Category Archives: Epiphany

Transfiguration Sunday and the Longing of Epiphany

Posted on March 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

Yesterday was transfiguration Sunday which marks a peak of ascent in the Christian calendar and journey. It is from the vantage point of the mountain of transfiguration that we see behind us the season of Epiphany and before us the season of Easter. Behind us is Christ’s baptism and before us is his death and resurrection.  It is from this vantage point that along with Peter and James, we see Christ transfigured before us and then from out of a cloud of unapproachable light, we hear the words, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Matthew 17:1-9).

These words spoken from God the Father act as a segue from Epiphany into the season of lent. From the action of Christ’s baptism (in Epiphany) to its meaning for us (Easter). The first phrase from the clouds of the Mountain of Transfiguration was first spoken at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel:

“And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” – Matthew 3:16-17

After these words were spoken at Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3, we find Jesus being, “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights.” (Mat. 4:1) This brings us to the longing of lent:

  • To not live by bread alone, but by the words that come from the mouth of God. (Mat. 4:3-4)
  • To not put the LORD to the test (Mat. 4:5-7)
  • To dismiss Satan with our worship of “The LORD our God, serving him alone.” (Mat.4:8-10).

On the mountain of transfiguration where we stand in the Church calendar we are invited into this season of Longing, of Lent with the words, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” So we respond to the Epiphany of Jesus as God with obedience; listening and following Christ into a wilderness season of Lent that leads to the death and new life of Easter.

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Posted in Baptism, Christianity, Church Calendar, Easter, Epiphany, Jesus Christ, Lent, Matthew, Worship

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Epiphany In Worship

Posted on February 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

The season of Epiphany, when the Church explicitly remembers how Jesus is revealed as God in the Gospels is now coming to a end.  In this season we have followed the Magi, remembered Christ’s baptism, and  witnessed the Kingdom of God. Yet before we look too far down the path of Epiphany, to the palms of Sunday and the ashes of Wednesday, let us consider Jesus’ revelation as God in Worship.

The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) all mention the account of Jesus teaching at the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. In the Luke account we find that  during this Sabbath worship service it was Jesus’ turn to read the scroll, which happened to have been from  the Prophet Isaiah. SO as was the custom, Jesus takes the scroll of Isaiah, stands up and gives the reading:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

This verse is drawn from Isaiah 61:1-2 and 58:6. What was Jesus’ interpretation of these verses from the Prophet for those in attendance?  ”Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk4:21). There was amazement at the grace of his words and then the questions and challenges came, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Jesus then begins to unpack his amplified interpretation of these verses from Isaiah in Luke 4:24-30 as the hearers with rage try to lay hands on him. To think that God would extend his grace and blessing outside of “clean & chosen” Israel to lepers, widows, the poor, and Gentiles!

The people of Nazareth missed Jesus as God in the reading and failed to glorify God, acknowledging him for who he is. Today I sometimes wonder if the church fails in this respect to acknowledge God for who he is in worship. Three benchmarks for worship as a response to God’s glory (that I have adapted from Simon Chan’s Liturgical Theology) are:

  1. Worship is not something we do for God - “Praise” does not bring down the glory of God. “Waiting” does not bring down the glory of God. “Playing Louder Music” does not bring down the glory of God. The glory of God is a self-giving gift and thus, everything we are and have to offer is a gift from God.
  2. Worship is its own end. In the pragmatic context in which we find ourselves in history, everything including worship has to have and end or purpose (mostly for us). What do you mean Jesus this reading is fulfilled in our hearing? Aren’t you Joseph’s boy? What’s in it for us? As William Willimon writes, “Worship loses is integrity when it is regarded instrumentally as a means of something else-even as a means of achieving the most noble of human purposes”
  3. Worship is a response to God’s total character. True worship must reflect the reality of who the triune God is. I agree with John Wesley’s observation of the verse that Jesus reads above, “The Spirit of Lord is upon me” as a reference to the Holy Trinity. Do we worship a triune God today in American Christianity?

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Posted in Epiphany, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Kingdom of God, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Theology, Trinity, Worship

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The Epiphany of Suffering

Posted on February 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

During this past week suffering and death have been ever before me: From a philosophy class I am taking on Suffering, Tragedy and the Christian Faith, to a Time article written by Rob Bell concerning him getting his call to be a pastor in the midst of severe headaches, to a guest lecturer in Chapel talking about growing up in the persecuted Church of Columbia, to filling out ACPE (Association of Clinical Pastoral Education) applications about my views of spiritual care and suffering, and last night hearing a friend’s testimony about God’s presence with him in the midst of his young wife’s death. These events bring me to today:  the Lord’s Day, Sunday, the First day, and the eschatological eighth day… and then I’m reminded of the “reason for the season”, Epiphany – Christ being revealed as God in the Gospels… in the midst of suffering.

Before the Passion of Lent and the Resurrection of Easter comes the Epiphany of the B.C. proclamation in Isaiah 53, “Surely he has borne our infirmities   and carried our diseases;  yet we accounted him stricken,  struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,  crushed for our iniquities;  upon him was the punishment that made us whole,  and by his bruises we are healed.”

The picture  and the Isaiah 53 passage above are an attempt to articulate the reality of suffering, tragedy, sin and death in light of the reality of Jesus as LORD. It attempts to show that the cross is not only a historical event, but it is also a reality of God’s cruciform love for the world. I remember Robert Mulholland saying in class, “The Cross is not just something Jesus DID, it is a revelation of  WHO God is.” During the season of Epiphany we see Jesus transfigured before us as God: Healing diseases, exorcising demons, and raising the dead. We follow the reality of Jesus as God in Epiphany into the reality of Christ’s cruciform love revealed in the Passion of Lent.

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Posted in Christianity, Christology, Church Calendar, Epiphany, Incarnation, Isaiah, The Cross

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My Birthday And Epiphany – Part II

Posted on February 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

It’s always exciting when my physical birth date falls on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) as it did this year. In Sunday’s post I looked at the birth narratives in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew and how they revealed Jesus as God. In this morning’s post I will look at this “birth” motif from the perspective of the Gospels of John and Mark.

The Gospel of John begins immediately with the Word (logos gk.). The closest hint to the physical birth of Christ comes in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” The opening setting of John is in Bethany across the Jordan. John the Baptist is preparing the way of the Lord with his baptism of repentance. John explained his reason for baptism, “I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And Jesus came and was revealed as God in Baptism. This revelation of Jesus as God, theophany is celebrated during the season of Epiphany (I wrote a post about theophany a few weeks ago).

The narrative of Mark also starts with, “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.” Like John it goes right into the ministry of John the Baptist as the path by which Jesus’ earthly ministry enters.  John proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” And just like that, “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” Just like the baptism account in Mark, Jesus is revealed as God in his baptism.

Both John and Mark as opposed to Luke and Matthew stress the adult ministry of Jesus that begins with his baptism. They include no genealogies, birth narratives, or childhood accounts of Jesus. The emphasis of the beginning of Mark and John appear to be on John the Baptist’s ministry, Jesus’ baptism, and subsequent ministry. John Stott says, “Baptism with water is the sign and seal of baptism with the Spirit, as much as it is of the forgiveness of sins. Water-baptism is the initiatory Christian rite, because Spirit-baptism is the initiatory Christian experience.” If the labor of our physical birth is the human rite by which we all must become part of a human community, then water baptism is the Christian rite by which Christians are imparted with the Holy Spirit that cries out in our hearts as adopted Children to God,  ”ABBA FATHER.”

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Posted in Baptism, Church Calendar, Epiphany, Holy Spirit, Humanity, John, John Stott, Mark, Theophany

My Birthday And Epiphany – Part I

Posted on February 13, 2011 | 2 Comments

Today is the Lord’s Day. Today is Epiphany. Today is also … my 28th birthday!

Whether we know our exact date of birth or not, all people have a day in which they were revealed to the world through their birth. My day came 28 years ago on a cold morning in northern Ohio. During the season of Epiphany we reflect on how Jesus Christ is revealed in the Gospels as LORD. What do the Gospels have to tell us about the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth as his revelation to the world? What does Jesus’ birth narrative(s) tell us about our own birth?

The Gospels of Luke and Matthew tell us about the revelation of Jesus the Messiah from the onset of their narratives. After a genealogy of Jesus’ ancestry, Matthew 1:18 explicitly states, , “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” In Matthew chapter 1 we are told how the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth and in Matthew chapter 2 of the wise men traveling from the east as a result of a rising star of the newly born King of the Jews. Their response to King Herod for their coming, that “they may worship him.”

In the Gospel of Luke we have a more detailed account of Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph, and the accounts of the angels with the shepherds, Simeon, and Anna the prophet. These two Gospel accounts testify that the birth of Jesus was somehow different than my birth 28 years ago. And still, the birth is scandalously common: Jesus was born as an infant, from a woman, in a zip code, to parents. Unlike my birthday visitors of grandparents, relatives, and family friends, Jesus had angels, shepherds, wise men (kings?), and prophets testifying that the Messiah,called Emmanuel, “God With US” has been born. They testified with Simeon in Luke 2 that they, ”Have seen [God's] salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people,  a light for revelation to the Gentiles   and for glory to your people Israel.”

But there is another birth that the Gospels attest to and which I am born (along with the great cloud of  witnesses). This birth is revealed to the world through the sacrament of baptism which Christ initiated. In tomorrow’s post I will look at this birth from the Gospels of John and Mark.

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Posted in Church Calendar, Epiphany, Incarnation, Luke, Matthew, Personal Note, Worship

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Worshiping in the Shadow of the Cross – Pt. 2

Posted on February 10, 2011 | 1 Comment

In yesterday’s post, I began to describe what it was like to have a cross four feet in front of me during the first Spring chapel service at Asbury Theological Seminary. Later in the service JD Walt led us in a litany that blended the response of the three wise men to King Herod concerning the Messiah, “We have come to worship him” with the “mind of Christ” passage of Philippians 2:5-11 It is one thing to speak a litany in the absence of the cross and another thing to speak it at the foot of one.

Living in the reality of the cross should cause us to ponder what or who we are living for. The poignant  quote from Leonard Ravenhill comes to mind, “Is what you are living for worth Christ dying for?” Do we live in a separate reality that is absent of the cross? Why do we think  it is easier for us to live under a less offensive symbol? Perhaps, one with pretty colors and shapes that looks more like a corporate icon than a religious symbol? Without a physical cross present in worship, do we not nourish the memory that Christ despised shame on the cross (Hebrews 12:2), bore our sins in his body on the cross (I Pet 2:24), canceled our debt on the cross (Col 2:14), and by his wounds afflicted on the cross we are healed. Are we reminded to carry our own cross and follow Christ (Luke 14:27) or are we allowed to become ashamed of the cross and live as its enemy? Therefore,

“Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”  - Hebrews 12:1-3

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Posted in 1 Peter, Asbury Theological Seminary, Colossians, Epiphany, Hebrews, Luke, Philippians, The Cross, Worship

The Beauty of Epiphany

Posted on February 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows.
For love is the beauty of the soul.”
Augustine of Hippo

Beautiful theology (theology = theos + logos in the greek) is a Word about God that has an inherent sing-ability to it. This is why the ‘worship leader’ is such a vital role in a church. As I have heard JD Walt say many times, “the worship leader is the practical theologian of the Church.” Revelation 14:3 reminds us that before the eschatological throne of heaven we won’t just be quoting the right things, but singing a beautiful new song,

“And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.”

I was blessed to have taken Sacramental Theology with the notorious preacher and scholar, Bob Stamps. Dr. Stamps once said something that has stuck with me through the years, “Our theology needs to be as beautiful as it is correct.” Does this mean that systematic theology needs to be written in prose? Or that a Church’s statement of faith converted to a hymn? While I would enjoy hearing systematics put to prose and singing a church’s confession, what I am suggesting is that our theology should be more like a painting or symphony than a lawsuit or military campaign.

When you read the Gospels during this season of Epiphany do you see how Christ is revealed as God but miss the beauty of that revelation? Do you marvel at the symphony of events that God orchestrated for this unveiling? Do you gaze at the scenes as a priceless masterpiece? Do you marvel at the beauty of the Gospels as you abide in their truth?

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Posted in Augustine, Beauty, Church Calendar, Epiphany, Revelation, Theology

Epiphany B.C.

Posted on January 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

On Sundays I reflect on the Church calendar as a way to abide in a different time line; to offer my inner most being to the triune God be formed and renewed  into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Last week I wrote about the Kingdom of God and how Jesus Christ is revealed in the poor. This week’s post focuses around the idea that Epiphany is first imagined in human history not in the Gospels, but in the Prophets of the Old Testament.

I am about a month behind on my yearly Bible reading plan for 2010. Since I have had more ‘free time’ between semesters, I have been reading big chunks from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Revelation, and the Gospels. I have found that the Prophets (particularly Isaiah) can give us ‘glimpses’ or a ‘preview’ of the Epiphany events recorded in the Gospels. Jesus and the early church drew upon the imagery, language, and actualized the motifs, promises, and prophetic declarations of some of these OT Prophets.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. In the Gospel according to Luke (ch. 4) we find Jesus returning from his desert temptation with the Devil, filled with the Holy Spirit he began to teach in the synagogues. This is the  account of one of his ‘teachings’ in Luke 4:16-19:

When he [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of the sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim they year of the Lord’s favor.”

The portion of the Isaiah scroll that Jesus read is form Isaiah 61 verses 1-2. If you read the scroll a little further you will find the writer of Isaiah 61 making prophetic declarations and promises from the Lord. If these promises sound too great to us on this side of Easter, then imagine if you both heard and saw the promises of Isiah 61 fulfilled in your neighbor’s son:

“And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

In order for us to more deeply understand how Jesus Christ is revealed as God in the Gospels during this season of Epiphany, we need to the 20/20 vision of Pentecost (the Holy Spirit) to see Jesus as the fulfillment of what the prophets longed for. Without God’s grace to see and hear we are like those Jesus spoke to in parables, ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ Or we respond to the Epiphany of Christ with skepticism:

“All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “is not this Joseph’s son?” … And Jesus said, “truly i tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

How do we respond to Jesus fulfilling Isaiah?

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Posted in Church Calendar, Epiphany, Isaiah

The Epiphany of The Kingdom of God

Posted on January 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

Sunday is the day of the week that I reflect on a theme from the current church season we find ourselves in. Currently that season is “Epiphany.”

Epiphany is a season when the Church reflects on how Jesus is revealed as God in the Gospels. Usually this means looking to such occurrences as Jesus’ Baptism, the visit of the Magi, or the miracle accounts like the Wedding of Cana. If Epiphany is truly a season where we remember the ways in which Christ is said to be revealed as God, then what about Christ’s mysterious connection with the poor?  The words of Matthew 25 pierce my heart each time I read them:

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me into your home.”- Matthew 25:34-35

Do we see Christ in the materially, emotionally, or spiritually poor? Is there any sort of Epiphany that happens when we see a brother or sister in need? Do we even see them … let alone recognized the breath of God in them? Do we see past the cultural scripts that blind us? Do we even see the need for those who struggle with depression, loneliness, or alcohol addiction to be loved as Christ?

Are we even capable of being wounded by the poverty of this age?

“Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of mind? In short: Who can take away suffering without entering it?” - Henri Nouwen

Have you ever hugged a homeless meth-head? Did your heart ever break for the prostitutes on the streets corners? Are you wounded for those who make pornography … and those who watch it? Have you ever taken interest in a “goth” teenager who struggles with suicide? If so… good for you… but … have you ever seen Christ in them?

It is one thing to provide a service and yet another thing entirely to act in holy love towards another. Service keeps an “it” an “it” ; however, holy love turns an “it” into a “Thou.” We are called to more than just being a  ”service provider” for the materially, emotionally, spiritually poor: dropping spare change in the Salvation Army box outside of Walmart, or sending a check to the Red-Cross for each “natural disaster”, or institutionalizing the emotionally afflicted. Any atheist, humanist, or progressive liberal can care for “the least of these” … but only the Church as Christ’s body can embrace them as Christ. We are called to see God in them, to practice hospitality, and above all to love them sacrificially.

We beseech thee, Master, to be our helper and protector. Save the afflicted among us; have mercy on the lowly; raise up the fallen; appear to the needy; heal the ungodly; restore the wanderers of thy people; feed the hungry; ransom our prisoners; raise up the sick; comfort the faint-hearted. - Clement I (99 C.E.)

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Posted in Epiphany, Kingdom of God, Poverty

The Epiphany of Theophany: Remembering Christ’s Baptism

Posted on January 19, 2011 | 4 Comments

It is during the church season of Ephiphany that the Orthodox Church celebrates the baptism of Jesus during an annual feast called Theophany. The overarching theme of the season of Epiphany is Jesus manifesting himself as God (the English word, epiphany is translated from a Greek word for manifestation).

The original meaning of the word “Theophany” describes an appearance of a god to humanity. During  Theophany, we remember the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism and how God’s presence was manifest in Christ and further accentuated by a dove (Holy Spirit) and a voice from heaven (Father). 

After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” – Matthew 3:16-17

So what? I’m not Orthodox! (neither am I)

Baptism, by-and-large, has been mistranslated by a rugged American individualism into a ritual of an individual’s testimony of belief in Christ instead of a person being a partaker of Christ’s baptism and death (my friend Drew has  really been unpacking our participation in Christ’s baptism from Romans 6 in his blog). The feast of Theophany reminds us of why our baptism matters. It assures us of the Trinitarian testimony of Jesus’ own baptism. It reminds us that we are baptized into a community of believers, the body of Christ. It is fitting that Theophany is a feast, because Christ’s baptism led to the cross and our baptism leads to the the table of Holy Communion.

As Thomas A Kempis puts it in his poem, O Love, How Deep:

O Love, how deep, how broad, how high,
It fills the heart with ecstasy,
that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form for mortal’s sake.

For us he was baptized, and bore
his holy fast, and hungered sore;
for us tempation sharp he knew,
for us the tempter overthrew.

For us he rose from death again;
for us he went on high to reign;
for us he sent his Spirit here,
to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

To him whose boundless love has won
salvation for us through his Son,
to God the Father, glory be
both now and through eternity.

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Posted in Epiphany, Theology, Theophany, Thomas A Kempis