05 January 2025 - Epiphany Sunday, Year C

Theme

The theme of Christ’s salvation being offered to all people runs throughout our Lectionary readings for this week. In Isaiah, the prophet speaks about Jerusalem becoming an attractive light to the whole world, not merely the Jewish people. The Psalmist declares that as leaders and God’s people fight for justice, all people will see God’s work and bow down before God. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals God’s new plan to offer God’s blessings to all people, regardless of background or culture. The church has a vital role to play in implementing this new plan in the world. The story of the magi from the East (known as the land of the gentiles) also shows the inclusion of non-Jewish people into God’s story.

Scriptures

Isaiah 60:1-6 - The prophet Isaiah speaks about the coming glory of Jerusalem. Although the world will be overwhelmed with darkness, Jerusalem will be a shining light that will attract people from far and wide to return home and worship the Lord. 

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 - A call for God to assist the King to lead with God’s righteousness and justice. To the Psalmist, this means defending the poor, rescuing the children of the needy, and crushing their oppressors. Because of this assistance, all people will see God’s work and bow down before God.

Ephesians 3:1-12 - God has revealed a new plan to Paul and this new generation of Christians. Both gentiles and Jews (and all people, regardless of background or culture) share God’s blessings equally. God wants to use the church to display this wisdom in its rich variety to the world. Because of God’s plan, we can come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

Matthew 2:1-12 - Wise men from the East visit Jesus’ family in Bethlehem. After approaching King Herod and asking after the newborn king of the Jews, Herod panics and asks the wise men to return with the whereabouts of this supposed king. After visiting Jesus, worshiping and offering gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they return home without contacting Herod with information about Jesus.

The Context

The general consensus among scholars is that the book of Isaiah as we know it was written by three separate authors at different points in time. Chapters 56-66 were written by the third group (known as Trito-Isaiah) after the Jewish people had returned from exile to Jerusalem. With this knowledge, the richness of this beautiful passage is enhanced. The Israelites found themselves back in their homeland, after years of exile. They must have had plenty of questions about God’s plan for their future. Isaiah highlights this plan here: They are meant to become a light in the midst of a dark world, attracting people from all over to their new, beautiful, life-giving group. 

Personal Application

As we read our bibles, we are constantly faced with references to Jews and Gentiles. For some reason, many people seem to think that the revelation of God’s salvation for Jews and Gentiles translates today as God’s salvation is for Jews and Christians. But this is not the case. Gentiles were considered all people who were not Jewish or did not follow the Jewish tradition - those who followed other religions as well as those who considered themselves non-religious. 

The implication of the epiphany for us today is this: God’s salvation is offered to all. This is the Good News of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. True, God’s salvation calls for a response from those who experience it. In today’s world, we tend to wait for someone’s response to God before we acknowledge God’s saving work in their lives. Because of this outlook, we ostracize certain people and make them feel like they could never experience God’s salvation unless they first change who they are. This is not what the bible teaches. We don’t get to decide who receives God’s salvation or not. This message is clear in this week’s Lectionary readings: God’s salvation is offered for ALL people! 

Who have we perhaps withheld God’s salvation from because we presumed that they had not responded in the “correct” way?

Communal Application

The first churches that started meeting after Jesus’ resurrection struggled with questions of inclusion: Who is allowed to gather with the church? Jews? Gentiles? Who is allowed to lead in the church? Jews? Gentiles? Those who knew Jesus personally? Men? Women? These were the types of questions that Paul was trying to address in his letters to the churches throughout the known world of the time. 

Many churches today are still struggling with similar questions. Whatever your opinion is on what the bible says about who can gather and who can lead, the underlying message throughout the bible is clear: God is continually working to include more and more people in God’s story. 

When Jesus arrived, he began including all sorts of people who had previously been shunned by society. After Jesus’ death, the early church worked hard at including all types of people that were previously excluded. God’s story is always moving towards greater inclusion.

Some people today seem to think that God’s story ended in chapter 22 of Revelation. But God’s story carries on with us. It is continuing to call us into an ever-expanding, more inclusive way of building God’s Kingdom on the Earth.

The world is still full of darkness and evil of all kinds. But just like Isaiah’s vision for the new Jerusalem, the Church today can and should be a shining light in the world that will attract people from far and wide to return home and worship the Lord. Unfortunately, the Church has largely been more focused on exclusion than the inclusive way of Christ and the early church.