The Epiphany of the Lord, January 6, 2024

Epiphany is the season of revealing. During the season of Epiphany, we celebrate the wideness
of revelation and salvation, extending far beyond Jesus’ religious and ethnic tradition – and
Christianity – to embrace all peoples. Epiphany is the season of the magi, the “second
Christmas,” the season of global revelation, and new birth. Incarnation touches everyone.
Everyone has the opportunity to experience God’s saving grace and revealing wisdom. During
Epiphany, we celebrate the coming of the magi, who followed a dream, journeyed from another
land, and by their journey revealed the faithfulness of otherness. Following the star, they awaken
us to the wisdom of the stars, to astrological guidance, and the presence of divine synchronicity
in a variety of spiritual practices.
In the season of Epiphany, process and open and relational preachers recognize the significance
of baptism and novelty. The baptism of Jesus is a political act, in which Jesus comes to John the
Baptist, the prophetic challenger and receives the revelation of his calling via the dove of the
Spirit. “You are my beloved” is said to God’s Child and also said to all. Divine love is revealed
to all. The revelation to the magi is also on the Jordan River as we see the emerging fullness of
divine revelation in Jesus, who discovers his identity as Christ, aligning with God’s vision,
claiming his identity and destiny.
Epiphany, the appearing of God in Jesus and the encounter with otherness, is the transfiguration
of reality. We see God, with Annie Dillard, in the tree with lights. Reality is shot through and
through with divine light. Reality is revelatory of holiness and wholeness for all who have eyes
to see or senses to prehend.
Epiphany celebrates revelation in all things, and in and through all people. In holy otherness, in
unexpected people, places, and nations, holiness can be found. No one is excluded from divine
revelation, or salvation. This is especially powerful in our time of fractured democracy and
warring nations. For those who open to God, there is no “other.” Polarization is not an option,
and our love of country must be joined with affirmation of other lands and loyalty to the planet.
During this season, the preacher asks, “Where is your epiphany?” while awakening to their own
epiphanies in unexpected places and in their own lives.
Although Epiphany falls on Saturday, January 6, given the option, I would choose to preach
about the magi rather Jesus’ baptism, which falls on Sunday, January 7, and should I be in the
pulpit – as a retired but active preacher – that will be my choice. Both Sundays are meaningful
and, if possible, we can combine their insights or hold a special Epiphany service in affirmation
of the wisdom of our Orthodox Christian companions.
“Arise, shine, your light has come…be radiant.” Abundance is the theme of Isaiah 60. The days
of chaos and darkness are over. Light has come and we can find our way. Without denigrating
the reality of blackness as the place of rest and growth, the preacher can focus on the
enlightening presence of God. The God of the starry, starry, night; the tree with lights; the far
horizon of hope. God has a longitudinal, long-term vision, inspiring and incarnating the
teleology of the human, aiming at beauty. God also has a moment-by-moment vision calling us

to awaken to the light – the beautiful light – moment by moment. No passivity here. God calls
for partnership and agency. Rise, walk, and respond to God’s call.
Psalm 77 challenges rulers to seek justice and care for the vulnerable. We must not, as
Whitehead says, deface the value of creatures and our own value. Our calling is to bring forth
beauty of experience and that requires just and supportive social structures and welcoming
churches. Our calling in the new year – as well as during the season of Epiphany – is to nurture
wholeness in ourselves and others and create structures that encourage abundant life. Let us
align ourselves with the moral and spiritual arcs of history. With the spiritual, let us walk in the
light:
Walk in the light
Beautiful light
Come where the dew drops of mercy shine bright
Shine all around us by day and by night
Jesus the light of the world! Amen!!!
In Ephesians, Paul reflects on his commission to share God’s salvation with the Gentiles. God
opens the doors of grace to everyone. God’s aim at wholeness goes beyond our traditions to
embrace everyone. There is no other, no outsider, and revelation is given in ways all people can
experience. While Paul is not advocating pluralism as we know it today, his words incline us to
let go of our limited visions of revelation and let God address others in the idioms, cultures,
language, and experiences that speak to their spirits. God can speak to a Vietnamese Buddhist
sage, a questioning youth, or a MAGA hatted anti-vaxxer. Those we find most foreign or
problematic also bear the imprint of divine possibility.
The coming of the magi continues the theme of holy otherness and universal revelation. Magi
from the East, from another religious tradition, follow a star and discover what the spiritual and
political leadership miss – the presence of God in unexpected places. We cannot assume
uniformity of revelation or that God will come in our anticipated ways and places. God speaks
uniquely and universally, and cannot be hemmed in by our doctrines, institutions, and liturgies.
The passage concludes with the magi following a dream as well as a star. Dreams can reveal
divine wisdom. God addresses us in both the unconscious and conscious, in sleep and
wakefulness. Moment by moment God touches us, renewing us in sleep and restoring us in rest.
The darkness can be the home of growth and inspiration, and dreams can be God’s language of
love and guidance.
The magi go home by another way! This is important counsel for congregations. We must be
willing to take other paths of worship, mission, communication, and justice seeking. We must be
willing to change course – to embrace novelty to match the novelties of our environment – to be
faithful to God. In the new year, this is a call to creativity, openness, and change. Let us honor
tradition and past practices and be open to be part of a new creation for the new world in which
we live.

Epiphany calls forth adventure, creativity, courage, and imagination and these are virtues today’s
preachers and congregations need to embrace not only to survive (to live), but to grow (to live
well), and transform (to live better).

Bruce Epperly is a pastor, professor, spiritual guide, and author of over seventy books, including
JESUS – MYSTIC, HEALER, AND PROPHET; THE ELEPHANT IS RUNNING: PROCESS
AND OPEN AND RELATIONAL THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS PLURALISM;
PROPHETIC HEALING: HOWARD THURMAN’S VISION OF CONTEMPLATIVE
ACTIVISM; MYSTIC’S IN ACTION: TWELVE SAINTS FOR TODAY; WALKING WITH
SAINT FRANCIS: FROM PRIVILEGE TO ACTIVISM; MESSY INCARNATION:
MEDITATIONS ON PROCESS CHRISTOLOGY, FROM COSMOS TO CRADLE:
MEDITATIONS ON THE INCARNATION, and THE PROPHET AMOS SPEAKS TO
AMERICA. His most recent books are PROCESS THEOLOGY AND THE REVIVAL WE
NEED, TAKING A WALK WITH WHITEHEAD: MEDITATIONS WITH PROCESS-
RELATIONAL THEOLOGY, and SIMPLICTY, SPIRITUALITY AND SERVICE: THE
TIMELESS WISDOM OF FRANCIS, CLARE, AND BONAVENTURE. He can be reached at
drbruceepperly@gmail.com.