Epiphany

This Thursday is Epiphany.  It’s a day in the Church year that has mostly gotten swallowed up by Christmas and the New Year.  At Ferrysburg Community Church, we’ve not traditionally done a lot with Epiphany.  We mention Epiphany Sunday (this coming Sunday) and sing some Epiphany songs, like “We Three Kings.”  But other than that, it gets little attention.  Epiphany comes from a Greek word that means “an appearing” or “a manifestation.”  In the Greek language this word was sometimes used to describe the appearing of an enemy coming to attack.  Epiphany was also used to describe the dawn - the appearing of the sun.  

This is a powerful way to picture Jesus being revealed to the world.  We often think of Jesus bringing light and life to us, the people of God.  But imagine the forces of sin and death seeing Jesus appearing on a ridge, marching toward them into battle.  Picture Jesus, like the sun, breaking into the darkness with rays of light.  As great as it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Epiphany marks the start of business time.  Epiphany means that the battle has begun in earnest.  As we live out the drama of Christ’s life, Epiphany is a time to remind us that Jesus has declared war on brokenness and sin.  It’s on!  Light has come!