Epiphany

Ephesians 3: 1-12 Matthew 2: 1-12

Christmas has happened. The infant child, Jesus, has been born and is lying in a manger being attended to by his parents Mary and Joseph. At some time after his birth the peace of the Holy Family was disturbed by shepherds coming off the lands to seek out the baby as had been told them by the angels. Their visit over, the shepherds have now returned to their flocks. Peace and quiet returns to the Holy Family.

But not for long. Magi from the east arrive on the scene. Just who or what are the Magi? From foreign lands they had become a tribe of priests. They were teachers and instructors of the Persian kings. They became men of holiness and wisdom, skilled in philosophy, medicine and natural sciences. They were soothsayers and interpreters of dreams. They would also have been followers of Astrology and believed that they could foretell the future by looking at the position of the stars at a person’s birth.

The course of the stars in the heavens had been disturbed by some brilliant star. It looked as if God was breaking into his own order and announcing some special thing. Indeed, he was, the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ. It was the Magi’s knowledge of the stars in the heavens that told them of the birth of a king. At this time there was a feeling in the world, an expectation that something was about to happen.

Here we see the first sign of what Jesus was to achieve. Up to now people had been waiting for God and in their hearts they had a desire for God. It was to this waiting world that the Christ child came.

In our world of today we see about us many signs of unrest. From the fighting in the Middle East and civil unrest in other parts of the world to the gun crimes in countries with much laxer laws than we have. We see riots and public disorder in towns and cities and we the rise of domestic abuse all around us. It is as if we have, once more, a world waiting for a peacemaker to come among us, a return of the Son of God.

The second coming of the Son of God will happen. But that way is being prepared for that coming now. Through baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. A gift that we have with us for all time. As we travel on our way through this world we do so in the company of the Holy Spirit. Our belief in God and in his Son, Jesus Christ, gives us the opportunity to repent of our sins, our wrongdoing. With this cleansing of our soul a pathway is cleared. It is as if a giant rubber has erased our sinfulness. If all Christians repented then huge swathes of sinfulness will be cleared. It will be like a huge eraser being used to clear away the wrongdoing in the world.

Epiphany means an awakening or realisation. With the birth of Jesus the world is being woken to the presence of the Son of God. His coming among us has brought us all closer to God through his teaching. By his death on the Cross our sins have been forgiven. The slate is wiped clean. We have a marvellous opportunity to encourage others to do likewise, to turn to God, to work for peace. Peace in the world and peace in our hearts. That is our goal. Bringing the world to recognise that Christ came to save us all, to bring us closer to God, and to love our neighbour. If we abide in that love then peace will come upon us.

Collect for Epiphany

O God,

who by the leading of a star

manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:

mercifully grant that we,

who know you now by faith,

may at last behold your glory face to face;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.