What is Epiphany?
- Kenny Marchetti
- Jan 10, 2009
- Series: The Season of Epiphany: Seeing Jesus
"Epiphany" by Judith Bingham
Deep midwinter, the dark centre of the year,
Wake, O earth, awake,
Out on the hills a star appears,
Here lies the way for pilgrim kings,
Three magi on an ancient path,
Black hours begin their journeyings.
Their star has risen in our hearts,
Empty thrones, abandoned fears,
Out on the hills their journey starts,
In dazzling darkness God appears.
As we enter this New Year of our Lord 2009, we begin the Christian calendar with the Season of Epiphany. Regarding Epiphany, Adam Kirsch observes, "The word comes from the Greek for appearance or shining-forth; in the Christian calendar, the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the appearance of Christ's Divinity to the Magi" (Matthew 2:1-12). The ongoing significance of Jesus' manifestation of His Deity to the Wise Men is its fulfillment of the promise that the Christ indeed will be Immanuel, "God-with-us" (Matthew 1:18-25). Our present day experience in which Jesus continues to be with us "to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20) is the reason we remember and participate in the Season of Epiphany. As Christ's Church, we live in the teaching, revealing, healing, and saving Spirit-Presence of Jesus through our faith-obedience to His Word and Sacraments. And together, we pray this Epiphany prayer with Jan Berry:
God of gold, we seek Your Glory:
the richness that transforms our drabness into colour,
and brightens our dullness with vibrant light;
Your Wonder and Joy at the heart of all life.
The hallmark of Epiphany is the celebration of Light, as Jesus reveals God to us as the Light of the World (John 8:12-30). Even in the midst of the dark barrenness of winter, we live in the Glory of the "Light of Life" (John 1:1-5). "In dazzling darkness God appears," as the poet beautifully affirms.
God of frankincense, we offer You our prayer:
our spoken and unspeakable longings, our questioning of truth,
our search for Your mystery deep within.
Judith Bingham penetratingly confesses, "Darkness ... There is something about the context of darkness. Only in darkness can you see the Light for what it is." Out of the darkness of our unfulfilled desires, unsettled doubts, and unnamed pursuits, Epiphany's Light of Christ rises within us, revealing Him to be our authentic yearning, confirmed truth, and understood purpose.
God of myrrh, we cry out to you in our suffering:
the pain of all our rejections and bereavements,
our baffled despair at undeserved suffering,
our rage at continuing injustice;
and we embrace You, God-with-us,
in our wealth, in our yearning, in our anger and loss.
Surrounded in his day by the darkness of dismal unbelief, the Apostle Peter boldly confessed, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" (John 6:68). This essential question of faith confronts all of us this Season of Epiphany. To whom can we bring our hurts, fears, and disappointments? To whom will we bring our longings, our loves, our very lives? Epiphany invites us into this Grace: that the One to Whom we go is in fact the One Who is already coming to us ... Jesus Christ our Immanuel - God with us!