{"id":66,"date":"2015-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/01\/sunday-5th-january-2014-epiphany\/"},"modified":"2015-04-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T00:00:00","slug":"sunday-5th-january-2014-epiphany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/01\/sunday-5th-january-2014-epiphany\/","title":{"rendered":"Epiphany &#8211; God is revealed!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div style=\"margin: 10px 0 0 -10px\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/theword-this-week.weebly.com\/\/uploads\/4\/1\/5\/2\/4152650\/epiphany.mp3\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/www.weebly.com\/weebly\/images\/file_icons\/wav.png\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" style=\"float: left; position: relative; left: 0px; top: 0px; margin: 0 15px 15px 0; border: 0;\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; text-align: left; position: relative;\">\n<table style=\"font-size: 12px; font-family: tahoma; line-height: .9;\">\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\"><b> epiphany.mp3<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"display: none;\">\n<td>File Size:  <\/td>\n<td>11778 kb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"display: none;\">\n<td>File Type:  <\/td>\n<td> mp3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theword-this-week.weebly.com\/\/uploads\/4\/1\/5\/2\/4152650\/epiphany.mp3\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Download File<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr style=\"clear: both; width: 100%; visibility: hidden\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;\"><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">The Word This Week:<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"\">\n<li style=\"\"><a style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=12#hebrew_reading\" title=\"\">Isaiah 60:1-6<\/a>\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=12#psalm_reading\" title=\"\">Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14<\/a>\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=12#epistle_reading\" title=\"\">Ephesians 3:1-12<\/a>\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=12#gospel_reading\" title=\"\">Matthew 2:1-12<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\"><span><span><br \/><span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Let us pray\u2026<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span>  <span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">Today we celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus\u00a0&#8211; An epiphany is a theophany,\u00a0 a manifestation of the divine, an appearance of God that may be unexpected,\u00a0 unnerving and almost always unsettling. The wise men experienced what was an Epiphany when they found the baby Jesus\u00a0(not in a\u00a0manger as we often think, for the wise men come later &#8211; our text tells us that they entered a house)\u00a0\u2013 When they found him they experienced a supernatural event which not only changed their lives but the entire world, when God was made incarnate as a human being &#8211; a helpless babe.\u00a0 The thing I want us to focus on though, is what is often overlooked in this story of the wise men, how they reached that house, so that they could experience this theophany &#8211; this manifestation of God in their midst, and as we look to the wise men\u2019s journey to God we will find lessons for us to help us on our own journey.<\/p>\n<p> Firstly, when this story is retold it is often overlooked that the wise men first go to Jerusalem, and not to Bethlehem.\u00a0 What is the significance of this you may wonder.\u00a0 Many would state that these men would of course go to Jerusalem as it was the capital, and where you would expect to find a King &#8211; and this is correct.\u00a0 What is also often portrayed however is that the wise men followed the star the whole way from their home in the East, that they were guided the whole way &#8211; our story doesn&#8217;t bear witness to that though.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p> If our wise men were following the star for the whole journey, why did it lead them to Jerusalem? Why not directly to Bethlehem where their Epiphany awaited? No, the wise men were not following a star the whole way &#8211; our\u00a0Gospel account tells us that they came to Jerusalem because they saw the star &#8216;at its rising&#8217; .\u00a0 You see these men saw something, that to them indicated something special was happening &#8211; they then took a journey &#8211; on faith &#8211;\u00a0to Jerusalem, because they believed that what they had seen indicated the coming of a King.\u00a0\u00a0Only when they had reached Jerusalem, and sought council from Herod, and the Jewish chief priests and scribes, were they provided with the knowledge to take them to where they needed to be.\u00a0 Then, only once they had that knowledge,\u00a0 were they guided\u00a0 by the star to the house in Bethlehem, where they had their Epiphany &#8211; their experience of the divine.<\/p>\n<p> So let&#8217;s recap &#8211; Step 1 The wise men see something, they are prompted by a sign, a calling of the star, and thinking there might\u00a0be\u00a0something to it they take a journey \u2013 on faith to Jerusalem.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p> Step 2: They don&#8217;t find what they were looking for in Jerusalem, what a disappointment! Much like our own faith journey, it wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing for the wise men. But rather than wallow in self-pity over what seemed like a wasted journey,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0<\/span>they seek more knowledge to enable them to continue on their journey of faith.<\/p>\n<p> Step 3, their persistent faith, and willingness to follow their calling pays off and they are guided on their journey, to a place where they can experience the divine.<\/p>\n<p> <\/font><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">You see in order to find the divine you need faith, persistence, and a willingness to follow God\u2019s call to revelation.\u00a0 <\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span>\u00a0<span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font><font size=\"3\"><font color=\"#000000\">\u2026 But what does that mean for us \u2013 here and now? Well it means if you are someone who has not experienced the salvation on offer through Jesus, the three wise men tell you what you must do in order to have your own epiphany &#8211; take a leap of faith, seek knowledge and help when you need it, and be prepared to let God lead you to your very own epiphany, where you can experience your own divine moment in receiving the gift of forgiveness and salvation through Christ.<\/p>\n<p> For those of us who have already placed our faith and hope in Christ, what do we learn &#8211; presumably we have had our own journey, to our own epiphany, so what now? Well firstly our journey is not over, and there are many many more chances for us to experience the presence of God in our midst &#8211; we too must continue our faith journey following the model of the wise men \u2013 being prepared to let God be our guide.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">We as the people of God, have another important role though \u2013 and our reading from Isaiah points us to it.<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">Now when we look to our reading from the prophet Isaiah today, we as Christians have a tendency to just overlay Jesus into it. When we read Isaiah saying \u2018arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you\u2019 we instinctively see Jesus. And it is a great explanation of the epiphany of Christ.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>However, is that the message of Isaiah? Was he pointing to the coming of the Messiah? Well\u2026 yes and no&#8230;<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">Chapters 60\u201362 of Isaiah portray Jerusalem as \u201ca bereaved woman,\u201d. In them, the prophet surprises his own listeners\u2019 ears. Using the vocabulary of royalty, he applies it not to the house of David (as his contemporary Jewish listeners might expect) but to the city of Zion and Israel as a whole. In the first twenty-two verses of chapter 60 (from which today\u2019s passage comes), the \u201cprophet does not look forward to the arrival of a human Messiah to liberate the Israelites or a human king to govern them. Rather, God will rule the nation directly in the future, and the whole nation will enjoy royal status.\u201d<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">For the prophet, God\u2019s glory is completed in the glorification of God\u2019s people. Their radiance is essential to any bright future of God\u2019s own imagining. If they hope to sit on the sidelines while someone else shines instead of them, then they have missed their central role in God\u2019s vision. They are not God, but God\u2019s presence will be seen over them (v. 2 JPS). They are not kings, but kings shall walk by their shining radiance (v. 3 JPS).<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font><font size=\"3\"><font color=\"#000000\"><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"><\/span>Brothers and sisters we are Israel, we are adopted as God\u2019s people when we place our faith in Christ.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>We are a royal priesthood.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Christ is \u2018the light that has come\u2019 but we are to be stars rising which call people to seek the King, we are to be like the scribes and chief priests from our Gospel reading as we guide those who seek, and pass on our knowledge of the divine &#8211; and then we hand it over to God so that he might guide those who yearn for him the last steps on the journey &#8211; until they too experience their own epiphany.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">As we recall the epiphany of Christ to the wise men today, let us take pause and reflect on our role as members of the body of Christ.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Let us look to how we can display the radiance of the love of God in the world. Let us remember that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, and that through us God can make his presence known in the world.<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><\/span><span style='mso-fareast-font-family: \"Times New Roman\";'><font color=\"#000000\" size=\"3\">Dear brothers and sisters as the prophet says \u2018arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you\u2019<\/font><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><br \/><span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>epiphany.mp3 File Size: 11778 kb File Type: mp3 Download File The Word This Week: Isaiah 60:1-6\u00a0 Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14\u00a0 Ephesians 3:1-12\u00a0 Matthew 2:1-12 Let us pray\u2026 In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.Today we celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus\u00a0&#8211; An epiphany is a theophany,\u00a0 a manifestation of the divine, an appearance &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/01\/sunday-5th-january-2014-epiphany\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Epiphany &#8211; God is revealed!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}