Sermon: Epiphany

Date Preached: Sunday December 6th 2008

Bible Reference:

A very happy new year to you all. Although the Christmas decorations (for most people anyway) have now been put away, we continue celebrating the joy of Jesus’ birth in the season of Epiphany. I loved this letters from last Thursday’s Times:

Sir, Why, even before we have reached the 8^th Day of Christmas, have all the television stations taken down their Christmas decorations? Even the pagans kept their trees in the house for the first 12 days of Christmas, in case the spirit of the tree invaded the building. Many of us Christians keep our trees up for the full 40 days of the festival, which lasts until Candlemas. Instead of celebrating Advent, most people have been swept up with the frenzied and chaotic Xmas thing, which generates chaos instead of peace, and greed rather than giving, and so are tired of decorations that were put up far too early. I’m continuing to enjoy Christmas and looking forward to Epiphany on Sunday”  

Epiphany - a Christian feast that originated in the East actually in honour of Jesus’ baptism – and in the West from the fourth century where it became associated with the manifestation of Christ to the first Gentiles to worship him – the Magi, the Wise Men.

So we have these two biblical events to guide our worship and thinking today. The actual word – “Epiphany” – derives from the Greek for ‘manifestation’ – or revealing – revealing what? Well the light of Christ that has come into the world. So we have our Paschal Candle as a symbol of the light of the world – God incarnate revealing himself, coming amongst us in Jesus Christ.  I love the fact that we have a faith that’s ‘enfleshed’ – that God somehow sacralizes and makes special our physical existence.

We begin a new year that once again will probably bring with it events that will turn out to be like nothing we’ve ever witnessed before in human history. Do we believe God is at work in the world he created? Do we believe he has really shown what he’s like in his Son Jesus Christ? (because, as I said, Epiphany means "to show" - "to make known" - "to reveal.") Do we believe God has something special for us as a community in Waunarlwydd this year?  Do we believe he wants us to respond to his call of love to us – you and me - personally; to be involved in the work of his Kingdom. I think you might be glad to hear that I do (& I hope I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t) – but what is our response going to be?

John the Baptist sought to prepare the way for the coming king. His message for all the people was simple – no fuss or ostentation; no cleverness or manipulation – straight from the hip: (what was it he preached?) “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near”

’Repent’ – change your ways, turn ‘round – do a 180 – if you’ve been going one way, turn around and start travelling in a different direction
Sure everything ‘appeared fine’ on the surface – they had a new temple; they’d established worship services; the holiness religious party was at least in control of local politics. Yet John rebukes them for having a shallow religion – even calling the top religious leaders nominal Jews – While their Judaism might have looked good it wasn't useful for anything

And then “Get ready! The King is coming”. The Scriptures tell us the people were ’filled with expectation’ – and they had good reason to be:

(for a start) 1. The Jewish nation had experienced over 400 years of comparative silence. God had always spoken to His people through his prophets, but now the prophetic voice of God was silent.
2. And then Malachi closes out the Old Testament with the prophecy of another prophet coming before the day of the Messiah.
3. And here he is: John the Baptist.  The gospels don't give us much background on John because he was famous. He was the Billy Graham of his day. And his ministry was to prepare the people for what Jesus had for them.
He was the one making the roads smooth and straight – like the servants who would go before the King to make sure the road he was going to travel was level. Getting rid of the potholes.

And it was a simple message: “if the King is coming into your heart, make sure the road is smoothed out!”
Then as now John was pitching his message into a time of crisis. Apparently there are two Chinese symbols making up the word crisis – one that signifies danger; the other opportunity.
Would they accept the king into their lives? Would they reject him in favour of the comfortable status quo? Would they say yes?!

Because that’s what Jesus said to his Father in being willing to be baptised – so what kind of King was he?

Well it’s quite obvious that at this critical moment, with everyone watching what he’d do - and then over and over again - Jesus chose what Henri Nouwen calls ‘the descending way’ – the downward direction – and that a muddy river was the place where God chose to appear – this was an epiphany – the way of hiddenness – a descending way - joining the ranks of sinners who were being baptized by John in the Jordan river. And then all the many miracles that always seemed to express his profound compassion for suffering humanity – never attempts to call attention to himself. As a rule he even instructed those he’s cured not to talk to others about it. And as his life continued, Jesus’ increasing realization that he’d been called to fulfil his vocation in the worst kind of suffering and death. 

So along with the wise men trekking all the way from Persia probably, we celebrate Epiphany. And note that Matthew doesn’t bother telling us exactly how may – what was important was that they were from the east – outsiders who’d come to pay homage to the baby King – the very and only Son of an awesome God, who loves each one of us so much that he ripped open the heavens and sent his Son to die on earth.

So in all of this, it’s revealed – it becomes plain to us - that God has willed to show his love for the world by descending more and more deeply into human frailty

So is he disinterested in what’s happening in Kenya, in Pakinstan; in the middle NO he sent his Son; is he untouched by our pain and distress – the families of those who’ve lost loves ones over Christmas? NO he sent Jesus

Do you remember how in Luke’s gospel, how Jesus announces what he’s about in the Saturday morning church service:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Lk 4:18-19)

I wonder if we really get how radical a claim that was. God didn’t seem to be saying “This is a nice Jewish boy who will help us live nice moral lives”. What God was saying is ... “This is the Messiah - this is my Servant”. God literally God lifted up his two deepest promises to his people/to Israel and rested them both on Christ.

First, when he says this is my Son whom I love - this was his promise to David, that one of his descendants would establish God’s kingdom – Jesus was the One they’d been longing for all this time

And Second God’s bestowed on Jesus the promise that he would uphold him because he was God’s true servant: the one who would be empowered by the Holy Spirit, to rescue and restore Israel, and to draw all nations to his salvation.

God invites us to say “Yes” this morning. Yes to his grand rescue scheme – where we’re brought back into a relationship with God – forgiven and restored. Yes to the promises made in our baptisms about following him as his disciples and living accordingly. And more importantly God invites us to say ‘yes’ to the coming of his kingdom in our daily lives, where we fret about doing it our way and getting what we want; where saying Yes to God is so hard.

And the yes of Jesus to humble birth and baptism implied saying “No” to other ways of doing things. So much in my life, if I’m honest (looking back), has been about seeking influence, power, success - and popularity. But this baptismal way of Jesus is the way of “hiddenness”, powerlessness and littleness. It doesn’t seem a very appealing way in today’s celeb culture, does it? Yet when we enter into true, deep communion with Jesus we find that it is this small way that leads to real peace and joy – as we allow his Spirit to make his home in us. I’d love this to be a year when you hear God speaking – personally – and as we move into our prayers try and hear this intimate promise taken from Isaiah 43 for yourself – put your own name in where you hear Jacob or Israel:

“This is what the Lord says – he who created you Jacob; he who formed you Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour…Because you are precious in my sight and honoured and I love you I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.