Sermon for January 1, 2012: "Epiphany: Eyes Wide Open"

Here's the text of the sermon that I preached this morning. I included links to the videos, except for the "House" clip, which I can't link to. And in the scripture text (which is from The Message), my own thoughts/interpretations are in italics.

Sermon is after the "jump"

As always, feedback is welcome!

Rev. Patti Money

Oak Grove UMC

Epiphany Sunday

January 1, 2012

John 1:1-18

Epiphany: Eyes Wide Open

[Play sermon bumper video “He Came”]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm0x5u9NbZM&list=FL7T9_-eKartAQYICSPeJi4A&index=1&feature=plpp_video

           

A week ago, we gathered in this place and celebrated the miracle of Christmas. We sang carols, we had Communion, we celebrated the birth of Jesus. In the surrounding culture, Christmas is often forgotten by December 26. I walked into Target earlier this week and saw all the Valentine’s Day merchandise already displayed. We’ve moved on, in a manner of speaking. But here in the culture of the church, we celebrate Christmas for another twelve days after December 25. And today, we celebrate what in the church we call Epiphany Sunday.

Webster’s Dictionary defines an Epiphany as: A usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something. Today, when we celebrate Epiphany Sunday, we celebrate our realization of God’s amazing love and the impact of that love on our lives.

One of the most popular shows on television is the drama “House, MD.” It’s one of the shows that my husband and I love to watch together. The main character is Dr. Gregory House, whose specialty is treating extremely difficult-to-diagnose cases. Those of you who watch this show know that Dr. House is fairly eccentric, not the easiest person to work for, and has the bedside manner of a porcupine. Each episode features a patient with a confusing set of symptoms that baffle most other doctors, which is why the patient winds up in House’s hands. House and his team of doctors toss around potential diagnoses like candy and usually attempt two or three treatments that don’t work or make the patient worse. However, just when House and his team appear to be at their wits’ end, he has an epiphany. I’m going to show you a clip from a recent episode. Watch for the epiphany.

[play “House” clip from “Risky Business”]

In the middle of an ordinary activity or conversation, House suddenly realizes what is really wrong with the patient, and it totally changes the course of the episode and winds up saving the life of the patient. An epiphany, a realization demands a response on our part. Our eyes are opened. We see the world differently. We see people differently. We live different lives. When Dr. House has his epiphanies about a patient’s diagnosis, he immediately shares whatever realization he’s had with his team, so they can give the appropriate treatment and save a life.

Today is Epiphany Sunday, when we celebrate our realization of God’s amazing love and grace, which came to fulfillment in the person of Jesus, God in human flesh, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. Jesus broke into our world to show us God’s love and show us the life that God wants to give us.

Let me read to you from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 1-18.

^1-2 The Word was first,
      the Word present to God,
      God present to the Word.
   The Word was God,
      in readiness for God from day one.

The Word = Jesus, who we know as God in human flesh, but Jesus has been around and been part of God’s plan since the beginning of time.

 ^3-5Everything was created through him;
      nothing—not one thing!—
      came into being without him.
   What came into existence was Life,
      and the Life was Light to live by.
   The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
      the darkness couldn't put it out.

God brought life into the world, and with life comes light, which chases away darkness, because light always overcomes darkness.

 ^6-8There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

John was sent to show people the way to Jesus, who is the way to life.

 ^9-13The Life-Light was the real thing:
      Every person entering Life
      he brings into Light.
   He was in the world,
      the world was there through him,
      and yet the world didn't even notice.
   He came to his own people,
      but they didn't want him.

Jesus, the ultimate demonstration of God’s love, came to give us life, but many couldn’t or wouldn’t see him for who he was.

   But whoever did want him,
      who believed he was who he claimed
      and would do what he said,
   He made to be their true selves,
      their child-of-God selves.
   These are the God-begotten,
      not blood-begotten,
      not flesh-begotten,
      not sex-begotten.

When we believe in Jesus, when we place our hope and faith in him, we can become all that God wants us to be. We can become more than we ever imagined we would be.

 ¹⁴The Word became flesh and blood,
      and moved into the neighborhood.
   We saw the glory with our own eyes,
      the one-of-a-kind glory,
      like Father, like Son,
   Generous inside and out,
      true from start to finish.

Jesus came to live among us. He “moved into the neighborhood”, became part of our world. We saw God as we had never before seen God.

 ¹⁵John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word."

 ^16-18We all live off his generous bounty,
      gift after gift after gift.
   We got the basics from Moses,
      and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
   This endless knowing and understanding—
      all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
   No one has ever seen God,
      not so much as a glimpse.
   This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
      who exists at the very heart of the Father,
      has made him plain as day.

When John says, “no one has ever seen God”, he’s using hyperbole to a certain extent. Before Jesus, God had worked through the Law (meaning rules) and prophets (people sent by God to speak God’s truth to God’s people) to demonstrate God’s love and show us how to live. The Old Testament is full of stories of God revealing God’s self to people through miracles, through visions, through calls in the night. The God that people had experienced in the Old Testament, before the birth of Jesus, was nothing compared to the way we can experience God now. God’s love has always been the same; but Jesus gives us a new understanding of God’s love for us.

During the passing of the peace, you were asked to share about a time when you had an epiphany: when you came to a new understanding about something or someone. It was fun hearing some of the stories over in my group.

 A few years ago, my husband and I met our friend Nathan for dinner. Nathan asked us if we liked burgers, and told us that he wanted to take us to a burger joint he really liked. So, off we went.

Now, often when we think of going out and getting a burger, fast food places such as McDonalds come to mind. I’m sure many of us have eaten our share of Quarter Pounders with Cheese or Big Macs or whatever your McDonalds burger of choice is.

However, Nathan didn’t take us to McDonalds or a fast food establishment. Nathan knew someplace better. And that’s how I got introduced to Red Robin burgers. 

Red Robin is a whole different ballgame from McDonalds. It’s sit-down, the atmosphere is better, the service is better, they ask you how you want your burger cooked, there are about twenty different kinds of burgers from which to choose, with all sorts of different toppings…and when I first bit into a Red Robin burger, my immediate thought was WOW. I have never eaten a burger before.

Of course, I had eaten a burger before that night. I had eaten lots of burgers from lots of different places, most of them fast food establishments. But after my first experience at Red Robin, it was like I suddenly realized what a burger could taste like…juicy, fresh, made of gourmet beef, full of flavor, dressed up with all sorts of yummy toppings.

I had an epiphany; I realized what a burger could be, what a burger could taste like. My perspective on burgers was forever changed. It was like I had never eaten a burger before. My eyes were opened wide.

Now, when our family wants to go out and eat burgers, Red Robin is our top choice. Over the years, we have taken a number of friends to Red Robin for the first time, so they could experience it for themselves. And they, too, discovered the incredible, amazing difference between a McDonald’s burger and a Red Robin burger. 

When we encounter Jesus, when we experience the life and light that God brings into our lives, we see God as we have never seen God before. God had always sought out a relationship with God’s people, but Jesus brought that relationship to a whole new level. Suddenly, there was a flesh-and-blood model of God’s love for us. There was God, being a part of the world that God created, living among the sinful humans that God had been loving, teaching, forgiving, and trying to redeem since the beginning of time. Jesus gives us the opportunity to have a deeper, transforming relationship with the creator of the world. To realize how much God loves us. To experience the life that God can offer us. To shine God’s light and chase away the darkness in our lives. From that relationship with God, we become all that God created us to be and more than we ever imagined we could be. And we can partner with God to point to Jesus and transform the world.

The question that we (you, me, everyone) can ask ourselves is: what is our response to Jesus? 

·         First, have we opened our eyes and our hearts to experience that relationship with God and that love that transforms our lives? Have we experienced that epiphany? Have we allowed ourselves to experience that epiphany?

When I’m not keeping up with my two young children, I work as a chaplain at DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk. Earlier this week, I had a visit with a patient who I’m going to call Lewis. He’s essentially an agnostic, because while he’s willing to acknowledge God’s existence, he confesses that he does not have faith. Lewis told me that he would love to have faith in God, but he just doesn’t. After I left his room (following a long conversation), it occurred to me that the main reason that Lewis doesn’t have faith yet is that he simply has not had that epiphany experience…he hasn’t had his eyes opened to the amazing power of God’s love.

·         Second, how do our lives reflect our experience, our relationship with Jesus? Is God’s life-light blazing in us and through us in such a way that others are drawn to God? Do others see us giving and receiving the grace of God, and therefore helping others to know and love God? Are we living like people who have had their eyes opened by God’s love, or are we still stumbling in the darkness?

One of our other chaplains is a man named Father Leo, who is a Catholic priest. A few months ago, I was having a conversation with a patient, and the patient’s wife asked me if I know Father Leo. I said yes, I do know him. She then said this, which has stuck with me over the past few months: “When he (Father Leo) walks into a room, the love coming from him is so strong that it’s like Jesus himself just walked into the room.”

Wow…when my colleague walks into a room, the love coming from him and through him is so strong that it’s like Jesus himself just walked into the room.

When I heard that, my first thought was, “wow, I want to be like that.”

A few years ago, Joan Osborne had a song that became very popular. It’s called “One of Us”. I’m going to play a video set to that song. While you watch, reflect on what you see and hear.

[Play “One of Us” video]

·         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQkO09FUlBk&list=FL7T9_-eKartAQYICSPeJi4A&index=3&feature=plpp_video

God does have a name. God does have a face. God did become one of us, just a slob like one of us. In Jesus, we are able to experience God’s love for us and God’s love for this world…and share that love, that life, that light, with those who haven’t experienced it yet…and what God wants to ask us is: what is our response?