After reading the scriptures I put a blindfold on and find my way back down from the pulpit to the floor level of the sanctuary.
Some of you are wondering why in the world I have a blindfold on. Some will recognize the “Bird Box Challenge” that is going viral. For some unknown reason people who are otherwise competent and reasonable are putting blindfolds on – sometimes to their great peril – and completing normal tasks without assistance. This is, of course, modeled after the movie, Bird Box, and it should be noted that an international media corporation has issued advisories against it.
It makes about as much sense as those warnings on hair dryers that tell you not to use them in the tub. This is the world we live in, and here I stand as a testament to it preaching to you in a blindfold.
For those who have not seen the movie, I can’t say that I recommend it. It’s violent and nasty, but it is also a statement about our human nature and the purpose of hope and mutual submission in the face of fear and tragedy. The blindfolds protect people from their worst fears, which are becoming manifested by some otherworldly creature. They also create a risk for those who are used to seeing the world clearly. The blindfolds demonstrate the need to trust, and the hope for the revelation of good news in places of sanctuary.
That is precisely what my blindfold represents today – it represents the hope of revelation in a place of sanctuary. What will I see when I take it off, my greatest hopes or my greatest fears? I then take my blindfold off.
Ah! As I suspected – I see reasons to hope!
I see it every Sunday, but today is a day that we expect it. Maybe it’s a day like any other to you, but to many in the church, today is Epiphany Sunday! Now, why does that matter to me? Well, it matters mostly because it’s the day we celebrate the recognition of heaven and earth that God revealed God’s self through Jesus. It also matters to me, because I usually miss it. I’m usually still on vacation, celebrating Christmas with my family. Sure, we often worship on the road, but I miss celebrating it with you!
So, why should it matter to you? Epiphany is the “so what?” of Christmas. It’s the response of heaven and earth and earthly powers beyond the Jewish authorities and all the might of Rome to say that change has come and the order of things is undone.
We see this clearly in the declaration of foreign powers and the response of Herod. We see it in their gifts and in the honor given to a peasant family in a backwater town. Incidentally, you may have seen the cartoon of the wiser women who followed them with gifts of diapers and baby food. Gold is always nice, but what’s a baby going to do with Frankincense and Myrrh?
Well, turns out those guys actually were pretty wise. Frankincense helps with a variety of issues of health and immunity, and Myrrh was of value for women’s health, especially after giving birth. The gold was used to get out of town, as they all fled the scene for fear of Herod’s wrath.
It wasn’t just fear that drove them, though. It was a revelation; that’s what Epiphany is all about. It is about the realization that Herod was afraid because God had been revealed in the person of Jesus. Literally, the word Epiphany means the coming of light, and in its ancient context, it described the true form of a deity being revealed.
That type of light is not a light that you can hide from or shut out. It’s the type of light that reveals, and what it reveals transforms us. Just as the wise men followed the star and went home by another way, we are invited into a new way of living. We are invited by God’s self-disclosure as the presence of grace and mercy.
This wasn’t a one-time thing. This was a “for all time” thing. Across the world today, many will celebrate Epiphany by handing out stars. We started this tradition last year and my star had the word “serve” on it. I can’t say that I followed it as faithfully as I could have, but the idea is to have a guiding principle for each of us as we respond to God’s grace together. The truth is that those times when we don’t follow are the moments when that grace becomes more profound.
What matters most is that you and I are part of a community of grace. What matters is that we are part of the church that Paul suffered for, so that the church might make known in the halls of power that the greater power is love.
That’s what we celebrate at this table. In fact, on Christmas Eve as we looked to the table as the greatest gift, I admit getting a little giddy. In the midst of all the good and decent and orderly celebration, I had to suppress the urge to shout, “Wow! This is so cool! Redemption is happening! Right here. Right now.”
Redemption is happening right here and right now, and right now the work of Christmas – the “so what?” of Christmas – begins. By that, I don’t mean putting away the decorations. No, I mean that revelation has come and transformation is coming and we have some work to do. In the words of Pastor and Civil Rights advocate, Howard Thurman, this is The Work of Christmas:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers [and sisters],
To make music in the heart.
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers [and sisters],
To make music in the heart.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I am excited to begin this work with you as we begin this new year. May it always be the revelation of Christ that gives us reasons to hope in our places of sanctuary and in this world that is always turning toward the Kingdom of God. Amen.
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