Epiphany

January 6, 2019

Today is Epiphany, the Christian Church’s celebration of the visitation of the Magi to the Christ Child. Being foreigners, they were portents of the opening of the Gospel to all the world instead of it being merely a Jewish sect. It is a day when we think about evangelism, God’s call for us to spread the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. There is a progression to this.

Last week, I spoke to my congregation about what motivated them for life. St. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, that two things motivated him: first was the terror of the Lord. He knew the consequences of sin in this world, and envisioned them in the next, and was terrified that anyone should have to face the music. He was also motivated by the love of Christ that makes it possible for us to face the terror of the Lord knowing that his just anger at sin has been deflected by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I fear that too often I have been pretty oblivious to these two basic tenets of our faith, and as a result, haven’t had the necessary motivation to share my faith as I should. I was preaching to me more than to them. I concluded by challenging them and me to begin praying for one person with whom we can share Christ this year.

Today I encouraged my congregation to give themselves to reading and meditating on Scripture. It’s the only way to sustain spiritual life adequately for the commission we’ve been given to take the Good News to a world dying to hear it, yet refusing to believe it. Epiphany...Sharing Christ isn’t just about telling our personal story of redemption, but the greater Story of how it all came about through the great love of God that produced the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, his Exaltation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Today we celebrate it, and each day I prepare to actually do it as I pray and search the Scriptures, thankful for the holy privilege of evangelism we’ve been given.