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First Sunday after Epiphany
January 13, 2008 Sermon by Bill Van Oss, Rector
                                                                                       Readings                                                                                    

8:00 a.m.: Do you know the hymn?

Manifested by the star, to the sages from afar,
Manifest at Jordan’s stream, prophet,
priest and king supreme.
Manifest in making whole, palsied
limbs and fainting soul
Manifest on mountain height, shining
in resplendent light
God in man made manifest.

This is the season of manifestation. This is the season of Epiphany. An “Epiphany” is a manifestation - it’s an “in-breaking” of God into our lives and into the world.

The Epiphany happened for the three wise men, sometimes called “kings”, when they followed the star to worship the newborn babe at Bethlehem and offer their gifts.

God had come into the world in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ. He is a manifestation, a revelation of God.

I believe this happened long ago, God was born into our world as a human being, and I believe it happens now.

“Epiphanies,” “manifestations” are all around us. They happen to us often if we have eyes to see. God “breaks in” to our lives and reveals Gods-self in a myriad of ways.

I think of four experiences in my own life, at different stages – four “Epiphany Moments” in my own life when God broke in and manifested Gods-self to me.

When I was a little boy, I lived just down the street from a park, and every winter they flooded the baseball diamonds at the park to make hockey rinks. Then, in spring, all the ice and snow melted and the baseball diamonds became great lakes of mud. I remember one warm spring day venturing into the lake of mud with my friend Dan. At first we just had mud on our boots but soon we were picking up great handfuls of mud and tossing them at each other. Before we knew it, we were both covered with mud.

Walking the short distance home, we were sure we would get ‘killed’ when our mothers saw us. “I’m really going to get it,” I thought as I walked up the driveway. I’ll never forget the look on my mother’s face when she first saw me standing in the back hall. Her look was a combination of surprise followed by a smile that lit up her face. She nearly laughed out loud. This “Epiphany Moment” taught me that God is a God of compassion and mercy and not wrath.

Another “Epiphany Moment” happened to me in High School. Never having been a very good student, I struggled with every subject and truly believed I simply was not very smart. Then I had a biology teacher named Mr. Holm who believed in me, and challenged me, and would not let me give up. “You can do it,” I can still hear him saying. “You’ve got it in you.” I learned to believe in myself and to love biology and my other subjects, and I learned to love learning. I became a good student.

That “Epiphany Moment” taught me that God believes in us even when we do not believe in ourselves, that God will help us draw from our very depths to accomplish great things if we believe and live with faith and trust.

A third “Epiphany Moment” occurred during a very difficult and painful time in my life. I was discerning whether or not to resign as a Catholic priest so I could be married. I knew that resigning would hurt and embarrass some members of my family whom I loved deeply and some friends. I struggled with having made a promise and yet now feeling called in another direction.

This “Epiphany Moment” taught me that being a person of faith sometimes involves taking up the cross. It also taught me about healing and forgiveness, and that God is with us especially in our moments of fear and deepest darkness.

The last “Epiphany Moment” I will tell you here, happened the day a beautiful, brown-eyed little girl was placed in my arms. After years of struggle, hope and heartbreak in our attempts to build a family, I was now holding onto the most precious gift I had ever received in my life.

This “Epiphany Moment” helped me to realize the extent of my capacity to love, and it gave me a small taste of how much God loves me.

“Epiphany Moments” happen to all of us. They happen all the time, if we have the eyes, ears and hearts to see, hear and feel God “breaking in” to our lives and into our world.

Most often, your Epiphanies are not like the one that happened to Jesus at the Jordan River – when the heavens opened and a voice declared: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Most Epiphanies are not that dramatic. Most of our Epiphanies will be more simple and subtle.

They will happen through a small, muddy child,
Or through a caring teacher,
Or the courage to make a change in the face of opposition,
Or a gift that bring joy beyond our wildest imagining.

Epiphanies happen all the time, God breaks in to our lives in small and big ways, God is made manifest – making wider the boundaries of God’s kingdom here on earth and giving us glimpses of the life to come.


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