
We have emerged from Christmas into the Season of Epiphany. Happy New Year and happy season of light!
What is the meaning of Epiphany? You would think from Christmas pageants and the Nativity scenes on Christmas cards that the wise men, shepherds, angels, sheep, and donkeys were all crowded in the stable with Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. But we hear of the shepherds and angels in Luke’s gospel; the wise men, in Matthew’s. Their stories of the birth of Jesus differ in the details; and it seems that the wise men arrived a year or two after Jesus was born.
Yet the coming of the wise men always seems part of the Christmas story. Epiphany reminds us of the foundational idea that the Christmas message transcends geographical and cultural barriers. These men were from the East, from Persia. In the writings of the English monk the Venerable Bede, in the 700s, they were given names – Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar. Melchior was described as “an old man with white hair and a long beard.” Caspar was “young and beardless and ruddy complexioned.” Balthasar was black-skinned and heavily bearded. None of these names are in the Bible – they arose in Christian tradition and legend. The gifts also had special meaning: gold represented a gift appropriate for a king, frankincense symbolized an “oblation worthy of divinity,” and myrrh, a fragrance for burial, “testified to the Son of Man who was to die.”
Even if not historically accurate, these traditions do inform us about the early Christian community. These Gentiles from Persia, the “wise men,” had not grown up knowing the Hebrew scriptures and prophecies. They just wanted to check out this new baby king. Their knowledge was based on nature, the star they saw in the sky, and their experience when they reached the holy family. They were foreigners from a far part of the known world – but they were seeking God.
And isn’t this a message for today’s church? Many people seek answers to spiritual questions. They may look to astrology, to psychic phenomena, to nature, or to Eastern spirituality, in Buddhism, yoga, or Hinduism. They may turn to Judaism, to Islam, or to Christianity. But many are not all that impressed with the Christian church as an institution. They might be suspicious – and not without reason. Many people have experienced the church as hypocritical, narrow-minded, even oppressive – tragic but true. But humans still search for God, in all kinds of places – even in church!
Epiphany is all about revelation and light. Just as the Lord Jesus was revealed to the wise men, a brightly shining light in a dark place, Epiphany reveals the Lord to us too. When we say, “I had an epiphany!” we mean we’ve made a great discovery. The star that lit up Bethlehem’s sky illuminated the Lord Jesus – for the shepherds, for the wise men, and for us. Truly an Epiphany, and a sign of God’s gracious love.
The light of the Lord shines on us all, even in darkness. And so we are blessed! How do we reflect that light in how we live, love, and serve? May the stories of Jesus’ revealing guide us seekers as we strive to keep going, moving forward, not knowing exactly where– but trusting that Jesus walks with us always on this journey so brilliantly lit by love. Let there be light! Amen.
Pastor Janet
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