Feast of Epiphany

Sunday January 7, 2007

Bon Voyage!

It has been said by more than one preacher that life is a journey. I know it sounds a bit trite but it remains an apt metaphor or simile for life. In as much as a journey is usually motivated by the need or desire to get somewhere, we map our plans according to the strength of that need or desire. But no matter how carefully we plan, there are bound to be detours and diversions. No map is perfect, no plan without its flaws. If we don’t include contingencies for unanticipated events and circumstances we can get derailed very easily and end up on a dead end street. “Been there, done that,” sez you. Me too!

Moreover, one’s personality also impinges on the manner in which a road map is followed and plans are implemented. Some of us do not like to stop for directions. This seems to be a ‘male thing’, though not always. Some folks have not been blessed with a sense of direction to begin with. And there are those who like to stop along the way to admire the beauty of a particular panorama; others stop only for “precautions”—rest stops!

And there are many layers to a journey. We may discover new truths or gain different perspectives on life, particularly when traveling through unfamiliar territory. Rarely does a city look the same as its cropped photograph. People we have never met in person do not always resemble their I.D. photo. It’s impossible to capture in a snap shot, the personality of someone we have met much less someone we have never met.

Of course this analogy, as all analogies, limps. Life really can’t be mapped with precision. In fact, life unfolds day by day, one day at a time. It can’t be hurried or harried or harnessed into a predetermined program as in a computer game. However, to go through life without dedication to a goal is to go through life rudderless. Goals provide direction and motivation. We also need ‘stars’ along the way to guide us. These are experienced people who mentor us. They provide encouragement and shed light on the obstacles that everyone faces in life. They prod but never push us; they challenge but never hassle us; they affirm but are not afraid to suggest a reality check of our perceptions and our motivation.

As there are layers to every journey so too life has its layers. Despite what Robert Fulgam wrote, we don’t learn everything there is to learn about life in kindergarten; nor do we learn everything there is to know at college. We may meet lots of “know-it-alls” along the way but they tend to be more clever than wise.

On this feast of Epiphany, we celebrate the manifestation of Jesus as the “light” which enlightens the world, or perhaps I might say more accurately, whose light is accessible to all who search for it. Light may be translated in this instance as “wisdom ” or “insight.” During this entire Christmas season, we have been celebrating our conviction in faith that God did indeed reveal himself in human form in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Isaiah offers a poetic expression of Judah’s hope that God would not only do justice for the exiled Jews on their return from captivity but would reconcile the Jews to other nations not as their conquerors but as a people who would truly reflect to the nations, the life and love of the one God. In other words, Israel would not proselytize the nations but the nations would come to see in its way of life the wisdom that can only come from God, a saving wisdom that would attract them to Jerusalem, the City of Peace, in which all people, rulers and subjects; rich and poor; Jews and gentiles, would bring their gifts to Jerusalem and live together in peace and harmony as one people of God.

Of course, this was a vision that has never become a reality.

The oracle of Isaiah and the prophecy of Micah influenced Matthew in his attempt to identify Jesus as the light. He shaped his story of the Magi on the rich biblical heritage of the Jews waiting for the Messiah. Matthew therefore is presenting this story as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s hope for a messiah.

Matthew was a Jew writing for Jews. He asserted rather strongly that Jesus was not just for the Jews, but for everyone. He continued to identify Jesus in his gospel by a series of “signs” or indicators that affirmed Jesus’ role and mission as Messiah: his baptism, his transfiguration, his resurrection—all theophanies or epiphanies—signs of Jesus’ identity with God or signs of God’s manifestation in Christ.

Matthew is less interested in condemning those who did not accept the Messiah as he is in affirming those who did accept him, including gentiles and others “outside the fold.”

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul emphasizes our identity with Christ, i.e., our adoption as sons and daughters of God in Christ. But this too is part vision and part reality. We learned in our ‘penny’ catechism that at our baptism, we became “adopted children” of God—the first step in our divinization. However, we have also lived long enough to confess that we do not always act as adopted sons and daughters. We like our independence and have emancipated ourselves from ‘gospel living’ on more than one occasion. We have taken detours; we have become derailed and ended up on dead end streets.

Nevertheless, we are still on a journey that is not over. We haven’t reached our destination. We still look for stars and signs—mentors and guides—but as Christians, we look primarily to Jesus. Despite our frailty and sinfulness, he is never far from us. He is our light and we reflect his light to others as we travel forward from east to west. Even when we fail, God can get through. God never gives up on us.

In the pursuit of ‘the Light’ by pondering the Scriptures, celebrating the Eucharist, engaging in the prayer of the heart and of course Christian service every day, our destination becomes clearer, our goals more explicit; our life takes on fuller meaning and purpose.

We are channels of grace and signs of God’s presence in our world. Our response to personal challenges and global issues will in time, over time contribute to the transformation of our world.

No effort is too great or too small.

Bon Voyage!

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