Monday’s thoughts
“There Must Have Been Something In The Water”
The liturgical season of the year is Epiphany. Over the past several weeks I have tried to maintain that theme with the sermons that dealt with Jesus’ early years. The word “epiphany” means “manifestation” or “showing forth”. The implication is Jesus was an epiphany of God and that showing forth came from the time of his birth through his first act of ministry when he was thirty years old.
The part of the story of Jesus life we will look at this Sunday is his baptism. Reverend Curtis preached a sermon on Jesus’ birth, and Dr. Dalke preached a sermon on how important it is for us to determine “who Jesus is” for us. I have tried to have us look at what it meant for Jesus to be presented to the temple in Jerusalem when he was 12 years old and I speculated what questions he asked the theologicans and priests.
This Sunday I am going to try to explore Jesus’ relationship with John the Baptist. It is an interesting problem to consider. If John preached the need to repent of sin and be baptized, why was it necessary for Jesus to be baptized (since he was sinless)? What issue is involved in this baptism? What kind of statement is being made about John and about Jesus, and why at the conclusion of the baptism do we hear the voice of God saying, “This is my son of whom I am so proud”?
The sermon will probe the character of John and Jesus more than it will explore the meaning of baptism. The character issue is the most important issue for us I think. It raises some great questions such as:
1. To whom do we defer rightfully?
2. How do we acknowledge the greatness we see in other people?
3. When have we been greatest as we have shown respect for some else’s greatness?
4. Who is the greatest person you have ever known?
5. What qualities did they have that told you of their greatness?
If you have thoughts on this I’d love to hear from you. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to let other people in on your thoughts click the “comments” box at the bottom of this page.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
