Epiphany 2022

January 6 is Epiphany.  It is the celebration of the Wise Men reaching the baby Jesus and presenting him with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Even though it counts as a major church holiday (It ranks right up there with Good Friday, Easter and Christmas after all!) it is largely overlooked in the western world today.

 

It is especially overlooked this year as many Americans are remembering the 2020 attacks on the United States Capitol Building.  I certainly have opinions about the attack, the election results, and the overall course of our nation’s politics.  But I am not going to use this space as a platform to proclaim them.  It seems as if most everyone has made up their mind about such things.  Nothing I write will change anyone’s thinking.  You’ll either agree with my thoughts (and perhaps praise me), or you’ll dismiss my thoughts as coming from the “wrong” perspective (and perhaps reject me and conclude that I have nothing worth saying).  That reality is why we need to be celebrating Epiphany more than ever.

 

An epiphany is a manifestation of a god.  The Wise Men who visited Jesus were probably pagan astrologers from the Parthian Empire.  You’ll remember that at the time of Jesus the Parthian Empire was almost as mighty as the Roman Empire, and its boarder was less than 100 miles east of Jerusalem.  Tensions between the two empires was intense.  Through the appearance of a star God revealed Godself to people of a foreign nation and competing religion.  God was transcending both national boundaries and religious boundaries.

 

God still does the same things today.

 

You probably know that I believe our western society is ripping itself apart from the inside out.  Our biggest threat is not from some outside power.  It is our very own selves.  The steep decline -actually let’s call it the “collapse” - of the church is only one symptom of a much bigger problem.  The roots of our problems are many and complex.  I’m not going to explore them all here.  But I think I can safely summarize them by saying that our world is becoming ever more horizontal.   Or perhaps I should say people’s self-identity is becoming ever more horizontal. 

 

What I mean by horizontal is that people are looking to earthly things for self-fulfillment; and ultimately self-identity.  They look to:

material things,

social acceptance,

human accomplishments,

financial security,

creature comforts,

personal power/dominance,

ethnicity/race,

political affiliations,

and more.

They use these things to define themselves. 

They use these things to feel good about themselves. 

They use these things to make themselves feel worthwhile.

 

When your world revolves around such things it is essential for you to protect and preserve them at all costs.  To lose them is to lose your own self.  These things are horizontal because you can find them by looking to the left and to the right.

 

Where did the Wise Men find their truth?  They broke from the horizontal and looked upward!

 

While it is an overly simplistic world view to say that God is “up there” it is helps us understand that we must look above ourselves if we ever want to find meaning.

 

I believe people are desperately trying to find meaning through: rampant consumerism, obsession with personal appearance, worship of celebrity and power, and addictions of all kinds (alcohol, drugs, food, sex).  These are perhaps the ‘sacraments’ of our day.

 

We need an epiphany!  As individuals, and as a society at large, we need to have the humility to recognize that we do not have it all together.  We need to recognize that we cannot fix things on our own.  We need to realize that we cannot find fulfillment within ourselves.  Human intellect is not a god.  Wholeness ONLY comes from God.  It only comes by looking upward and trusting the intangible truth that God loves you.

 

Jesus said that those who want to save their lives will lose them and those who lose their lives for his sake will find them. (Matthew 16:25)

 

It’s Epiphany!  Look upward!  See the stars.  You probably won’t see any new ones but you’ll be looking in the right direction.  God who is above and beyond all things made you.  God knows you.  God loves you.  You are guaranteed to find wholeness of being through Him.