An Epiphany Moment
A Story to Tell-the Road Home
We celebrate Epiphany today. It happens officially on the sixth of January.
But we are here at the crossroads of time once again;
the end of Christmas of 2021
and the beginning of Epiphany of 2022.
At these crossroads we are faced with the moments of experience and anticipation.
All through Advent we anticipated the birth of Jesus to come. On Christmas Eve he came and on Christmas Day we rejoiced at his presence with us. Throughout all of it we were witnesses to the light. The light of hope, of joy, of peace, and of love. We were witnesses to the light of the angels, the light of the star, the light of God shining from heaven through Jesus his son.
There has been brightness all around us.
Our scripture readings today reveal the presence of light in the life of people.
The shepherds encountered the light of God through the angels.
They went straight to Bethlehem to meet the Savior. They were so changed by the experience that when they returned home they had a story to tell. The road home led them back to their lives of shepherding sheep but it was through the lens of a new and changed life.
They went home but on new terms.
They went home with renewed hope.
They went home but with eyes wide open to the joy that brought them back to where they could tell the story of wonder, the story of miracle, the story of promise!
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| photo credit Megan Ames |
The magi saw the great light in the sky and followed it until it shone upon where the baby lay. They came and bowed down before the tiny king and paid him homage.
They were changed forever by the light of the star.
They went home and down the road with a story to tell.
Their ability to risk everything to chase after a light brought them into the presence of the Promise.
The did not stay at the manger or linger hoping for more.
The encounter with the baby Lord filled them with the abundance of new life.
It gave them hope and strength, resilience to get back on the road with this newfound love to share and tell those from which they came.
It’s the most wonderful news to know that we encounter Jesus at Bethlehem every year and he smiles upon us and refreshes us and sends us on the road home with another story to tell.
The loss of Desmond Tutu and the loss of Betty White broke my heart this past week.
These were two remarkable world changing people.
In very different ways of course.
But, all I could think about was these two people were so important to the world because of who they were.
And we expected, hoped, prayed that they would never leave us.
Who are the people we expect to never leave us, to always stay with us, to be an icon around us, because if they dared to leave at anytime it would be too soon?
We’ve ended 2021 with much the same way we ended 2020.
We lost people too soon.
We were challenged at times beyond our capacities.
We were in situations of turmoil, grief, and struggle that God never intended us to be in.
And yet, there we were.
And this year couldn’t end soon enough for us.
The question for us as we enter into this year of 2022, ‘has the encounter with Jesus in Bethlehem of 2021 impacted us in a way that we don’t want Jesus to ever leave us?’
Somewhere along the way we experience Emmanuel.
We meet the incarnation of God through his Son Jesus on our road of life.
We experience the epiphany, the aha moment of Jesus alive within us, at Christmas or through the story of the wisemen, or the shepherds as they witnessed the promise of God come alive.
Perhaps, our epiphany, our awakening to God happened at our confirmation,
or at church camp,
or through choral singing,
or at a retreat,
or in quietness of our own room.
**We all meet Jesus face to face in our life in a moment so necessary to our life that it alters our life forever.**
It’s at those moments we recognize the God who promised to always be with us has been holding us in the palm of his hand through all the times we thought were too much for us to handle.
The amazing story of encounters with the light of Jesus continues beyond his birth and after his resurrection.
Paul was blinded by the light of Jesus so boldly it took three days for his vision to return.
Jesus turned Paul’s life upside down.
Jesus came face to face with Paul and in that moment he was changed forever.
We are changed by face to face encounters.
Paul had a story to tell and took the road home and faced all the people he had persecuted before and all the people who had taught him and he told them about Jesus no matter the cost it had on his reputation.
Because Jesus had given him a new identity and a new call in life.
That’s what he does,
he radically changes us to want to live only for him.
He changes us so that all that matters
is to bring hope, joy, peace, and love to the world through him.
As humans we are social creatures with a social culture.
We need encounters.
We need face to face experiences to learn, to grow, to be nourished, to be alive.
Whales are also social creatures requiring a social pod to experience and live life.
As we watch them in nature we discover that they value families and sharing most.
They serve each other and work together for food.
They adore their children and protect each other’s children.
They experience joy, they mourn, the play.
An Orca whale lost her young and swam around for days with the body of her child and made weeping noises. The other Orcas of the pod swam with her to provide comfort and support.
As humans we must have these physical social cultural interactions.
They are necessary for our survival.
They are necessary for our faith.
They are necessary for our encounters with Jesus in worship.
As we pack up our journey to Bethlehem and get on the road home,
remember we have a story to tell.
Let’s not forget to go home with changed hearts
and refreshed souls to sing
and dance and share.
And we pray the prayer of Howard Thurman
A Prayer For The New Year
God,
Grant that I may pass through the coming year with a faithful heart.
There will be much to test me and make weak my strength before the year ends.
In my confusion I shall often say the word that is not true
and do the thing of which I am ashamed.
There will be errors in the mind
and great inaccuracies of judgment.
In seeking the light,
I shall again and again find myself
walking in the darkness.
I shall mistake my light for Your light
and I shall drink from the responsibility of the choice I make...
Though my days be marked with failures,
stumblings, fallings,
let my spirit be free so that You may take it
and redeem my moments
in all the ways my needs reveal.
Give me the quiet assurance
of Your Love and Presence.
Grant that I may pass through the coming year
with a faithful heart.
Amen
Meditations Of The Heart
Resources: NIB Acts. Online news source-ABC
Original quotes and sayings of Monica Gould
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