Epiphany: An Ongoing Revelation

Did you miss Epiphany? Do you know what Epiphany is, and what the day represents? Is this day only for Roman Catholics, and those who worship in liturgical traditions?

This day, celebrated as part of the church calendar, represents the acknowledgement or revealing of Jesus Christ as the incarnate (in the body) God: one who understands us because he has lived as one of us, one who willingly chose to have the total human experience. This choice allows us to have confidence in Jesus' close and personal knowledge of what it means to be human.  He understands our lives, so we can trust his guidance. His knowledge is not based on living the highest and most privileged human experience. His knowledge is based upon him having lived a life of hard physical labor (carpenter), a life of conflict with the powers-that-were, a difficult death, followed by a supernatural resurrection.

For many of us, this is the total outline of our lives.

Why does this matter?

Epiphany reminds us there is always something new to learn about God, about what God has for us, about how much God loves us, about what is possible in a life lived for God.

There is always a new revelation awaiting those who seek it.

Epiphany is celebrated in early January, when most of us are celebrating a new calendar year.

I stopped making new year resolutions several years ago. It wasn't because I couldn't keep them. It was because I realized if something needed to be changed, I would change it right away. The changing of the calendar isn't a particularly good time to begin a new practice or way of thinking.

If it's good, begin right away!

Epiphany isn't about making a resolution based on learning something new about God at the beginning of the year.

Epiphany is about recognizing there is always something new to learn because as we grow in spiritual insight, God is always revealing more and more of himself to those who want  this  knowledge.

Epiphany isn't tied to a certain day, although a day is assigned to celebrate the revelation.

Epiphany is about going on the journey that seeks to understand what God has for us to do in this life and how we are to carry out that mission. Epiphany is the journey of the lover who seeks the beloved. In this path, we are both lover and beloved.

Living as both lover and beloved, we experience who God is and who we are because of him: we are his creatures, his children, his friends, his servants, and his family. In time and eternity, we are all of these things for and to God.

Does knowing this make a difference in your life?

In this knowledge, we begin a new calendar year knowing all good things from God are possible, reachable, attainable, and maintain-able. This certainty comes from the revelation of God to us and for us.

Amen.