I awoke this morning to the interesting realization that the Christian celebration of Epiphany (on January 6th) is the same day that we in the U.S. are now recognizing the first anniversary of an insurrection attempt on our Capital building (at least half of our country would attest to this anyway). What a very odd pairing of events!
Epiphany might just be my favorite Christian holiday … a ‘minor’ one, which is less known, because it’s not commercialized. Epiphany is the day when Christians remember a group of Wise Men whose travels to find God’s promise took them far from home to an unlikely place. They found Him, the Christ child, in a very plain manger. Not only did they have to search diligently to reach Him, but once there, they had to overlook a messy and slightly obstructed view of this Gift, who would forever change the world. Think of a barn full of straw, smelly animals, and a mangy gaggle of shepherds and other local worshippers.
The invitation for followers of Jesus today is the same … to look for Light amidst the darkness that surrounds us daily … Covid, environmental disasters, warring nations, interpersonal violence, and yes, our collective history now includes what happened at the U.S. House of Congress in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021.
As a clergy woman, I feel it’s my vocational responsibility to look to the big picture as much as I am humanly able, and to extend ‘grace and mercy’ as well. This understanding led me to review news stories today from the Left and Right, the Top and Bottom, and all Sides in between. Not entirely surprisingly (now that I’ve been on this faith journey for many decades) the Holy Spirit allowed me to see some truth in the varied opinions of people across this country. For example, as I watched (in horror!) video clips of Americans breaking glass and storming a secularly ‘sacred space’ in our capitol city, I heard a rioter say: “This country belongs to US, not just YOU!” And it gave me pause. Because, this is true, and biblically aligned. Jesus came to topple the systemic powers of this world, the leaders of which so often forget they are called to serve the common person. On other occasions, many of us ‘commoners’ would argue that increasingly our political leaders seem to forget this central call.
Now, Jesus wouldn’t condone the violence that erupted a year ago today, but he did understand what would lead people to express themselves in such a way. A human person, much less a community full of them, can only hold so much pain. The Rev. Nadia Boltz Weber expresses this well when she says, “I’m not saying we should put our heads in the sand, I’m saying that if your circuits are overwhelmed there’s a reason and the reason isn’t because you are heartless, it’s because there is not a human heart on this planet that can bear all of what is happening right now.”) Jesus knew our human pain … and he helped, time and again, heal that pain by removing obstacles to our individual and collective healing over and over and over again.
So, where does this leave us? I think we have the opportunity to reset our own personal intentions (how fitting, at the start of a new year!). To look for the Light. To be the Light. To welcome the Light in others. This Light can be found “in the words and actions of many who are following Jesus, loving neighbors, and working for reconciliation in a wide array of often-unacknowledged ways. Protecting the vulnerable. Speaking the truth. Befriending the lonely. Listening deeply. Choosing tenderness and compassion. [We] just have to remember where to look,” (quoting the Rev. Christopher Henry, Senior Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, who inspired much of this article).
The Epiphany story reminds us that in spite of the provocations of a fearful king (King Herod) with terrifyingly violent plans (to murder all infants in Bethlehem in an attempt to get rid of Jesus), the Wise Men kept their eyes on the star. They knew where to look, and they knew how to respond (by refusing to follow Herod’s command to tell him the Christ child’s location, and instead, kept that to themselves and took another road to their remote homes).
It’s so common these days to ask the question, “Are we doomed?” As an ordained Presbyterian pastor, I’m vocationally obligated to look for Light. And so I say, “It’s out there … have courage and hope.” These two virtues must go together. It takes courage to remain hopeful. And without hope, it is impossible to speak or act with courage.
For the Wise Men of old seeking God’s promise, “the glimmer of a distant hope gave them the courage to journey on, to journey through, to keep looking. For a pastor, the embodied hope of fellow travelers, the sturdiness of ancient words, the beauty of worship, gives courage to embody the call to ministry.
Hope and Courage. Faith’s answers to fear and despair. They insist on a different path forward. A path toward nothing less than the reconciliation of the world.
Keep looking for the Light.
Keep making it more visible and pervasive in your words and in your actions.”
And, remember that the Light of the World is with you today, and always!!
