The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated on January 6^th.  The word “epiphany” simply means manifestation or appearance.  Thus, the Feast of the Epiphany is the celebration of the manifestation of God, the Divine, in the midst of our world.  Although the focus in the Western Church is the visit of Magi, the earliest observances, as celebrated in the Eastern Church, recognize the Baptism of Jesus as the epiphany of God in our world.  This tradition is reflected in our modern lectionary with the first Sunday after the Epiphany recounting the story of Jesus’ baptism and the Divine pronouncement of Jesus as the beloved of God.

Although the choice of Jesus’ baptism as the quintessential epiphany is understandable since all the gospel accounts record the Divine declaration that Jesus is the beloved of God, this choice also posed some theological challenges for the early church.  The theological disconnect results from the understood purpose of baptism — that it is for repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  Since the church considered Jesus to be sinless, his being baptized was considered scandalous.  This theological embarrassment is revealed in how differently each gospel recounts Jesus’ baptism.  In Matthew’s gospel we are told that John protests — stating that Jesus should be baptizing him.  In Luke’s account, the issue is simply sidestepped with only a cursory mention of the baptism being offered.  The fourth gospel (John) effectively denies the issue and focuses exclusively on the heavens opening and the dove descending.  And Mark’s gospel simply states that Jesus was baptized — offering no commentary.  Since Jesus’ baptism is acknowledged (or intimated) in all four gospels, it is apparent that the baptism of Jesus was central to the early church’s understanding of Jesus’ identity and ministry.  Nevertheless, the scandal of Jesus’ baptism invites us to reflect on how God is manifest in the world through the act of baptism — in both Jesus’ life and our own.

The beginning of Mark’s gospel places the account of Jesus’ baptism within the larger context of the biblical narrative.  Mark asserts that the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ is the continuation of the message of the prophets who “prepare the way of the Lord.”  In other words, Jesus’ baptism is an expression of the coming or manifestation of God in our midst.  Thus, the opening proclamation from Mark’s gospel reminds us that the Good News is participatory.  There is no sense of passive acquiescence — the mere punching of a religious ticket.  The implication is that baptism initiates a way of life that necessitates active engagement within our world — the precise place where God is manifest.  The focus of the “Baptism of the Lord” is our response to the Good News — how we prepare the way of God and manifest God in our world. 

Unfortunately, the church has come to embrace a perverted understanding of baptism which focuses on one’s presumed inherent sinfulness and the need for being made “sinless.”  Not only is this understanding foreign to the Jewish understanding of baptism but also contrary to the biblical understanding of humanity being created in the image and likeness of God and declared very good.  Such a misrepresentation of humanity not only misconstrues the significance of baptism but our understanding of the words “sin” and “repentance” and our perception of the spiritual journey.

The word translated “sin” simply means “to miss the mark.”  Not only does the word “sin” have no connotation of one being inherently evil or cut off from God but the implication is quite the opposite.  If sin is to miss the mark, the implication is that one has the capacity to hit the mark.  In other words, humans have the capacity to live as children (the beloved) of God — manifesting the image and likeness of God in the world.  Thus, baptism is an invitation to acknowledge one’s identity as a child of God and live into the fullness of one’s humanity.   The association of baptism with the “forgiveness of sin” merely affirms one’s desire and capacity to “hit the mark.”  Baptism — a rite of belonging — affirms our human identity as children of God.  Recognizing and affirming that we are beloved of God grants us the authority/power/ability (dunamis) to live as children of God in our world and thereby manifest God’s presence in the world.

Sadly, the word “repentance” is a word that has been dumbed down to convey only the need to seek forgiveness for one’s sinfulness.  The word translated “repent,” however, does not have this connotation.  It simply means “to change direction.”  A more accurate understanding of repentance is conveyed by the Cistercian priest Thomas Keating’s definition:  to change the direction in which you are looking for happiness.  Another way of expressing this meaning is changing the direction in which you are seeking fulfillment.  In other words, stop looking to the material world for fulfillment (happiness).  Fulfillment is not found in the acquisition of possessions or by attaining popularity and celebrity.  Fulfillment is a soulful pursuit — being possible only when we align our lives with our soul’s purpose which is to live as the beloved of God.  Thus, baptism invites us to change the direction in which we are looking for fulfillment — acknowledging our aptitude to manifest God’s presence in our lives. 

The Epiphany is not merely a remembrance of some past event — a simple recollection of a visitation of by foreign sages or the baptism of a man from Nazareth.  Epiphany is the celebration of the manifestation of God in our world.  And the sacrament of baptism reminds us of our participation in the epiphany.  Through the invitation of baptism, we are invited to align our personality with our identity as the beloved of God.  Through baptism we are invited to open ourselves to God’s Spirit and perceive God’s presence in the mundane experiences of our daily lives — in the smile of a stranger, the support of a friend, an act of kindness, or in the beauty of a sunset.  The season of Epiphany not only reminds us that God is present in our world but that every act of kindness and compassion which we experience and in which we participate is nothing less than God becoming manifest in our world.