnings for each of us individually and for us collectively as members of the Body of Christ, the Church.
This Gospel reading is also the story of a new beginning in every sense of the meaning. Did you notice how after the waters are parted, and Christ emerges, just as the waters are separated, earth and water are separated, and then human life emerges as in the Creation story in Genesis (see Genesis 1: 1 to 2: 3). Here too the Holy Spirit appears over the waters (see Genesis 1: 2), and God says ‘I am well pleased,’ just as God sees that every moment of creation is good (see Genesis 1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) and with the creation of humanity it becomes ‘very good.’
But this Gospel reading also poses two sets of questions for me.
My first set of questions begins by asking:
● What would a parting of the waters and the promise of a new beginning, a new creation, mean for us today?
● Do we believe that what God has made is ‘very good’?
● Are we responsible when it comes to the care of the creation that has been entrusted to us?
And my second set of questions begins:
● What would a parting of the waters and the promise of a new beginning mean for people caught as refugees in the cold waters of the Mediterranean or in the English Channel between France and England in this winter weather?
● Would they be able to believe in the hope that is offered at Epiphany?
It is at the very end of the creation cycle, after the creation and separation of the waters, when God has created us in human form, that God pronounces not just that it is good, but that it is very good.
In responding to our promises at Baptism, we take responsibility for creation and for humanity – those responsibilities are inseparable. But they are at the heart of the Epiphany stories if we show that we truly believe that the best has yet to come.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: White.
The Penitential Kyries:
God be merciful to us and bless us,
and make his face to shine on us.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May your ways be known on earth,
your saving power to all nations.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
You, Lord, have made known your salvation,
and reveal your justice in the sight of the nations.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect of the Day:
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son
, anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
Grant to us, who are born of water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect of the Word:
Almighty God,
who anointed Jesus at his baptism with the Holy Spirit
and revealed him as your beloved Son:
inspire us, your children,
who are born of water and the Spirit,
to surrender our lives to your service,
that we may rejoice to be called your children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Introduction to the Peace:
Our Saviour Christ is the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there shall be no end. (Isaiah 9: 6, 7)
Preface:
For Jesus Christ our Lord
who in human likeness revealed your glory,
to bring us out of darkness
into the splendour of his light:
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Refreshed by these holy gifts, Lord God,
we seek your mercy:
that by listening faithfully to your only Son,
and being obedient to the prompting of the Spirit,
we may be your children in name and in truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing:
Christ the Son be manifest to you,
that your lives may be a light to the world:
Additional Liturgical Resource: the Renewal of Baptismal Vows
In responding to our promises at Baptism, we take responsibility for creation and for humanity – those responsibilities are inseparable. They are at the heart of the Epiphany stories. In our Baptismal promises, we not only affirm our faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but also promise to be faithful in our prayer life, our sacramental life, to resist evil, to show our faith in word and deed, to serve all people, to love our neighbours as ourselves, to pray for the world and its leaders, to defend the weak and to seek peace and justice.
[The Book of Common Prayer, pp 398-401]
A form which may be used at Easter, Pentecost, the Baptism of our Lord, on Ash Wednesday, at the close of a mission or on other suitable occasions.
The renewal of baptismal vows may be made at Morning or Evening Prayer, or at Holy Communion after the sermon, and the creed may be omitted. The prayers of intercession and of penitence may be omitted.
The minister says:
In our baptism we died with Christ and were buried with him, so that we might rise with him to a new life within the family of his Church.
We now meet to renew the promises made at our baptism, to affirm our allegiance to Christ and our rejection of all that is evil.
Stand
The minister says:
Do you renew and affirm the promises made when you were baptised?
I do.
Do you turn in faith to Christ?
I do.
Do you then renounce all evil?
I do, by God’s help.
Will you obey and serve Christ?
I will, by God’s help.
Do you believe and trust in God the Father,
creator of heaven and earth?
I believe and trust in him.
Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ,
who redeemed the world?
I believe and trust in him.
Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit
who gives life to the people of God?
I believe and trust in him.
This is the faith of the Church.
This is our faith.
We believe and trust in one God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The minister continues:
Those who are baptised are called to worship and serve God.
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you persevere in resisting evil,
and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you proclaim by word and example
the good news of God in Christ?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all people,
loving your neighbour as yourself?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you acknowledge Christ's authority over human society,
by prayer for the world and its leaders,
by defending the weak, and by seeking peace and justice?
With the help of God, I will.
The minister says:
Let us pray.
Almighty God,
you have given us the will to do all these things:
Give us the courage and strength to achieve them
to the honour and glory of your name,
and the good of your Church and people;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith,
that you may be rooted and grounded in love
and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. Amen.
Suggested Hymns:
Isaiah 42: 1-9:
643, Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
691, Faithful vigil ended
353, Give to our God immortal praise
330, God is here! As we his people
124, Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes
357, I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath
97, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
99, Jesus, the name high over all
134, Make way, make way for Christ the King
305, O Breath of life, come sweeping through us
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
497, The Church of Christ, in every age
199, The people that in darkness walked
117, To the name of our salvation
605, Will you come and follow me
Psalm 29:
349, Fill thou my life, O Lord my God
30, Let us with a gladsome mind
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
196, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
45, Praise, O praise our God and King
Acts 10: 34-43:
250, All hail the power of Jesu’s name
519, Come, all who look to Christ today
263, Crown him with many crowns (verses 1-4)
480, God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name
163, Infant holy, Infant lowly (verse 1 only)
96, Jesus is Lord! Creation’s voice proclaims it
102, Name of all majesty
306, O Spirit of the living God
177, Once in royal David’s city (verses 1, 2, 5, 6)
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
491, We have a gospel to proclaim
Matthew 3: 13-17:
295, Come, gracious Spirit, heavenly Dove
324, God whose almighty word
322, I bind unto myself today (verses 1, 2, 8, 9)
652, Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
214, O Love, how deep, how broad, how high
136, On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
197, Songs of thankfulness and praise
341, Spirit divine, attend our prayers
386, Spirit of God, unseen as the wind
200, The sinless one to Jordan came
204, When Jesus came to Jordan
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
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