Celebrating Epiphany Isaiah 60__ 1 – 6
Isaiah 60: 1 – 6, Ephesians 3: 1 – 12 and Matthew 2: 1 – 12.
The Christian’s calendar is always out of sync with the secular calendar. And to further confuse Christian children in regard to holidays, the sacred holidays differ from Church to Church. The Orthodox celebrate Christmas on days different from Latin Rite churches and the Churches that came out of the Reformation.
On our Anglican calendar, today we celebrate the Epiphany – the feast of the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The Eastern church, that is the Greek Orthodox, observe this day to remember the Baptism of Jesus. It was in the fourth century that the Western European, Latin Rite Church associated this day with the visit of the Magi, the wise men. So from the view point of a historian, the question, “what is the traditional day to celebrate the feast of Epiphany” would bring this answer: “It depends on whose tradition you are following.”
The elderly gentleman who taught Gospels at Cincinnati Christian University, when lecturing on the birth of Jesus attempted to use the year of Herod the Great mentioned in Scripture, the Jewish Calendar, an ancient astrologers zodiacal map or sky chart and the arrangement of the planets to determine that Jesus was actually born in 4 B.C. He didn’t argue strenuously for the “right day” to celebrate Christmas - but pointed out the heart of the argument should be that there really was a day in history when God visited His people. That God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself is the important fact. Our Christian traditions shouldn’t lead us to quibble with our Christian brothers over a traditional date, but to joyously celebrate with them the entry of light into a dark world.
My life has been blessed by association with Christians from a number of communions, all with differing traditions. Even within what we refer to as Anglicanism, there are differing traditions. When someone asks me about the right way to arrange an altar, or to count Holy days, or arrange lectionaries, I have to stop and think - does this person want a history lecture with all the possibilities, or is the question limited to a specific era, a specific denomination, a specific geography, and a local tradition? In a large modern City in culturally diverse America, the answer might depend on which block of the Metroplex the questioner is standing.
We use the term “celebrate” in the technical sense of “perform with proper rites”. The
Magi, of course, came to Israel not to initiate a new holiday but they came looking for answer. “Where is the child born king?” Now I ask you, why do we “celebrate Epiphany?
Numerically, there are not many Americans who are what used to be called, “Cradle Episcopalians.” There was a time when a person who took that tradition seriously would rail against those careless Americans who took down the decorations before 12th night, and like me would say, “Christmas just begins on December 25th, its not over yet” when he saw people disposing of Christmas trees on December 26 or January 1.
Which tradition is correct? East or West? That sort of question is unanswerable on one level, because it is a bad question. The answer is conditioned on the geography and the history of the peoples living in a specific locality. The proper question in regard to Epiphany is not the day on which we celebrate the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The proper question in regard to Christmas is not whether we celebrate it in December or January, with reference to Eastern Rite or Western Rite texts and traditions; the proper question is that asked by the Magi: “Where is He who is born King of the Jews?”
The right question, is “do we come to these days looking for the King?”
The civil calendar with its holidays have traditionally, for Christians, been out of sync with the Holy Days of the Church.
There is good reason for this. The Romans, who ruled the Western world at the time of Jesus’ birth, celebrated a Holiday at the end of the year called Saturnalia. This pagan feast was not something in which a Christian could participate. The Christians began counting the year differently. You will notice, that though we Americans follow the old Roman Civil Calendar, that Christians don’t count the new year as January 1. Our year, the rhythm of our lives, begin with ADVENT. We’re a little off from the civil calendar on purpose. By the time we arrive at the civil New Year, we are already thinking not of pagan celebrations, but the wonder of God’s entry into the world. We are looking forward to the gospel light shining in a Dark place and we think of our missionary responsibility to the world around us.
Where is He born King of the Jews? Are we hiding him in the 4 walls of our Churches, or are we letting our light shine before men that they may see Christ’s good works and glorify the Heavenly Father?
Christians, like the Magi are also seeking answers to questions as we approach the King.
You may also be asking, not “where is the child king?” but rather where is the King – where is the Lord God, in all this? When will the bloodiest century in human history end? When I visited the Church at Lima two Sundays ago, an older gentleman had tears in his eyes as he left the Church, obviously upset. I followed him to his car and spoke with him for a moment. He told me that his son had just been killed in Iraq. He lamented that this fine Christian man and father had died so senselessly. Why? Where is God in all of this, we ask? Why?
For decades there have been many who cannot accept the idea of a loving God because of the evil He allows on earth.
Our chance of getting an answer to the question why in a way we can understand is remote. If, however, we can ask the same question
with a different expectation, we will do better. Better still is to ask, not “Why”, but “How are you in this, God?”
Opponents of faith would say to us that we have only three options. God is either absent, asleep, or present. But if present, then present with anger in the disaster. Earthquakes and Tsunamis, according to this interpretation are evidence of the wrath of God.
As people of faith we must reject all three options. God is not an absentee landlord, building the universe and then retiring to a distance; every verse of
scripture opposes such a view. Scripture also opposes the view that God is asleep, indifferent to the events of the world. The view that earthquakes and devastating natural events such as floods are the direct work of God in judgment, is the notion that God would vent his wrath in destructive suffering on thousand of the most vulnerable and impoverished people on the face of the planet – such a notion destroy the very character of a loving and compassionate heavenly father as revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ.
God absent? – NO. Asleep? – NO. Present in anger? – NO.
We are left then where we started. God is present, the question is How is God present? How are WE to be present?
Let us explore this question in a slightly different way.
Here is a quote from an Australian clergyman’s writings in after the Indian Ocean Tsunami 2005.
“After the devastation in the Indian Ocean by a Tsunami in 2005, the Archbishop of Australia sent these words to his clergy: “ As we realise that in the face of this tragedy, all people stand equal in their deserving of help, not separated by race or religion or culture. God is present. As we are forced to reflect on the fragility of human life, its preciousness, yet its weakness in the face of the forces of nature. God is present.
1. our common humanity with those who have suffered its corollary
2. our responsibility to help.
3. need for justice on distribution of aid.
4. sovereignty, judgement of mercy of God – tricky one.
5. the tribulations of human experience, brevity of human life, it corollary.
6. think of our own situation before God”.
So, how is God present? Taking the archbishop’s points, let me suggest: - as we empathise, sympathise with those who have suffered and lost so much – as we simply share in common humanity – God is present. As we consider our responsibility to help, and respond accordingly and compassionately – God is present. And as a corollary to the fragility of life, we are encouraged to set our own house in order; before God; with our families; or others with whom we share our lives. As we do this, God is present. The archbishop suggested that we also reflect on the sovereignty, judgments and mercy of God. These are huge and difficult subjects.
The sovereignty of God in the face of disaster, whether national or personal, is the ability of God to act in persuasive love to bring order out of chaos, healing out of injury, hope out of despair. All of our life is gift, and with
the eye of faith is lived in God’s grace and mercy. This is the basic attitude that enables us to live (or try to live), our lives in gratitude. (1)
Think again on the first Epiphany. At the first Epiphany, the Wise Men come asking “Where is the child? Where is He born King of the Jews?”
Following closely on their visit, was the slaughter of the innocents. Herod killed all male children in Judea under the age of 2 in an attempt to end the life of He who would become not only King of the Jews, but light of the world.
Where was God in this? God was in a caring Father and Mother who fled to Egypt to protect the precious life of the child. God was in Mary and Joseph who cared for Jesus making possible his role as Messiah and Savior. Where was the King? He was with us in the midst of trouble working out our salvation.
Ultimately our answers, when facing human and natural disasters are not in philosophy, nor even theology. They are in Christ. Imagine if the gospel account of the last supper read like this.
Imagine if the Gospels read:- “On the night that he was betrayed, he sat
his disciples down and laid out before them the various philosophical positions regarding the problem of evil and suffering in the world. He then discussed with them the moral options that lay before him. Would he be better to beat a strategic retreat and work quietly to influence members of the Sanhedrin, or return to itinerant teaching in Galilee?” Fortunately – the words of our liturgy that we will hear at the Altar reflect the action he took, an action not to answer our philosophical or moral questions, but to feed us for our journey.
“On the night he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take, Eat. This is my body.”
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On the night in which he was betrayed, and in the days after, Jesus set an example of service while trusting that the Heavenly Father would bring good out of evil, victory at the Cross, and resurrection to life.
Charles Scott
Church of the Good Shepherd, Indianapolis
http://www.goodshepherdindy.org
(1) quoted from a sermon by the Revd Clive Watkins, of Australia,
Preached 2nd January 2005, the first Sunday after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
