WEBVTT 00:00:01.710 --> 00:00:17.269 Glory be to Jesus Christ. Many years ago, when 00:00:17.269 --> 00:00:20.629 I was stationed at an Air Force base in the deep 00:00:20.629 --> 00:00:28.250 south, I was befriended by a very likable Baptist 00:00:28.250 --> 00:00:34.630 minister. Whose church was located just adjacent 00:00:34.630 --> 00:00:41.850 to the main gate of the base. He was well liked 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:50.109 by his parishioners. And the deacons often complimented 00:00:50.109 --> 00:00:55.850 him on his pulpit skills. But they were somehow 00:00:55.850 --> 00:01:00.969 disappointed. And one thing about this preacher. 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:08.810 Sunday after Sunday, he would preach on the same 00:01:08.810 --> 00:01:17.709 text. Water and baptism. And this went on for 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:22.950 months. So the board of deacons got together 00:01:22.950 --> 00:01:30.159 with the pastor and came up with a... Would the 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:37.000 pastor accept a biblical passage which he could 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:43.219 preach on if it were given to him by the deacons? 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.719 He says, of course I would. So the following 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:55.400 Sunday, they selected a passage from the first. 00:01:56.030 --> 00:02:01.030 book of the Bible, Genesis, which read, in the 00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:05.530 beginning, God created the heaven and earth. 00:02:08.930 --> 00:02:13.289 Well, the pastor looked at the passage, read 00:02:13.289 --> 00:02:19.349 it three times, looked at the congregation, and 00:02:19.349 --> 00:02:25.030 looked at the board of deacons and said, Brothers, 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:30.819 If I remember my geography correctly, the earth 00:02:30.819 --> 00:02:35.159 is one -fourth land and three -fourths water. 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:45.120 And so enthusiastically he preached on the theme 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:58.680 of water and baptism. Now he wasn't... entirely. 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:10.860 Because the elements of water and time are timeless. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:17.419 And these particular themes run from the Old 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:26.060 and New Testament. The theme of water and of 00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:29.599 light which we heard a great deal about in the 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.319 last two wonderful festivals that we celebrated, 00:03:33.740 --> 00:03:40.800 Nativity and Theophany, we heard these references 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:47.400 more than once. So with this in mind, I too, 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:53.740 like the pastor, want to speak on the theme of 00:03:53.740 --> 00:03:59.110 water and light. But I want to start with a quotation 00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:06.090 which we heard during the reading, the epistle 00:04:06.090 --> 00:04:11.449 reading at the blessing of the water on the day 00:04:11.449 --> 00:04:18.230 of epiphany. And I quote, I do not want you to 00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:24.529 be ignorant that all our fathers And here he's 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:28.009 referring to the Old Testament. All our fathers 00:04:28.009 --> 00:04:31.829 were under the cloud. And you remember from your 00:04:31.829 --> 00:04:37.310 biblical reading. The cloud led them through 00:04:37.310 --> 00:04:40.050 the wilderness. Both during the day and during 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:45.470 the night. And all of them passed through the 00:04:45.470 --> 00:04:52.500 midst of the sea. They drank of the rock. which 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:56.079 accompanied them through the action of the Holy 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:05.600 Spirit. And Paul said, the rock was Christ. No 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:11.379 serious reader of the Bible can overlook the 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:18.500 theme of water and light that played in the history 00:05:18.500 --> 00:05:24.550 of our salvation. Because water is more than 00:05:24.550 --> 00:05:30.689 a symbol. It is an indispensable fact and element 00:05:30.689 --> 00:05:39.189 and substance of life. It is still an instrument 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:45.189 of both life and death. And the symbolism of 00:05:45.189 --> 00:05:53.170 baptism makes this very clear. Now from the earliest 00:05:53.170 --> 00:06:01.850 days of the church, Christmas and Epiphany were 00:06:01.850 --> 00:06:07.569 referred to as the Feast of Light and the Feast 00:06:07.569 --> 00:06:12.949 of Water. And at the expense of being repetitious, 00:06:13.170 --> 00:06:20.769 let it be said that the hymnology of the services 00:06:20.769 --> 00:06:29.990 express, emphasize and clearly indicate that 00:06:29.990 --> 00:06:36.470 there is the grace of purification involved and 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:47.430 the grace of illumination. To disconnect these 00:06:47.430 --> 00:06:52.870 things From the scriptural teachings. From both 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:57.990 the Old and New Testament. Which many. Have done. 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:04.709 Lose the spiritual quality. And significance. 00:07:06.629 --> 00:07:12.009 Of that which God himself. Was involved in. And 00:07:12.009 --> 00:07:16.110 throughout the Old Testament. Now there are many 00:07:16.110 --> 00:07:23.029 references. To these two elements. More than 00:07:23.029 --> 00:07:29.589 I could discuss in the time given. And I take 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:33.290 these references both from the Old Testament. 00:07:33.410 --> 00:07:37.170 And from the readings which were done on the 00:07:37.170 --> 00:07:41.889 day of Epiphany. On the day in which Christ was 00:07:41.889 --> 00:07:48.800 baptized. There are. Stories and references of 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.519 how God himself. Interacted and determined. And 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:59.480 delivered the Hebrew people. From destruction. 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:03.920 From various calamities and from their tragedies. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:12.600 The very first is in the time of Noah. God used 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:20.910 water. To drown sin. And when the Israelites 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:28.750 stood. Helplessly before the Red Sea. And the 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:37.129 armies of Pharaoh. In hot pursuit. What happened? 00:08:37.509 --> 00:08:45.799 Again God. Through Moses. parted the waters and 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:52.940 the people were saved. Twice during their wandering 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:59.399 in the desert, they were confronted with death 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:07.440 because of the lack of water. In Exodus 15, God 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.620 instructed Moses to throw a particular branch 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:17.700 of wood Into the polluted waters. And the polluted 00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:24.259 waters. Became clear. And drinkable. And this. 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:29.779 Symbol. Is brought out in the very surface. Of 00:09:29.779 --> 00:09:36.360 the baptism of water. When the celebrant. Places. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:40.220 And dips the cross. Three times into the water. 00:09:43.210 --> 00:09:47.309 And another instance in which God revealed himself 00:09:47.309 --> 00:09:54.570 and the power he gave Moses was when again they 00:09:54.570 --> 00:09:59.509 came to a land where there was no water and they 00:09:59.509 --> 00:10:03.450 were dying. And they began to murmur against 00:10:03.450 --> 00:10:13.250 God. And God instructed Moses to do this. With 00:10:13.250 --> 00:10:18.629 the rod that was given to him. He hit a rock. 00:10:19.610 --> 00:10:25.470 And from that rock. Poured out and gushed water. 00:10:28.090 --> 00:10:31.610 And St. Paul in that 10th chapter of Corinthians. 00:10:32.570 --> 00:10:39.929 Tells us that the rock was Christ. So in biblical 00:10:39.929 --> 00:10:46.450 imagery. Water represents life and salvation. 00:10:47.529 --> 00:10:51.230 And remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless 00:10:51.230 --> 00:10:58.750 you're baptized with water in the spirit, you 00:10:58.750 --> 00:11:04.610 cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. And 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:09.370 we read and we have heard a number of times that 00:11:09.370 --> 00:11:12.679 when Jesus walked, into the waters of Jordan. 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:19.639 The water would again become what it was destined 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:24.320 to be from the very beginning of the world. The 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:32.820 means of communicating with God. Presence in 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:40.450 this world are his gifts through the material 00:11:40.450 --> 00:11:44.269 creation and that's why we could speak of holy 00:11:44.269 --> 00:11:53.690 oil and holy icons and we could speak a blessing 00:11:53.690 --> 00:11:59.250 of homes we could speak of the healing of sick 00:11:59.250 --> 00:12:09.240 sanctifying of the cosmos So there's so much 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:17.399 more associated with these two magnificent festivals 00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:25.940 of light, water, darkness, healing that reveal 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:33.460 the continual involvement of God in past history 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:39.299 but continues in our time. And so on this day. 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:46.840 When the Holy Trinity was revealed. A voice of 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.139 heaven said. This is my beloved son and the dove. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.519 The spirit in the form of a dove descended on 00:12:53.519 --> 00:13:00.840 Christ. The process of renewing nature and cosmos. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:06.940 The true spiritual ecology began. And to him. 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:10.759 Who has done this for us and for our salvation. 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:14.600 Be glory, honor and worship. Amen.