Epiphany Now

Today is the celebration of Epiphany in the Church year.  This the day which marks the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child in Bethlehem.  They were magi or wise men – no they were not kings but I wouldn’t want to change the words to the carol – We three Magi just doesn’t do it.

The event is called Epiphany.  However, that has a broader meaning than the event celebrated.  The definition of epiphany means, among other things:

(1): a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something

(2): an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking

(3): an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

b: a revealing scene or moment (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epiphany)

In the case of the Magi, it is the revelation of the Christ Child, the long-awaited Messiah, to the Gentiles – the non-Jews from the East.  The concept of epiphany is significant for the idea of being open to revelation from divine sources however it is made manifest.  I was intending to explore a different topic this morning but was inspired to write on this subject after hearing the homily preached yesterday by Rev. Sherry DeJonge.  Rev. Sherry, who is the new incumbent in my parish, explored the Epiphany of the Magi in a way I hadn’t heard before.  She noted that there were two groups of wise men in the story.  There were the Magi from the East bearing gifts.  There were also wise men in Jerusalem where the magi stopped to inquire of king Herod “where the “Messiah was to be born.”    This did not please Herod at all.  He called together another group of wise men, the chief priests and the scribes to find out about this event that would threaten his rule.  They answered that it had been written by the prophet, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea.   

The question raised by Rev. Sherry was why didn’t these scribes and chief priest go with the magi to find he long-awaited Messiah?  They knew their scriptures and knew what had been foretold by the prophet.  This is a very good question and one that has implications for us.  On reflection, I believe that one of the reasons that the other wise men  - those clergy and holy people of the day – did not go to find the Messiah was that they believed it was beyond the realm of possibility that the Messiah,  who would rescue the Jewish people, would be born in such an insignificant place as  Bethlehem.  He would have to be born in a palace or at least a great house.  They probably didn’t know that he was born in a lowly estate in a stable.  But that would only have made it more impossible.  So, they missed their opportunity to seek and worship the Messiah and bring his gifts as the Magi did.

So, what is the lesson for us today, or one of the lessons for us?  IT is very easy for us to fall into the trap which caught the Jerusalem wise men.  They missed the manifestation of the divine – that epiphany which had occurred right on their door step – almost right in front of their noses.  They had the knowledge and information necessary to know and respond to this divine event.  However, they dismissed the possibility that the prophecy was being fulfilled because it didn’t fit their concept, their belief in how it would be fulfilled.

How often do we close ourselves to the way that God is speaking to us today?  We can believe that God is not going to be in our lives in this way – God would only do it with fanfare and drum rolls and trumpets blaring.  It must be a Road to Damascus experience al a Paul in which we are figuratively knocked off our horse and blinded for three day.  God probably does work in that way sometimes but in my experience not often. God speaks to us in ways we don’t expect or can’t imagine.  And we dismiss those ways just as the Jerusalem wise men could not imagine the Messiah being born in little, insignificant Bethlehem.

God speaks to us in more ways than we can imagine.  Our mistake is to put limits on God – to create God in our image rather than the other way around.

Blessings on your Journey to find the Messiah wherever he or she might appear.

Sermon January 10, 2016 Epiphany & the Baptism of Jesus

It is always a bit of a surprize to me when we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus following so closely on Epiphany—the visit of the Wise Men.  How did Jesus get to be a mature man/God about to begin his public ministry so soon after we celebrate his birth?  Of course we have very little information in scripture about his early life, other than his visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old.  So perhaps the people that put together the church calendar were on the right track.

The day of the Epiphany was only last Wednesday so we are celebrating both the visit of the Wise Men and Jesus Baptism this morning.  At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much of a connection between the two events other than both being events in Jesus life that are recorded in Holy Scripture.  However, if we explore both events I believe there is a connection between them that should be explored.  Both events deal with Jesus’ identity. 

The Epiphany in which the three wise men or Magi come to pay homage to the infant Jesus reveals to the world who Jesus is.  The Magi are astrologers—the scientists of their day.  They have seen the evidence that a king of the Jews has been born and have come to worship him.  They are Gentiles; representatives from the non-Jewish world who have come to acknowledge him as king.  They bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now these are not the gifts you would usually bring to a child but they know this is not a usual baby.  These gifts are portentous; there reveal the path that Jesus will follow. 

The gift of gold is appropriate for honouring a king. It was valuable in Jesus’ time as it is in our time.  Gold is used in the crown of a king and signifies him as the king of the Jews.  The frankincense or incense was traditionally used in worship dating back to the Tabernacle in the exodus.  It is given by the Wise Men who acknowledge Jesus’ holy/priestly nature.  Finally we have Myrrh.  This is an essential ingredient in Holy anointing oil which is used in the anointing of both kings and priests.  It was also used to anoint and embalm the dead and so it  foretells that he will be a willing sacrifice for us and for the world.  Here we have the Gentile world coming to acknowledge Jesus and proclaim that he is and will be king, prophet, priest and the Pascal Lamb.  The Magi—the representatives of the Gentile world have identified who he is for the world. 

The baptism is another time when there is identification.  In the account of the baptism we hear of the voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  Jesus is identified as the Beloved son of God the Father.  Therefore in the baptism and the Epiphany we have Jesus identified by earth and heaven.  He is the Beloved son of the most high God; the king of the Jews and the high priest who will be the willing sacrifice who will redeem the world.   

Baptism can be understood as that entrance into the body of Christ.  It identifies us as Christians, members of the body of Christ when we are baptised in the name of the Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That identifies us as people who are in relationship with other members of Christ’s Church.  But is also identifies us as people who are in relationship with God.  

David J. Lose, the president of Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia addresses the idea of baptism as identification for each of us:

Baptism teaches us who we are – God’s beloved children – and confers upon us the promise of God’s unconditional regard. In an era when so many of the traditional elements of identity-construction have been diminished – we change jobs and careers with frequency, most of us have multiple residences rather than grown up and live in a single community, fewer families remain intact – there is a craving to figure out just who we are. In response to this craving and need, baptism reminds us that we discover who we are in relation to whose we are, God’s beloved children. We belong to God’s family, and baptism is a tangible sign of that.

Baptism, then, is wholly God’s work that we may have confidence that no matter how often we fall short or fail, nothing that we do, or fail to do, can remove the identity that God conveys as a gift. Our relationship with God, that is, is the one relationship in life we can’t screw up precisely because we did not establish it. We can neglect this relationship, we can deny it, run away from it, ignore it, but we cannot destroy it, for God loves us too deeply and completely to ever let us go. Again, in an age when so many relationships are fragile or tattered, it may come as good news that this primary relationship remains solid and intact no matter what. In fact, trusting that this relationship is in God’s hands, we are freed to give ourselves wholly and completely to the other important relationships in our lives.

All that is reassuring as well as challenging.  It is reassuring because we know that God is always there for us whether we realize or acknowledge it.  It is challenging because of the responsibility that each of us has to respond to God and maintain our part of that relationship with God just as it is a responsibility to maintain any relationship we have.  We have to hold up our part of the relationship and not neglect it.  We do that by doing just what you are doing today; gathering as the body of Christ in Christ’s name to worship God.   But that alone is not enough.  We need to do our part daily to strengthen and deepen that relationship through prayer and reading of scripture.  We also are called to be the people God and the body of Christ in the world—to let them know that we are Christians by our love.  To give back to God a part of what is God’s in our care for all of God’s creation.  We are called to love the world; to love our neighbours as God has loved us and continues to love us.  Amen 

Sermon Baptism of Christ January 11, 2015

Gen 1: 1-5 (OT page 1)

Psalm 29 (B.A.S. page 738)

Acts 19: 1-7 (NT page 139)

Mark 1: 2-11 (NT page 34)

The 1994 movie Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino, begins with scene of two unusual characters committing armed robbery in a restaurant.   The robbery is committed by a very loving and very violent couple with the unusual names Honey Bunny and Pumpkin.    As is the case with most of Tarantino’s movies it is very violent and at times hard to watch but also very funny in a dark way.  However, Pulp Fiction is unusual as it presents the plot in a less than a straightforward manner.  The viewer is not really sure what is going on in the story for the first half of the movie.  There are many seemingly disconnected scenes and events – plots and sub-plots with twists and turns which the audience has trouble putting together.  However, as the movie develops the story all these disparate parts slowly come together and the plot is revealed.  It is a ground-breaking way of telling a story in a movie which has been copied in other movies since.

Today is liturgically very much like that.  We are not sure how all these parts fit together.  We are not sure what is going on with the story line.  We have a few plot lines going on at the same time and if we don’t pay attention we will lose track of the story.  Just last week we had we had Epiphany – with the arrival of the Wise Men – the Magi finally get to the stable bearing gifts for the Christ Child – better late than never certainly applies here. 

Epiphany took place last week on the 6^th as it always does.  So we should be in the season of Epiphany with the change in liturgical colour being green.  However, the calendar call for white as you can see on the Altar.  That is because we are also celebrating the Baptism of Christ by John in the Jordan River.  We have the Gospel reading Mark 1: 2-1.  We were celebrating Christmas and the nativity of our Lord just a few days ago.  But John doesn’t have anything to do directly with the Nativity. We go right from the Nativity story to the Baptism – quite a leap.  We have to wonder what is going on in this story - this plot of the Life of Jesus. We can only hope that it all comes together if we pay attention and stay with the story.  Of course we are told very little about Jesus’s life between the birth and his baptism.  At least we seem to have the consolation that it’s not violent like Pulp Fiction.  Or perhaps it is—we will have to wait and see how this story unfolds.

Well the plot line actually follows the life the Jesus quite closely.  Jesus baptism by John in the Jordan River is the start of Jesus public ministry.  Mark’s Gospel actually starts at this point – it has no account of the nativity of Jesus.  Some people—even some Christians—are surprised to be told of this.  We depend on Matthew and Luke to give us that part of the plot.  The story of Jesus life basically with one minor exemption jumps from his birth to his baptism.   We know almost nothing about his life growing up from the Gospel – with the exception of his journey to the temple when he was twelve. So in this sense we have an ending and a beginning. 

The beginning is reflected in the OT reading the beginning of the creation story in Genesis.  The OT reading gives us another beginning—the beginning of all creation.  As few weeks ago we heard about John as the voice in the wilderness crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”   He prepares for the coming of the Christ Child – the Messiah.  And so it begins and ends for each beginning marks and ending.  But we do not know the ultimate end of the story yet. That still must unfold.

So is this story one without violence unlike Pulp Fiction?  Actually, no.  We do have the slaughter of the innocents – King Herod orders all children two year old and younger in and around Bethlehem killed in his futile attempt to prevent the usurping of his throne by the new King of the Jews.  But the baptism—surely there is no violence in the part of the plot we have today.  Well, the assigned Gospel reading cut off the story prematurely.  If we read on to the next verse we have a new subplot, ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.¹³He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

 This is no nice, pleasant church baptism here.  The wonderful epiphany of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, the declaration from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  No—immediately we have a twist and turn—the unexpected happens.  That same Spirit—now not in the form of a peaceful dove—but something much more dramatic with an implication of violence—drives him into the wilderness—apparently against his will if not violently.

Why baptism at the beginning of the public ministry?  Jesus submits to the Baptism of John for the repentance of sin—he who is without sin.  This baptism is to me as much an ordination as a baptism.  Jesus is ordained to begin his journey that will take him to the cross.  It is a journey which is worthy of a plot by Quinten Tarantino—will have twists and turns, betrayals and traps sprung but escaped through wit and God’s will.

Jesus did not need to repent but he did need a way to mark the beginning of his ministry.  In a sense that happens at every baptism.  It marks the beginning of a new journey—for us—imperfect humans that we are—it is one that marks leaving the old life behind.  The slate has been wiped clean. 

There is a dramatic representation of this in Pulp Fiction.  One of the principal characters Jules is a hit man—he kills people for a living.  Jules has an interesting twist on his occupation.  Just before he is going to kill someone he quotes the bible – a passage from Ezekiel.  As Jules put it so succinctly:

There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

As Jules explains he has been saying this for years and if someone heard this he knew he was a dead man.  However, after Jules experiences what he considers a miracle and escapes what seems certain death he has an epiphany – seemingly a revelation from God. 

I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to someone before I popped him. But I saw something this mornin' made me think twice. See, now I'm thinking: maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here... he's the shepherd protecting me in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. And I'd like that. But that ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.

I have cleaned up some of the language given where we are – if you want the unexpurgated version you can find it online.  As a result he decides to give up his life as a hit man and goes straight.  That, is a true epiphany and a true beginning.  What God asks of us is not perfection.  God asks that we try “real hard” and have the intention of turning our life around and making a new beginning.  May we all have a new beginning in Christ in this New Year.  Amen

Sermon January 5, 2013 The Epiphany of our Lord

Are you familiar with the Christmas song - It's the most wonderful time of the year?  That song came to mind when I was thinking about what I would say this morning.  Just to remind you, here are the words of the first verse:

It's the most wonderful time of the year.
With the kids jingle belling,
And everyone telling you,
"Be of good cheer,"
It's the most wonderful time of the year.

It is not a carol – rather it is one of those secular Christmas songs which often permeate the ether in the weeks leading up to Christmas – ones like White Christmas and Sleigh Bells or Here Comes Santa Claus.  I wince a bit when I hear many of these because they represent the secularization of Christmas with its emphasis on materialism and the commercialization which seems to be so prevalent at this wonderful time of the year. 

The preparation for secular Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier each year and Advent is almost unheard of outside the acknowledgement is some churches.   However, the sentiment in that song resonates with me.  Christmas truly is – in many ways - the most wonderful time of the year.  Now despite popular belief it is not the most important time of the church year.  That is of course Easter with the passion, crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour.  However, Christmas is a truly wonderful time of the year. 

Today we are celebrating Epiphany – that part of the Christmas story in which the magi – the astrologers from the East follow the star and find the Christ Child in the lowly manger in Bethlehem.  They bring their poignant gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the child whose coming was foretold by the star in the heavens.  They observed the sign in the heavens and were wise enough to follow it.  Have you ever wondered – or perhaps you know why today is the feast of Epiphany and not the feast of the wise men or Magi?  Epiphany is a Greek word meaning "to manifest," or “to make known.”  The birth of the Christ Child was made known to the magi and the world through the star hence we celebrate the epiphany.

However, in this sense the whole of Christmas and not just this day could be named epiphany.   It is the epiphany for the whole world.  Not only that, the whole Christmas story is about God revealing to himself to many different people in different ways. 

I find Christmas to be the most wonderful time of the year just for that reason.  God is made known to so many people not just in the birth of the Christ Child but also in different messages.  We have the star which gives a message to the whole world that the Christ Child is born.  We have the angel visiting the shepherds with the message of the divine birth.  But it starts much before that right at the beginning of the story.  An angel visits Mary and tells her the wonderful, terrifying news that despite being a virgin she is going to bear the son of God.  We have the angel visiting Joseph and telling him not to put Mary away for she is blessed with that role. 

However another thing that makes Christmas wonderful for me is all the times God makes manifest - reveals to people what is going to happen - in dreams.  Have you ever noticed how many times throughout the Christmas story that God speaks to people in dreams?  The angel actually appears to Joseph in a dream to tell him the news about Mary.  The wise men not only see the message in the heavens they also receive a message from God in a dream to warn them not to return to Herod to give him the news about the birth.  Again they show their wisdom by paying attention to the dream and returning home by another road. 

Joseph then receives a dream advising him of the danger to the child from Herod who wants to destroy any challenge from the new King of the Jews.  Finally he tells Joseph in a dream that Herod is dead and it is safe to return from Egypt. 

This is particularly wonderful for me because the Christmas story reminds us of the importance of paying attention to the different ways in which God speaks to us today.  God speaks through scripture which we hear when we come together in worship but also through ways which we often don’t recognize.  As we see from the Christmas story and from many other stories in the bible people used to recognize that God spoke to them in dreams.  Today dreams are what can be called God’s forgotten language.  Our culture has forgotten to pay attention to dreams and the messages that they have for us – messages that may reveal God’s intention for us.  We have forgotten the language of dreams.  God also speaks to us in other ways which we have forgotten how to listen to in our world today.  We have the still small voice within us which is drowned out by the noise all around us.  We have the constant activity which does not allow us to be still and know that God is God.  As it says in the psalms:

Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’

At this time of year when we have been so busy with Christmas preparation and celebrations let us take time to be pause and be still.  Let us listen and hear the different ways that God is speaking to us just as he spoke to Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds and the Wise men.  Let us be still and know that God is with us. … Amen