January 2, 2022 – Epiphany of the Lord (anticipated)
“All of us have received the revelation of Jesus Christ as God’s Saviour of the whole world. As Church, we have to be the same revelatory “crèche” that Bethlehem was for the Wise Men.”
Let us pray. Holy God, one revealed in the perfect Jesus Christ, help us now to open our minds, and our hearts, and our whole lives to receive the gift of your living word for us this day, and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
As I mentioned at the beginning of today’s service, we’re celebrating – anticipating four days early – the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word ‘epiphany’ comes from a Greek word and it means a ‘showing forth’, or a revelation of truth, or the revealing of the true nature or something or someone. We do occasionally use the word even in our secular vocabulary, when suddenly we realize a solution to a difficult problem. We might say, “I’ve got an epiphany – I know what to do.” It’s a very big sort of “ah-hah” moment.
In the case of Jesus, it is the realization that this one born from Mary and Joseph is not just the son of a peasant carpenter and his wife. And yet, of course, the four Gospels are riddled with examples of epiphanies - not just this first one – miracles, healing stories, the raising of Lazarus from the dead – all of them told by Gospel writers to reveal to us this Jesus as the Son of God – the Messiah.
In the Eastern churches, the primary and first revelatory event or epiphany event is the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River, which we will celebrate here next Sunday. In the Western churches (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Protestant churches) the focus for the Epiphany has been the visit of the Magi – the foreigners – non Jews – Gentiles – who recognize Jesus as the King of the Jews but attach even more of a cosmic significance to this event by journeying many miles to pay him homage. This is the one born from God to be the king of the whole world. It is this recognition and honouring by Gentiles that is key. This is the One who will become God’s Saviour – not just of Israel but of all the nations – of all peoples – of the whole world.
Now if you were very observant at the beginning of today’s service, you may have noticed in the crèche that the scene has changed. The shepherds are gone and now the three Wise Men or Magi are front and centre with their camels. And now, even though this picture is theologically correct – that Gentile spiritual leaders are recognizing the significance of Jesus’ birth - historically it’s not really – it’s off the mark. Because Matthew tells us that after the Magi consult with King Herod in Jerusalem, he writes these words, “When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.” On “entering the house” – not the stable where the inn had no room. We learn a little later that when Herod orders the massacre of children in and around Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate this rival king, he orders that massacre for all those two years or younger. So we can conclude that Jesus was probably one to two years old at this point. But our crèche scene is still witnessing to the truth that this baby is born for the sake of the whole world, for all peoples.
Now I want to move to our 2nd Reading – the Letter to the Ephesians. It may not have actually been written by St. Paul – it may have been by a disciple of his. But we’ll refer to Paul. And he explains the global significance of Jesus, the Christ, in this reading. He does it from the perspective of being a Jew. For him, humanity is divided into two groups. There are Jews and there are Gentiles – everybody else who isn’t a Jew. And the Letter talks about this mystery of Christ – a hidden purpose of God’s Messiah not previously revealed but now shown to Paul. Here’s what he says, “the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Now this may not seem like a big deal to us now - two thousand years after the event. But it is huge – and especially to the Jewish hearers of Paul’s day. In the 1st century, Jews and Gentiles mixed together like oil and water. There was not a chance of dissolving the separation and them becoming one solution. But Paul says the mystery of God’s purpose in Jesus Christ brings the two groups together – one humanity formed in Christ. And Paul sees God having commissioned him to start making God’s plan real for the whole world. He writes, “this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things …” Paul then discusses this divine purpose of God in Christ Jesus in the passage in Ephesians of Chapter 2, immediately before today’s reading. He says these words – he says “that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace.” - peace between these two rival and hostile groups. And then he tacks on what I think is a kind of “bombshell” that should still resonate with us today. He says “so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” This statement about being known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places – in the 1st century there was a hierarchical sense to the world – both visible and invisible. So it refers to the top leaders of all the world’s kingdoms – both spiritual and physical. And therefore this will be made known to everyone - through the Church!
This reality of God’s purpose in Jesus Christ to bring all of humanity together as one in God – it is through the Church that this is to happen. This is God’s plan and this is huge! It requires a large and profound shift in our attitude and our actions – even here as members of All Saints. Let me offer an analogy to explain what I think this shift is that needs to take place. Hopefully most of you can relate to it.
When Nancy and I were, respectively, 26 and 27 years old we left our family home in London, Ontario, and moved to northern Alberta. We had been married 6 years but In London we still were surrounded by parents and grandparents and older siblings – lots of what you might call ‘overseers’. But in our new home in Alberta our perspective had to change. No longer were we looking inward at how we would live within the tradition of both of our families. No longer were we navigating our lives for the approval or disapproval of our behaviour by our elders. Now we were looking outward to build a new community. Coupled with this – I was recently ordained. But up until this time my focus was on meeting the expectations of my seminary teachers, or my parish supervising-Rector. Now, when I established myself in northern Alberta, I had to look outward. My congregation was looking to me to help them grasp the truth and mature as disciples of Jesus Christ. And it was no different for Nancy. She had just graduated as a nurse in London, Ontario. Until then, as she had been working as a student nurse – working in various hospital wards – but primarily carrying our proper hospital procedure – following instructions of her supervisors. Now, in this new place, she had to look outward because patients were looking to her to guide them in their health choices – to work with their bodies to help them heal.
So hopefully all of you can relate in some way, in our lives, to this shift from looking primarily inward – focussing on learning and equipping yourself – to looking outward – to putting what you’ve learned into constructive action. And not as a sideline kind of “hobby” but as work for which you are accountable – to help improve and make a different in others’ lives – looking outward.
You and I have received God’s epiphany of Jesus Christ. The mystery of God’s plan has been revealed to us – to All Saints – to the whole Church. That mystery is to witness to the reality of Jesus Christ to the whole world. And we don’t only do this by gathering here as Church and encouraging others to join us. God does it through us in a myriad of ways – through our individual lives as we demonstrate mercy, justice, and love in dealing with others; but especially in our corporate life – the way we support and encourage each other – the way we as a congregation impact out local community – the way we embrace those outside of ourselves who are different from us. This focus – this ‘modus operandi’ – has to become the central purpose of our life as a congregation, and in our personal lives, so that when people look at us, when they experience us, they have an epiphany about Jesus Christ and God’s eternal and loving purpose in Christ – for them.
Today’s Offertory hymn, “Wise Men, they came”, sums it up perfectly for us in the last line of the last verse. Here’s what we will sing, “…make among us your Bethlehem.” We need to think of ourselves as God’s “crèche.” That when people interact with us, individually and collectively, as All Saints, they will experience the revelation and the epiphany of the Son of God – just as you see portrayed in our crèche here – just as the three Wise Men did. This is God’s purpose for us – and this is God’s promise to us.
Amen.
