Epiphany, Adoration, and Baptism

         Some friends of mine went to visit their daughter, son-in-law, and two year old granddaughter.  Pictures of this chubby-cheeked, smiling child with tousled blond curls appeared on Facebook with this title:  “The Adoration of the Child.”   This tongue-in-cheek title brought to mind the multiple depictions  of the adoration of the baby Jesus by these traveling magi.  

         These paintings, usually entitled “The Adoration of the Magi,” found great popularity in the Renaissance period when the complexity of the scene led to bravura performances on the part of the artists.  What could be more colorful and delight the eye than a crowded manger scene with the baby, Mary and Joseph, domesticated animals of all sorts, sometimes sheep and shepherds, and, of course, wealthy men (three by tradition), bearing expensive gifts, dressed clothing made of gorgeous fabrics, and kneeling in homage.

         These amazing paintings teach us more about our human ideas of kingdoms and kings, wisdom and wise men than they do about God's reign made manifest by the incarnation of God's self as a newborn baby.  Those magi, scholar-scientists of their day, wanted to see and adore a special child because, by Matthew's account, they had studied the stars and believed they saw something special in them.  The Jewish scholars and religious authorities, beckoned by King Herod, knew the prophecy from their holy scriptures and the traditions concerning the Messiah's birth.  They adored the words they had studied and knew so well.  But who was adoring the miracle of the real birth of Mary's baby?

         Today we will be bringing a very special baby, A--, into the body of Christ through baptism.  As  every human birth is, her birth was a miracle.  As she breathed oxygen into her tiny lungs during those first moments, all the components of every system in her body said, “Yes!” to the miracle of her new life.  Much adoration happened in that moment, I'm sure!

         The sacrament of baptism looks a bit different from the miracle of birth.  We call it a holy “mystery,” for God acts to reveal God's self in our new life in Christ.  Whether we are an adult or an infant, in baptism we are re-born by God's action.  What I do when I pour water over A--'s head and declare I am baptizing her in the name of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not only makes her one of Christ’s own forever, but also helps to make all of us aware that God loves us and desires that we live in response to God's love.

         Infant baptism places responsibility on the godparents, the parents, the extended family and the whole Christian community to teach that child what it means to live in response to God's love. The five promises, made this morning on A--'s behalf and re-affirmed by all of us, tell all of us what living in response to God's love looks like.

         God also reveals God's self in the other sacrament we will celebrate this morning, the Eucharist.  When I consecrate the bread and the wine to become the Body and Blood of Christ, I am bringing all of us into the mystery of God's presence in our world.  No one has seen God, our scriptures say, but we believe we come to know God in many ways.  A very important way we come to know God is through the sacraments.  So by coming to know God through the sacraments and by sharing the sacraments in community with other Christians, we can begin to glimpse how we must live in response to God's love.

         I want to share a story with you about how this happened for one child and one congregation.  It comes from a book called Godparenting: Nurturing the Next Generation by Nancy Ann McLaughlin and Tracey Herzer.  The story was told by an Episcopal priest named Debra Kissinger:  “When I was the vicar of a small church in Connecticut, there was a three-year-old boy, Jeffrey, who came to the altar rail week after week with his mother . . . Jeffrey’s mother was reluctant to allow him to receive the sacrament ‘until he was old enough to understand.’  Week after week, the little boy would extend his hands to receive, and week after week his mother would pull his hands back to his chest with a thump.  But one Sunday Jeffrey was not to be denied.  He extended his hands.  His mother pulled them back. Not once but three times . . . And then it happened:  Jeffrey yelled at the top of his lungs, ‘Jesus, Jesus! I want Jesus, too!  Give me Jesus!’ and thrust his hands forward again to receive the host.

         You could have heard a pin drop.  The [Holy] Spirit silently danced through the church.  I looked at Jeffrey’s mom, both our eyes brimming with tears.  She nodded her consent.  I barely choked out the words: ‘The Body of Christ’ as Jeffrey took Jesus into his hands and pronounced a loud ‘Amen!’ for all to hear . . . Jeffrey knelt in awe before Jesus that day, and we were each filled with awe as we searched our own hearts and shared his experience.”

         What had happened?  Jeffrey had been received into the Body of Christ through baptism.  He had listened and observed what had been going on around him in a particular incarnation of Christ’s Body, that parish in Connecticut.  He had learned to want Jesus—and he was not to be denied the sacrament all the others were receiving at that parish every Sunday. God had revealed God's self to Jeffrey, and Jeffrey responded with his own form of adoration.

         So, today, come let us adore.  Yes, we should join A--'s family in adoring her!  But even more we should adore, as gospel writers Matthew and Luke did, both the miracle of Jesus' birth and the mystery of God's revelation. God in Jesus became one of us, fully human while still being fully divine, in order to love us back into relationship and to redeem us, so we can be re-born and live fully in response to God's love .