Watch Here
1 Epiphany Year B 1/7/2024
Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Today we enter the season after the Epiphany…
Which was last night.
Today is the Feast Day of the Baptism of our Lord.
And our Gospel reading reflects that.
But our focus today will be on our first reading…
From the book of Genesis.
In the ancient world, it was customary to name a book by its opening word.
The Hebrew people followed this custom and so the initial Bible book in the Torah is called Bereshith, meaning “in the beginning.”
About 250 years before the birth of Christ, the Old Testament was translated into Greek…
This translation is what we call the Septuagint.
When it was translated, the writers kept this custom, naming the book, Genesis, which means “in the beginning.”
Of course, this Greek name was kept in the Latin and English versions of the Bible.
And that is what we know the name of the book to be, today.
Genesis is a book of beginning.
And our reading today is the from the very beginning.
The first chapter…
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. …
God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw that the light was good,
and he separated the light from the darkness.
Last week we heard from the Gospel of John…
The first chapter…
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. …
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
John, in his Gospel, was clearly bridging the account of the Messiah, Jesus, with the creation story in Genesis…
Both are beginning points in the scriptures…
And both these books of beginnings talk about light and darkness.
In the season of Advent… we begin in the dark…
The themes of tribulation and darkness are part of the Advent waiting.
And literally (in our part of the world) the days grow darker as we await the winter solstice.
And then the light of Christ enters into the world at Christmas…
12 days of celebration…
Ending with the Feast Day of the Epiphany that we celebrated last night.
And then we move forward in this little season of time before we get to Ash Wednesday and Lent…
Some call it the season of Epiphany…
We keep it by marking the Sundays…
As today is the first Sunday after the Epiphany.
One of the themes of this time bookended by Epiphany and Ash Wednesday is the theme of light…
You will hear it in the readings, in the collects, and in the proper preface for the season…
(that’s the bit the Celebrant says during consecration of Communion)
Light represents understanding, truth, and new beginnings.
Our seasons reflect this too…
As we are now moving toward the Summer Solstice…
And the light of day grows longer and longer.
The church calendar is set up to follow the natural rhythms of God’s creation.
In 1874, the famous British statesman, Winston Churchill was born.
He was elected to parliament in the year 1900.
Although he wasn’t popular during the years between World War I and World War II.
Churchill’s political career was almost ruined due to his controversial positions on many issues…
Most notably his denunciation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy, “Peace in Our Time,” signed with Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1938.
Nevertheless, when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Churchill’s views became quite popular leading him to succeed Chamberlain as prime minister in May 1940.
It was some of the darkest hours in Europe in the 20th Century…
And people looked to Churchill for solace and comfort.
He urged his compatriots to conduct themselves so that “if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, ‘This was their finest hour.’ ”
He firmly believed that while Britain was in a period of darkness, if the people persevered and believed, the light would return.
Churchill was able to convince Franklin Roosevelt to aid England, morally and materially.
He established close ties with all Allied leaders in what became known as the Grand Alliance.
Yes, Churchill knew that the dark hour would pass, and that peace, prosperity, and joy would once again reign.
He was a leader, but his life and his work pointed to something greater, the ideals for which he and all free people live.
He prepared his people and led them to the light of joy.
Great Britain moved from the darkness of the Battle of Britain and the blitz on London to the brightness of victory and a new day.
Churchill inspired a nation to move from the darkness of near death to the light and promise of new life…
In a bigger story…
much larger…
a grand narrative…
God is calling people out of darkness into his marvelous light.
(1 Peter 2.9)
Genesis is the beginning of the story of God and his creation.
Of which we are in the story.
God created the world…
The whole cosmos…
Everything…
And he called it good.
It still is good…
But it has been tainted…
Cursed…
Humanity came along…
Thinking that we knew better than God, the creator…
We chose to go against the will of God…
We sinned.
And the whole story is about getting back to God…
About God redeeming his creation.
The Old Testament describes God’s interaction with humanity…
By his grace, he sets up the story of redemption…
The promise of a savior…
The promise of one to come who breaks the curse of sin and death.
That person is Jesus…
And he came in the fullness of time…
In love and mercy, he came…
The Incarnation… Christmas…
He lived a sinless life…
Died on the Cross…
Rose from the dead…
Ascended to the Father and he will return again.
And the way that God chose for us to be redeemed is through faith in Jesus Christ…
Abraham was declared righteous by faith.
(Genesis 15.6 & Romans 4.1-3)
By God’s gift of grace…
We by faith come to Christ…
And we are redeemed and reconciled through the righteousness of Christ Jesus…
Nor our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Jesus.
The Son of God… the Messiah… the Holy One.
And the way we express this faith is through Baptism.
Jesus said:
…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…
(Matthew 28.19)
And so, we are baptized in the Name of the Holy Trinity…
And the church’s mission is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ…
Baptizing the young and old by faith…
Into the light of Christ…
Into a new beginning…
Into a new birth…
A new start.
By faith, through baptism,
we are unified with the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
By faith, through baptism,
we become children of God and people of the church.
By faith, through the sacrament,
we receive the forgiveness of our sins…
By faith,
we receive a new life in the Holy Spirit.
(BCP, 858)
So today, may we be assured that as Baptized believers in Jesus Christ, by faith we have been made new,
we are being made new,
and we will be made wholly new in the resurrection at the end of time.
If today, you recognize that you have not been baptized, come see me.
Let’s talk about baptism…
What it means…
Why it’s important.
Today, the church…
The people of God continue the mission of our Lord Jesus…
To share the good news…
Calling all to be baptized…
Just as our Lord was baptized in the river Jordan…
We too encourage the neighbors around us to turn to Christ Jesus and be baptized…
In the words of St. John:
For light has come into the world…
And this light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
(John 1.5)
And in the words of St. Paul (quoting Genesis 1):
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 4.6)
In this season…
this time after the Feast of the Epiphany…
…let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5.16)
On this Feast Day of the Baptism of our Lord…
we remember the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River,
but may we also recall our own baptism,
which called us to live as people in the light…
in the face of darkness.
Not stressing about the political and world affairs of our time.
But shining the light of Christ in the midst of the darkness we live in.
We are called to be the light of Christ in this world.
By God’s grace and help…
Through the power of the Holy Spirit…
May we live this calling of being the light of Christ in this world.
Amen.