We spoke last week of how the Baptism of the Lord was a “second Epiphany” in Luke’s telling. This week we have… a third Epiphany!?
All the gospels, as we noted, include the story of Jesus’ baptism. But John presents it as opportunity for John the Baptist to testify to the significance of Jesus (Jn 1:29-34). There is no voice of God speaking out, and the dove is a personal manifestation to John the Baptist. John saves the public “showing” of Jesus for the first of the great miracles in his gospel. The wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11) is the occasion where Christ’s power becomes visible: Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs … and so revealed his glory, and his disciples came to believe.
In John’s telling there is also an essential link back to his early life and the important of his mother. She is the one who prompts him into action. John may not include any childhood narrative in his Gospel but this account speaks to the importance of Mary in salvation history as strongly as the story of the Visitation or the Magnificat.
We don’t generally expect to find a link between the gospel reading and the second reading. Today’s passage (1 Cor 12:4-11) is the first in a series from Paul’s first letter to his church in Corinth, which continues over the next six weeks. However, despite the lack of any direct connection, there is a link within the larger view of Scripture.
Scripture in general, and the Gospels in particular, present us with many and widely varying views of God’s relationship with his people – so widely varying that at times there is no way to reconcile them at the detailed level. This diversity was certainly a problem for some in the early church who argued strongly that the church ought to create a single version of the gospels with all the inconsistencies removed (and drop the Old Testament altogether). This didn’t happen and I think we have to see that as an example of how the Spirit works in the church, sometimes in very mysterious ways.
Paul is talking to the Corinthians about the challenges they were having with diversity. They were struggling with the range of roles that were emerging in their new community, and how to rank them and grade the – all those questions that can consume us in any new and growing organization. Paul addresses the same issue in his letter to the church in Ephesus (Eph 4:11), so clearly the Corinthians were not alone in their struggles. We may also struggle with the challenge of diversity – it would doubtless be easier if boundaries were clearer, roles clearly delineated, beliefs systematized and aligned. But as Paul spells out to the Corinthians, and the Ephesians, we mustn’t expect superficial commonality – the common root, the common core, is found in the one Spirit. God, it seems, delights in the diversity of his creation. He is what holds it all together. We have to hold on to that reality even if to us it seems messy and confusing and could be so much better organized.