Seeing Epiphany Anew

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

This year, the feast of the Epiphany speaks to me with new urgency.

 

Every year, we read the story of the wise men, kings from the East who come to honor the newborn Jesus.  We have heard about the star.  We have heard about Herod.  We have heard about gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  We think we know the story.

 

But when I read with fresh eyes, I see afresh.  This is a story about an immigrant family shortly to become refugees.  It is a story about a puppet regime and the consequences of threatening an anxious king.  It is a story about outsiders and their particular ability to recognize the presence of God.

 

In our place and time, this story has new resonance.  Our culture is grappling with our treatment of refugees and immigrants.  Our world is grappling with the rise of authoritarianism.

 

Where and how will we recognize the presence of God?  Who will help us see?

 

I encourage you to mark the feast of the Epiphany (January 6) by reading the story in Matthew 2 with fresh eyes.  Listen for how it speaks to the work you do and the life you live here and now.

 

And I encourage you to come to our Bilingual Eucharist for Epiphany (held at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 4).  Grace Church is a congregation that worships in two languages and embraces many cultures.  Our identity matters on this feast day.

 

When we gather together, we make a profound testimony about the meaning of the Epiphany.  We are not just telling the good news of God’s inclusion of all people.  We are showing it.

 

So come hear the story.  And come live it with one another.

 

Yours in Christ,

Anne+