January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas, is the beginning of the church season called Epiphany. Literally, the word means ‘look upon’ or ‘manifest.’ Epiphany focuses on the wise men, or Magi, coming to Christ (Mt. 2).
Why focus on this visit? Why a season of Epiphany? The most pressing question for the earliest Christian community was this: who is this message for? Is it only for the Jews—traditionally God’s people—or for a wider circle? Much of the New Testament grapples with this, as the Holy Spirit wants to include EVEN THE GENTILES. While more conservative leaders argue that this is going too far; they must follow the old way.
Epiphany affirms God’s widening circle, as the Magi worship the Messiah. Foreigners look on the face of Jesus, and God’s inclusion is clear. As Matthew includes the story in his gospel, he is saying, “See, this widening circle was already part of the plan, way back when Jesus was a baby!”
Epiphany is symbolized by light, ever-widening circles as God’s pattern: from God’s call to Abraham, to God’s call to Moses to lead a people, to prophetic verses pointing to God’s inclusion of the Gentiles—a growing circle of light.
We can see this pattern more specifically in scripture. Exclusion commanded by God, “No one whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off will be admitted to the house of the Lord,” (Dt. 23:1). This softens in Isaiah: “Thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off,” (Isaiah 56:1-4).
As the circle widens, we are told how Phillip is led by the Spirit to share the good news of Jesus with an Ethiopian eunuch. He then baptizes the first African convert (Acts 8:26-39). Narrow, wider, widest. This is God’s way, throughout the Bible and ever since as God shows us new places where “infinite grace” is at work.
That’s lesson one of Epiphany: God is widening the circle, and we must, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.”
Lesson two is as crucial. A lot of folks in the nativity stories are characterized by their openness to hear something new. It’s not that they were naïve or easily taken in—the Magi were sages, students of astronomy and wisdom traditions. Most important, they were open to that which was beyond their understanding.
You don’t have to be a nut to be “Epiphany prone”—to be open to the fact that there may be more to life, to our world and our understanding than meets the eye. I meet too many people who are “Epiphany Proof”—closed off either because they have taken an ultra-rationalist stance, or because they’ve been hurt by religion, or because they are scared.
Irish writer, James Joyce popularized the word “Epiphany” as meaning an awakening, a new way of seeing. That use of the word—openness to a new way of seeing—is, I believe, what is asked of all of us. Maybe we need to be open to seeing God’s widening circles of grace; maybe we need to be open to something beyond our five senses. Instead of being Epiphany-proof, let’s be Epiphany-prone.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Mary Ellen Ashcroft, Vicar of Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church.
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