Epiphany Sunday, January 6, 2008
By pastor John Jorgenson
God’s promise to everyone is made clear with the birth of Jesus. God reaches out to each one of us in a form that we can fully grasp and understand. God comes to us in the vulnerable form of a newborn baby. This does not limit God by any means. Instead, God chooses to come to us in a form that expresses love, trust, and acceptance. God comes with this gift of life freely given for each one of us. With this priceless gift comes a new opportunity for us to enjoy living and to share that pleasure with others. God’s relationship with us is now very clear. Our relationship with others is equally clear. We are not any better than anyone else. We are all equally created beings each one of whom is unique and to whom has been given a huge variety of talents and abilities to share with one another. It is in this sharing that we respond to God’s Love expressed to, for, and with us as we express this love to, for, and with each other.
The gift of the Magi then is that they went home by another road and Herod, who had wanted them to find the baby Jesus for him so he could have the child destroyed because of the potential of a new leader for the people, was left out of the picture. Their action saved the life of Jesus as God was acting within the confines of this world.
Things have not changed much since then. We still have and celebrate every year God’s promised gift of the baby Jesus and we enjoy the wonderful life that comes with that gift. We still have the vengeful, fearful, leaders, who are selfishly and jealously protective of their stature and role in society, rulers that do not think twice about killing other people, innocent or not. We still have the opportunity to share God’s good news with those around us who are saddened by what they experience in life for one reason or another.
So now, as a result of what God has done, in 2008 we have been given a new year. A new year given us by God to be used, the question for us then is how shall we respond? What changes can we make in our lives to become the happy people God created us to be? More importantly, what changes will we make? Well that’s not so easy! Anyway for me at least it is not so easy. I like to kind of keep things as they are, don’t you? I mean that is much more simple and much easier to do. Making changes can be kind of risky sometimes. I mean do we dare to change?
So anyway, since this is Epiphany Sunday, it is an appropriate time for us to take a look and to make any changes whatsoever that will open up new opportunities for us to share this precious gift that God has given us and that has been maintained for the past some 2000 years.
Now then how do we do that? Well let’s begin with a look at just what does Epiphany mean? On the bulletin cover we read that Epiphany means “manifestation” which means to make clear, to present, to give out, to share, and to make available.
So it is on this day that we make clear and celebrate the revelation of Christ to the Gentiles, that is Christ is revealed, His ministry is open to all nations, including the members of Prince of Peace and through us, to our families, to our relatives, to our friends and to our neighbors, the people in Plymouth Meeting.
Some traditions in the Christian community celebrate three great epiphanies on this day: the magi’s adoration of the Christ child, Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, and His first miracle in which He changes water into wine. The word and sacraments are for us the great epiphany of God’s grace and mercy. Then we go out to witness to the light that shines brightly in our midst by our words and more importantly by our actions.
Now what does all that mean? Well, first of all we have the Gift of the Magi. That includes the traditional gold, frankincense, and myrrh and I would like to include the gift of protecting the life of this little one who gave such an indescribable gift for all of us, the gift that through Jesus we become aware that God loves each one of us very much!
Speaking in today’s language we might say that Jesus is kinda like God’s iPod that we can carry with us and constantly listen to God’s message of love for us. In other words, Jesus is God’s communication device given to us so we can hear and understand what God has to share with us. Or we might say that Jesus is kinda like God’s publicity director who is working to make us aware of the tremendous advantages that come to us when we do our life-based usiness with God. Or we might consider Jesus as God’s manager of marketing who is responsible for getting this priceless service gift out of storage and seeing to it that it is being used by us, God’s customers, to enjoy life to the fullest.
I am not making fun of what God has done. I am not subjecting Jesus to ridicule or making fun of whoever He is and what He has done. Instead I feel we need to speak about this precious gift in the language and activities that people understand. If we are going to not only get their attention, but to encourage them to accept this priceless gift that goes far beyond the value of any amount of gold, frankincense and myrrh, we need to speak their language. This precious gift that comes to you and to me this morning is the gift of fun, purpose, meaning, vision, motivation, satisfaction, accomplishment, value, and being worthwhile. It is not material stuff like gold, frankincense or myrrh. We are talking about life and really living!
It seems to me that God speaks through us in this honesty, the openness, and the direct relationship that we share with one another.
In other words I suggest that God laughs when we laugh. I mean that God is concerned when we are anxious. I believe that God is patient when we get angry and waits for us to get control of our lives again. I read that Jesus taught that God is our closest friend, the closest one we will ever have. I think that when you have two or three people who share that sort of understanding, there God and Jesus are very present also. Seems to me that idea is spelled out in one of the books of the New Testament, at least it was back in the days when I went to seminary.
Seriously, I feel we are going to have a great year together as we enjoy our Potluck suppers and all the related activities this coming year and we invite our family, friends, and neighbors to come and join in what we do. I feel that this is especially true since in sharing this is a means of becoming more aware of what in this world faith and trust in God is all about in a very meaningful and effective manner.
So take a look at your copy of the January newsletter out in your mailbox. Let’s share our reactions and ideas about what we can do together and enjoy this new year God has provided. We have a tremendous gift to share! Thank you for your patience and for your listening this morning.
Amen.