The Baptism of the Lord
“You Are a Light On The Hill, O People”
January 11, 2026
The Rev Rod Sprange
Last week Father Rick began his sermon with a pop quiz. He wanted to know the difference between the light from a candle and the light from a flashlight. The difference he was looking for was that while the light from a flashlight is unidirectional, it can only be seen from one direction, the light from a candle can be seen from all directions. If the candle was raised up, say on a hill, you could even see it from below. Rick was talking about light because it was Epiphany, a celebration of when the light of Christ was being revealed to the gentiles, the magi. In the western church this is the moment of Epiphany, but the eastern church celebrates Epiphany at the Baptism of The Lord, with God revealing, “This is my son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased”. So this Sunday is also about the light of Christ being revealed to the world.
Like Rick, I too have a question for you. What was the most important day of your life. Just to protect the husbands out there, let’s say, not including your wedding day. So, excluding your wedding day, what was the most important day of your life?
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Ok, here is a clue, today we are celebrating the Baptism of the Lord! So what was the most important day of your life? Your Baptism. For me the most important day of my life, not including July 15, 1978, was May 19, 1946. That was the day I was purified for a life as a member of Christ’s own family. I was adopted into the the family known as Children of God. I became a member of a particular community of followers of Christ. It’s as members of Christ’s family that we are able to pray to Our Father in Heaven. Christ taught the disciples, not to pray just to Christ’s heavenly Father, but theirs.
When were you baptized? Do you know? If you don’t maybe it would be worthwhile to try to find out. Maybe start celebrating that day each year, let your family and friends know its a very special date. Hey, it could be an opportunity for more cake! If you are not yet baptized, it’s never too late. I am sure Rev Liz would love to hear from you if you would like to explore adult preparation for Baptism.
Some 2000 years ago, John the Baptizer was in the wilderness preaching an urgent message of repentance because the Kingdom of Heaven had come near. People needed to prepare. Jesus joined the throngs of people coming to listen to John and to be baptized by him with water. This was a ritual cleansing to give them a fresh start in their relationship with God and neighbour. But repentance didn’t just mean being sorry for past mistakes but actually turning their lives around and living in right relationship with God. Being in right relationship with God meant seeking mercy, justice and peace. Jesus went to John to be baptized but John said that he shouldn’t baptize Jesus, Jesus should baptize John. But Jesus insisted that for now this was the right thing to do, it was what God would want.
After he was baptized, as Jesus came up from the river the Holy Spirit descended on him, like a dove, and a voice from Heaven said “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased”. We see the echo of God’s words as proclaimed by Second Isaiah in Chapter 42 Verse 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations”.
Immediately following his baptism the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where he spent time in fasting and prayer, discerning God’s direction for his new ministry. He rejected the ideas of using the spectacular like magic, or power and might, and discerned that his call was about teaching, healing and sacrifice through servant leadership. It was to be a mission and message of love and peace. Jesus was probably about 30 when he was baptized by John. This was the point in his life when he turned it towards his calling as Messiah.
A number of years ago a Christian research team was studying communications between clergy and laity. They conducted a survey with a number of words and concepts typically used in church settings. When clergy were asked to rank the words in terms of importance, the words call and calling were at the top of their list. However, when laity were asked to rank the same list, call and calling were listed as the least important word or concept. This study showed a big gap in communications between the clergy and the laity. So what should be done about this, should clergy, like Rick, Liz and me refrain from talking about calling and talk more about what seems more important to the lay members of the congregation? I don’t think so. I just think it means that we, as the church generally, have not done a very good job of teaching about call and calling and discernment of gifts.
The challenges that many denominations are facing, reduced membership and attendance at worship, aging congregations and financial pressures, are forcing us to to rethink what it means to be church and just what our calling is about. I think we are each being urged to spend time in discerning how God is calling us to be part of reimagining, reenergizing and reorienting Christ’s church. If you look around you in this parish, you will see many committed members, together we have a vast amount of experience, knowledge, and ability. God has given us everything we require to become the church that is so desperately needed in what seems to be a world of darkness. Perhaps each of us to should spend time in discerning the special gifts we have been given by God, and how God is calling us to use them in pursuing Christ’s mission, to bring his healing light to a broken world.
Each of you carries the light of Christ within you, and have been uniquely gifted to be a beacon of hope.
I wonder if we were asked about what defines us as a person, how many of us would include being a Christian in that definition of who we are, how many of us would confess that being a Christian is at the very centre of who we are? Before I was ordained I was reluctant to mention my faith or that I attended church. I was a bit embarrassed about admitting it. Isn’t that odd. In my secular career in Government I had an office next to a fellow who was from Brandon. We had known each other for several years being in the same office space. But it was purely by accident, that one day we discovered not only were we both church goers, we were both Anglicans and very active in our parishes. How can we expect our churches to grow if we hide our identity, or remain unsure about sharing our faith?
In the collect for today we prayed, “Keep your children, born of water and the spirit, faithful to their calling”. That’s you and me, our calling is to share the Gospel by living the Gospel. Our former Bishop, Geoff, in his last couple of years in office was urging anyone who would listen to prepare their own confession of Christ and the Gospel. He suggested we should each prepare an elevator speech on what what we believe about Jesus the Christ, and why that belief is so important to us. An elevator speech is one you can deliver while the elevator ascends or descends several floors. In other words, short and succinct. It is actually a very good exercise to write down what you believe and why being a follower of Christ is important to you.
On Saturday February 21st. We will be reading the complete Gospel according to John. This is an incredibly important version of the Gospel and has had a major influence on the theology of the Christian church. It’s also a cracking good read! But it comes with some big challenges, and we will face those head on. John would have been a master of the elevator speech, if they had been invented then. John tells us the whole of the Gospel story, from before creation to the resurrection in just the first 18 verses of his Gospel. You can read that in under two minutes! He then lets the story unfold in great detail with the clearly stated goal that by hearing about the signs that Jesus did, we also might come to believe in him and gain eternal life.
If we want to be able to be faithful to our calling we need to know the Gospel of Christ. I hope you will join us on February 21st to hear the whole Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to St. John. There is a sign up sheet at the back of the church.
Let us pray: May we all recognize the light of Christ that shines within us and let that light shine brightly in the world. Amen
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