Epiphany. The church season following Christmas. It begins with a star and an unknown number of wise men, called magi following said star. Unlike many men, they apparently did not have a hang up stopping and asking for directions. According to Matthew, they discovered the baby Jesus in a house.
Throughout Epiphany we continue to see who is this Jesus announced by angels, visited by shepherds, and given gifts from magi. In Epiphany there are texts of Jesus’ presentation at the temple, the changing of water into wine at a wedding celebration, the calling of disciples, debates about righteousness, and more.
All these texts and the supporting texts of Old Testament and letters in the New Testament point in one way or another to who Jesus is. Angels may have said to the shepherds there was a Savior, a Messiah, a Lord, born in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. Epiphany texts spell out what this and what all these titles mean.
You and I are called to be a bit more than the shepherds and magi. We are called to do more than go back to work and praise God like the shepherds or be overwhelmed with joy and return home as did the magi. You and I are called to follow the one praised who can overwhelm with great joy.
Follow means inward feelings are not what all this is about. More is expected. Yes, we too are to return to our various work stations in life. Those work stations, however, are not to be places devoid of any hint of following. They are part of the arena where following this Jesus needs to be lived out. Following Jesus is not always about what we might do as a vocation, it is about how we do it.
We tend to have freedom in our vocations, that is, what work we do. As followers of Christ, however, we are to operate in a way in those vocations that serve and benefit others. We may receive reward in terms of income, yet it is about serving others and serving the common good as much as it is about ourselves.
I have so far used the word follow or following a few times in just a handful of paragraphs. It is an important word for Christians. It means that is exactly what we do: we follow Jesus. It also means we are not Jesus. Epiphany and its texts very much remind us of this. Too often we see ourselves as replacements of Jesus instead of those who follow Jesus and those through whom Jesus works.
You and I are called to be Christians, not called to be Jesus. Too often we Christians think we have to “out Jesus, Jesus”. That is, we have to equal and even better Jesus. We cannot do so. Quite possibly you have already learned this. Or perhaps you are in the midst of becoming painfully aware of this.
So like the shepherds we are to witness and proclaim. Like the magi we can be overwhelmed with all God has done in Jesus for us and all the world. But like those Epiphany texts depicting the calling of disciples, that is, followers, we are to follow along the path already made by Jesus. Like those disciples, because we are not Jesus, we will too often wander off that path, but because Jesus is Jesus, we will be pulled back onto its way. In Epiphany we discover who Jesus is. Occasionally we even learn a bit about ourselves in the process.