Epiphany
means?
Christmas
is all about Epiphany
Matthew
Mark Luke and John all have Epiphany and they express things differently
depending on their readership and time of writing.
The
Disciples had Epiphanies, times when the purpose of Jesus was made so very
clear to them.
Many
characters of the Gospels had epiphanies such as the woman at the well. “He
told me everything about me”
Throughout
our reading of the bible we also get moments of understanding... times when the
work of God is clearly felt in our lives and through the church.
The
Church (you and I) are called to be Epiphanies for the world today, but we
often manage to obscure this.!!
People
in our society today need clarity, they need the Gospel (Good news) that God is
for them and not against them. That God is close and not far away.
Far
too many people have experienced the church as power and control. (something
that was so very obvious in Rome last week) The history of Shetlands churches
also give evidence to the power and control the people felt the church put them
under
If
we can be better epiphanies then people may begin to see how things fit into
place. The dawn of new hope may be made clear.
There
is a God shaped hole in each of us let us fill it with the God we have seen
show himself.
I
would like to share this story with you It is set in China when the communists
came to power. Many Christians were tried for their faith. One was given the
opportunity to reveal why he had chosen Christianity instead of the religion of
his ancestors.
He said to the
interrogators,
"I was in
a deep pit sinking in the mire and totally helpless. I looked up to see a
shadow at the top of the pit. The shadow spoke, "My Son, I am Confucius,
the father of your country. If you had obeyed my teachings you would never have
been here," and then he passed on adding "if you ever get out of
this, remember my teachings".
But of course this did not save him.
Then Buddha
appeared at he edge of the pit, and leaning over he spoke to me at the bottom:" My Son, just count it
all as nothing. Enter into rest. Fold your arms and retire within yourself, and
you will find nirvana, the peace to which we are all tending. The* I cried out
to him, "Father Buddha if you will only help me to get out, I wilI be glad
to do so, I could follow your instructions easily if I were where you are, but
how can I find rest in this awful place?" Buddha passed on and left me to
my despair.
Then another
face appeared, it was the face of a man beaming with kindness, and bearing the
marks of sorrow. He did not linger a moment, but leaped down to my side, threw
his arms around me and lifted me out. He brought me to the solid ground above;
then did not even bid me farewell, but took off my filthy garments, put new
robes upon me, and bade me follow him, saying," I will never leave you nor
forsake you" That is why I became a Christian.
That little
story illustrates something of the Epiphany
which is the glory of God in that it helps us to see how the Glory of God is
something strangely at our side, something that is always there.
Mother Julian
of Norwich once saw in her showings a small I hazelnut and was amazed at the
sight of it. It smallness and frailty, and yet she was told this was all that
was made and it lasts forever because God loves it. This led Julian to realise
three things
1.
that
God Made it
2.
That
God loves it.
3.
That
god looks after it.
The Glory of God
is to be found in the life around us. In even the unlikely places of our lives.
Paul, whose
conversion we celebrated on Friday saw
the Glory of God revealed in the cross. Again a less likely place for glory to
be revealed you couldn’t find. He said "Let us boast of nothing except the
cross of Christ Crucified"
Elsewhere, in
his epistles he talks of the Glory of
God at work in him in proclaiming the Gospel.
But the remarkable
thing is that he speaks
of this as he
is in prison and in great suffering for the Faith.
He writes of
"Christ in You, the hope of Glory."
(col 1:27.)
So we pray
that the signs of Glory will
be seen in and through the church, will
be recognised by ourselves in common
places of our lives, and will bring
light to the darkness of our lives, and that we will be enablers of Epiphany to
those around us.
