Glory be to Jesus Christ. Many years ago, when
I was stationed at an Air Force base in the deep
south, I was befriended by a very likable Baptist
minister. Whose church was located just adjacent
to the main gate of the base. He was well liked
by his parishioners. And the deacons often complimented
him on his pulpit skills. But they were somehow
disappointed. And one thing about this preacher.
Sunday after Sunday, he would preach on the same
text. Water and baptism. And this went on for
months. So the board of deacons got together
with the pastor and came up with a... Would the
pastor accept a biblical passage which he could
preach on if it were given to him by the deacons?
He says, of course I would. So the following
Sunday, they selected a passage from the first.
book of the Bible, Genesis, which read, in the
beginning, God created the heaven and earth.
Well, the pastor looked at the passage, read
it three times, looked at the congregation, and
looked at the board of deacons and said, Brothers,
If I remember my geography correctly, the earth
is one -fourth land and three -fourths water.
And so enthusiastically he preached on the theme
of water and baptism. Now he wasn't... entirely.
Because the elements of water and time are timeless.
And these particular themes run from the Old
and New Testament. The theme of water and of
light which we heard a great deal about in the
last two wonderful festivals that we celebrated,
Nativity and Theophany, we heard these references
more than once. So with this in mind, I too,
like the pastor, want to speak on the theme of
water and light. But I want to start with a quotation
which we heard during the reading, the epistle
reading at the blessing of the water on the day
of epiphany. And I quote, I do not want you to
be ignorant that all our fathers And here he's
referring to the Old Testament. All our fathers
were under the cloud. And you remember from your
biblical reading. The cloud led them through
the wilderness. Both during the day and during
the night. And all of them passed through the
midst of the sea. They drank of the rock. which
accompanied them through the action of the Holy
Spirit. And Paul said, the rock was Christ. No
serious reader of the Bible can overlook the
theme of water and light that played in the history
of our salvation. Because water is more than
a symbol. It is an indispensable fact and element
and substance of life. It is still an instrument
of both life and death. And the symbolism of
baptism makes this very clear. Now from the earliest
days of the church, Christmas and Epiphany were
referred to as the Feast of Light and the Feast
of Water. And at the expense of being repetitious,
let it be said that the hymnology of the services
express, emphasize and clearly indicate that
there is the grace of purification involved and
the grace of illumination. To disconnect these
things From the scriptural teachings. From both
the Old and New Testament. Which many. Have done.
Lose the spiritual quality. And significance.
Of that which God himself. Was involved in. And
throughout the Old Testament. Now there are many
references. To these two elements. More than
I could discuss in the time given. And I take
these references both from the Old Testament.
And from the readings which were done on the
day of Epiphany. On the day in which Christ was
baptized. There are. Stories and references of
how God himself. Interacted and determined. And
delivered the Hebrew people. From destruction.
From various calamities and from their tragedies.
The very first is in the time of Noah. God used
water. To drown sin. And when the Israelites
stood. Helplessly before the Red Sea. And the
armies of Pharaoh. In hot pursuit. What happened?
Again God. Through Moses. parted the waters and
the people were saved. Twice during their wandering
in the desert, they were confronted with death
because of the lack of water. In Exodus 15, God
instructed Moses to throw a particular branch
of wood Into the polluted waters. And the polluted
waters. Became clear. And drinkable. And this.
Symbol. Is brought out in the very surface. Of
the baptism of water. When the celebrant. Places.
And dips the cross. Three times into the water.
And another instance in which God revealed himself
and the power he gave Moses was when again they
came to a land where there was no water and they
were dying. And they began to murmur against
God. And God instructed Moses to do this. With
the rod that was given to him. He hit a rock.
And from that rock. Poured out and gushed water.
And St. Paul in that 10th chapter of Corinthians.
Tells us that the rock was Christ. So in biblical
imagery. Water represents life and salvation.
And remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless
you're baptized with water in the spirit, you
cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And
we read and we have heard a number of times that
when Jesus walked, into the waters of Jordan.
The water would again become what it was destined
to be from the very beginning of the world. The
means of communicating with God. Presence in
this world are his gifts through the material
creation and that's why we could speak of holy
oil and holy icons and we could speak a blessing
of homes we could speak of the healing of sick
sanctifying of the cosmos So there's so much
more associated with these two magnificent festivals
of light, water, darkness, healing that reveal
the continual involvement of God in past history
but continues in our time. And so on this day.
When the Holy Trinity was revealed. A voice of
heaven said. This is my beloved son and the dove.
The spirit in the form of a dove descended on
Christ. The process of renewing nature and cosmos.
The true spiritual ecology began. And to him.
Who has done this for us and for our salvation.
Be glory, honor and worship. Amen.