The Epiphany of Our Lord Tuesday, January 6, 2009 The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“Why an Epiphany Service Is Worth the Effort” (Matthew 2:1-12) Welcome to the Forgotten Festival! If that sentence sounds familiar to you, maybe you were here some months back on a Thursday evening in May. I started the sermon that night with the same sentence, “Welcome to the Forgotten Festival!” Back in May, we were celebrating the Ascension of Our Lord. Tonight we’re celebrating the Epiphany of Our Lord. What they have in common is that Epiphany and Ascension--even though they’re ranked as major festivals in the church year, meaning they ought to be observed--even so, both Epiphany and Ascension have become “forgotten festivals” in the church. Churches that used to hold services on Epiphany and Ascension--including many Lutheran churches, including many Missouri Synod congregations--those same churches in recent decades have let Epiphany and Ascension go by the wayside. Why? Well, because most years it means having to hold a service on a day other than Sunday. With Ascension that’s always the case, since Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday, forty days after Easter. Epiphany always comes after the twelve days of Christmas, and that means it falls on January 6, regardless of what day of the week it is. Most years, that means not on a Sunday. So it takes a little added effort to hold Epiphany and Ascension services. Ascension at least has the advantage of coming in the spring, in May or early June, when the weather is nice and it’s light out later. But Epiphany always falls on January 6, when it’s dark out early and the weather is usually the coldest. It takes a little special effort to get to Epiphany. But then that’s the way it was with the first Epiphany! The worshipers who came to the very first Epiphany service had to travel an extremely long way--hundreds of miles! Plus, they didn’t even know where exactly the service would be held till they got there! And to get there, they had to cross paths with a very dangerous and deceitful man. Then there was the offering at the service--man, talk about putting a lot in the plate! Well, even with all those obstacles in their way, the first Epiphany worshipers still thought it was well worth the effort. In fact, they were overjoyed! And so are we. Or will be. For tonight, with the Wise Men, we will discover “Why an Epiphany Service Is Worth the Effort.” Why is it worth it? For at least three reasons I’ll mention tonight. First, it’s the Gentile Christmas. What do I mean by that, Epiphany is the Gentile Christmas? I mean that Christmas, the first Christmas, was, in a sense, a Jewish holiday. Remember what the angel said to the shepherds? “Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.” And “all the people” there refers, in the first place, to the people of Israel, the Jews. Christ’s coming at Christmas was first for the Jews, to be their long-promised Messiah. But now at Epiphany that circle definitely gets expanded, to include the non-Jews, the Gentiles. You know, God’s plan all along was to include the Gentiles, ever since he told old Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The Old Testament has many passages prophesying that in the messianic age the Gentiles would come running to get in on the blessings bestowed upon Israel. And remember how, when Jesus was forty days old and presented in the temple, old Simeon called the little baby, “a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of Thy people Israel.” Well, now at Epiphany here he is, that Light to lighten the Gentiles. And to mark the occasion, God has some Gentiles come, led by the light of a guiding star, to behold the true Light, who gives light to every man. Epiphany is the Gentile Christmas. Now most all of you here tonight--probably all of you, if I’m not mistaken--are Gentiles, not Jews. Your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents do not come from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Rather, they came from the line of pagans and barbarians, with names like Bjorn and Baldric and Brunhilda. They worshiped trees and stars and bowed down to idols made of wood and stone. But at Epiphany they get included in the act. God brought them the light, the light of the gospel, and you and I today are the beneficiaries of that blessing. And it all began with the first Epiphany, the Gentile Christmas. So that’s the first reason to celebrate. Second, another reason why an Epiphany service is worth it: It points us to the person of Christ and how and where to find him. Just like that star pointed the Magi to the Christ child, so our Epiphany service tonight points us to the person of Christ. The readings, the hymns, the Word preached and the Sacrament delivered--all point us and lead us to Christ. The first Epiphany certainly focused on Christ. The star directed the Wise Men, first to the land, and then to the town, and even to the exact house, where they could find him. “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” that’s what they wanted to know. Where is the Messiah, the great deliverer promised by God many centuries ago? The person of Christ is the one they seek, because God was pointing them to him. Now this raises a couple of interesting questions: How did these Gentiles know about the Messiah promised to Israel? And how did they connect the appearance of the star to the birth of the King of the Jews? The answer here, in both cases, is through the Word, through divine revelation. They would not have known about the Christ and his birth otherwise. These wise men from the east probably served in the court of the king of Babylon. And six hundred years before Christ, remember, the Jews, the Judeans, had been taken captive and deported to Babylon. Among them were Jewish wise men who then served in the courts of Babylon, most famously, Daniel. There the Gentile scholars would have come in contact with the religion of Israel, learning the prophecies of a Messiah to come. Some of those prophecies compare the coming of the Messiah to the rising of a great light that will even attract the nations. You heard one such prophecy tonight from Isaiah: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. . . . the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Or the prophecy in the Book of Numbers: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” So there was a certain biblical tradition that the coming of the Messiah would be marked by a sign in the heavens, a bright light or a star. The Gentile wise men would have learned of it from the Jewish wise men, and then God connected the dots for these particular wise men by revealing to them that it was this unusual star. But that only gets them as far as the land of Israel, and so they go to Jerusalem, the capital, where they logically think they would find the one born King of the Jews. Here again, they need the Scriptures to take them farther. Where is the Christ to be born? “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet,” quoting the prophet Micah. You see, it wasn’t a star by itself that could tell them about the Christ and where to find him. The sign had to be accompanied by the Word. But with that word, God then directs them even to the very house where they can find the Christ. So it is for us. We would not know of a divine Savior, born to deliver even us Gentiles, except that God has revealed it to us in his word. But with that word, we have as sure a guide as the Wise Men had. We know who the Christ is and where to find him, even down to the exact house. We know who Christ is. He is that baby born in Bethlehem, fulfilling the prophecies of long ago. He is the King of the Jews, born to bring salvation also to us Gentiles. He is God come in the flesh, worthy to receive our worship. He is the King of kings, and costly gold befits such a king, even when he comes in humble circumstances. He is God himself, to whom the incense of our prayers will arise. He is the perfect God-sent sacrifice to atone for all of our sins, and so myrrh will anoint him for his burial. Yes, you and I, we know who the Christ is. God’s word has told us. And so we know where to find him: Wherever his pure gospel is preached and where his Sacraments are administered. God directs us even down to the very house: This house, the Lord’s house. For in this house you will hear that precious gospel. Here your sins will be forgiven. Here the body and blood of your Savior will be given to you, for your eternal life and salvation. God’s word directs you, like a guiding star, and points you to where you can be sure to find your Savior. Epiphany is worth the effort because, first, it’s the Gentile Christmas, and second, because it points us to the person of Christ and where to find him. And now here’s a third reason: It points us to his saving work. Here that phrase, “the King of the Jews,” comes in again. For at that time there was another king, Herod, and he didn’t want to hear about any upstart “King of the Jews.” Well, actually, he did want to hear about him--he wanted to know his exact location--but not to worship him, rather to destroy him! This is a foreshadowing of all the opposition this Christ child would encounter later on. For years later, other men in authority would become enraged by him and seek his death. In fact, they had him crucified. And what would the sign say, that hung over his head? “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” There’s that phrase again, “the King of the Jews.” The cross looms, even at Epiphany. But for us, that is reason for joy! Because we know how to read that sign. We know why the King of the Jews would go to the cross: To win salvation for the whole world, Jews and Gentiles alike. For all us poor sinners who need God to deliver us from death and eternal damnation. That is why Christ came. He, the Son of God, came on the longest journey of all, from heaven to earth, from glory to shame. He, Jesus, spared no expense, even to the shedding of his holy precious blood. He did all this, because he knew it would worth the effort: To deliver mankind from the clutches of sin and death, and to save us for all eternity, to the glory of God his Father. Epiphany is the Gentile Christmas. You and I are included. Epiphany points us to the person of Christ and where to find him. The Word is our guiding star, leading us to the Light of the world. And Epiphany points us to Christ’s saving work: The King of the Jews crucified for us sinners. So, Epiphany, the Forgotten Festival? No, not anymore, not here! Indeed, Epiphany is the Joyous Festival! Like those first Epiphany worshipers, we too “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” when we are led to where Jesus is. Yes, wise men then and now all agree: An Epiphany service is well worth the effort. Charles Henrickson 4749 Melissa Jo Ln St. Louis, MO 63128 (314) 845-8811 (home) (314) 779-8108 (cell) [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [email protected] Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at: Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[email protected]>
