Pastor’s Corner for the Epiphany of the Lord, Year A, by Rev. Billy William Davies

 

 

The past weeks we journeyed together through Advent’s waiting and celebration welcoming of the birth of Jesus. For many, Christmas is over. It ended with the unwrapping of presents and the Christmas meal. The tree lights are out, and taking down the decorations is the only chore remaining. But for us, the Christmas season reaches its climax today as we celebrate the Feast Of the Epiphany.

The Feast of Epiphany is the fulfilment of God’s promise and a time of great hope. The wise men have followed a star, a light in the sky that’s led them over a difficult and dangerous journey to the Christ Light, fulfilling God’s promise and the prophets’ foretelling. Today our Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. Epiphany celebrates the revelation of the Light of Christ for all nations and peoples of the world. But stop! Think for a moment. Where is this Light today? Look around us. We live in dark and troubled times: poverty, woman and child abuse, war, discrimination and marginalisation. It’s like the world is in load-shedding! Where is this Light, we ask?

The words of Howard Thurman, an African-American theologian and civil rights leader, challenge us: “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, the real work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to rebuild nations, to bring peace among people, and make music in the heart”.

We who are Baptised have received the Light of Christ and must take that Light into our world. When we sit to write our New Year’s resolutions, let them be to guide those who are lost and broken. To be the Light that guides them to their saviour.

Rev. William (Billy) Davies