Let us remember that we are in the season of Epiphany. In our scriptures, epiphanies are revelations
of glory . . . God’s glory. Epiphanies
can be public and available to all, or they can be private and only available
to individuals. Whatever the case,
epiphanies reveal God in a sudden burst of awareness by the individual or group
. . . and, so it is with our reading this morning from the Gospel of Matthew.
This morning we get to witness a revelation of glory . . . we get to
witness a sudden burst of awareness . . . and, it all happens in a matter of
seconds or even minutes. God proclaims
that Jesus it the Son, whom God is well pleased. It is the proclamation that Jesus is the One
. . . that Jesus is the Messiah . . . the Chosen One. And, the only one who experiences this
epiphany is Jesus. This is a private
epiphany not shared with anyone else but Jesus . . . not John, who is standing
next to Jesus as he baptizes him . . . not the crowd who is witnessing the
baptism . . . only Jesus is privy to this revelation. It is a snapshot of holiness.
Speaking of snapshots, the word of the year for 2013 was “selfie”. A “selfie” is picture that an individual
takes of him or her self . . . a self-portrait that can be later shared with
others. In our day and age, it is a
digital record of a moment in one’s life . . . captured to be saved, savored,
and shared. The Reverend Nancy Rockwell,
in her recent blog, states that this is exactly Jesus is doing in this reading
. . . Jesus is taking a “selfie” of himself in a moment of divine
acknowledgement, understanding, and awareness . . . a moment that could be
saved, savored, shared, and used to remind himself of who he is.
Images and pictures are powerful things.
It does not matter whether they are actual images or mental images . . .
for all of us, they are powerful. They
are powerful in that they capture a moment and all that happens in that moment
to help remind us. They are powerful
because they can be shared with others to help them understand what words
cannot convey. They are powerful because
they can be pulled out from the recesses of storage or our minds to help us
remember . . . to remember feelings, emotions, and thoughts in times when we
need to remember and be bolstered. And,
so it was for Jesus.
Jesus had this image . . . this “selfie” . . . in which God confirms
him, affirms him, and declares God’s satisfaction in him. It is a moment captured when Jesus understands
that he has been given the mantle of the Messiahship . . . that he is the
Chosen One . . . Jesus is the beloved . . . the one that God loves. What a powerful image and one that Jesus
would turn to time after time when he had doubts . . . when he felt threatened
. . . when he felt lost. He could turn
to that self-portrait, that “selfie”, and remember that he was the beloved
chosen by God.
About a month ago, on the Koinonia
Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/KOCOCOUN), I shared a post that
offered a quick photo montage titled “The
Christmas Story Told On a Cell Phone Through the Eyes of Instagram” (http://www.christianpost.com/buzzvine/the-christmas-story-told-on-a-cell-phone-through-the-eyes-of-instagram-comeletusadorehim-111192/cpt) –it is a 90 second
clip using hundreds of digital pictures that tell the story of Christmas. Through a whole bunch of “selfies” the wonder
and awe of Christmas is shared . . . it is one of the coolest things that I
watched during the Christmas season . . . and, it only took 90 seconds—a minute
and a half! It was an epiphany in that
it revealed the glory of God.
Instagram, for those of you
not familiar with this tool, is an application that an individual can download
onto a cell phone or tablet device that allows the individual to take snapshots
. . . to take “selfies”. These pictures
are then placed in a location from which the individual can keep and share
these images. It is like a rolling photo
gallery. Basically Instagram has moved the
“selfie” up to another level as these picture then become a sort of digital
history of a person’s life. From this
gallery the pictures can be shared on any number of social media networks—Facebook, Twitter, and through the
email—instantly. I know, for the most
part, that I really appreciate Instagram
as it has allowed me to be a part of the lives of my family and friends that I
could not be a part of because of time and distance. It allows me to be connected in ways that I
never could have been before . . . and, it especially makes me feel good to be
able to witness my granddaughter on a regular basis. Instagram
is a powerful medium.
It is a powerful medium because it opens up to me moments in my life and
the lives of others that have taken place.
It is powerful because it becomes a means of remembering . . . of
connecting and reconnecting . . . of witnessing. Whenever I need to bolster up my day or
feelings, I can turn to Instagram,
check out the images stored there, and feel much better. Sometimes that is all that it takes to get me
through the day.
So it was for Jesus as he captured in his mind and heart that moment in
his life when he was baptized . . . when he caught that declaration and
affirmation of being God’s beloved . . . when he knew he was the Chosen One,
the Messiah. Such an epiphany would
carry him through his ministry to its completion as he would pull out that
“selfie” over and over again in his times of need. He believed in what he saw and experienced in
that moment.
We are not much different than Jesus.
In the journey of faith we have all had our moments of epiphanies . . .
moments of being in the revelation of the glory of God . . . moments of great
realization of the Holy . . . moments when all those cosmic rollers align
themselves in our hearts and we know.
And, like Jesus, more often than not, those moments have been more
personal and private than they have been communal. For an instant, we pause, click the picture
for our own remembrance, and we go on.
We go on knowing that we can pull out that “selfie” anywhere along the
journey, remember, reaffirm, and strengthen ourselves for moment and for what
lies ahead. It is in those moments that
we, too, realize that we are also among the beloved . . . that God loves us
too.
Whereas the other three gospels put Jesus’ baptism and proclamation out
there for all to witness, Matthew makes his a private and personal affair to
only be experienced and witnessed by Jesus.
As important as it is for the world to know that Jesus is the Chosen
One—the Messiah, it is more important that Jesus knew and accepted this
knowledge. Important because that is
where it all came down to—Jesus as a person and as an individual. It had to begin with him and his faith . . .
and, so it is with us too.
It begins with us and radiates out to the world. But, we all know that the world can be a
harsh companion in the journey of life and faith. Yet, within each of our hearts we have a
gallery of images . . . a gallery of moments in our relationship with God and
Jesus that affirm ourselves and our faith . . . that we can pull out and
remember . . . we are loved. Loved by
God . . . and, with us God is pleased.
What more can we ask for? Amen.
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