One look at the calendar this morning—it’s January 6—and I’m
aware that the deep traditions of my seminary training still shape my daily
perspective. On the church calendar
today is “The Epiphany of Our Lord,” one of only a handful of key dates each
year like Christmas and Easter.
“Epiphany” means “to manifest,” or “to show forth.” So January 6 has traditionally been the day
when the true identity of Jesus begins to “show forth” in the world. The traditional scripture for this day is the
visit of the Magi, recorded in Matthew 2:1-12, who represent the people,
cultures and nations of the world who are awakened to the fact that something
new has broken in upon the world and is about to change the course of history
and humankind forever.
This could be just a quaint story unless we ask “What
does it mean for a 21st century Christian to observe the Season of Epiphany
in their everyday, post-modern life?”
First off, if epiphany means the “showing forth” of the
nature and person of who Jesus is, then it makes sense that his followers would
be doing the same. How? In the same way that Jesus showed himself to
the world… through his good works, his kindness, his mercy, his teaching and
healing and his befriending of those who have been cast aside by society. Some examples…
·
Re-structuring your life so that you can
actually interact meaningfully with the people around you… family, co-workers,
neighbors.
·
Making room in your schedule for an ongoing “good
work” as a Christian (otherwise, how if your life any different from anyone
else around you? In fact, even many
non-Christians are engaging in “good works” these days.)
·
Learning from the lips of Jesus himself by
engaging in some kind of daily quiet time, just you and God and a Bible and a
paper and pen.
·
Taking time to have coffee with a friend… just
to catch up on life. Or ice-fishing
(plenty of opportunity in Minnesota for that these days). Or cook dinner together as a family.
You get the idea.
It’s interesting that each of the Gospels are written
with this same flow. Right after the
birth of Jesus they jump right into his young adult years with story after
story of good works, healing, teaching and befriending “sinners” as it were,
i.e., the “cast offs.” No doctrine. No high theological treatises. Not even much conflict with the authorities. (That comes later.) Just plain good works. And lots of them.
