Dear Friends,

The Church's winter celebration continues long past "the holidays".  The Feast of the Epiphany begins on January 6th and continues until Ash Wednesday (February 25th this year).  In Epiphany we celebrate the manifestation of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior.  This season gives voice to the importance of Christmas.  While much of the world around us says, in essence, "O.K., a child is born. We've had our fun.  Now everybody back to work.";  the Church is saying, "No, wait!  God's Son has come into the world with us!  Nothing will ever be the same!  Let us continue to celebrate as we think on what this child means!"  Thus we come to Epiphany.

Epiphany is a season of light.  The prologue to the Gospel of John says of Jesus: "What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it."  To feel the power of this metaphor we need to know something about darkness and, as a people who can have daylight at any moment with the flick of a switch, we do not know much about darkness.  If you want to catch the power of what John is saying think about what happens when an ice storm knocks out the power.  No light, no heat, no idea of how long this will last, and we yearn for the return of the light!  The power comes on and, briefly, we really know how lucky we are to live as we do and we know how fragile life is.

Jesus is the light of the world.  When we say this we mean that a dark world, filled with evil, pain, and death, has seen a new kind of light.  Evil and death, though still struggling for existence, are robbed of power.  Pain, though still quite real, is passing.  In Jesus, God has come to us, lived with us, and embraced the essence of humanity.  In Jesus resurrection we see our own end..... and it is not death!  The darkness of fear loses its grip and is burned away by the dawning light of joy and hope!  This, at least in part, is what we mean when we proclaim that Jesus is the light of the world.

Now comes the shocker: "You are the light of the world.  A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14 & 15)  What Christ is for us, we are called to be to the world around us.  This is part of what it means to be the Body of Christ, the Church.  We are baptized into a new identity and a new reality.  We are baptized into the Light.  We are called, therefore, to be bearers of the light to the world.

What it means to be light bearers is spelled out concretely in the Baptismal Covenant found on page 304 of the Book of Common Prayer.  We will "continue in the apostle's teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread (refers to Communion), and in the prayers".  We will persevere in resisting evil" and "repent and return to the Lord" when we do sin.  We will "proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ".  We will "seek and serve Christ in all" people and love our neighbor as ourselves.  We will "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being".  What makes this framing of the covenant so powerful is its use of active verbs like persevere, repent and return, proclaim, seek and serve and strive."  We are called to actively embrace and take up a life worthy of the Light that we have been given.  This covenant is the standard by which we, the Body of Christ as manifested in the Episcopal Church, measure our lives.  It calls us forward at all times to become more and more the light of the world that Jesus has called us to be.

For us, as a parish community, the call to be the light of the world is our reason for existing.  A parish church is a training base and a support group for the people of God.  We nurture each other unto our mission as disciples.  Sometimes this means comforting and encouraging each other.  Sometimes it means challenging each other.  Always it means loving each other and reaching outside of our parish family to serve the world around us in the name of Christ. 

The world needs us.  As 2009 dawns we find ourselves in a world filled with great need, great fear, and great uncertainty.  It is dark.  But we come in the name of Christ to preach God’s love in all that we do.  It is Epiphany and Jesus has called us to be the light of the world.

 

                                                                        Your brother in Christ,

                                                                        Wilson +