St. Patrick: Intimacy with God

1^st Sunday After Epiphany: Jan. 13, 2013 The Episcopal Church of the Ascension

To See the Face of God The Reverend Dr. Howard J. Hess

I. Introduction. Echoes of the past in the present and the future. The older I become, the more fully I comprehend that new learning in life often comes in repeated experiences that unfold in circles. Once I believed that life experience was linear; that life would expand until roughly the age of 30. As time passed, I changed this age to 35, then 40, then 45, and onward, with some trepidation. But as I’ve lived on, I have discovered a wonderful aspect of God’s creativity – that our lives unfold in circles; and that when we are at our God-given best, we circle back to old experiences and old insights. Each time we re-visit them, there is something new to be learned. It has become my belief that it is very likely that we will continue to learn and grow even as we enter our next resurrected lives. Thus it is with my understanding of the baptism of Jesus. I have tended to see Jesus’ baptism as a powerful expression of the Trinity, and that it is. But I also believe that Jesus’ baptism is one of the first situations in which Jesus drew others into a relationship with him and in which God’s love for and affirmation of Jesus parallels God’s love for and affirmation of us.

I have always been particularly drawn to the story in Les Miserables, but only recently have I begun to understand how theological the underpinnings of that story are. I’m aware that some of you are more familiar with the story than others, and hope to use this story as a way of better understanding the importance of God’s love and affirmation of his Son at the time of his baptism as well as the importance of God’s love and affirmation in our baptism, our redemption, and our resurrection. I remember when I first saw the story come alive on the stage approximately twenty-five years ago in London, England. It is a story of social injustice and turmoil in 19^th century France. The lead character has been unfairly imprisoned and we vividly see his suffering as well as the suffering of many others. We saw the performance with our two children. The play had a powerful impact on all of us. I have a watercolor hanging in my office that my young daughter gave me with a quote from the play: “To love another person is to see the face of God.” At that time I was a therapist and teacher and had worked for years with others who had been harmed and beaten down by the personal and social forces around them. The life stories of those with whom I had worked were the same stories as those of the characters in Les Miserables. I had met many mothers struggling to care for their children, and many children who yearned to be loved. Without being able to name it, I knew that the story was a narrative of redemption. I couldn’t articulate the theology behind this work at that time, but I knew it was there. I now look back and understand that God was present in the relationships between the characters in this story just as God is present between Jesus and the bystanders among whom he is baptized.

II. Fifteen years later, Les Miserables came back into my life as a spiritual experience. This occurred while I was listening to a sermon in All Saints Episcopal Church in Leonia, NJ – the church that sponsored me for the priesthood. That sermon was about the priest in Les Mis. In the story, JeanValJean, the central character, had been imprisoned for fifteen years for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving family. He has just been released from prison, but is unable to find work and therefore becoming desperate. He seeks refuge in the home of a priest. But hardened by his suffering, he steals the priest’s silver. Caught, he is brought back for certain re-imprisonment. However, the priest refuses to accuse him, and instead says to the police: “I gave this silver to him.” The priest then says to JeanValJean, “Oh, my brother, you forgot these two silver candlesticks. Now go and begin a new life.” The priest I met in that sermon knew that JeanValJean’s soul was of greater value than all the silver he possessed; so he forgave JeanValJean and urged him to start anew. In spite of all of our flaws, when we see, as this priest did, the deep way that God loves us and values our souls, then we too can become part of the redemption story. And we see that this redemption story is at heart a story of affirmation. This is clear in Luke’s report of Jesus’ baptism. Just after Jesus was baptized he prayed, and the dove, the gentle dove, descended upon him. God said, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Love and affirmation are always part of our redemption narrative.

III. Fast Forward to New Years 2012. On New Years Eve we went with friends to see the film version of Les Miserables. Of course I saw again all that I had seen before, but I also saw something new. As JeanValJean comes close to the end of his life it is clear that his redemption story has been lifelong. In each of our lives there are continuous new opportunities to choose redemption and resurrection. We will not always know what these choice points will involve or when they will come, but they will keep coming. And as we decide how to respond, we are creating the mosaic of our lives. In the Finale of Les Miserables JeanValJean is confessing his life story to Cosette, the young girl he has raised as his own. He is preparing to die and to return home to God. His life story includes challenge, regret, heroism, and at the end, resurrection. In the final moments of the play, JeanValJean dies and is ushered into his next life by others who have died before him. The work of redemption has moved into resurrection. As I saw the story of JeanValJean’s life, I saw the presence of Christ, Christ who came to the people and began his ministry in baptism. I see Christ standing there among the people, hearing his Father say to him, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” But I now see beyond this exchange. I hear God saying to us, to you and to me, “You are my son, you are my daughter, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

IV. Conclusion. My brothers and sisters, the narrative of our culture is changing right in front of us. Many, many are seeking a path of redemption, but don’t really believe they can find it among us in the Christian Church. Our culture has developed fears, skepticisms, uncertainties, and divisions that at times seem to be capable of engulfing us. But as we’ve recently heard so clearly in the Prologue to the Gospel of John, the light has come to dwell among us and the darkness cannot extinguish it. We understand that, you and I. We know that the darkness cannot overcome the light. Thomas Merton once wrote about a spiritual epiphany he had on the streets of Louisville, Kentucky. He was on a street corner in an area where many people were passing him. Then in a moment he saw a light emanating from each of these persons. He described his awareness that the light of Christ filled them, and he yearned to tell them what he saw. He felt deep, deep love for them. But he struggled with the question, “How can I tell them? How?” Today, I would like to share that I see that light in you. And I would like to encourage all of us to reach out and take the gifts of love, affirmation, redemption, and resurrection that God has for us. Today, God is saying to each of us: “You are my son; you are my daughter, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”