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"Another Road"
By now, I would guess that your Christmas gifts and decorations, or most of them anyway, are put away, and your homes have been put back into order. Your dwellings are again your own after, perhaps, a parade of family and friends – a blessing while they’re there and maybe a blessing also when they leave. And, some of us may be sighing with relief – not because we dislike the season, but because Christmas-time can be overwhelming and, at the least, is an interruption to our everyday schedules. So, yes, some of us may be saying or at least feeling, "Phew, it’s over."
Christmas-time may be over, but the celebration of the incarnation of God in Jesus continues today on the day we call Epiphany, and it always falls on January 6 ( but, of course, not always on a Sunday, like today). Some churches treat Epiphany as a feast day and celebrate it every year no matter the day of the week. Other churches (like ours) don’t have a set practice of celebrating the holiday. I grew up in the Methodist Church and knew, or at least remembered, very little about either the word or its significance. So, today, we’re going to be asking: "Just what is Epiphany anyway?" The word comes from a Greek word meaning "appearance" or "manifestation" or "revelation." Webster’s adds other meanings such as: . . . manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something . . . an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking . . . an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure . . . . [1] The early Western Church (the church of Rome) adopted the word epiphany to describe the feast that climaxed the Advent/Christmas season. The origin of the day itself, January 6 (or sundown on the 5th), was actually tied to a celebration by the early Eastern Church of the nativity as well as the visit of wise men, Jesus’ first miracle and his baptism. The Eastern Church did (and still does) follow a different calendar than the Western Church and, therefore, never celebrated a separate Christmas on December 25. At some point, the west named the days between December 25 and January 6 as the 12 Days of Christmas and ended them with the feast of Epiphany. January 6 also became, for the west, the specific day to celebrate the visit of the wise men as well as the beginning of a season that ends the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and includes Sundays marked to commemorate both Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration. We have answered, then, at least in terms of the church calendar, what Epiphany is. This bit of church history, however, only begins to answer our question of the day. We still need to go further to understand the meaning of Epiphany. First, the three special celebrations before Lent beginning with the celebration of the wise men’s visit on Epiphany and including the baptism of the Lord and his transfiguration, all clearly point to Jesus as the incarnation. Epiphany reminds us that the revelation of the Word become flesh of the Christmas nativity is only the beginning. This fantastic revelation, this illuminating manifestation of God in Jesus Christ comes to us again and again. In Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord and the Transfiguration, then, we have yet another chance to hear God revealing who Jesus is and what he means to the world. As to understanding the meaning of today’s celebration of Epiphany, of that visit to the Christ child by the wise men, let’s start with the scripture. Let’s go back to the story in Matthew to see what we are to learn. We don’t learn much about the wise men themselves from the text. While tradition has crowned them kings, given them names and identified them as three, we really know only a few things about these men. The Greek word used in Matthew, which we translate as wise men and from which we get our word, Magi, tells us that there was more than one as the noun is in the masculine, plural case. We also know, again from other writings, that the Magi were of a non-Jewish priestly class in Persia and that they were trained in astrology and dream interpretation - making them important in their culture, but not kings. Scripture tells us that the Magi had somehow heard of a child born King of the Jews, but gives us no clues as to how they might have heard the news. We know from the context provided by contemporaneous writings, Roman as well as others, that, at the time of Jesus’ birth, "there was in the world a strange feeling of expectation of the coming of a king." [2] In this context, therefore, the Magi may have been actively seeking the news of such a birth. We know from scripture that in whatever way they knew of the birth, the Magi responded to the news by trying to find this new king and to see him personally. Matthew tells us that their quest leads them to Jerusalem, and there they encountered Herod. We know from history that Herod was the man of Jewish heritage appointed by the Romans to rule the conquered Jewish people. He was a progressive leader, in some ways, but was overall a cruel and bloody tyrant. Matthew tells us that that Herod was also anxious about the rumored birth, but, for far different reasons. Herod was anxious because of fear, fear that he would loose power to this newborn king. Matthew next tells us that the Magi left Jerusalem and followed a star[3] to Bethlehem where they found the newborn king. We learn that they found Jesus; and, they worshipped him falling to their knees and paying homage with their three royal gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. At some point, Matthew intimates that the Magi slept; and, in a dream were warned not to return to Herod. And, finally, we know from that the Magi heeded this warning and left for home by another road so as not to return to Herod. What then can we say about the meaning of this story? What do we learn from the visit to Jesus by the Magi, from this particular revelation or epiphany of the Word become flesh? One of the meanings is the unmistakable conclusion that the good news of God in Jesus Christ is not just for God’s chosen people, Israel, but is for others as well. Loud and clear, the story of the non-Jewish Magi tells us that God is not the God of any one people or one tradition or one denomination or one faith, and that God’s love through Jesus’ open arms extends to all peoples, all nations. And, in the story of the Magi we’re whisked forward to the last words, the command of the resurrected Jesus, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . ." (Matthew 28:19). The story of the Magi offers other lessons as well. In a softer, more subtle voice, the story of the Magi also tells us that an epiphany involves choice: the choice to hear the news of Jesus’ coming and to persevere until he is found; the choice, once he is found, to worship and adore him; and, finally the choice to reject the fears and powers of the world and, having found him, to follow a different way, another way. The answer to the question of the day, "Just what is Epiphany?" Well, Epiphany, like Christmas, is the chance, once again, to hear the good news that God loves all people, loves us so much that he came into our history. Epiphany is God’s invitation to pursue this good news until we, too, can personally know Jesus and be able to fall to our knees in worship and rise again taking a new path for our lives. Webster’s said it well: epiphany – a "manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something." Epiphany – a realization God revealed his essential nature, his real meaning for life in Jesus Christ. I want to leave you with the story of an epiphany. This story is based on one that was first penned in 1959, but has appeared again and again in newspapers over the years and no doubt has found its way into many a scrapbook and many a file and, I’m sure, many another sermons. This story was written by the senior editor of the UPI (United Press International) and is entitled "A Christmas Parable" - a story that may not reflect facts, but does reflect deep truths. Once upon a time there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot of humbug. He wasn’t a Scrooge. He was a kind and decent person . . .. But he didn’t believe all that stuff about Incarnation . . . saying that [he simply couldn’t] understand this claim that God becomes man. It doesn’t make any sense to me." On Christmas Eve his wife and children went to church for the midnight service. He declined to accompany them. "I’d feel like a hypocrite," he explained. "I’d rather stay at home. But I’ll wait up for you." Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting heavier and heavier. . . [and then] went back to his chair by the fireside and began to read his newspaper. A few minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. It was quickly followed by another, then another. . . . . When he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the storm. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to fly through his window. "I can’t let these poor creatures lie there and freeze," . . . . He put on his coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn . . . opened the door wide and turned on a light. But the birds didn’t come in. "Food will lure them in," he thought. So he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn. To his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by . . . waving his arms. They scattered in every direction - except into the warm lighted barn. "They find me a strange and terrifying creature," he said to himself, "and I can’t seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me. If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety. . . ." Just at that moment the church bells began to ring. He stood silent for a while, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. Then he sank to his knees in the snow. "Now I do understand," he whispered. "Now I see why You had to do it." Epiphanies aren’t always sentimental experiences such as this story of the snowy Christmas Eve. I think that epiphanies are lifetime and can be even ordinary experiences. For some they are specific moments, for others the connection of moments that open a new door in our relationship with God. For me, a significant epiphany came after years of struggling with God when, and I can’t even tell you the exact year, I realized that my unanswered questions of faith had been replaced with a new sense of understanding and acceptance. It took many more years, however, before that epiphany matured into a complete acceptance that in the baby born in Bethlehem was indeed God, the Word became flesh. Christmas time is over. Yet, the epiphany, the revelation of the God who came into our midst as the newborn king has just begun. Just what is an epiphany anyway? Perhaps we can summarize the answer this way. An epiphany is when we accept God’s invitation to hear the good news of Jesus, to follow the star until we find him and then, having found him, to worship and adore him - and then to take another road home. Now all glory to God, the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. __________________________________ |
Darla
Blatnik