The Rt. Rev'd Stephen C. Scarlett

The Christian hope is that we will see God. We call this hope the beatific vision. This is what St. John is talking about in the epistle (1 John 3:1f.) when he says, “We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is.”

Moses saw God when he ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments. His face was so illuminated by the encounter that the people were afraid to look at him (Exodus 34:29-30). Job saw God, and was humbled by the vision. He said, “I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees thee. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (42:5-6, RSV).

Neither Moses nor Job saw all there is to see of God. God had said to Moses, “You cannot see my face: for no man can see me, and live.” (Ex 33:20). Both were given the privilege of seeing the measure of God’s glory they could endure without being consumed.

Man cannot see the fullness of God’s glory because of sin. It is not merely that God won’t let us look at him. It is, rather, that we are literally unable to endure his glory and presence because of our condition–just like we can’t look at the sun without losing our sight or walk through fire without being burned.

The Old Testament system of sacrifice and purification was instituted precisely so that God’s redeemed people might be able to enter back into his presence and see him. In each stage of the drama of redemption, God brings man closer to himself, or God comes closer to man. Man’s vision of God becomes clearer.

The definitive step in the vision of God is the Incarnation. In the Old Testament, God had no form. Those who saw him saw what they described as a combination of grand luminosity and rare jewelry. In the New Testament, the Son of God, who is the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), enables us to see God in a new way. As St. John says, “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

A further progression in our vison of God is made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians, St. Paul contrasts the way Moses saw God with the way we see God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. The shining face of Moses faded over time. His vision of God resulted in a temporary glory that did not save him from death. Our vison of God in Christ through the Spirit results in an ever-increasing, eternal glory. As 2 Corinthians says, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (3:18).

We see God more clearly in Christ because our spiritual blindness has been healed. St. Paul says that the god of this world has “blinded the minds of those who do not believe” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The first miracle performed by the risen Christ was to give the gift of sight. He explained the Scriptures to the two men on the road to Emmaus, then he took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. And “their eyes were opened and they knew him”(Luke 24:13-31, see also 24:45).

By grace, our minds are opened to understand the Scriptures and we know Christ in the breaking of the bread. We gather around the altar to see God. Not every problem is solved. Not every disease is healed–yet. But, as with Job, it is enough to see God and experience his presence. God gives us wisdom and strength for the present and hope for the future. “Now we are the children of God…And we know that when he appears we shall be like him.”

By grace, we see God in other people. We understand that people are not objects to be used or annoyances to be tolerated. They are made in the image of God and worthy of our time and love. By grace we see Christ in the members of his body. Christ ministers to us through the gifts of others, and we are called to serve Christ in others, especially in the least of his brethren (Matthew 25:40).

We see God through his redemptive presence in our lives. We experience the new creation as God brings his order out of our chaos, as the light of Christ shines in our darkness. By faith, we see the hand of God, even in bad things. We come to understand that, contrary to the visible evidence, God is in control. We learn that we can trust him to work in all things for good and finish his work in us.

We see God now by faith, but there is more to come. “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” The word for appear in this passage means to reveal. It is connected to our word, “Epiphany.” What we call the “Second Coming” of Jesus is, really, a fuller revelation of Jesus. Jesus isn’t very far away. We just don’t see him fully yet. There are angels and demons in the world, but we don’t see them yet either. There is day of final revelation coming when our current vision will be expanded so that we can really see.

We wait and hope for the day when faith will give way to sight. We wait and hope for the day when God will fully reveal himself in all his glory. The revelation of God through Jesus will be judgment for the world and salvation for God’s people. Sin, death and all manor of evil will vanish from his presence in the very moment of his glorious appearance (cf. 2 Thess. 2:8). Those who belong to him, those who now see and know in part, will see and know fully. Now we experience redemption as a gradual process. Then we will experience redemption “in a moment, in the twinkling of any eye”(1 Corinthians 15:52).

St. John says that this hope purifies us. The desire to see God and be perfected by him is the beginning of holiness. And it puts life in perspective. In all of our trials and tribulations, and in the hour of death, we can say, with Job, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth….And…in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26).

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The Christian hope is that we will see God. We call this hope the beatific vision. This is what St. John is talking about in the epistle (1 John 3:1f.) when he says, “We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is.”

Moses saw God when he ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments. His face was so illuminated by the encounter that the people were afraid to look at him (Exodus 34:29-30). Job saw God, and was humbled by the vision. He said, “I had heard of thAny attempt to explain the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (the gospel, Matthew 13:24f.) must begin with Jesus’ own interpretation. In a passage in Matthew subsequent to our gospel, the disciples said, “Explain the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.” Jesus said,

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Mat 13:37-43 KJV)

The tares are a kind of weed that resembles wheat, but does not bear any edible fruit. Because of this deceptive appearance, the farmer allows the tares to continue to grow lest he mistakenly destroy some of the good along with the bad. He separates the tares from the wheat in the harvest, when both are uprooted and the true nature of each is evident. Likewise, God now lets the good and the bad exist together until the day of judgement.

This clear cut nature of judgment in the parable is sobering. When we talk about judgement, we find grey area and much uncertainty. But when Jesus talks about the coming judgment, it is black and white. God will take the good and get rid of the bad. We explain so as to comfort. But Jesus explains so as to make uncomfortable.

We can understand the judgment only if we understand the nature of fruit. You cannot harvest grain, or any other fruit, unless seed is planted that grows and produces fruit. We cannot produce the fruit that God is looking for unless the seed of the Holy Spirit, which is planted in our hearts, grows and bears fruit. Fruit is the organic result of God’s presence in our lives.

This principle of fruit bearing is explained by Jesus in a passage in John’s Gospel, which, though it speaks of grape rather than grain, nonetheless addresses the same issue. Jesus said,

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bring forth more fruit….Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He who abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned…Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:1-8 KJV)

Fruit is, essentially, changed behavior. We bear fruit because God lives in us and causes us to think and act in new ways. Changed behavior is the evidence that we are living “in Christ.” The absence of changed behavior is the evidence that we are not. Judgement is, thus, the revelation of whether or not we really live “in Christ,” of whether or not the seed of the Spirit has taken root, of whether or not we are attached to the true and life giving vine.

This process of fruit-bearing can be connected to the sacraments. God plants the seed of the Spirit in us in baptism. The life that is planted in baptism is fed by the Eucharist. As Jesus said,

Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56 KJV)

Of course, merely receiving the sacraments is no guarantee that one will bear fruit. The parable implies that the church itself contains both wheat and tares, both those who bear fruit and those who do not. We must, by faith, receive the life that is presented to us in the sacraments. We must, by acts of the will, follow the Holy Spirit and say no to the world, the flesh and the devil. In some the planted life takes root, grows and bears fruit. In others, to borrow from another agricultural parable, the planted life is hindered by temptation and the riches and cares of the world so that is does not take deep root or bear fruit to perfection (Luke 8:13-14).

We must have ears to hear and eyes to see so that we receive all that the liturgy presents to us. We must listen to the word of God and let it challenge and change our behavior. We must prepare for communion with sincerity of heart, making a genuine confession of what we have done wrong and making real efforts to reconcile with those we have offended. We must receive Christ by faith and let his presence produce new attitudes and behavior in us–all the good works he has prepared for us to walk in. The Christian life begins in prayer and results in fruit.

Today’s epistle (Colossians 3:12f.) what this fruit, or new behavior looks like:

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Col 3:12-17 KJV)

This is the kind of new behavior that bears witness to the life of Christ in us. This is the fruit that God is looking for when he comes to take his harvest home.ee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees thee. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (42:5-6, RSV).

Neither Moses nor Job saw all there is to see of God. God had said to Moses, “You cannot see my face: for no man can see me, and live.” (Ex 33:20). Both were given the privilege of seeing the measure of God’s glory they could endure without being consumed.

Man cannot see the fullness of God’s glory because of sin. It is not merely that God won’t let us look at him. It is, rather, that we are literally unable to endure his glory and presence because of our condition–just like we can’t look at the sun without losing our sight or walk through fire without being burned.

The Old Testament system of sacrifice and purification was instituted precisely so that God’s redeemed people might be able to enter back into his presence and see him. In each stage of the drama of redemption, God brings man closer to himself, or God comes closer to man. Man’s vision of God becomes clearer.

The definitive step in the vision of God is the Incarnation. In the Old Testament, God had no form. Those who saw him saw what they described as a combination of grand luminosity and rare jewelry. In the New Testament, the Son of God, who is the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), enables us to see God in a new way. As St. John says, “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

A further progression in our vison of God is made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians, St. Paul contrasts the way Moses saw God with the way we see God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. The shining face of Moses faded over time. His vision of God resulted in a temporary glory that did not save him from death. Our vison of God in Christ through the Spirit results in an ever-increasing, eternal glory. As 2 Corinthians says, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (3:18).

We see God more clearly in Christ because our spiritual blindness has been healed. St. Paul says that the god of this world has “blinded the minds of those who do not believe” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The first miracle performed by the risen Christ was to give the gift of sight. He explained the Scriptures to the two men on the road to Emmaus, then he took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. And “their eyes were opened and they knew him” (Luke 24:13-31, see also 24:45).

By grace, our minds are opened to understand the Scriptures and we know Christ in the breaking of the bread. We gather around the altar to see God. Not every problem is solved. Not every disease is healed–yet. But, as with Job, it is enough to see God and experience his presence. God gives us wisdom and strength for the present and hope for the future. “Now we are the children of God…And we know that when he appears we shall be like him.”

By grace, we see God in other people. We understand that people are not objects to be used or annoyances to be tolerated. They are made in the image of God and worthy of our time and love. By grace we see Christ in the members of his body. Christ ministers to us through the gifts of others, and we are called to serve Christ in others, especially in the least of his brethren (Matthew 25:40).

We see God through his redemptive presence in our lives. We experience the new creation as God brings his order out of our chaos, as the light of Christ shines in our darkness. By faith, we see the hand of God, even in bad things. We come to understand that, contrary to the visible evidence, God is in control. We learn that we can trust him to work in all things for good and finish his work in us.

We see God now by faith, but there is more to come. “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” The word for appear in this passage means to reveal. It is connected to our word, “Epiphany.” What we call the “Second Coming” of Jesus is, really, a fuller revelation of Jesus. Jesus isn’t very far away. We just don’t see him fully yet. There are angels and demons in the world, but we don’t see them yet either. There is day of final revelation coming when our current vision will be expanded so that we can really see.

We wait and hope for the day when faith will give way to sight. We wait and hope for the day when God will fully reveal himself in all his glory. The revelation of God through Jesus will be judgment for the world and salvation for God’s people. Sin, death and all manor of evil will vanish from his presence in the very moment of his glorious appearance (cf. 2 Thess. 2:8). Those who belong to him, those who now see and know in part, will see and know fully. Now we experience redemption as a gradual process. Then we will experience redemption “in a moment, in the twinkling of any eye”(1 Corinthians 15:52).

St. John says that this hope purifies us. The desire to see God and be perfected by him is the beginning of holiness. And it puts life in perspective. In all of our trials and tribulations, and in the hour of death, we can say, with Job, “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth….And…in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-26).

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I’ve always been reluctant to continue a sermon theme from the previous week. It presumes that everyone was listening and can remember what was said. Nonetheless, the theme of foregoing personal vengeance from last weeks epistle (Romans 12:16f.) raises additional questions that are answered in part by this week’s epistle (Romans 13:1f.)

The main objection to being told, “Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath” is the implication that this relegates us to injustice until the Lord returns. St. Paul answers this objection in the epistle by explaining how the wrath of God may be executed in time. He tells us to be subject to the government (KJV, “higher powers”) because the ruler is “the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”

This is an astounding statement, for the one St. Paul sees as God’s minister is Caesar and those under his authority, who were notorious persecutors of Christians and the agents of St. Paul’s own death. But to call Caesar God’s minister is not to call Caesar virtuous. It is to say that since all authority comes from God, all who have authority and administer justice are God’s agents of justice.

This is, of course, a two edged sword. Caesar is “the minister of God,” but Caesar is also accountable to God for how he administers justice. The writings of the biblical prophets are full of references to rulers who were weighed in the balance by God and found wanting. To have God-given authority in any capacity is always responsibility and never merely privilege.

It is likely that St. Paul developed this framework of understanding by meditating on the situation of Israel at the end of the Old Testament. When Israel became unfaithful to God, God used pagan rulers as agents of his wrath. Chief among these in the Old Testament was Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah said that, because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, it was God’s will for the nation to willingly submit to Nebuchadnezzar’s authority. When Israel refused, Nebuchadnezzar, God’s agent of judgement, invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple (cf. Jeremiah 39:1-10).

A parallel situation prevails in the New Testament. Jesus said that those who judged him would see him “coming on a cloud” in judgment (Matthew 26:64, a reference to Daniel 7:13-14). In the context of the first century, the promised judgement came through the Roman Legions who invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and the city.

It should be noted that all the pagan rulers whom God used to execute justice on his people ended up subsequently being judged by God for their own sins. Again, saying that Caesar is the minister of God is not saying that Caesar is always just. It is saying that all authority is ultimately from God. All rulers serve at God’s permission and will ultimately be held accountable by God.

God’s judgment on pagan rulers is a central theme of Daniel 7:1-14, where Daniel has a vision of one “like the Son of Man”–a title Jesus claims for himself in the New Testament. In his visions, Daniel saw four successive world empires, which were portrayed as beasts–a lion, a bear, a leopard and a fourth beast more dreadful that the first three. Their beastly appearance indicates that they were ravenous and sub-human. In Daniel, God gives his universal authority to the “Son of Man” because he is the genuinely human one, the true descendant of Adam, the one who will rule righteously and fulfill the human vocation that Adam lost through sin. The authentically human Son of Man will supplant all sub-human pretenders to the throne.

In the interim period until the Second Coming, Jesus reigns in heaven as Lord. He uses temporal rulers execute justice. This is why we pray for them. For most of Christian history in the west, the rulers the church prayed for were at least nominally Christian. This is no longer necessarily the case. This is why we pray for the actual people who have authority over us, rather than only “Christian rulers.” The New Testament instructs us to pray for all in authority, not just the ones who are believers. As 1 Timothy says,

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and or all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (1Ti 2:1-2 KJV).

From the understanding that temporal authorities are God’s ministers of justice, we can glean a few practical points. First, God does not want us to be lawless and rebellious. This is why the New Testament constantly exhorts us to submit to authority. Sin is lawlessness. The original sin was to rebel against the authority of God. It is a sin to disobey authority God has ordained–unless that authority tells us to do something that is wrong. We should obey the laws of the land. We should be subject to the authority of the church. We should honor authority in the family. We should honor God’s rule through those he has put in place to rule for him.

Another practical point is that we are called to be just. From time to time, each of us may find ourselves in some position of authority. We are called to exercise that authority justly, with impartiality, for the good of those under our authority and never for mere personal advantage. All authority is God’s authority. We, too, will be held accountable.

A third point is that there is no conflict between forgiveness and justice. There can be both personal forgiveness and judicial consequences. I can surrender my right of retribution to God. I can forgive a murderer. And, in the same situation, the state can be the avenger on God’s behalf and execute him. In terms of forgiveness, it my responsibility to let go of anger and bitterness so that I am not led into sin. It is my responsibility to commit the task of vengeance to God and those appointed by him. But it is the state’s job to administer justice so that evil does not go unpunished. I must forgive and not seek personal vengeance. But the state must not forgive. It must be the just avenger. The failure to understand this distinction leads to a great deal of muddled thinking about forgiveness.

Justice in time is always less than complete. This is why the promise that “He shall come again with glory to judge” is so central to our faith. If the powers that be fail as God’s ministers, we know that the Lord will come, finish the job and hold unjust rulers accountable. Until then, we are called to obey those whom God has put in authority, to be subject not only for fear of punishment but also so that we may have a clear conscience and stand blameless before the Judge on that Day.

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The epistles for the Sundays after Epiphany are a sequential reading from Romans 12:1-13:7. They are exhortations to think and act in ways that are appropriate for those to whom Christ has been revealed. Today’s exhortation (Romans 12:16f.) is that we should respond to evil, not with evil, but with good. We should not avenge ourselves, but should commit the task of judgment to God.

This teaching is more attractive when it is exemplified by someone else. Jesus responded to his Good Friday adversaries by saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We see this as a beautiful thing. But when someone harms or humiliates us or someone we love, many of us prefer Psalm 143:12: “Of thy goodness slay mine enemies.”

The problem is heightened, especially for the male of the species, when the command to avenge not ourselves is explained in a way that gives the impression that Christianity is a religion of weakness; as if it is God’s will is for us to get our butts kicked all the time–and smile while it happens. But this is not the point. The epistle says: “Beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” The reason for not taking justice into our own hands is that God plans to execute justice on our behalf in his good time.

Two problems arise when we attempt to avenge ourselves. The first is that we are not always just. Our attempts to right the wrong complicate rather than resolve the issue. This is seen in feuds that last for millennia. Some initial wrong was perpetuated by one party on another. The wronged party struck back in some disproportionate way–as, for example, when Simeon and Levi responded to the rape of their sister by killing every male in Shechem n (Genesis 34:1-26). The reprisal then leads to yet another attack by the original offender. A thousand years later all you have is long list of wrongs of which each side accuses the other–and wounds that are extremely deep.

The second problem with taking justice into our own hands that we run the risk of becoming guilty ourselves in the process. Take the aforementioned example of Simeon and Levi. Their family was the innocent party in the rape. But in their response they became guilty of murder. They were changed from innocent victims, who could appeal to the Great Judge, into guilty people worthy of punishment themselves.

This is a significant consideration in our lives. We are all wronged from time to time. If we are honest, we will admit that we harbor the occasional grudge. We begin to look at someone with angry thoughts and intentions. We may–only, of course, on the rarest of occasions–utter an unkind word about our adversary. This is a slippery slope. At what point in our unrighteous response do we transition from innocent victim into guilty offender? At what point do transition from people who can pray, “Lord, come and judge” into people who also have cause to fear that judgment?

This is why we are commanded to forgive. To forgive another is to surrender our right of retribution. It is to quit our job as judge and jury–a job we do very poorly–and commit the task of judgement to the One who alone can judge rightly. For “He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead.” “Vengeance is mine I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Judgment is not a popular topic. However, the promise of the Lord to repay is at the very center of our faith. It would be very hard to believe in a God who did not intend to right the wrongs of this unjust world. As Jesus said, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Mat 12:36 KJV). No tyrant, murderer, or thief–and no one who has wronged any of us in significant ways–is getting away with anything. God will reward each for what he has done. There will be eternal justice for all transgressions in time.

Of course, there is forgiveness for those who confess their sins and put their faith in Jesus. This is the gospel. Jesus saves us by his blood from the wrath that is come on the world because of sin. That is why you are here. You have been forgiven. You have been saved by the cross from the judgment that is coming on the earth. In Christ, God had been gracious to you. He has not, and will not, give your sins all the recompense they deserve. This is why you must be willing to extend grace to those who have wronged you. You must forgive because you have been forgiven.

All sin will be dealt with in one of two ways. Either by repentance and the forgiveness God has made available to all through the cross; or by the just judgment of Christ, the Judge of the living and the dead, who will render to everyone according to what he has done (Romans 2:6, Revelation 2:23, 20:13).

The New Testament shows us that God will judge, both on the Last Day and in time. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” However, after a generation of time during which Jerusalem had opportunity to repent and did not, judgment came upon the city. Jerusalem was destroyed in A. D. 70, an act of judgement that Jesus prophesied in Luke 19:43-44. Thus, he who prayed for their forgiveness was also their just judge when they refused to repent.

When we respond to evil with good and forgive those who wrong us, we maintain our innocence and commit the responsibility of judgment to God. This is not about being weak. It is about fighting the right battle. We are not trying to vindicate our pride by proving ourselves right in some temporal dispute. We are aiming to win the larger eternal war. We are aiming to stand blameless among the redeemed on the Last Day.

And we are a sign of the presence of Christ in the world. In the gospel (John 2:1f.) Jesus turned water into wine, a miracle that revealed him to be the creator, the one who changes things. St. John says that in this sign, Jesus “manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed in him.” In a similar miracle, Jesus has changed us from ordinary, fallen, vengeful and angry people into blameless children of God who are able to be gracious as God is gracious. This transformation is revealed through our changed behavior, as we refuse to avenge ourselves, as we respond to the evil with the good, as we love, even our enemies. In this way God’s glory is manifested through us, so that others might see and believe.

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The baptism of Jesus (the Gospel, Mark 1:1f.) is both an event and an archetype. An archetype is, by one definition, “the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based” (dictionary.com). The baptism of Jesus is the pattern or model for what is means to be genuinely human.

In Genesis God formed man from the ground and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). The whole creation was formed by the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2). However, man was given the Spirit of God in a unique way. Man is the bearer of God’s image in a way that other created beings are not.

Man’s vocation was to live in union with God through the Spirit and rule over God’s creation. Man lost his vocation of dominion through sin. Man died the day man sinned in that he suffered spiritual death. He lost his connection to the very source of life, which meant that he would eventually suffer physical death as well.

In his baptism, Jesus is revealed to be the New Man. The Spirit of God rests upon him so that he lives in perfect union with God, as God’s Son. This reveals that Jesus came to reclaim the human vocation. He came to conquer (or exercise dominion over) our enemies–Satan, sin and death. He came to restore to us the gift of the Spirit and bring us back into the union with God that we lost through sin.

Jesus is God’s natural and eternally begotten Son. We become God’s children by grace as we are recreated in his image. In one sense, all people are created in God’s image. However, the image of God in fallen man is marred and obscured by sin. That image can only be fully restored to us through the gift of the Spirit.

This is the meaning of baptism. In baptism, we pray that God will grant to the child or person “that which by nature he cannot have” (BCP 274). The water is the sign and instrument by which we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the gift of the Spirit, we are brought back into union with God, we reclaim our vocation of dominion and enjoy again the privilege of being God’s children. We become what human beings were meant to be.

The Bible teaches us that with the gift of the Spirit come gifts of the Spirit. Our epistle (Romans 12:6f.) says that we each have “gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.” These spiritual gifts are to be understood in the light of our restored humanity. They enable us to be and do what God has called us to be and do.

God gives certain things to all baptized people of faith possess. Chief among these are the virtues of faith hope and love. Who we are and what we do is rooted is our faith in God, in our sure and certain hope of resurrection and life in the world to come and in the motive of love or charity, which causes us to seek God’s glory and serve others.

In Confirmation, the Bishop prays that each person being confirmed will daily increase in “thy manifold gifts of grace: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness” and that God will fill us “with the spirit of thy holy fear” (BCP 297).

Then there are particular gifts that some are given in greater measure. The epistle mentions ministry or service, teaching, exhortation or encouragement and giving. All Christians are called to exercise these gifts from time to time. For example, if we encounter someone who is discouraged, we can’t neglect them by saying we lack the gift of exhortation. Yet, some have these gifts in extraordinary measure. As they serve, teach, exhort and give they, and those they minister to, are edified in unique ways.

Some spiritual gifts come when the Holy Spirit transforms a natural talent into a supernatural gift, while some gifts come when the Holy Spirit calls a person to do new things. Some gifts result from conversion of a sin or error into a gift. The Holy Spirit changed St. Paul’s anger into love, and his persecution of the church into remarkable gifts of service for the church. The gift of giving is sometimes given to those who were formerly covetous and stingy. Sin is a perversion of the good. A converted soul will often manifest gifts that are the opposite of his former sins.

A spiritual gift is a vocation not a hobby. It is not merely, “I have the gift of teaching. Therefore, if asked, I will volunteer to teach a class at church.” It is, rather, “I have the gift of teaching. Therefore, I will be constantly watchful for the opportunities God gives me to teach others–at work, rest and play, as well as in formal church settings.

The use of gifts is not always focused on the visible goals of the tasks at hand. A worker may be stuck doing work that does not pertain to any particular spiritual gift. Yet, spiritual gifts can still be exercised in the way the work is done and the way people are treated in the doing of the work. The Holy Spirit leads us to aim higher than merely climbing a corporate ladder or getting more for ourselves at the expense of others. The Holy Spirit challenges us to love and serve in places where people are doing other things. Wresting with this challenge is the proper focus of our faith.

God has given us the Spirit to prepare us for the world that is to come, the new heavens and the new earth that God is preparing for his new people. When our hope is fulfilled, everyone will find their true place, everyone’s gifts will be fully utilized and everyone will love fully and be fully loved. Until then, we are called to shine as lights in the midst of the darkness of this world.

This is why we shouldn’t get too caught up in the scorecard of the world, where all results are temporary. Rather, we ought to remember our baptisms and the gift of the Spirit. We ought to ask what I, a child of God and bearer of the Spirit, am called to be and do given the unique challenges I face. And we ought to thank God for the gifts he has given to others that help and encourage us in the way. For, in Christ, we also have become beloved children, with whom God is well-pleased.

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