Feast of the Epiphany Sermon 1/6/2019



For most of my adult life I belonged to The Church of the Epiphany Episcopal Church in Plymouth, Minnesota, so you can probably guess that Epiphany is an important liturgical date on my calendar.
Our church logo for a number of those years was a star.  Our priest would give shiny star ornaments to all the kids who came forward each Epiphany.
We nearly always had three men from the choir sing “We Three Kings” wearing crowns and carrying bejeweled packages as they walked to the front of the church to deliver their gifts to Jesus in the creche.
So when I was asked one year by a patron at our annual rummage sale what “Epiphany” meant, I told him it was when the Holy Spirit gave out the spiritual gifts.  I couldn’t believe it when I realized my gaff.  I had just explained Pentecost, not Epiphany. 
I can shake my head at myself now, but in a lot of ways, it can be hard to describe what Epiphany really means.
We can describe it as the time when the three kings come bringing the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus, all the while picturing a Christmas card with the star illuminating a stable.
But there are some theological and historical mistakes and lots and lots of questions in that picture.  First, Jesus was no longer an infant.  He was likely about two years old, toddling around with his mother and father.  Next, I’m sure they were no longer living with the animals.  Then, were there three kings or were they astronomers and where did they come from?  Were there three?  Were they all men?  Who cooked for them or put up their tents along the way or protected them from danger for all the years they traveled?
Now, I’m a big fan of the film A Nativity Story and I love the way the men are depicted.  They are consulting maps and equipment while looking at the sky.  They come from a distant land and in many ways, they provide some comic relief to the nativity story.  They do not claim to be kings, but scientists or magicians or seers and they cannot quite agree on whether this trip is something they should take or not.
In the end, the three men embark on their journey, without helpers, and go to the palace, which makes complete sense, if you are out and about looking for a future king.
Of course, this visit backfires, as we learn in today’s Gospel.  We learn that Herod puts up a good face with the men, but in reality, he is steaming mad and afraid that he will be ousted from his ill-gained throne by a child.  He tells these travelers to find the child and return to him with the location, claiming he will then go and pay homage to the child. 
We know that that isn’t his plan at all, and so do the angels, who warn the travelers to continue on their way after they meet Jesus, for they know, even though our Gospel story ends before we get to this part, that Herod plans to have all the children about Jesus’ age murdered.  Mary and Joseph learn of Herod’s plan and together with Jesus, they become refugees and flee to Egypt.
So this is the basic plot line of Epiphany.  Some travelers from a far away land who are not Jews come to bring expensive gifts to a young boy. 
Does that mean Epiphany is about gift-giving then?
Well, yes.  But maybe not in such a tangible way. 
I believe that the gift is the ability and willingness to be surprised by God.
We talk about epiphanies as “A-Ha” moments.  Those times when something unclear becomes clear; when we are changed by a new understanding of an old concept; when a lightbulb seems to go off, illuminating something hidden.
So why not think of an epiphany as being surprised by God?
Now that this epiphany lightbulb has turned on in your heads, I wonder how many of you are thinking about all the times something truly unexpected happened to you that changed you in a way you didn’t know you could change?
[raise hand]
For many, reading and studying scripture can do this.  While regularly attending church and hearing the stories told for years is good, a deeper dive into scripture can help anyone better understand just what it means to be a Jesus Follower.  We learn examples of what Jesus means when he says to love one another as God loves us that may seem easy with the people we know, but when we start to consider people we don’t know or understand, changes our understanding of these two commandments.
We see Jesus spending time caring for those who are left on the margins of society.  We see him healing those with some of the scariest, most communicable diseases.  We see him changing the world one person at a time.  We learn that Herod had no true understanding of what this King could be or do to change the course of creation, and that he killed a generation of children out of his own fear.
These are epiphanies for many people who want to keep Jesus in the manger, that lovely baby, cooing at the moon, being greeted by shepherds and scholarly travelers alike.  We desire to hold him in our hearts as this helpless babe, forgetting that who he becomes will challenge us and our ideals of what it means to be people of faith, people of God, people who, if we truly are to follow the example of Jesus, will challenge the world as we know it by expressing God’s love and giving dignity and respect to every human being.
Being surprised by God is a gift.  We journey through our lives, maybe not on a camel for years in the desert, but we do journey in search of Jesus, searching for that special relationship that marks us as God’s beloved.  At any curve or bend on that journey we can be surprised, by a prayer, by the breaking of the bread, by recognizing our unique gifts and sharing them, by being in community. 
As we begin to journey through the season after the Epiphany, I invite you to reflect on your journeys so far.  How has your life been changed unexpectedly by God? 
Sometime in the next few weeks, I challenge you to share your story or stories with someone who might not know who God is to you.  Invite them on your journey. 
Together, may you be surprised by God.
Amen.


Christmas Day Poem 2018



The Word Made Flesh

Who is this Jesus?
Born of the maiden Mary, Son of God.
Fully human, fully divine.
Present at creation
Present still.

Who is this Jesus?
A babe born in Bethlehem
Surrounded by creation.
Holy One, crying One,
Child and King.

Who is this Jesus?
The threat to power
A refugee, on the run
A child, a boy
Protected and protector.

Who is this Jesus?
A scholar, trained in the Temple
brighter, bolder, wiser
than his teachers.
Alone, but not lonely.

Who is this Jesus?
Miracle worker, healer
listener, teacher, feeder,
able to rile the powerful,
more powerful than all.

Who is this Jesus?
The Word of God
made flesh, made personal,
made present for all.
The past, the present, the future.

Who is this Jesus?
Lover of souls,
champion of the weak,
the marginalized, the outcasts,
Holy, mighty.

Who is this Jesus?
Threat to the status quo.
Example, nonetheless,
for all who know God.
God’s presence.

Who is this Jesus?
Baptized and baptizer,
friend to the friendless,
bringer of kindness,
embracer of children.

Who is this Jesus?
One who raises the dead,
He talks with women,
eats with tax collectors,
Open minded, open hearted.

Who is this Jesus?
Bringer of Light to a broken world
illuminating those things
we do not want to see.
Harbinger of peace.

Who is this Jesus?
The One who died.
The One who defied death.
The One who resurrected.
God’s Son.

Who is this Jesus?
Bringer of hope
Bringer of joy
Bringer of peace.
Our gift of love.


The Reverend Debbie Dehler
12/24/2018