Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s service is a summary of the whole mystery of what is called the Epiphany, the manifestation of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. As you can see from the texts, three of the most important epiphanies are: 1) the Epiphany of the Infant Jesus to the Magi, the Three Kings, the Wise Men, the Gentiles from the East; 2) the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan in which God proclaimed him as his beloved Son and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the visible form of a dove; and 3) Christ’s first miracle or sign, the changing of water into wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.
My wife and I have just returned from post-Christmas break in Rincon, Puerto Rico, where, aside from the restorative powers of sun, Caribbean breezes and warm salt water, we also are reminded how Christmas is balanced by Epiphany. For in Latin America they keep the Twelve Days of Christmas and make a big deal of Los Tres Reyes, the Three Kings, as the Eastern Orthodox Christians also do.
The importance of the Three Kings Festival is the focus on those three Magi, who come to Christ, following the star through the arts and sciences of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples of the earth. They do not have the revealed Hebrew Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets; they go by what we might call natural theology. They present Christ with their gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, representing kingship, divinity and sacrifice. Through them, all the power and the gifts of the nations present themselves for blessing to the God of all, incarnate in the Baby Jesus. The implications are immense. For example, it means that Christ is the king of all truth. All truth, no matter where it be found, no matter what the religious or political or cultural allegiance with which that truth may be associated; that truth belongs to Jesus and will, in the end, lead to him – just as did the pilgrimage of the Magi lead them to worship the infant in Bethlehem.
The Baptism of Jesus is likewise of vital importance as an Epiphany. God proclaimed Jesus as his Son in whom he is well pleased; the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Jesus; thus the Holy and Undivided Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – revealed himself, through the ministry of the last great prophet of Israel, John the Baptist (whom Jesus called “Elijah who is to come”). The Baptism contains all fullness, even the end, in the beginning. Just as you and I spend our whole lives living up to the grace already given us in Holy Baptism, so also the full identity of Jesus Christ was manifested at the start of his public ministry.
Now, a third epiphany. At the very start of that ministry, almost before it began, Jesus’ mother Mary importuned him at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. They had run out of wine, said Mary to her Son. “O Woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come,” the Lord protested to her. Nevertheless, Mary persisted: Do whatever he tells you, she said to the servants. Without demonstration, without a word (except to tell the servants to draw off some water and give to the steward of the feast), Jesus showed he is the Master of all things, even the elements of nature. This is the Word who was God and who said, Let there be light, and there was light, by whom all things were made.
There are many other epiphanies, manifestations, of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these are set forth in the Gospels of the Epiphany season each year. These epiphanies are meant to connect with us at some point. That point will be something in our lives: a revelation of truth, a healing of a wound, a reconciliation with some person, something that connects us with what has happened in the Gospel.
Saint Thomas is a place where Christ very frequently manifests himself, makes his epiphany, through the mission and ministry of his Church, his mystical body which moves through time and space until the end and his glorious return. May the Lord continue to bless this place, this community, and this institution of his with his power and grace; so that many will be led, like the wise men, to present themselves and their gifts to him with thanks and praise.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holt Ghost. Amen.
