Living God, your people remember this morning how our Lord Jesus Christ changed water into wine in his first miracle at Cana of Galilee. We pray that as we worship here this morning and journey into the new year we might be transformed and changed, so that in all the days to come we might serve you more faithfully and love one another more fully. In His strong spirit, Amen.

Now if you cannot remember your own baptism, then, – and please do this today, this afternoon, don’t procrastinate – phone or e-mail someone who was there at your baptism. Who was the pastor? The sponsors? Call tour parents, a sibling, an aunt or uncle – someone and ask, “Tell me about my baptism.  Did I cry a lot? Was I cute? Tell me what you remember. . .

For your baptism is so important in your Christian formation.  You and I have been named and claimed by God.  In a sense you are no longer your own.  If you ever find yourself caught in a crisis, one of the storms of life, in a jam – then you might want to do what Martin Luther did when on trial for his life.  Say over and again to yourself: “Remember your baptism; remember your baptism.”

When you are at the office and tempted to cut a corner on an ethical issue, or at a party and there is one drink too many, remember your baptism.  Remember you are a precious child of God.  You have been named and claimed by God.

Sounds corny?  I bet there are some CEOs, CFOs or CPAs in America who now wish they had remembered. . .who they were and whose they were.

This is the Season of Epiphany.  Epiphany began on January 6, twelve days after Christmas, and continues till Ash Wednesday. Epiphany remembers and celebrates the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the world.  For this reason it is known as the “Season of Light.”

The Church and its scriptures provide us with four wonderful pictures or snapshots: four marvelous stories or accounts which are like postcards sent from afar, with which and through which we can come to clearly see who Jesus Christ is and what He can come to mean for our life each day.  Now anyone of these four could be and probably should be a sermon in and by itself, but this morning I want you to see them together and how they relate to each other and to what is going on in our own lives.

They inquired of King Herod: “Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?” This is the wrong question, incidentally, to ask of King Herod or of any king for that matter! “So you say you are the king.  Well, we are looking for the real king” This leads to great trouble.

The wise folk were Gentiles – non Jews – and so they represent the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the non-Jewish world. A testimony to the universality of God’s love made known in Jesus Christ.

Saint Luke tells us about Simeon and Anna.  I have a hunch some of you have never heard of them.  Let me introduce them to you as they appear in Saint Luke’s account Luke Chapter 2, verses 25-38.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,  Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,  a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.  Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,  then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.  At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child  to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Simeon and Anna bear testimony to the fulfillment of the promise of God to act decisively in human history.  The promise of God which we heard proclaimed in our reading this morning from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The words of the prophet have long held pride of place in the Epiphany season.  The vivid imagery and dramatic language are echoed throughout the Gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come.  Lift up your eyes and look around.” Simeon and Anna remind us that God is a promise maker and a promise keeper.  You can trust God.

When the gospel was read this morning, were you listening carefully enough to catch the reversal in the usual rule of hospitality? Upon tasting the new wine, the wine steward says to the bridegroom: “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”
In this miracle, this Epiphany, this manifestation, the disciples came to see Jesus more clearly and their faith in him was strengthened. The story is really not about wine nor about water. It is about your life and mine. It is about seeing who Jesus is for you today. In the light of this Epiphany story you are encouraged to see Jesus as the one whom God has called and blessed and by whose presence in your life you are blessed and gifted.

If you are new to the Christian faith and to the church – and I know many of you are seekers and explorers – as finally, we all are – and I thank you for being here so faithfully each Sunday – You may be puzzled and perhaps a bit perplexed by the chronology of events: from the wise men arriving in Bethlehem, to the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple where we meet Simeon and Anna, and then on to the wedding in Cana of Galilee and now to the river Jordan and the baptism of our Lord.

The key to understanding this sequence of evens is to know that Mother Church – the universal Christian church – is not so much concerned about these events as dates on a calendar – this is especially true of the last two – Mother Church is interested in our viewing these events in the life of Jesus as Epiphany stories and coming to see who Jesus really is for the world, for ourselves, and his meaning for our life with all of its problems and challenges.

Jesus is baptized to establish and to give witness to a relationship that shows he belongs to God and is called to do God’s work in the world.  His baptism is a sign to God’s claim upon his life. Jesus is baptized and by that action says, “I belong no longer to myself or to my parents.  I belong to God.”  God has named and claimed Jesus as God’s own. The voice from heaven says it all: “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

As we remember and celebrate the baptism of our Lord on this Epiphany Sunday, we are to remember our own baptism and to be glad and grateful. We cannot stand at Bethlehem’s manger or be present in the temple when Mary and Joseph present their baby Jesus, no will we ever be fortunate enough to be a guest at the wedding in Cana, but we can share in the baptism of Jesus. We can remember our own baptism, and as this new year begins be renewed and called back to the life God intends us to live.  So that we do not simply speak of the Epiphany of our Lord long ago, but we are at least in some small way his Epiphany today. Reflecting as faithfully as we are able in our deeds each day his life, his light and power – Arise, shine, for your light has come!

You are the light of the world. Shine and shine and shine.
And to God be the Glory,
In the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Let us pray:
Living God, When the spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism in Jordan’s water, you revealed him as your own beloved son. grant that each of us who have been baptized in his name may keep the covenant promises which have been made, and boldly and courageously bear witness to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In his spirit, Amen.

Mark 1: 9-11
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

John 2: 1-12
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”  And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.”  And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”  So they took it.  When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”  Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.