"THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD"


“Happy Epiphany!” Or, is it “Merry Epiphany?” Or “A Blessed Epiphany to You?” How about “Have A Joyous Epiphany?”

Whatever...

Did you know that today, January 6th, is “The Epiphany Of Our Lord” in the calendar of the Church Year? Epiphany occurs twelve days after Christmas (that would be “12 drummers drumming”--and being a percussionist, my personal favorite from that tedious Christmas song!). Epiphany means “manifestation” or “appearance,” and is the traditional day when the Magi arrived in Bethlehem with their gifts for the infant Jesus.


Epiphany refers to the new manifestation of God to the whole world through the coming of Jesus Christ--and indeed, the Wisemen were the first Gentiles to witness the Savior.

Maybe that’s more than you cared to know about Epiphany. Sometimes I wonder if people are even aware of this important day in Christian history, or if they care at all. Some ethnic traditions around the world do wait to exchange gifts on this day,


but you have to admit that we don’t hear much, if anything at all, about Epiphany in our American culture. By January 6th, Jesus’ birth is mostly forgotten; a blur behind the wild celebration of New Year’s, and with students back in the routine of school and holiday decorations gone in most locations, anything associated with Christmas is also packed away with the rest of the lights and wreaths and lawn ornaments, out of sight and out of mind till next December.

But today, I remembered how Harvey and Linda Lundquist always celebrated Epiphany every year in Turlock with a huge party, incredible food, sweets, exotic decorations (camel statues on the table!), and lots of fellowship. I just heard on NPR about “Three Kings Day” in the Puerto Rican community, and the big celebration and parade down Lexington Avenue in New York’s East Harlem, complete with live camels! (Hmm...urban New York City...winter...snow & ice...camels...go figure...)


I bumped into Chaplain Paul Barnes at Covenant Village today, and lo and behold he was wearing an “epiphany necktie!” A colorful piece with wisemen, star, and camels cascading down the front! A tie which he only wears once a year, on this special day of Epiphany.


So I guess there is more acknowledgement of this Church Year day than I thought.

Is the calendar of the Christian Year part of your life and tradition, personally or in your church community? Do you observe the seasons of Advent and Lent, Holy Week and Pentecost, Transfiguration and Reformation Sundays? Of course, more formal, liturgical denominations have followed this holy calendar for centuries, but evangelical denominations have been slower to catch on to the richness of this tradition. I was fortunate to have grown up in North Park Covenant Church in Chicago, where the Christian Year was strongly celebrated, so I was in tune with the rhythm and cycles of Christian faith and history long before many other Covenant churches and other evangelical groups began to discover this wonderful practice.

This past fall, I wrote an article for our church newsletter about the Church Year to refresh the congregation’s understanding and appreciation of the various seasons and observances of the life of Christ and the Christian Church. As we begin a new year, I thought it might be an interesting piece to post on my blog. Here it is:
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CELEBRATING THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH YEAR

Have you ever wondered about those words you see at the top of the bulletin every Sunday? Like “Second Sunday in Advent,” “Fifth Sunday after Epiphany,” or “Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost?” These headings describe various occasions in the life of the Christian Church. They help us recall, re-enact, and celebrate the most significant story in human history, Jesus Christ, and to commemorate the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Savior.

Human beings have always created cycles, rituals, and habits in their lives to mark the passing of time. Life is patterned by an assortment of calendars. For some in the U.S., the year begins around Labor Day with the return to school (and everything that goes with it!). For others, the year has to do with the cycle of planting, growing, and harvesting. However, everyone acknowledges that holidays mark our seasons! These include special theme days (Valentine’s Day, Halloween), important events (4th of July, Veteran’s Day), significant people (Martin Luther King Jr, President’s Day) and religious observances (Christmas, Easter, Passover, Hanukkah, Ramadan).

However, as Christians, our allegiance is to our Savior, Jesus. We acknowledge that He is the pattern for our lives and is the One we follow. We often claim we are “in the world but not of it,” and we sing “this world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.” Observing the Church year demonstrates the truth of our Christian convictions. Following the cycle of the Christian year proclaims that we order our lives with a different set of rhythms, patterns, and observances than the world does, and that we find more significance in celebrating the events of Jesus Christ instead of Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, and jack-o-lanterns.

An important part of celebrating the Christian Church year is the reading of Scripture. Eugene Peterson rightly states that “Scripture and souls are the primary fields of operation of the Holy Spirit.” Indeed, one cannot develop spiritually without a corresponding interest in the Bible. The “lectionary” is a helpful tool for reading Scripture and to remind us what month or season in the Church year we are observing. The lectionary is a schedule of biblical readings that helps immerse Christians in the Word of God and takes us through almost the entire Bible every two years. It is a powerful discipline that helps us grow closer to Christ. As we grow deeper in our discipleship, the richness and value of the Christian year also increases, as we realize we are part of God’s incredible history. Marked by holy days and structured by Scripture, the cycle of the Church year is a daily reminder that life with God is a present anchor and a future promise.

Observing the Church year as a spiritual practice can also build a deep sense of the community we share as followers of Jesus. It is a way to remember that we are part of God’s global Church, knowing that members of Christ’s body around the world are also observing the same Christian calendar and reading the same passages from Scripture that we are. Reading, praying, remembering, and worshiping the one God together with brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world, seven days a week, is powerful! Year after year, the biblical story informs our own life stories. Our daily grind is placed in context. God moved in Deborah and Daniel way back when, and God still moves in our lives in 2010!

Our lives are already ordered by many schedules: personal, family, school, cultural, and seasonal. Deeper fulfillment awaits us by surrendering our ordinary schedules to the rhythm of God’s story read daily in Scripture as directed by the cycle of the Church year.

The Christian year begins with the season of Advent. This year the first Sunday of Advent is November 28th. As we continue throughout the coming year, I will be writing brief, informative sketches in the bulletin each Sunday describing the Christian season we are in, and its significance and importance in the history of our faith. I hope this will be educational, helpful, and challenging, and will be a way for you to appreciate and go deeper in your Christian walk.

So as Advent begins, let me be the first to wish all of you a blessed “Happy New Year!”

Pastor Dan

Online Resources:
--The Daily Lectionary www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/bcp
--Colors of Church Year www.cresourcei.org/colorsof.html

The Revised Common Lectionary (Sundays only) is available in the back of our hymnals. This year, 2010-11, is “Series A.”

(Some of the material I reference here comes from an article in "The Covenant Companion" about the Church Year.)
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Have an exciting, exquisite, exceptional Epiphany. And Happy New Year 2011 too.