Sermon for Epiphany

Sermon. St Christopher’s Walworth. 6 January 2013

Feast of the Epiphany

I’d like to start by wishing you a Merry Christmas. That probably sounds wrong. In the world out there, Christmas ends, oh, at the latest after teatime on Boxing Day. If you’re old-fashioned, or like Christmas songs, or know about the Church’s own calendar, you might still have a strong sense of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’. But even they ended last night. Today we move on... to... Epiphany. But all of that said, Epiphany is for us the coming of the Magi or the Wise Men or the Kings to the child Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, which sounds quite Christmassy still. So it might well be said that in Church, now we are in the season of Epiphany, we are really in the second bit of Christmas-tide. So I am right to wish you a Merry Christmas, even now. After all, we are still in gold, as we were for Christmas Day itself.

Merry Christmas/happy Epiphany. Throughout the world, there may be as many different ways of celebrating Epiphany as there are of marking Christmas itself. If, in the country you come from/know about, there are particular customs, I’d love to hear about them after the service. What I’d like to do here and now is say just a little about how today is marked in three different countries. They happen all to be in Europe; perhaps you’ll forgive me that.

First, let’s go to Greece, and the Greek Orthodox Church. The Feast of 6 January there, and throughout the Eastern Orthodox world, actually has a different name. It’s Theophany rather than Epiphany. But that’s the least of it! It’s not just about a different name. It is actually marking a different event altogether. You see, in the Greek Church, they mark not only the coming of the shepherds, but also the coming of the magi (wise men) on Christmas Day. So today is about celebrating another event in Jesus’ life. Any ideas what? It’s actually all about the Baptism of our Lord in the River Jordan (which we in the West will mark next week, by the way). So in Greece, they celebrate today what happened when John the Baptist baptised Jesus. And what happened was more – so much more – than a rite of passage for a young man, or even an act of commitment by a very devout person. What happened was – is – nothing less than the Shining Forth of God in history. The Shining Forth of God is a good translation actually of both the names, Epiphany and Theophany. For the Greeks, the Shining Forth of God happens precisely, or supremely, at the Baptism of our Lord because that is when the Holy Trinity is revealed in history. Think about it.

•         The Father speaks to or directs attention to
•         the Son, and sends
•         the Spirit upon him.

It is an encounter with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - the first time all three are named as such. A Shining Forth indeed.

In the worship in the Greek Church, this is a cause of great rejoicing. The words of the service speak about the whole of nature being surprised - or bewildered or ecstatic - that such a wonderful event has happened. It is as if not only John the Baptist, but the earth and the waters themselves cry out: ‘How can this be? Surely it’s impossible that you, the Son of God, Creator of us all, now enter the world and even seek to be baptised as if a sinful human being? How mysterious! How glorious! How typical of God – God who is forever confounding all our expectations!’

And then, at the end of what will doubtless be a very long service, there is a long prayer chanted over the waters which stand ready. [Water is poured.] For, yes, Jesus was baptised only once, in only one river, the river Jordan. But!  In those waters, then, the Holy Trinity was revealed. And the Holy Trinity is outside of time. So the Holy Trinity, because of what happened there, can also be as present in these waters here. So a long, long prayer is chanted over the water, and the water can then be taken, drunk, used to symbolically wash, or to sprinkle and bless our houses. And the prayer is so long, not because we need to work ourselves up, nor because we need to work at getting God’s attention. But because we have so much to relish. 

Here’s but a small part of the prayer: 

‘All creation sings praises unto you, who revealed yourself; for you, our God, did manifest yourself upon earth, and dwelt among humankind. You made holy the streams of Jordan, in that you sent down from heaven your Holy Spirit, and crushed the heads of the serpents which lurked there. Wherefore do you, O King who loves humankind, come down now also through the descent of your Holy Spirit, and sanctify this water.’

***

Let’s move up from Greece, not too far, to a country like Croatia or Austria. Here we are in more familiar territory. We are back with the name Epiphany, and we are back thinking about the Three Kings. And here there is a tradition of blessing the chalk. [Chalk is shown.] Yes, chalk is blessed in church, and then distributed. And every member of the congregation can write over or by their door the year 20 – 13 and the letters C M B, with the cross of Christ in each gap. ‘20 + C + M + B + 13’ And as they do this, they pray a blessing upon all who live there, and all who cross the threshold. And why C M B? Well, two reasons. The traditional names for the wise men are Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. And, whoever they were, they were good at travelling through dangerous territory. So they can be good intercessors for us, as we think about our own safety and the security of those who travel to be our guests and visitors. But, something else too. The letters can be taken to stand for the Latin Christus Mansionem Benedicat, meaning Christ bless this house. Christ bless this house, throughout this new year. 

***

Like those wise men or kings, let us now make a journey to the West. Quite a way West, to Spain. Here we are still in Epiphany. Indeed, here you can have no doubt that you are thinking about the Three Kings, as you’ll see huge processions with, well, potentially all the biblical characters on floats, and so on. There’ll be noisy accompaniment, drums, trumpets, fireworks, but always ending with Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar themselves – real-live people dressed up in kings’ finery! They will go into the Church, pay homage to a baby – again, a real-live one, in all probability – representing the Christ child.

And then? Then they have a job of work to do! Then they go to all the houses which have children and give them their presents. Imagine! You get presents personally delivered by a King! Traditionally, the Feast of the Three Kings is the time the children get their big presents, more important, in that sense, than Christmas Day and Santa Claus. (The only complication I haven’t told you is that all of this actually happens the night before. It will have happened last night. But that’s often the way in the Church, as the Church day actually begins the evening before.)  And one detail which always moves me, those Kings, as they travel or process along, are not glum or troubled or aching. Rather, they are already celebrating, already partying. And as they go, they scatter sweeties right, left and centre. [Sweeties are scattered.]

I thought you’d enjoy that. Let me tell you, I’ve told that story and done the same in front of professors, and they too, like you, can’t stop themselves from scrambling for the self-same sweeties.

***

We’ve one final journey to make this morning. And that is of course back here, back to London. Here we are. 

• We can prayerfully imagine ourselves revelling in and relishing the gloriously long prayer over the waters of baptism, the waters of the revelation of the Holy Trinity (and event in time and beyond time)
• We can prayerfully imagine ourselves already taking the blessed chalk and blessing our own homes and guests in the spirit of Casper, Melchior and Balthasa
• And we can prayerfully imagine ourselves enjoying the party and the generosity of the Three Kings, as they share in the generosity of God who gives his Son to us.

In fact, I do want to say that I think all of these activities deep down share the same message. I’ve already called it the Shining Forth of God. But God’s Shining Forth here takes a particular form. It always comes in ways which are amazing, shocking even. And the amazing or shocking thing turns out to be that – you know what? – God is so much closer than we thought.

•    God reveals God’s nature not only in a distant river, centuries ago, but here and now, in these humble waters 
• God blesses us not only in one act in history, but in giving us a way of blessing even our own humble houses. Christ blesses my own little stub of chalk for my own little door
• God comes to us even in the giving – the reckless abandoning - of a little sweetie. Because God is close, and God is loving, with God it is always about a party.

Whether it is through Word and Sacrament, or things as humble as water, chalk and chocolate... what all of this means is that we (you and me!) are now (now!) as close to God in Christ as any human being has ever been, in the history of the world. If we can trust it. If we can receive it. 
 

A Happy Epiphany to you all! Amen.