Sermon on January 18, 2026
“Signs and Manifestations”
By: The Very Rev. Pamela Dolan
The Gospel readings during the Sundays after Epiphany are all variations on a theme. Regardless of what lectionary year we’re in, the readings serve the same purpose, which is to help us figure out who Jesus is and what his ministry means for us today. As such, the readings always touch on baptism, on light, on journeys, and on signs from God. The famous Epiphany hymn we sang just a few minutes ago, “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise,” repeatedly focuses our attention on stories that show “God in man [sic] made manifest.” If we can ignore the reflexive gender exclusivity of the word “man” for a moment, we can appreciate how God’s glory is made manifest in episode after episode in the life and ministry of Jesus.
The hymn, like the season, starts with the birth and baptism of Jesus and then quickly jumps to his first miracle, that lovely story of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana; from there, it highlights moments of healing and exorcism and then the glorification of Jesus on the mountaintop and ultimately even the Cross and empty tomb.
All of these episodes are portrayed as manifestations of God’s glory in the person of Jesus, and all of them are meant to color what we hear and learn and pray about during this season, these few short weeks between Epiphany and Lent. Sometimes these events are even called “little epiphanies,” because they are all moments of manifestation, moments that give us glimpses into the reality of who Jesus is and what he means to the world.
Our Gospel today begins with one of those key moments of “God in man made manifest,” the Baptism of Jesus. Now if you’re thinking we already heard this story last week, you’re right. Sort of. Last week, though, we heard Matthew’s version, which as Deacon Margaret pointed out in her sermon, focuses on the exchange between Jesus and his cousin John, an exchange marked by both righteousness and humility. Today’s telling of the story, found in John’s Gospel, has a different emphasis.
The first portion of the passage, the portion specifically about baptism, focuses on the identity of Jesus. Twice John points at Jesus with the words, “Here is the Lamb of God,” a revealing of the identity of Jesus that happens far earlier than in the other Gospels. John also recounts his own experience of baptizing Jesus, making it clear that it was in that moment, seeing the dove and hearing God’s voice, that he clearly recognized Jesus for who he really was. He even refers to his own ministry of baptism as being for the explicit purpose of revealing the identity of Jesus to Israel. That’s such an easy point to overlook in this dense passage: John’s ministry and mission help manifest the true nature of Jesus to the world. Surely that should give us a hint about what the purpose of our own mission and ministry must be. In John’s Gospel, then, the Baptism of Jesus is primarily a sign, a way of revealing and testifying to the identity of Jesus as the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ.
In the second part of the Gospel passage, the part where Jesus encounters Andrew and a second, unnamed, disciple, the emphasis shifts from recognizing Jesus to following Jesus. At first, the disciples follow him surreptitiously, without approaching him, obviously intrigued by John’s insistence that this man is the Lamb of God, but quite possibly a little afraid, too. Jesus is the one who initiates their encounter, turning around and asking the question, “What are you looking for?” and then following it up with the invitation, “Come and see.”
I love those words of Jesus: “What are you looking for” and “Come and see.” We could gain a lot of clarity about our own mission and ministry by asking ourselves that question and then deciding again and again to assent to that invitation. And is it just me, or is there something a little mischievous, a little playful, in the way Jesus speaks to these disciples? Whatever his tone, it clearly works, for the disciples do follow him, and stay with him, and one of them even goes and finds his brother Simon Peter and convinces him to become a disciple, too. (And where all of thatleads is, as they say, a story for another time.)
The serious point here is that the Gospel is reminding us that you can’t get to know Jesus just by learning about him, and you can’t get to know Jesus from a careful, polite distance. You get to know Jesus by following him, by going where he goes and loving the people he loves and seeing the world as he sees it. In John’s Gospel, the Baptism of Jesus is a sign, in the sense of being a revelation of the identity of Jesus. But it is also a sign in the sense of a signpost, something pointing to Jesus and, with big flashing lights saying, “Follow him.” Or, as Jesus himself puts it, “Come and see.”
Ultimately, then, the season we’re in asks us to move from noticing how Jesus manifests the glory of God in his life and ministry to challenging ourselves to do the same. This is the time to ask, as individuals and as a church, not only where we see God already made manifest in the world, but also what can we do to manifest God for others, to follow in Christ’s footsteps and be a light to the nations.
And when I say, “the season we’re in,” I don’t just mean the season of Epiphany. I mean the season the world is in today. Last week Margaret reminded us of the words of the great prophet Martin Luther King, Jr., who said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. These are appropriate words for us to continue to contemplate today, especially as the country will mark a holiday in his honor in the midst of the most conflicted and divided political and social context our country has seen for at least half a century. And, I want to add that I think sometimes we as a society need reminding that Dr. King was not suggesting that the arc will just bend that way on its own, so we just need to be patient and wait until it happens and all is set to right.
No. I’m convinced that Dr. King, as much as any martyr this country has ever known, understood that it is our job to do all we can to make sure that the bend toward justice happens. That’s what following Jesus does. It helps move the needle, bend the arc, bring us closer to the reality of the Beloved Community we all so ardently desire.
This past week, thousands of Episcopalians joined an online prayer vigil in order to “mourn, lament, and remember those who have died due to immigration enforcement or while in detention.” We prayed for Renee Nicole Good and for so many others who are being hurt by the cruel and chaotic actions of our government. It was a powerful experience. And I’d like to end with the moving words of Craig Loya, Bishop of Minnesota, who said in his reflection:
“In this moment, like so many that have come before, love calls us to give ourselves away. Love may very well call us to put our very lives on the line. We may not feel like we are able to stop what is happening in this place, or others that are surely yet to come. But no matter the outcomes, we will not be moved. We will continue to stand up. We will continue to stand with. We will march in the streets, and deliver food to those locked in their homes, and flood our legislators with calls for the madness to stop. And because we have each other, because we are carried along by the Spirit’s river of love, the weariness will not overcome us. The anger will not consume us.”
He went on to talk about the importance of taking the time to mourn and weep and even vent our anger. And then, he concluded, “Tomorrow…We get on with the business of resisting with love, of disrupting with hope, of agitating with joy because we know that love has already won. Our work is to show up, every day, in every place, using all we are to show the world its victory, until God’s love is fully and gloriously done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Resisting with love. Disrupting with hope. Agitating with joy. Those sound to me like very good ways to make God’s light and love manifest in the world today. Amen.
OTHER RECENT SERMONS
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