Reading for Epiphany
1C: Luke 3:15-22
January 11, 2004
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Two months ago, the day after Thanksgiving, Wal-Mart was having a sale on DVD players. Being seduced by the discount price of $29.99, hundreds of shoppers lined up before dawn, waiting for the doors to open at 6:00am. Once opened, they raced to the electronics department, hoping to purchase one or two DVD players to give as Christmas presents. One of the first customers to reach the "finish line," slipped and fell before the display of DVDs. Focusing on gaining the prize, the crowd did not see her lying on the floor. She was trampled, injured, (and after finally being discovered) taken to the hospital for serious internal injuries.
When we hear stories like this, we begin to wonder whether humanity has lost its way. How did we become a people who are more focused on material things than on the well being of other creatures? We know intuitively, that our life here on earth has more meaning than laying one's life on the line for a DVD player. But it is more difficult for us to know the real purpose of our lives. What on earth are we here for? Do you ever think about the purpose of your life? What does God intend for you to be and to do with the limited time you have left on this earth?
In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren summarizes five purposes that God intends for a meaningful life. During the next five weeks, the preaching will focus on these five purposes. Today, I will focus my comments on, Discipleship: A call to grow to spiritual maturity; to become like Christ. I will use the gospel and our baptismal covenant as my text.
Today is the feast day of the Baptism of our Lord. Each of the four gospels reports Jesus' baptism. Why Jesus needed to be baptized in the first place was perplexing to the early Christian community and remains a question (for some people) even today. The gospel of Luke deals with this sensitive issue by saying nothing about the actual baptism. Instead, Luke reports what happened after the baptism. This is what we know through Luke's account:
Today's reading from the book of Isaiah and the lesson from the book of Acts provide additional theological commentary on the meaning of Jesus' baptism. Jesus could not have done what he did without the empowerment and blessing of God. Many understand Jesus' baptism as the anointing for his vocation. Jesus knew the purpose of his life and used his gifts to the glory of God. He had a "purpose driven life." If we are to become like Christ, which is one of God's purposes for us, then we need to understand that we belong to God and we need to develop that intimate relationship with God. Each of us was made by God and for God. And once we fully understand this, our life will begin to have true meaning and purpose.
God wants us to grow up, to become spiritually mature, to become like Christ. This is one of the purposes of our life. It is called discipleship. Without discipleship, the suffering of the world will continue to be enormous, far greater than one person being trampled by a crowd in pursuit of a DVD player. But spiritual growth is not automatic. It requires an intentional commitment. Baptism is a sign of commitment.
To mature, we must become active participants in the transformation of our character. Our character is the sum of our habits. These habits include what comes out of our mouths, how we drive our car, how we treat our co-workers and family, how we spend our money, how we treat our body and the environment. St. Paul advises: "Put away anger, wrath, malice, lying, slander, and foul talk. Put on, as God's chosen one- holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and peace. Above all things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." [Col. 3] A transformation of character begins with a commitment to change and a commitment to orient our mind, body, and soul to God in Christ. This is the commitment we make in baptism.
In a few minutes, we will renew our baptismal covenant. Let me say a few words about what we are signing up for when we make these promises. First of all, Christianity is not a philosophy of life or a self-help methodology. Christianity is not a ploy to get us to leave our brains at the door or to swallow a bunch of dogma. Christianity is a relationship and a lifestyle. It is a relationship with God in Christ and a lifestyle that is based on loving our neighbor, striving for justice and peace, and respecting the dignity of every human being. At the core of that lifestyle is thinking and caring about others as Jesus did, instead of focusing only on ourselves. Thinking and caring about others is at the heart of becoming Christ-like and is the best evidence of spiritual growth. This kind of thinking does not always come naturally and is difficult to maintain with only our ego strength. That is why we need to nurture an intimate relationship with God, whose power working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ever ask or imagine.
Too often, Christians either focus on lifestyle or on their relationship with God, but not on both. Those who focus only on lifestyle, often embrace issues of social justice. They care about the wellbeing of others. But overtime, without an inner change in their character, they become tired, angry, or frustrated. Initially, they are enthusiastic, but as the worries and demands of every day life sink in, their enthusiasm and energy wane. There is nothing that charges their "inner" batteries. Like Jesus, we cannot be Christ-like without the empowerment and blessing of God.
Then there are others who focus only on their relationship with God. These folks see themselves as having a personal relationship with God and are quite satisfied. But this relationship with God is immature because it does not lead them to reach out in compassion, to those suffering on the margins. The "liberal" Church has been accused of focusing only on lifestyle and not on developing an intimate relationship with the Divine. The "conservative" Church often fails to address issues of social injustice while spending all of its energy developing a personal relationship with God. Neither of these positions shows full spiritual maturity.
There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time. It is a bit like the ripening of fruit. When you try to ripen fruit too quickly, it loses its flavor. Oftentimes, tomatoes are picked unripened so they won't bruise during shipping to the stores. Before they are sold, these green tomatoes are sprayed with carbon dioxide to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they taste nothing like the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato that is allowed to mature slowly. True spiritual growth is slow and often painful. There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain.
We must let go of old ways in order to experience a new life in Christ. That is why, week after week, we come together to pray, to strengthen our commitment, to support each other through fellowship, to hear the word of God, and to be fed through the sacrament of Holy Communion. Recommitting ourselves to our baptismal covenant is one of the ways we remember who we are and what we are here on earth for. Over time, our lives gradually become brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Christ. It is then we hear God's voice telling us: "You are my child, my beloved; with you I am well pleased."
[* The Purpose Driven Life; Zondervan, 2002. Some of the material in this sermon is taken from this book.]
| Updated 1/21/04 |
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