EPIPHANY C 2022

 

 

King Herod noticed as the Magi made their way to Bethlehem. He wasn’t pleased. Herod knew something about these star-gazers from the East. He knew it had to be something big to bring them all that way. And it was something big…and from the perspective of Herod… something very bad…for they were  recognizing the birth of a messiah—THE messiah who promised to change…EVERYTHING. Herod was incensed; you see, there's no one more sensitive to a threat--- real/or imagined-- than a puppet king with an inferiority complex. Out of this anger, this fear, the King tried mightily to get at that baby, that king, that messiah, that threat…but he was outwitted by the Magi who took a different route home while the Holy family escaped to Egypt. They needed to avoid Herod at all costs—for this baby was something to be adored, AND something to protect.

On this second Sunday of Christmas, we look forward to the coming Epiphany and to what the ongoing manifestation of Christ in the world around us and the world within us means, and we ask—-just who is Jesus?

 A King, a God, a man, a Son, a prophet, a preacher, a revolutionary, a Messiah?

Yes.

And then some.

Who is he? What is he? Why is he? It's the question of the season of Epiphany: of noticing, realizing, manifesting.

         Or are you already past it? Has the tree come down, the lights lost their charm, have the presents been tossed aside?

Are we still awash in the wonder of Christmas?

Or have we moved on, back to the same ol’ same ol’?

      Our Epiphany task is to open our eyes to what, how, where Emmanuel “God among us” is taking shape.

It’s time to ponder, adjust, understand, comprehend. To adapt.

A time to notice how the miracle that just happened manifests itself in our lives.

     It’s a tall order, I know. The stores are replacing Christmas and New Year’s displays with Valentine’s Day, all those mundane things that demand much of our attention are nagging at us.

But let’s not forget: something astounding has happened.

God in the flesh has come to live among us.

Remember, at the moment of the birth, the cosmos cried out in exultation by flashing that star…

…The heavenly hosts burst into song across the Bethlehem hills.

…The shepherds noticed.

…The star gazers in the east noticed.

…Herod noticed.

But have we?

     Epiphany is all about the reality of “God among us” showing and shining in the world.

Does this reality excite us, or terrify us?

Who are we in this story? The fascinated Magi, the cowering, plotting Herod or the terrified and thrilled, scared and amazed shepherds? Or maybe Mary and Joseph, quietly pondering, silently trusting…

Are we filled with expectation about just who this Jesus will be and what he’ll do with us and through us?

Or are we Herod, threatened by anything that challenges the status quo, leery of anything new, anything different?

 The birth of our Savior caused the stars, planets, and galaxies to erupt in shiny celebration, intriguing the Magi, terrifying the  shepherds, baffling the Holy Family, infuriating Herod.

what about us?

Are we bursting with this Good News?

Are we ready to arise and let the light of Christ shine upon us?

I hope so.

Because we have work to do— in the world around us and here at St James.

Are we ready to let the light of Christ’s manifestation—-his undying love, his never ending guidance, his longing to bring all of God’s creatures together in peace—-are we ready to let that light shine from us and all that we do in the name of Jesus? Will the people who drive by this place feel the warmth of that light? Do we feel the warmth of that light?

St James is at a crossroads. Where we are now is not where we’ll be at the end of 2022–thanks be to God. So let’s saddle up and like the Magi before us, search for where this Christmas star will lead us.

Amen.