Sermon for Epiphany Sunday –
Fr. Sean Davidson

St. Mark’s Anglican Church,
Sussex Corner, NB

Welcome to the 2020s. That sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Like we’ve entered the realm of science fiction. But here we are.

And let me also say happy Epiphany.

Today we not only usher in the new year, but we also mark the beginning of a new season on the church calendar—Epiphany—this stretch of sacred time between Christmas and Lent when we celebrate God’s marvelous appearing in the person of Jesus.

In a way, we’ve been doing just that throughout the last few weeks of Christmastide.

But this is different. During Epiphany, we consider what God’s appearing means not only for Mary and Joseph and the people of Israel, but for the whole world.

The promise had always been there in scripture—that all peoples, near and far, would be blessed through Israel and her king. Today we remember how that promise was fulfilled in the arrival of sage travelers from the East wishing upon a star.

Epiphany is an unusual word. We don’t use it very often in regular conversation. In my ears, it sounds antiquated and bookish somehow. Like we’re back in high school English class.

But it does crop up from time to time. Typically we use it to describe a certain state of mind.

“I just had an epiphany,” we’ll say.

What we mean is that we’ve seen things in a new light and had an “ah-ha” moment. We’ve gained a fresh perspective or insight. And we feel free in our thinking, ready to connect the dots new ways.

In the ancient world, people used the word differently. It wasn’t to express a state of mind or new ideas. Poets and philosophers used the word to describe the appearance of something extraordinary in the physical world. It put the focus on what’s outside of us rather than inside.