The Feast of the Epiphany (January 9, 2022)

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today, we are observing the Feast of the Epiphany. Typically, we would celebrate this on the day it falls, which is January 6th, but given that I was out of town, I thought it too important to omit in our corporate observance. What do we celebrate on Epiphany? The visitation of our Lord by the Three Wise Men from the East. Originally, Epiphany was viewed as a part of the Christmas celebration but, over time, developed into its own mini liturgical season.

The story at the heart of Epiphany is one we all know: Wise Men, Magi, scholars, mystics, whatever they were, followed a star where they found the child born king of the Jews. In a world without the Scriptures, particularly in pagan cultures, humanity looked to the stars for guidance. Here, God speaks to the Wise Men in their own language. This is of course not an excuse to practice astrology; but it does show us that God will use various means to get our attention.

Now in the story, there’s an implicit contrast between these pagans who listen to God speaking to them through nature and follow versus Herod, a king of Israel, who, like the wise men, sought the Christ child. But instead of worshipping him, Herod wanted to execute our Lord. Herod was King in Israel and had an army of scribes and religious teachers at his disposal. He should have known better but he never gets it; meanwhile, the Magi get it despite being outsiders who didn’t belong to Israel. The star is a light that attracts and guides the magi but blinds Herod, who shrinks away from it, preferring the darkness of power and violence.

Like most Bible stories, the story of the Epiphany contains a deeper meaning in that it points to the unfolding of what we call salvation-history: the star stands for the light of the Gospel while Herod’s reaction exemplifies the Jewish rejection of Christ and the Wise Men stand for the Gentiles. So Epiphany is about far more than just the story of the Wise Men; it’s a day we are reminded that the Gospel is Good News for the world that, out of the wreckage of chaos and sin, God has constituted a mutli-ethnic community of redeemed people (what we call the Church) for the good of the world.

The fundamental issue facing the first generation of Christians in the Church was how to live in a community with those who are different. The Apostles and many of the first Christians were Jewish, which makes sense because our Lord came into the world as a Jewish man and ministered primarily in Israel. In the Old Testament, the Law emphasized the uniqueness of Israel from the nations. Deuteronomy 14:2 affirms this: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” Israel’s election often led to a purity mindset; the nations were looked down on. The problem with this is that Israel was chosen out of the nations, yes, but to be a blessing to the entire world. That’s wrapped up in the very promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The Church, which is the continuation of what God did in the Old Testament through the nation of Israel, has a mission that echoes that promise given to Abraham. At our Lord’s Ascension, he commissioned the Apostles , “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20). So the Church is tasked with taking the Gospel out to the ends of the earth, not making ethnic distinctions but inviting all to “come and see” that God is good.

Fast forward ten years after the Ascension of our Lord and Paul, formerly Saul, has become an Apostle and Bishop and is dealing with parishes where people of different ethnicities, different ideas of what being a Christian should look like, are trying to live together, sharing in the common life of a parish. So, reading today’s epistle from Ephesians 3, we see how Paul emphasizes the universality and inclusionary element of the Christian story. For this message to be credible, however, it must come from a credible source, so Paul describes himself as a prisoner, a recipient of grace, and receiver of divine revelation. He is a prisoner in the literal sense that he is writing from prison but he identifies himself as a prisoner of the Lord, pointing out the spiritual reality in which he is bound to Christ; obedience to God, then, supersedes everything else. He is a recipient of grace, which includes but is not limited to the salvific grace imparted to him at his conversion; here he probably means the grace of his Apostleship which allows him to minister to the Gentiles. Grace, defined by Anglican Bishop and Pauline Scholar NT Wright is “divine power at work through the ministry of St. Paul.” That ministry is seen in the fact that Paul is the steward of the mystery that God revealed to him. Mystery to Paul is not New Age Astrology, the crystal ball of Nostradamus, or the charismatic expressions of Christianity that emphasize things like speaking in tongues or ecstatic visions. So what is the mystery at the heart of St. Paul’s ministry?

Verse 5 tells us that the mystery he expounds has been hidden from “other ages.” There have always been intimations of God’s universal plan of salvation for the whole world. But how this would be accomplished is not clear in the context of Old Testament national and ethnic Israel. But the answer is revealed to us by the Church which is the storehouse of the “holy apostles and prophets” who spoke by the Spirit, as we affirm in the Nicene Creed. And what did they speak? “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel.” They are heirs to the promise made to Abraham. St. Paul is very clear, that promise to be blessed by God and to be a blessing to the world is not contingent on one’s ethnic status in Romans 9:6-7 “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” so how does one receive the promises made to Abraham? Galatians 3:28-29 possesses the answer: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” So even Gentiles, outside of Abraham’s physical lineage, can become heirs to the promise made to him all the way back in Genesis 12. This is because when we are baptized, no matter who we are, we are joined to the same body, the Body of Christ, which is a singular entity united by a head, Christ, who gives all parts equal dignity and value. In Romans 11, Paul describes the Church in terms of a tree, a symbol for God’s people. Rejection of the Christ meant many of the Jewish branches were removed; but acceptance of the Gospel entailed a grafting in of the Gentiles. But it no longer matters what ethnicity, class, or sex you are because membership in this community of faith is open to all. So it is this message, that the Gospel is for all people, that Paul was empowered by the Holy Ghost to proclaim to the Gentiles, as he says in Ephesians 3:9 “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:”

The result of the Gospel at the heart of Paul’s ministry has two results, one we might label “external” and the other “internal.” The external is found in verse 10 of today’s reading: “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” The principalities and power mentioned here are spiritual forces that have set themselves up as opposed to God: Satan and his demons, Death, and Sin. These dark forces are confronted with a harsh reality: that the Church, composed of people from every tongue, tribe, and time, are united together in Christ who has conquered by the power of his Cross. Colossians 2:15 triumphantly proclaims, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” and Hebrews 2:14 echoes it, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”

But there’s an internal benefit too: in Christ, “we have boldness and access with confidence by faith of him.” Christ did what we could not do in that he lived a perfect life and then gave himself up as a sacrifice for us. Because of the divine and human natures united in the person of the Word, he has become like us so we can become like him. In his faithfulness, the gap between us and God, the gap between sinner and holy Lord, the gap between creature and Creator, has been bridged. So now, the Church can go to God in boldness and confidence because we know, as Herbert McCabe says, that when God looks at us, he doesn’t see sinners or creatures, but Sons.

The Feast of the Epiphany gives us two major takeaways. First, we should give thanks for the light which showed the way for the Magi because that same light is at work in us through the movement of the Holy Ghost in our hearts by the preaching of the Word, the reception of the Sacraments, and the pursuit of virtue. The light leads us as the Church through these means. And the gates of Hell will not prevail against us. Secondly, we should become bearers of that light. As the Church, we are the hands and feet of the Body of Christ. We are called to live faithful lives that express the truth of the Gospel in deed in word. Deed in that our actions should convey God’s love to those who are hurting. And in word in that we proclaim the Gospel, inviting those around us to step into the light. In Christ’s faithfulness, we are made faithful, in his righteousness, we are made righteous. In his light, we become enlightened.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.