Father Philip Writes...

January

​​At the beginning of January the Church keeps the Feast of the Epiphany.
"Epiphany" means “manifestation” or “showing forth”.

1.     It means that Jesus is shown as Saviour of the World.  I used to have a joke mug in the Vicarage with the caption ‘Jesus loves you….. but I’m his favourite!’ The Jewish people of Jesus’ time thought they were God’s favourites and that the Messiah would be the Saviour just of them. In the Old Testament the Jews are portrayed as God’s chosen people but it came to be interpreted in a way that made all other people second class. The orthodox Jews of the time despised others who did not keep to their strict rules, yet the first Jewish people who heard the Good News of the Messiah’s birth were unorthodox shepherds – considered to be the lowest or outcasts of society.

2.    The manifestation of Jesus at Epiphany may be compared to a Royal birth. When a member of the Royal Family has a baby, the whole nation is told about it, but many people will camp on pavements outside the hospital until the mother leaves a short while afterwards and shows them the baby. Christ is born at Bethlehem at Christmass but the Epiphany is the showing forth to the Wise Men a while afterwards, rather like a royal couple showing their child.

3. The manifestation of Jesus involved a journey of faith. The wise men saw a star, but they did not know where it would lead them. Their journey was an act of faith. We tend to think the star led them to Bethlehem – the impression given by the carol “The First Nowell”, but the Bible shows the journey was one of searching, questioning, pain, joy, fear and hope. 

The star was at the beginning and end of their journey and these Gentile (non-Jewish) visitors had to make an act of faith. Like the shepherds, even when they saw the child they had to believe it was a royal birth. Their gifts showed Gold for a king, Incense for God and Myrrh for his death.

​This feast challenges us: The wise men brought their best gifts. What can I bring?
 Do I give God my best or what’s left over? ​

God loves all and nobody is his favourite. There is nothing worse than ‘I’m saved’ (‘…and you are not!’)  Fr Faber wrote:

‘For the love of God is broader
than the measure of man’s mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
              
But we make his love too narrow
by false limits of our own
and we magnify his strictness
with a zeal he will not own.’
​

​That does not mean ‘anything goes’ but it means our attitude should change. St Mary’s is a welcoming church, but I hope we can make it even more welcoming for all; God is manifested in us in his Royal Birth and we must do the same for others.
​

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