Take a look at your bulletins. At the very top of the front of the bulletin it says this is the Third Sunday after the Epiphany. You may recall that Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th of January. On the Epiphany we celebrated the visit of the Magi to the Christ child. An Epiphany is a revelation or a manifestation. And so, on the Epiphany we recall that the visit of the Magi reveals that Jesus is the Savior of the whole world, not just the Messiah for the Jews.
Epiphanies don’t have to be biblical, of course. The people of Flint, Michigan, were given an epiphany recently when they found out that their drinking water has lead in it. Not a pleasant epiphany.
Apparently report cards can be such unpleasant epiphanies that a school in New York has recently made it possible for parents to receive the real report card while the child receives a fake report card that has much higher grades on it. That way the children won’t be discouraged by their lower grades. The epiphany of poor grades could damage their psyches. On the other hand, a low grade just might motivate a child to want a higher one!
The Epiphany marked the end of the Season of Christmas. Thereafter, until Ash Wednesday, we call each Sunday a Sunday after the Epiphany. So, what season are we in right now? We are no longer in the Christmas season and we haven’t yet come to Lent.
Some people call this the Epiphany season, but that isn’t quite right. It is the Season after the Epiphany. It doesn’t really have a name. It’s the season after… It is sometimes called Ordinary Time, and that’s probably the best way to characterize it.
Curiously, however, there are some amazing epiphanies that are recalled on some of the Sundays after the Epiphany. On the First Sunday after the Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. It was at his baptism that God’s words were heard, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” An amazing epiphany!
On the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, last Sunday, we recalled Jesus’ first miracle changing water into wine. Another amazing epiphany!
And today, once more the Gospel points us to an epiphany. Jesus has returned to his home town of Nazareth, where he had grown up. Here was the son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter, who had lived and worked among them, returning as an itinerant rabbi. He was given the honor of reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Standing, he read the messianic prophecy, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then he handed the scroll back to the attendant and sat down, which was the way rabbis preached, and he gave one of the most amazing sermons the people had ever heard, for he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” In that sermon, our Lord Jesus gave the people of Nazareth an epiphany, a revelation, for he basically told them, “I am the Messiah. I am the anointed One of God who will redeem Israel.”
Jesus elaborated on that messianic theme, and probably sensing their lack of acceptance, said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.” Before long the people were so angry with him because of what he was saying that they wanted to kill him by throwing him over a cliff. At that time there was another epiphany for all who would perceive it; St. Luke tells us he simply passed through that angry crowd and went away. Not many people could do that, except perhaps the Son of God.
There were many messianic prophecies in what we call the Old Testament and there were even many different messianic prophecies in the book of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus could have used any of those to introduce himself as the Messiah to the people of his hometown. For instance, he could have found this passage in Isaiah and read it: “The government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Instead, he chose the characterization of the Messiah that identifies the Messiah with the lowly and underprivileged, the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, the needy. This was at the beginning of his ministry, and of course this was the theme he would choose over and over again in many different contexts and stated in many different ways. “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Are you pretty much perfect as you are? Do you have no faults, no needs, no sins? Do you understand all truth? Is there no emptiness in your life, no void to fill? Then you probably won’t find much of use from what our Lord Jesus has to offer. If, on the other hand, you know you have a need for God, if you haven’t got it all together in your life, if you have made some pretty major mistakes, if you are imprisoned in some way by choices you have made, then take comfort because you are in the right spiritual condition to be able to receive the healing touch of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The most important epiphany that can happen to a person is to discover that there is an aching hole in one’s life that can only be filled by God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon preached by The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
24 January 2016