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7 WAYS TO RESPOND TO EPIPHANY
Dan Wilt
Epiphany begins January 6, 2012, and goes until the beginning of Lent on February 22, 2012 (Ash Wednesday).
The word epiphany means “the Revealing,” or “the Showing,” and celebrates Christ’s revealing to the Gentiles. The coming of the Three Kings, and Jesus Baptism by John The Baptist are key stories focused on during the Epiphany Season.
Epiphany is the last season in the “Cycle Of Light,” which includes Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, and precedes the beginning of the “Cycle Of Life” at Advent.
1. REFLECT on the stunning reality that God doesn’t hide – He reveals Himself. This is the very nature of true love – self-revealing. In Christ, God gave the world an epiphany of Himself, His Personality, robed in vulnerability.
2. REMEMBER that Christ’s revealing to the Gentiles was a cataclysmic fulfillment of the Genesis mandate. God’s Story reaching every tribe of humanity was always the point; a people (the Jews) were designed to carry that revelation to the entirety of the human race, for all time.
3. RECLAIM a vivifying faith that expects God to show up, to be present, to evidence Himself as near through his Spirit and His Word.
4. RETELL the magical story to your family about how Jesus revealed Himself to you – as Resurrected Lord and Restorer of your weary soul.
5. REPEAT the breathless words of the three magi, the three astrologer kings who made a life’s mission of searching sacred books and crossing deserts to find the One who would come to right the world: “We have seen his star… and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2).
6. RESPOND with silent moments of sincere thanks, enraptured songs of acclaim, and whispered prayers of confidence in God’s future for you, your family – and the cosmos.
7. RETRAIN your heart, mind and body to join with Christ in His Commission by incarnating in your world the kind of love that never fails, lives to serve, dies for others, rises from ashes, and never, ever gives up.
Have a wonder-filled Epiphany Season.