Sunday 05/01/25

Epiphany

Matthew 2:1-12, Isaiah 60:1-6

The feast of the Epiphany goes back to the account in Matthew’s Gospel about the journey and arrival of the Three Wise Men – the Magi.  They were political officials, so that is probably why they are often depicted as kings.  The prophecy from Isaiah 60 has particular relevance, as it speaks of foreigners who will bring tribute, bringing gifts, also mentioned in Matthew.  Epiphany means manifestation – it is the moment when Christ is made manifest to the Gentiles, non-Jews.  The short season of Epiphanytide helps us to see the world-wide perspective of God’s act of salvation through him, and to be reminded that this is part of the mission of the Church in every age.  Jesus was born for all of humanity, not just for a selected few.  In the sequence of the following weeks, we find several other incidents of the identity of Jesus as the Christ being manifested and revealed.  It is like the pulling back of a curtain or the lifting of a veil; what was hidden and obscure now becoming visible.  It is now also a few days into the New Year.  It may have been a bumpy start for some; so much in the world is still challenging and difficult or downright painful.  The story of the Epiphany does not claim to change our circumstances in a flash.  But it does point to the One who can – and who did and who still does, through faith.  For the realisation that we are not facing life alone already makes a difference.  Through Christ we are called children of God and in his care, even if the circumstances don’t change, we are being changed and find comfort and peace.  It is a bit, I hope, like the poem I wrote for the beginning of the New Year:

Hope for the unknown journey

What can we do at the start of a year

with the diary open and bare -

what do the seasons of this year bring

in the days and the months that are there?

Are we to fill the blank pages with work

or with leisure, we ask, as we stare

into the unknown, as yet distant, time

of the future that’s certainly there?

How do we live in the places we know

with the people that are in our care,

when so much before us is covered in fog

for the days that are not yet there?

What is our hope for this year ‘25

in the times when we are going spare

with worry about wars and dreadful things

that are not right, both here and there?

Where are the words we can listen to

that will not let us down in despair,

but will build us up in lives that are full

of joy and peace, finally there?

So many questions, this year just begun

and I wonder, am I not aware

of the love that God came to share in his Son,

who said he would always be there?

So I listen again to the words that he spoke

like a lamp to my feet, and show where

he says I should reach out my hand in faith

and be held on the path that is there;

in his care, anytime, everywhere!

May this New Year be for you a time of peace and joy.  Amen.