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Sermonette: Feast of the Epiphany
Wednesday, 6 January 2021 06:52 pmAs preached at the midweek outdoor Eucharist at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Glassboro, NJ on the evening of Wednesday, January 6, 2021.
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-7,10-14
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
In our Epistle reading, St. Paul speaks of a “mystery” which “was made known to [him] by revelation” and which “has been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.”
In theology, the word “mystery” is sometimes used to describe a doctrine which transcends human reason, which defies our ability to comprehend it, like the Trinity or the full humanity and divinity of Christ. But in New Testament Greek, the word translated by the NRSV as “mystery” is simply a secret: knowledge which is hidden and thus needs to be revealed. The word “epiphany”, the name of the feast we celebrate tonight, is derived from a Greek word meaning “to reveal.” The Epiphany is the revelation of the “secret” of God’s universal and limitless love for humanity, both Jew and Gentile alike.
It was not enough for God to love the world so much as to send God’s only Begotten One into that world, into this world, to live and die as one of us, so that through Christ the world might be saved; no, God wants us to know that we are God’s beloved, that we might rejoice in this knowledge; that we might give thanks for this knowledge; that we might be transformed by this knowledge.
This secret knowledge was made known to different people in different ways, to each in the way they were best equipped to understand it. To the Magi, it was through astronomical phenomena; to St. Thomas, our patron, it was through the holes in the hand and side of the physical body of the Risen Christ; to St. Paul, it was through a blinding vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. And despite St. Paul’s claim that the secret wasn’t made known to human beings until New Testament times, there are passages in the Hebrew Scriptures, tonight’s passage from Isaiah and our psalm among them, that suggest that perhaps some people might have had at least an inkling.
And to us? How is this secret revealed by God to us, two thousand years removed from the little Baby Jesus asleep in his creche? What metaphorical star do we follow in our attempt to grapple with the mystery of God’s love for us? The answer to that is going to be slightly different for each one of us, but here are some suggestions.
The secret of God’s love for humanity is revealed in the natural, created order, in the beauty of this winter evening. It is revealed in the face of the least of these: the stranger, the prisoner, the immigrant, the destitute, the child. It is revealed in the bonds of love and community; it is revealed in silent contemplation and prayer. It is, of course, revealed in the writings of the Holy Scriptures, in the Church mothers and fathers, in the saints and the prophetic witnesses whom we commemorate on other Wednesday nights.
And, of course, it is revealed in the sacraments--the outward and visible signs of inward, invisible grace--including the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood which we come to share together tonight. I do not know all the ways this mystery, this secret has been revealed to each of you, but I give thanks that it has, and pray that it might be so more fully and more deeply each and every day, that it might live in us and transform us and compel us, and that we might be the means through which it might be revealed to others.
Amen.
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-7,10-14
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
In our Epistle reading, St. Paul speaks of a “mystery” which “was made known to [him] by revelation” and which “has been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.”
In theology, the word “mystery” is sometimes used to describe a doctrine which transcends human reason, which defies our ability to comprehend it, like the Trinity or the full humanity and divinity of Christ. But in New Testament Greek, the word translated by the NRSV as “mystery” is simply a secret: knowledge which is hidden and thus needs to be revealed. The word “epiphany”, the name of the feast we celebrate tonight, is derived from a Greek word meaning “to reveal.” The Epiphany is the revelation of the “secret” of God’s universal and limitless love for humanity, both Jew and Gentile alike.
It was not enough for God to love the world so much as to send God’s only Begotten One into that world, into this world, to live and die as one of us, so that through Christ the world might be saved; no, God wants us to know that we are God’s beloved, that we might rejoice in this knowledge; that we might give thanks for this knowledge; that we might be transformed by this knowledge.
This secret knowledge was made known to different people in different ways, to each in the way they were best equipped to understand it. To the Magi, it was through astronomical phenomena; to St. Thomas, our patron, it was through the holes in the hand and side of the physical body of the Risen Christ; to St. Paul, it was through a blinding vision of Christ on the road to Damascus. And despite St. Paul’s claim that the secret wasn’t made known to human beings until New Testament times, there are passages in the Hebrew Scriptures, tonight’s passage from Isaiah and our psalm among them, that suggest that perhaps some people might have had at least an inkling.
And to us? How is this secret revealed by God to us, two thousand years removed from the little Baby Jesus asleep in his creche? What metaphorical star do we follow in our attempt to grapple with the mystery of God’s love for us? The answer to that is going to be slightly different for each one of us, but here are some suggestions.
The secret of God’s love for humanity is revealed in the natural, created order, in the beauty of this winter evening. It is revealed in the face of the least of these: the stranger, the prisoner, the immigrant, the destitute, the child. It is revealed in the bonds of love and community; it is revealed in silent contemplation and prayer. It is, of course, revealed in the writings of the Holy Scriptures, in the Church mothers and fathers, in the saints and the prophetic witnesses whom we commemorate on other Wednesday nights.
And, of course, it is revealed in the sacraments--the outward and visible signs of inward, invisible grace--including the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood which we come to share together tonight. I do not know all the ways this mystery, this secret has been revealed to each of you, but I give thanks that it has, and pray that it might be so more fully and more deeply each and every day, that it might live in us and transform us and compel us, and that we might be the means through which it might be revealed to others.
Amen.