St. Bartholomew's Church

In the liturgical calendar, Christmas segues right into the often-ignored season of Epiphany. We are so busy cleaning up after the festivities and then preparing for the advent of a new year that the impact often passes us by.

In some traditions Epiphany is a time for house blessings; in others it is a period of intense and intentional evangelism. It ought to be a motivational time for us all!

We understand the word ‘epiphany’ to mean ‘uncovering’ or ‘unveiling’ and the Gospel narratives throughout the season draw our attention to those times when the impact of the Christ is made known or ‘manifested’ not only to the first century participants, but to contemporary readers as well.

The story of the coming of the magi to discover Christ in Bethlehem stands as a reminder of the universal nature of Christ’s ministry to the whole world, rather than being limited to a particular nationality or geographic region of the Hebrews. The narrative of Christ changing water into wine reminds us of how our Lord’s ministry is intended to engage the whole community in the celebration of his saving work, as well as inviting us to understand that his delight is to take the common, the ordinary (water) and make it extraordinary (wine). (This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. John 2:11)

The primary point of the season is clear. God wants the world, the whole world, to know that the person of His Son was being sent to them all, regardless of ethnic origin, race, religion or other cultural identification tags. This is the message the church is commissioned to carry even today.

God is still at work calling the world to His side and he needs us to partner with him. Just as the miracle of water being changed to wine manifested His glory and resulted in many putting their faith in Jesus, so today, God wants many to come to put their faith in Christ because they see him at work changing us.

It is highly unlikely that anyone will come to believe just because of sound theology, as necessary as that is. Nor is it likely that many will put their faith in Jesus because we do the liturgy so well, or sing in perfect pitch or have the most spectacular campus in the city. All of these are important but it is when the unbelieving world sees the transformational power of God at work in His children that they come to take seriously the message on the lips of His children!

When those wise men from the east made the pilgrimage to find the Christ, the world watched with wonder. What would make these men pick up and travel to a small community in the middle of an un-prosperous land? They watched with curiosity at what charged them to make these changes in their routine and then heard the testimony on their lips once they had found the child-king. Their lives and their testimony would be the witness that invited others to follow in their same footsteps.

So it will be today. As men and women like you and me take the Gospel seriously and allow the Christ to change our lives, then and only then with the testimony of our lips be listened to by people who actually want to hear.

Epiphany is about making the good news of the Christ known, and you and I are called to be co-workers with God in the accomplishing of this task of ‘unveiling’. As we allow Christ sway in our lives then His Glory will be revealed and others will come to put their faith in Him.

Together with Christ we will witness the miracle of the extension of his Kingdom!

The Rev. Jerry Smith
Rector