We’re doing things just a bit differently this week.  Yes, I am still going from the lectionary, but not the Scripture’s recommended for Sunday, January 5^th, but instead the readings for Monday, January 6^th.

Each year you have the choice to go with the second Sunday after Christmas or to celebrate Epiphany.   My wife noted that I used the word Epiphany in the sermon on Sunday and perhaps I use that word without everyone knowing what it means.  I think we all know the dictionary definition, but Epiphany is the celebration of the arrival of the Magi, or the “three wise men.”  Let’s jump in with a look at the four readings:

• Isaiah 60:1-6
• Psalm 72:1-7,10-14
• Ephesians 3:1-12
• Matthew 2:1-12

There’s a part of me that wants to say that this is just the prophet Isaiah doing his thing.  That is the truth, but it downplays the wonderful imagery used in this passage and would ignore a slight theme we get through the Advent season.  This passage starts with a call to action, we need to arise and shine for the light has come.   We have been talking the last couple weeks about what we are to do as a response to Jesus’ birth and we are to shine, to reflect that light that has come to us, reflect that light so that anyone who may be left in the darkness may see it, may be warmed by it, may be transformed by the hope that it provides.  The arrival of Jesus is everything.

Again, I loathe when Scripture is cut up and even Sunday, I didn’t read it the way it was chopped up in 1^st Samuel.  This time, the Psalm gets worked over a bit.  There is a bit of prophesy if you’re looking for it, with the kings bowing down and offering gifts.  It’s more than that as it states the righteousness of Jesus ahead of everything else that follows.  There’s also a message that this is a king who will not reign for a short time, but one that will be here for as long as we can imagine, peace until the moon is no more.  God will take up for all who are oppressed and a reminder that the poor and needy are important in his sight.  Those who society has left behind, will not be forgotten by our God (and should not be forgotten by us).

Paul restating his credentials and his mission here in the Epistle lesson.  I’m guessing for our Epiphany purposes; we are looking specifically at verse 10 where God’s wisdom would be known to rulers and authorities (in heavenly places).   There’s also the Epiphany point that the Magi would not be people who were Jewish, that Jesus was not “The King of the Jews” as the sign read on the cross, but the king overall.  He would do the things outlined in the Psalm for those who were oppressed whether they were Jew or Gentile.  God’s purpose through Jesus was for all to have salvation.

The Gospel lesson is what you should expect on Epiphany, it is the Epiphany so to speak.  I think it is easy with the backdrop of the passage from Ephesians to understand the importance of Jesus being sought by those outside who had previously been “the chosen people.”  At the same time, we cannot ignore the politics of the day and understand the situation with Herod as one that will affect Jesus for the foreseeable future.   You may also hear in relation to the text directly following this about Jesus and his family being refugees and how that may relate to the politics of this time.  It certainly does relate, but unlike the salvation offered through Jesus, it cannot be seen as a sweeping endorsement of all types of immigration, but it does call on us to be especially attuned to those who are fleeing political unrest, wars as well as threats of violence or death.  Those are the oppressed the Psalmist was talking about earlier.

These are my initial thoughts as I looked at the texts for the coming Sunday.  As always, they will require much study and to be looked at in full context before the true message can be properly unfolded.  I encourage you to spend this week looking at these passages along with me and let's see if it said some of the same things to us when we get together on Sunday morning.