Rev. Cecil Van Niejenhuis
Jan 18, 2026
Exodus 3:7-4:17, John 1:29, Isaiah 49:1-7, I Corinth 1:1-9
It is the second Sunday after Epiphany, today.
Epiphany---it is, I often think, the season of “AHA!”
It’s about God stepping into our world in the person of Jesus…
God revealing who at heart, God is!
And we—we having our eyes opened to see, to sense, to revel in what God is
doing…Ah! And…to join in!
The readings for today again include the story of Jesus’ baptism…they actually dovetail
seamlessly with last week’s readings…
…the images we were left with…
Of wind and water—both of which do not know borders!
No passports required…for the Nile or the Jordan
No lines drawn…
Well—the same is true for a bird such as the dove…birds cross borders easily!!
And so the readings for today say it again:
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy…
The Servant Isaiah speaks of—that Servant will bless Israel…yes….
---but not only Israel!
The Servant will be a light for the Gentiles!!!
And when John sees Jesus---he says---Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!!! Of the world.!!
This is no small thing that God is doing. Jesus, lamb of God, has come to deal with sin,
yes, my sin—yours, yes---and
----“for God so loved the world….
Jesus.
This revelation of God---is for all people. Everyone.
Anyone.
Now, here’s the surprising thing. God enlists people, people like you and me—ordinary, human
beings of every kind, and any kind…God enlists people as partners.
Think about that.
God doesn’t really need our help, does he?
I mean, God is God!
God can do anything, everything—anything, everything God wants.
And when God does something—he does it well.
Yet one of the most consistent, persistent threads that weaves through the Bible’s story is that
God has chosen to give us people a whole raft of responsibility!!!
--right from the very beginning, when God created “all things.”
God gave us work to do…set us in the garden to till the soil…
Gave us authority to deal well with animals and plants and resources…
This creation, my kingdom…is your home! And I’m giving you the keys.
Take good care of this place.
I created you in my image…capable….
You are my flesh and blood presence in the world…
Represent me to each other, and to every creature, and to the creation itself…
God has been calling us…and equipping us…as his partners…partners---all along.
--God knows we aren’t nearly as qualified as Godself…
God could easily say—this isn’t going well…wrong channel… bad idea…
Let me just do things myself…
Except that in the long story that the Bible tells, what is revealed is that God delegates work to
us. It’s part of the mystery of God, and God’s ways…
C.S. Lewis said it like this:
“God seems to do nothing of himself which God can possibly delegate to his
creatures. God commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what God could do perfectly and in
the twinkling of an eye.”
He calls people. Isaiah’s Servant
Jesus…God’s Son
And the church—the people who follow Jesus. You. Me.
God calls and God equips…
It’s why Jesus was baptized and the Spirit descended on him…
Jesus—you’re good to go!
It’s what Paul reminds the Corinthian church of—you’ve been called, and
you’ve been blessed with all kinds of gifts—equipped for service…the Holy
Spirit of God has descended upon you…lives in you…
Which sounds great. Simple, right. Called…equipped---it’s a done deal…
…except…it’s not.
Isaiah’s servant didn’t think he was qualified…and needed convincing…God promising to do
more than imaginable…
Jesus…Jesus wrestled with his Father---remember? He was called, and equipped, yes…but what
a long road for him…and how Jesus had to sweat…
And that church in Corinth? Oh, they were gifted, they were…but read that letter, and discover
how challenging it was for them…They failed so starkly, so spectacularly…
So, God, why do you do this?
---it seems so inefficient…
I’m reminded of another chapter in the Bible’s story…
Remember when God’s people were in Egypt?
Slaves?
On the verge of being squeezed to death?
God comes to Moses then—and says “I have seen the misery of my people
Heard their cries
I am concerned about their suffering
And I have come down to rescue them!!!
And you think---Great! God has arrived. Let’s watch God be God and take care of things!!
But what God does is delegate!!
God says to Moses: I’m calling you, sending you, equipping you…
And there’s this whole long exchange between Moses and God…
Who me??
You want me to go to Pharaoh and get this done??
And God assures Moses…Yes…you will be going in My name…
Here are samples of my work to take with you
And you can take your brother Aaron with you…
And I will be with you…
God chooses to get God’s work done, by involving us.
This is part of God’s design for the creation.
It’s God’s way. God’s Method of Operating.
And, yes, we might say it is inefficient. Slow and riddled with risk.
But God prefers not to bypass us.
God prefers.
Insists
Calls and send us, and promises to be with us through the indwelling Spirit
What I am about, says God…
What I am intent on accomplishing…
Is the good news that in Jesus---I am making all things new.
I am doing this, says God…
And I am doing it in you… and through you…
To believe that…
To honor that
To live the truth of that---I have gotten things started. You must now join in…
You may join in…That’s the wonder of it…
That’s the grace of it…
To join with God—to partner with God…responsibility? Challenge? Oh yes..
And deeper still…it’s privilege. It’s a God with all power…stooping ever so
gently, and empowering those who are relatively weak!!!
Oh—we might want to say..
Jesus himself would be a much better person to do this job
Jesus should speak for himself.
Why couldn’t Jesus just continue to walk on this earth?
Jesus is more articulate…
Jesus has more integrity
Jesus has more cachet…
And God says—I will be with you. I want you to join in.
God delegates authority
God delegates responsibility
God chooses to get God’s work done through us. With us.
I wonder then, when I think about how deeply this desire of God runs…
This desire that we share in the work…
I wonder if it was painful then, for God to finally send Jeus into the world? God had to
acknowledge at that point—that there was something God had to do for us.
We couldn’t deal with our sin.
We couldn’t mend what was broken
I’ll have to do it myself.
Do it myself???
I’ll do it for you??
This is exactly what God has not chosen to do, all along.
In God’s great mercy, God sent Jesus to do what only Jesus could do.
--Ah—but even then, God ensured that Jesus would be joined by all of his
followers…united with them through the mystery of faith…
And what Jesus came to do, has become ours to carry through.
God wants our help.
Insists on it.
Calls us to it.
So gracious of God…and so audacious.
By worldly standards, foolishness.
Yet it is the way of God.
In God’s wisdom, we have been called to represent God in this life.
In the workplace… At home
In the marketplace… At school,
In the voting booth and in public discourse
In our posture…
To act justly…to love mercy…to walk humbly
To lean into…tilt towards the making all things new that is promised in Jesus….
Who knows? The way you live and carry yourself…
The way I live and carry myself…
Who knows but it may be an epiphany for others…Ah! Aha!
So that’s what the Christian faith looks like! Flesh and blood good news.