EpiphanyC, Sullivan Park Care Center, January 6, 2013 by
Annette Fricke
“Arise, shine; for your light has
come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” The days of preparation in Advent which led
to the birth of Jesus have now led us to the significance of that birth: Jesus
is the Lord and giver of salvation to all humankind. Epiphany is the bright light, the bright and
shining star of dazzling brilliance.
Jesus is the lux aeterna, the eternal light, inviting all people into
relationship with him forever.
An
old tradition has been brought back, thanks to those who insist that the old
ways are somehow better. In this case, I
think those who say it are correct. Here is the modern version of an old
tradition: Dear brothers and sisters,
the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us
until the day of his return. Through the
rhythms and times and seasons, let us celebrate the mystery of salvation. Let us recall the year’s culmination, the
Easter Triduum or three days of the Lord: his Last Supper, his crucifixion, his
burial, and his resurrection celebrated between the evening of the 28th
of March and the evening of the 30th of March. Each Easter, as on each Sunday, the holy
Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has forever
conquered sin and death. From Easter are
reckoned all the days we keep holy. Ash
Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 13th of
February. The
Ascension of Our Lord will be
commemorated on the 9th of May, and the joyful conclusion of Easter,
the Day of Pentecost, will be celebrated on the 19th of May. Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the
Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy mother of God, in the feasts of
the apostles, martyrs, and saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful
departed. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, the Lord of
time and history, be endless praise, forever and ever. [pause] I guess I should
have asked each of you to bring your calendars to write all of this down,
although I am sure that there are other ways of knowing when all these
important parts of the church year will be taking place. This tradition has been revived in some
churches because it teaches that the celebration of the birth of the Christ
child is only the beginning of the Church’s celebration of the life of Christ
and has it’s culmination at Easter, the resurrection of Christ. Easter, not Christmas, I and others contend, is
the center of the Church year.
Today is the Feast of the
Epiphany. It is the day that as a child,
my mother said it was time to take the Christmas tree down. It is also the 12th day of
Christmas for those who know that tradition. But most importantly, it is the
manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, an anticipation of the second coming
of Christ when he will come again in all his glory to gather the nations under
his gentle rule. As one of my classmates from seminary likes to put it using
the words
of an Epiphany hymn, “God in flesh made manifest.” The God of Judah and Israel, the God of
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rachel, Leah, Rebecca, Jacob, and Moses is now, most
clearly made known as the God of all.
God is even God of the non-Jews, the Gentiles. God comes to bring life
so that none may perish. One of my
favorite Epiphany hymns begins like this: O Morning Star, how fair and bright!
You shine with God’s own truth and light, Aglow with grace and mercy! Of
Jacob’s race, King David’s Son, Our Lord and master, you have won our hearts to
serve you only! Lowly, holy! Great and glorious, all victorious, Rich in
blessing! Rule and might o’er all
possessing! It is one of two hymns
written by a pastor who had lost 1300 of his parishioners to the plague in
Germany, most in the second half of the year of 1597, 170 in one week. The light
of Christ can pierce even our darkest hours, when we struggle to make sense of
our lives both as those who see others dying around us as well as those drawing
their last breaths.
Epiphany is a short journey to Lent
and it used to be that the length of Lent was longer and also there was a time
when there were three Sundays preceding Lent called Septuagesima, Sexagesima,
and Quinquagesima. Never mind what any
of those Latin words mean because they do not coincide with the actual Sundays
in relation to Easter. When I was a child, these three Sundays were preparation
for the season of Lent, therefore taking on a penitential nature. But, when I was a child, I just marveled at the sound of
the Latin names! Epiphany itself was
also different than today. It used to
include the visit of the three kings or magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the
wedding at Cana otherwise known as Jesus’ first miracle. Now, those are spread to three Sundays. If we
see Epiphany as simply the celebration of God in flesh made manifest, we lose
the point of Epiphany because every Sunday is a celebration of God in flesh
made manifest. We always celebrate God
becoming flesh in the form of Jesus, don’t we?
Yet I get communications from my sister and my friends that somehow God
is not being celebrated nor is God being prayed to—at all. We have all somehow lost God, even those of
us who faithfully attend church and really do pray. That sentiment keeps circulating—we are not
allowed to have God in school or the military.
We are somehow shutting God out.
Nobody really prays anymore. The
atheists are out to get us. And my
answer to that is that it begins with the family. Read the Catechism and the Bible at home,
pray with others before and after meals and other times of the day. If worship or Bible study is offered at other
times than this, take that opportunity to strengthen your faith journey with
God and each other. Christianity is not practiced faithfully by our-selves. I am told that Jesuit monks are taught to
pray as they put each article of their habit on, but they too live in
community. There is a reason that being a desert father only worked for
Jesus and that practice, when others tried it, died out. We
need the community and fellowship of other believers. We need each others’ support. We need to
gather with other Christians to strengthen our faith. We need to be fed and nourished by God as God
speaks to us in the scriptures and in each other.
As we look
at the gospel lesson we see dueling ideas.
Jesus is the hope of the world, yet a threat to the power of the
reigning King Herod. The announcement of
Jesus’ existence and identity as king of the Jews brings fear to King Herod and
his whole entourage that has become the supporters of his reign. The kingdom of Herod is at stake. What if the world as we know it, King Herod
is thinking, should suddenly change and I am no longer in power? Herod is not
above using violent means to stay in power or deception in seeing how he can
stay in power.
We don’t have to look far to see that
violence continues in our world today, not just in places of declared war. After the shooting in Sandy Hook,
Connecticut, many more shootings throughout this country and others have
occurred, including at a previous location, a movie theater. People have every reason to fear for their
safety because all of these have happened in public areas previously assumed to
be safe places. In a very real way, Jesus cannot protect us in a way we
might prefer. Jesus is
not likely to suddenly take care of all the problems we face. Jesus does not do magic or pretend to do
magic. Our increased faithfulness in
prayer and worship does not mean that God will respond in the way we think God
should. Our only hope in this world is
that we will find ways by talking to one another and our governing bodies about
making our world safer. But despite what is happening in our world today on
both a personal and global level, God is still there to be with us, dispensing
grace universally and freely to all who would have it. That is good news. And may we always remember
this: In the heavenly country bright Need they no created light; Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its
sun which goes not down; There forever may we sing Alleluias to our King. Amen.
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