When writing my sermons, I often have "false starts" that don't lead anywhere. As I prepare to preach on the
Baptism of our Lord this coming Sunday, I found myself reflecting on the nature of Epiphany. It's not a great introduction as far as homilies are concerned, but something I still found worth sharing.
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We're at an odd point in our liturgical calendar. Advent is over. Christmas has ended. We aren't at Lent yet. No, we're in the season after Epiphany. And what do we know about Epiphany? This is not the big feast day of our year – especially after the intense celebration of Christmas. Add to that our confusion of Epiphany – in the West, it developed into a celebration of the Magi, an event popular culture has rolled into Christmas day. As such, Epiphany and its surrounding events tend to go completely unnoticed. Unlike Christmas or Maundy Thursday, most Protestant congregations don't hold a special service to celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord.
By comparison, our sister and brothers in the Orthodox Church make a big deal out of Epiphany (which they know under the name Theophany). Their celebration follows the more ancient pattern and combines the visit of the Magi, our text for today (the Baptism of our Lord), and Christ's first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galillee, turning water into wine.
This shift in perspective is important – even vital. We think of Epiphany as an end -- the end of the Christmas season (if we even make it that long), moving on to the long wait until Ash Wednesday. Time to sit on our hands and wait for a more interesting season. But if we celebrate Epiphany -- fully celebrate it, with midweek services, and a feast of its own, and bring back ALL of the readings -- if we focus on the Magi AND the Baptism of our Lord AND the Wedding at Cana, it becomes something entirely different. It's not an ending – it's the beginning of Christ's public ministry.
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