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Jesus Is Not Wallpaper
by The Rev. Canon Heidi E. Kinner
Year C – Last Sunday After the Epiphany
Luke 9:28-36
February 14, 2010
unedited
Someone recently sent me a short devotional called “Wallpaper.” It talked about how we often treat our relationship with Christ as wallpaper. When we first come to know the Lord as our Savior we are full of excitement and can't take our eyes off Him, but over time our hearts wander and Jesus seems blend into the background, a comfortable, barely noticed aspect of our life.
Well Jesus most assuredly isn't “wallpaper,” and today I want us to see Jesus again with fresh eyes. To do that I want to consider the gospel readings that we have heard during the season of Epiphany. I have chosen these readings in part, because today is the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. A season that began on January 6th when we celebrated the wise men arriving to worship and bring gifts to the infant Jesus.
However, I have chosen these readings primarily because of their relation to the meaning of Epiphany. Epiphany is the Greek word for “manifestation.” At a deep level, it connotes “a manifestation of the essential nature or meaning of something.” In other words, all the gospel readings that we have heard for the last seven weeks have made manifest the true nature and person of Jesus. They are readings that help us see the essential nature of Jesus, and bring Him to the forefront of our vision.
So, we begin with the Epiphany itself and the arrival of the three wise men; Gentiles coming to pay homage to an infant born in Bethlehem; an infant who they know to be the Messiah and King of the Jews. And their gifts made manifest further truth: the gold was a symbol of Jesus' kingship, the frankincense was a symbol of His role as great high priest, and the myrrh a spice used in burial, pointing to the Cross. So, now we see not an infant from a poor family, but we see that Jesus is Messiah, King, High Priest, and the one who will die for both Jews and Gentiles.
The next week we read the account of Jesus' baptism. We have jumped almost thirty years to the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry, which He begins as He will end it, standing with sinners. There on the banks of the Jordan, he took his place next to sinful humanity and was baptized, not as a cleansing for His sins, but as a sign that on the Cross He would bear our sins and wash us clean in His blood. And as He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and the voice of God was heard, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” In His baptism it is made manifest that Jesus is not just a carpenter being cleansed from sin, but that He is the beloved Son of God who will bear our sins so that we can be made clean.
Then we read of the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. Here we see that He is the One who provides for the needs of His people, and that He is the perfect Bridegroom who brings us into the abundant feast of God. All of this begins to point us to the deep truth of who Jesus is, for God Himself is the perfect Bridegroom and only God was able to truly provide for the needs of His children Israel. At the wedding it is made manifest that somehow, in the mystery of the Trinity, Jesus is God.
The fourth and fifth readings in the season of Epiphany are from Luke 4, the account of Jesus preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth. Jesus quoted a passage from Isaiah 61, a passage that foretold the coming of God's chosen and anointed servant who would usher in the Kingdom of God and deliver His people. In a move that certainly tells us that Jesus is not just a nice teacher who can fade into the background, Jesus says, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus reveals Himself as the fulfillment of prophecy, the Messiah, the long-awaited Servant of the Lord, and the bringer of the Kingdom of God.
Last week we read the account of Jesus' call to Simon Peter and the great haul of fish. At Jesus command for Peter to let down his nets, the waters of the Sea of Galilee gave up their fish into the nets. Who controls the waters and all that is in them? Only God. Jesus is not wallpaper. He is not just a teacher or an angler. Jesus is God the Son, the sinless Lord who forgives our sins and who has command over all that is.
Now we turn to today's reading, and see a final epiphany for this season: Jesus is transfigured before the eyes of Peter, James, and John. He radiates forth the glory of God, not like Moses whose face merely reflected the light of God, but from within, dazzling all in His presence. And the voice of God is heard again, “This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to him.” Jesus is the Son of God, but more than that, He is God the Son, mysteriously always the Son and yet always God.
All of these readings manifest the truth about Jesus, and remind us that Jesus is anything but quiet, comfortable, background wallpaper. This child of Mary, this carpenter from Nazareth, this charismatic leader is much, much more. These Epiphany readings show us that Jesus is the King of the Jews from the line of David, the great High Priest, the Messiah, the promised healer and deliverer. Beyond all that, they make manifest the earth-shattering truth that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Savior. He is God the Son incarnate.
This is all more amazing than humans can really fathom, but when we think on it all, it keeps our fickle hearts and wandering minds from consigning Jesus to the wallpaper of our life. But there is another reason that these manifestations of the essential nature of Jesus are important to us, especially as we stand on the brink of Lent: it is because they are crucial truths not just for our understanding, but for our salvation.
Each of the manifestations of Jesus' divinity shining through His humanity, point to God's plan for salvation and Jesus' purpose in dwelling with us. The revelations of who Jesus fully is, also make manifest His plan for our salvation.
You see, Jesus, God the Son who became man and dwelt among us, gave His life so that we could have life. The King of kings and Lord of lords stood in our place and took our judgment. The One who knew no sin took our sin on Himself and it was nailed to the Cross with Him. Jesus, “God incarnate, man divine, was the only one in all of the world through all of history who both owed the debt of human sin, because He was human, and the only one who could also pay the debt because He was God the Son and perfectly obedient to God the Father.
No, Jesus is not wallpaper. He is God the Son become human in order to save us from sin and death and to open the gates of Heaven for us.
May God the Holy Spirit constantly open our eyes to the epiphanies of our Lord. May our minds be drawn back daily to Him and may our hearts burn with holy fire for Him. May we never forget the glorious wonder of Jesus, who is our Lord and our Savior.
Amen.
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