Epiphany Sunday
The prophet Isaiah speaks to the nation about the Redeemer who will come, in the verse just before our reading this morning with these words, “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit which is upon you and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your children, or out of the mouth of your children’s children, says the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore.”
Then Isaiah speaks to Israel about the light of the world which is to come upon the nation, the glory of the Lord rising upon the people of God. This glory and light will be in the midst of a great darkness upon the land. Israel will be walking in the shadow of the valley of death, but they should fear no evil, for the Lord is with them, the Redeemer of the world will be revealed in the glorious light which kings from every other land will recognise as the only true light and come to worship on the holy mountain, Zion where the Lord dwells. Israel must raise their eyes in order to see the reality which is round about them, that all of the world is actually ready to worship the Lord our God.
When we see this vision of the world turning to faith, to worship at the feet of the Lord, then will our hearts thrill and rejoice. We shall see the sight and be radiant, we too shall be part of the light of the world because of our faith in the one true Lord. This Lord is the one to whom gold and frankincense will be brought in long caravans. It will be stacked up in mountains of gifts before the throne of grace, the throne on which the Son of God sits. We know this is the case, for two thousand years ago those wise men brought those same gifts to lay at the feet of the boy-child in the manger in the stable at Bethlehem. Those who sought Jesus’ life have died and no longer threaten, so the Christ must be made known to the world today.
We need to speak of God’s being with us in the person of his son, Jesus the Christ, that earthly presence of the divine which sanctifies our lives here and now, as has so often been said, if we have faith, that faith the size of a mustard seed … But that was last weeks talk, wasn’t it? I will not dare repeat myself.
It is the visit of the wise men to which Isaiah points in his prophetic writing so many years before the birth of Jesus. The wise men whom we remember on Epiphany. Thus the gospel reading today.
Epiphany means literally, “appearing.” So when we celebrate the Epiphany of Christ, we celebrate when we are able to see Jesus the Christ. Thus the gospel reading today tells of the Jesus being recognised by John the Baptist. Often the reading for today is the wedding at Cana, for in the Gospel of John we hear that this was the first of the signs he did.
Whether it is the wise men or the miracles Jesus did, I think, does not matter. That Jesus revealed himself, that is the significant point. That Jesus revealed himself and that we have recognised his appearance, the relationship between Jesus and the person who sees, like the blind man in the hymn Amazing Grace, that relationship is what Epiphany tells me about.
I am sure that all of you are aware how differently the gospel accounts begin.
Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus and then tell the story of the birth.
Mark begins with a bold statement: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.
Luke tells who the writer is, before he tells the story of Jesus’ birth.
And John tells us about the Word.
How much more differently can stories begin? Nevertheless, each of the stories told begin to reveal to us our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Each one tells us, in his own way, how Christ means in time and space for each one of the writers and those for whom he wrote, his audience. We must count ourselves in the audience, for we are listening to the different gospellers, aren’t we? And after all, we all have our favourite gospel, don’t we?
So we are coming to an intimate relation with Jesus Christ when we tell the story or listen to the story through the various gospels. We are seeing Christ as he appears. Everyone sees Christ in Gloucester when they look to the cathedral; everyone who stops by and stares at this beautiful, little church sees Christ revealed for all. If only we would speak about what we see! Our stories are so very different, but all the same, for at the heart of everyone’s story is the coming of Christ, the appearance of Christ in their lives. This is Christ’s Epiphany.
The passion with which we tell the story to one another is what makes us Hot Gospellers, not Hot Gossipers, I hasten to add. So let us tell the story of the coming of Christ passionately, which means with the whole of our beings, not just in the heat of the moment. Passion is another badly understood word, isn’t it? Passion is the story of Christ on the cross, not feelings which soon grow cold. So like Christ on the cross, we must tell the story with the whole of our lives, with the fabric of our being.
The wise men did so when they travelled to Bethlehem, risking life and limb to reach where the light of the world shone out. They brought the gifts to the Saviour of the world, just as we brought our gifts to our friends and relations for Christmass Day.
Let us passionately share the good news that God is with us, and that the kingdom of God is at hand. This is the preaching that Jesus uttered throughout the whole of his ministry, just as the gospels tell us, so should we. Today let us participate in the Epiphany, making clear what Jesus means in his coming to us. As Isaiah tells us, our hearts should thrill, we should be giddy with excitement for the light of life has dawned upon us.