The Epiphany of Our Lord: January 6, 2006.

Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

First Reading

The theme I want to lift up in today's texts is "reconciliation and the creation of new community." We see this theme illustrated in different ways in all three texts. First, in Isaiah, we read that families will come together again and be reunited: "your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms" (v. 4). This is perhaps the "first circle" of community, the community of family.

The holiday season is usually a time when families come together, and this can be both a blessing and a curse. While some families rejoice at being together, others are fractured, and it is a time of stress and conflict. For those whose families live far apart, those whose families are estranged and no longer speaking, and those who have no more family, this time only increases their sense of isolation and loneliness. But in Isaiah, we have the vision of a family all coming together in radiance and in joy, brought together in harmony in the light of the Lord. This is a vision that still touches us today.

In the Ephesians text we have perhaps the "second circle" of community, the promise that not only kin will be included in God's family but also those traditionally thought by the Hebrew people of Jesus' time to be "outsiders"--the Gentiles. Paul writes, "the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (v. 6). Thus we are reminded this season that, in Jesus Christ, God calls us to a much wider understanding of "family" than we are traditionally accustomed to and demands that we include those outside our communities in our church families of love and grace.

Finally, the gospel text reveals to us yet a "third circle" of community, one that includes people not only of other nations but also of other faiths, as holy men/kings from other countries come bearing gifts to honor Jesus Christ with their homage and their treasure. In this text, then, we are given a vision of a God who, in Jesus Christ, casts the net of salvation widely, including those we sometimes revile and even damn, bringing them to the manger to stand with Mary and Joseph, bowing together before the Lord. I want also to mention that December 28 is the feast day of the Holy Innocents, the young children who were killed by Herod when he was trying to find and destroy the baby king Jesus. This is another theme that could be brought into today's sermon.

Pastoral Reflection

Most of us are surrounded by light all the time: street lights, stop lights, house lights, lights in tall office buildings--even late at night, we are hardly ever "in the dark." At no time of the year is this more true than at Christmastime. During the season of Christmas, house after house is decorated with lights on the lawn, lights on the trees, lights on the rooftops; it is almost impossible to find a single block without at least some houses lighted for Christmas. We take light for granted, mostly, and don't even think about the lights that brighten our skies day and night.

In this context, then, what is to separate the light of Jesus Christ from all these other lights? Even thinking about light meta-phorically, we often think about all those other things in our lives that bring us light and joy. In dark times, we have the light of family and of friendship. We have the light of health, of optimism, of work, of play, of knowledge, of travel. There are so many lights, in fact, that sometimes we ignore the light of Christ and don't prize it the way we should. But the presence of all this "light" does beg the question: "So what's so special about the light of Jesus Christ? What makes his light different?"

There are many good ways to answer this question, but I'd like to provide an illustration from one of my favorite books instead. The Return of the King is the final volume of J .R. R. Tolkien's excellent trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, which was made into a successful movie series the past few years. If you don't know the story, it is about an unlikely band of friends who team up to rid Middle Earth of evil by destroying the ring of power. It is a wildly entertaining saga, with lots of Christian themes intentionally woven through the story by Tolkien, who was a strong Catholic. In this, the final chapter of the trilogy, two small hobbits are finally making their way up Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring and all the evil it represents. They are tired, hungry, and in terrible danger. The success of their task is called into question every moment. In one particularly dangerous encounter, Frodo--the hobbit carrying the ring--pulls out a special gift he was given by the elfin Queen Galandrial. It is a light, a special, magical light; and when she gave it to him, she said, "May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights have gone out" (Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring [New York: Ballan-tine, 1954], 423.) "May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights have gone out."

When I read that, I thought: That is what Jesus Christ is to us, and that is what separates his light from all the other lights in our lives. Jesus Christ is the light that shines even when all other lights have gone out, when other lights have flickered and failed, when other lights vanished or faded away. Even in those black times when we think that we have lost everything and that our darkness is complete, Christ is there, driving back our darkness with the light no shadow or gloom can overcome: not the shadow of depression, the shadow of death, the shadow of addiction, of loneliness--nothing! Christ is the light that continues to shine even when all other lights are taken from us or put out. Christ is that light that shines for us in our darkness and shows us the path, shows us the way. And it is the light that we always carry with us; we are never without it.

Think about that this year, when you are putting away those Christmas decorations, and taking down those lights, and give thanks. KJL