Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC; 2nd
Sunday after Epiphany, 15 Jan. 2017
Year
A RCL: Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-12; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John
1:29-42
What
does this Christmas ornament of Santa & the Easter
Bunny have to do with our Gospel today?
My
husband saw this ornament years ago & had to buy it. It reminds us of my
mother [who could communicate well in several languages] telling us:
“Santa
isn't coming this year.”
Startled
by this puzzling statement, we ask why. She says:
“The
Easter Bunny broke his leg.”
Our
confusion deepens. We ask more questions.
She
says Santa will be at the mall for children but not arriving as usual
parachuting from a helicopter because in the spring the Easter Bunny
broke his leg parachuting in for his visit.
Ah.
This mystery's darkness lightens.
Week
by week we face mystery:
in bread & wine,
in Jesus' incarnation,
in Jesus' dying for us, rising again
& our receiving the Holy
Spirit.
We face mystery in our scriptures today.
Why
does John say of Jesus – his cousin
– “I did not know him”?
Why do John’s disciples
answer Jesus’ question with a question?
Why
do we have 2 places in the Gospel pointing out translated words?
Reading
“Scriptures is an act of coming face-to-face with the mystery of
God,”1
Episcopal
priest Urban T. Holmes III says in his book Spirituality
for Ministry.
“Scriptures
are the memory of the church;” their power rises from what happens
inside us to “draw us deeper into the process of discerning God’s
vision for us.”2
Part
of God's vision for us are the unique gifts you have to share! Your
unique gifts are gifts only you can
share, gifts God created in you, the puzzle pieces God placed in your
small hands at your creation.
I
recall comedian & actor George Gobel saying at a conference in
Atlanta: babies are born with their hands balled into fists
because they hold what God put there & has given only that
person. God gives each of us pieces of the puzzle to complete the
world.
We
may imagine baby Jesus clutches a cross & nails in one tiny hand
& in the other a healing touch or perhaps the gift of the Holy
Spirit, as today's Gospel may
suggest.
What
did God put into your small hands?
Notice
Paul tells the Corinthians & us:
God’s
grace has been given us in Christ Jesus; Jesus’ testimony is
strengthened among us so we do not lack any spiritual gift.
Notice
Isaiah tells us:
God’s Love is
so large God shares it beyond the tribes of Jacob. God says:
“I will give you as a light to the nations.” God calls each of us
to be a unique part of God’s “lighting
system”
so God’s “salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
As
my friend & fellow priest, The Rev. Steve Evans of Savannah, GA,
posted on Facebook the other day, quoting Plato:
“We
can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real
tragedy of life is when [adults] are afraid of the light.”
Perhaps
you know someone afraid of the light, afraid of God's light. Perhaps
your gifts will calm this fear.
Know this:
you are not alone.
As we seek how
to be lights to the world,
we travel together
like the Wise Men.
Your
epiphany may be slow like their journey. You may have sudden clarity:
God nudging you in an interesting dream, a word from a friend, your
star word [which we have here for you if
you weren't here on Epiphany to receive yours for this year].
I
wonder what nudges John in our Gospel to say he does not know his
cousin Jesus. I wonder if he means he doesn't know him as God’s
son, as the Messiah, until he sees the sign.
Others
may know Jesus when they see signs of the Good News as you share your
gifts.
I
wonder if our Gospel's translating the words “Rabbi”,
“Messiah” & “Cephas” puts the message into clearer
language for the original hearers.
You
may put into clearer language the Good News of God’s Love for
someone who needs to hear it in a way they can understand.
I
wonder if John’s disciples follow Jesus & answer Jesus'
question with a question because they feel drawn deeper into the
process of discerning God’s vision for them, to find where their
puzzle pieces fit.
You
may help draw a person into a deeper relationship with God.
I
wonder if they ask "where are you staying?" because
they have learned from John there is something
deeper to seek.
Visiting
a person at home deepens our perspective.
When
they accept Jesus’ invitation to "Come & see," the
disciples recognize something beyond location. Something about his
conduct speaks to their hearts & sends them to bring others into
fellowship with Jesus.
You
may help a person see Jesus is staying in your life, & this
person may have an epiphany about God’s love not from your words
but from how you treat this person.
An
epiphany can come slowly like the Wise Men’s journey or be a sudden
realization through a striking occurrence. It
is an ordinary occurrence for stars to shine at night.
The
Wise Men saw something striking & followed the star.
How many others saw the star & said: “Wow that’s bright!
Well, let’s go get supper.”
How
many were burdened by life & could not look up?
How
many are burdened & cannot look up?
How many are broken,
not suffering a broken leg leaping from a helicopter, but broken
in spirit?
How many
are
afraid of the light?
You
/ we have all we need to share the Good News God gives us to help
God's beloved, broken children to look up.
We
just have to open our little fists to share our puzzle pieces &
make a positive difference in the world for Jesus' sake.
Doing
this, you / we help clear away confusion & assure a beloved child
of God no helicopter, no broken leg will stop God's love.
Not
even death on the cross stops God's Love.
Bibliography
Barclay,
William. The Gospel of
John. Vol 1. Revised
Ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
Gen. Ed: James L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers.
1988.
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary. Gen. Ed: Paul J. Achtemeier.
San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers. 1985. p. 851.
Holmes,
Urban T. III. Spirituality
for Ministry.
Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing. 2002.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press,
1989.
Holy
Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints.
New York: Church Publishing. 2010.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
New
Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
Herbert G. May, Bruce M. Metzger, eds. New
York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1977.
2
Ibid.
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