This sermon was written for Epiphany Sunday at Langham Church Sunday 5th January 2025. Unfortunately, due to the snow, I was unable to make it. But here is my sermon for epiphany.
Bible Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12
So, it’s the twelfth and last day of Christmas today. So, you had better get your last bit of snacking, mince pie eating, and Baileys sipping done quickly because tomorrow, we move on from Christmas to Epiphany.
I must say, it is good to see you all. Who had a good Christmas? Has anyone here got a treasure chest of presents at home? We had a good time at Christmas. Good time with family, far too much food, especially cheese, and we were blessed with wonderful presents too. Cecily got me a push-up board (I don’t know what she is suggesting there), and we got a lovely roasting dish that I got to test with a beef roast over New Year’s.
But as I said, tomorrow is Epiphany, which we are marking today in church. Epiphany – it’s a rare word in our modern vocabulary. We use epiphany to describe a sudden moment of revelation or realisation, something that could fittingly be termed a ‘eureka’ moment. The word epiphany comes from the Greek word ἐπιφάνεια, which means ‘appearing,’ ‘manifestation’ or ‘glorious display.’[1]
At the celebration of Epiphany, we remember the visit of the wise men. But hold on, when we read about the visit of the wise men, I don’t see some great glorious display or manifestation in the story. So why do we celebrate this day as ‘The Epiphany’? Something must be manifesting; something must be appearing in glory.
But we do see something made manifest. We do see something appearing in glory. We see Jesus Christ manifest in a tiny baby, full of the eternal glory and majesty of his divinity and royalty. The Oxford English Dictionary describes Epiphany as ‘a manifestation or appearance of some divine or superhuman being.’[2]Jesus, the divine Son of God, was this epiphany, this manifestation to the wise men. The wise men had been on a long journey following a star, and now, as the star stood above Bethlehem, the wise men had their hopes of the Messiah realised as they found baby Jesus.
1 An Epiphany for the Gentiles
This epiphany was significant to the Christmas story and in different ways to the shepherds. First, the wise men were not Jews; they were Gentiles. Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah. He is the one that Isaiah spoke about in our Isaiah reading about the coming of the LORD upon the people, and his glory would appear over them. Remember, when the Bible uses the word ‘LORD’, it is not talking about a lord or lady, or a leader of a nation, or a monarch, but when Isaiah says ‘LORD’ in capital letters, he is referring to the divine name of God. So, Isaiah is saying that God himself will come upon his people with his glory.
The Jews were waiting for the God of the Jews to come to the Jews in the glory of the God of the Jews. This revelation to the Jews was exhibited in the visitation of the shepherds to see Jesus in the stable. But Isaiah’s prophecy goes further. He says, ‘Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.’[3]The word for nations is גוֹיִ֖ם ‘goyim,’ which means people or nation, specifically Gentile, non-Jewish people. This is different from the word Am, which is used to refer to Jewish people. Isaiah is saying that when the LORD God comes to earth as the light of the world, it will be a light for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Isaiah continues, saying, ‘The wealth of the nations shall come to you.’[4] This wealth, חֵ֥יל ‘chaiyil’, refers more than just to the material and financially wealthy; it includes the physically strong, the mighty and powerful (particularly military leaders. It ‘was a term of high regard’ and ‘integral to a community’s understanding of leadership and virtue.’[5] Isaiah foretells the highest and most esteemed and virtuous of leaders and rulers coming to receive the glory. They will come not in grandeur and splendour but will share in the epiphany of the Jews who have the light and glory of God risen upon them.[6] These foreigners of wealth and riches will come in the same humility as the Jews and worship Jesus as he appears to them. When Jesus appears to people, no matter who you are, there is only one response: awe and worship.
The visit of the wise men shows us that it doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are the richest and most powerful person, or an outcast, poor and a stranger, every single person in the world comes under the risen ascendancy of the light and glory of Jesus Christ come to us. If you ever feel like you are undeserving of God, that God is for some people but not for you, I want you to look again at the story of the wise men. I want you to share in this epiphany that Jesus Christ has come and appeared to all people. Jesus has come to you.
2 Epiphany as an act of grace
The second reason this epiphany is significant is that it shows us that the epiphany of Jesus Christ is an act of grace.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he talks about how God’s grace was given to him so he may share it with the Gentile church emerging in Ephesus. Paul adds that this mystery of Jesus Christ was made known to him by revelation.[7] He writes, ‘I, Paul, am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles – for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation.’[8] Even the Apostle Paul, who wrote a large proportion of the New Testament and was arguably the greatest theologian of the New Testament, said that all he knew of Christ was because it was revealed to him by the grace of God.
Likewise, the mystery of Christ is made known to us by revelation, whether we are Jews or Gentiles. We only come to know Jesus because he chose to reveal himself to us out of grace. The famous Swiss theologian Karl Barth said, ‘Revelation is grace.’[9] The act of revelation and epiphany is itself an act of grace. Whether we grew up with faith or are here at church for the first time, all knowledge of Christ is an act of grace. Like the wise men, we share in the epiphany of Christ revealed to us.
Where does this leave us?
At the start of a new year, many of us set resolutions and think about how we can improve our lives. Maybe you’ve set a resolution based on food, exercise, or family. Maybe you have set a resolution about faith, such as praying or reading the Bible. If you have set a resolution regarding your faith, I want to encourage you in that. But I also don’t want you to think that the depth of your faith depends on how much time you spend praying or reading your Bible. To confirm, praying and reading your Bible is a good thing, and you will know more about God through doing so. But to know God, not just know about him, for him to be revealed in his light and glory, is only possible by the grace of God. As we look at the wise men, we see that the epiphany they received was the result of God’s grace toward them. No longer was God to be just the God of the Jews, but in grace, God chose to reveal himself to all people, including the Gentiles.
Sometimes, God’s grace is revealed to us in stages, not always in a sudden moment of epiphany. This was true even for the wise men. They saw a glimpse of God revealed in the star, which pointed the way to see the incarnate Jesus born to them. The wise men turned up and followed what God was showing to them, and in time, they received the greatest epiphany. Are there stars in the sky that God has put in the sky for you to follow? It doesn’t have to be a literal star, but perhaps there are opportunities, conversations, or nuggets that come our way has put in our lives to guide us to see more of him revealed to us. A Bible verse, a conversation with a friend, a quiet time of prayer, walking in a forest, listen to a song, any of these might be a star in our lives that lead us to the revealed Jesus. What are the stars that are leading you to your epiphany of Jesus?
At Epiphany, we celebrate that by God’s grace, he reveals himself to all people. No one is exempt. God is revealing himself today. Will you search for the stars he places in your life and follow them to see Jesus. Like the wise men, our job is to turn up and follow where God leads. This Epiphany, let us turn up and follow glimpses God is showing us so that we may discover his full glory revealed and shining upon us.
Amen.
[1] https://biblehub.com/greek/2015.htm [Accessed 4th January 2025].
[2] https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=epiphany [Accessed 4th January 2025].
[3] Isaiah 60:3 [NRSV].
[4] Isaiah 60:5 [NRSV].
[5] https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2428.htm [Accessed 5th January 2025].
[6] Isaiah 60:1.
[7] Ephesians 3:3.
[8] Ephesians 3:1-3 [NRSV].
[9] Emil Brunner and Karl Barth, Natural Theology: Comprising ‘Nature and Grace’ by Emil Brunner and the Reply ‘No!’ By Karl Barth(Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2002), 71.
Shakeel Nurmahi 