Isaiah 60:1-6,9
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Psalm 72 or 72:1-2,10-17
I have learned that people take great liberties with the use of the word "epiphany". It can be almost any truth that you stumble upon for which you cannot take personal credit. That's what I learned in the process of trying to figure out just what people mean when they claim a personal experience to be an epiphany. Almost anything you can imagine shows up in these tales of personal enlightenment and it's almost impossible to put your finger on just what qualities are necessary for a revelation to earn such an honored term of respect.
So, just what is an Epiphany? For that we'll have to go to the Gospel assigned for this day to decipher the reason our church calendar marks today (well actually January sixth) as the Holy Day of Epiphany. But, before we tackle that let's establish some rules of human and divine possibility.
Note that it is not physically possible, or even desirable, that we experience every moment of reality as it truly happens. A moment is simply that - a moment - and a moment can occur only once; then it transforms itself into symbols like words, photographs, videos, or images burned into the creased recesses of our memories. The image of that moment finds expression that can be passed on indefinitely as long as the symbol itself is maintained but the moment, itself has already passed and cannot return again as it first came.
Consider the excitement of a young child catching her first glimpse of twinkling ornaments on a Christmas tree. That moment, reduced over time to only the bare essentials necessary for recall, will live on in memory long after the reality of that first miracle has passed. But the moment itself is still only a moment that will never be again. The surrounding details such as furniture placement, textures, smells, will disappear from vivid recall and only a symbolic fascination of the experience will remain.
Recall now a mother at the magic moment of birth. See how quickly the moment turns from the actuality of birth to symbols that will etch themselves deeply into her memory, leaving impressions on her heart that will remain for a lifetime. But, although she may have other children, each one is only a single moment that will never "be" again.
Likewise, there are terrible moments that actually leave us thankful for the fleeting nature of reality as we watch videos on our TV sets in disbelief, seeing tens of thousands of our neighbors being washed away in giant waves. Or the unforgettable images of senseless destruction from terrorist attacks that command us to witness things we find hard to contemplate, and the atrocities of war that know no boundaries between innocents and enemy.
These moments, too, are replaced by symbols that instruct us of the fleeting nature of life itself. And we pinch ourselves for the assurance that our own final moment has not yet arrived and we thank God for the extra time he has given us. We pray that today's victims have found their faith fulfilled and that Heaven unfolds around them in glorious grace bringing an end to unfounded doubts and fears of what lies ahead.
"Please be there for them, oh God," we pray, as we cling to the symbolisms that our faith rests upon. We need reassurance, especially now, that God truly waits for us without malice.
Today we celebrate the Holy day of Epiphany and reach into the Gospels to renew the meaning of it, the promise of hope revealed to the world at that wondrous moment when God burst into our worldly experience. In human flesh He came to us as a child named Jesus, as His own son in human flesh that he might live among us and teach us to believe in the destiny of God's Love.
The story of the wise men's travel to Bethlehem following the star described to them by angels, in search of the child, Jesus, is surely a story of faith. Led by the certainty that our Savior, the Messiah has arrived heralding a new extended awareness of God's presence and a gift of hope for all people who will follow the teachings of his Son, Jesus. He is God, He is Love; of that the wise men are certain.
In the same Gospel we get a glimpse of King Herod, a less than honorable man who attempts to deceive his way to the place where the baby Jesus lays. This is a story of fear, the fear of a new King of the Jews, a little baby coming to take the Great Herod's job away.
King Herod told the wise men to send back word of the location of the little king under the guise of wanting to pay homage to the baby, but angels appeared to the wise men along the way telling them of King Herod's plot to do harm to the child. Then after honoring Jesus with gold and frankincense and myrrh, they quietly returned to their palaces by another route. King Herod would try again but for now the baby was safe and his mission of love is not thwarted.
So, what is "Epiphany" anyway? Well, simply put, it is the moment when God reveals himself to us. By coming to us in the truly human life of Jesus, he transcended the barriers between the natures of Divine and human. It is an event that can not be surpassed by anything less than our own personal epiphany - the moment when we know for sure that the Hope which God has given us is more real than anything else can ever be, so real and precious that, until you live that moment yourself, you can only speculate. Like all other moments of reality it can happen only once for each of us and then it transforms our Faith to a glorious reality that nothing can take away. Until that time we live our Faith in the love of God and await the day Jesus returns to take us home. Until then, without faith, without the acceptance of the revelations of the Holy Day of epiphany, we can only speculate what lies ahead.
God has revealed himself as fully love, fully patient, fully forgiving, He will send his son, Jesus to us again that he may take us Truly Home.
Amen