In the name of God, + Father, and of the Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
Today, the twelfth day of Christmass, is the feast of the Epiphany, the feast of the shining forth of the light of Christ to the world outside of Jewry, specifically to the Gentiles, to the people represented by the three wise men from the East.
The wise men from the East had heard the prophecy that the King of the Jews was to be born in Bethlehem, in the tiny princedom of Juda. These wise men from the East, not Jews, had indeed heard the prophecy that the King of the Jews was to be born. They brought to the child Jesus - the King of the Jews, born in the feeding trough, in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn) they brought to Jesus three gifts, each of them foretelling one of his roles.
The first gift, the gold, represented his lordship over all creation, his possession of all things from the earth and from under the earth, his earthly reign.
The frankincense is a foreteller of Jesus' heavenly origin and destiny. Just as incense is the symbol of the people's prayers being lifted to the Father, so will Jesus lift us to His heavenly kingdom.
Finally, the myrrh foretells the death of Jesus. Myrrh, used in preparation of a body for burial, myrrh will be brought to Calvary on that dreadful Friday to prepare the body of Christ for burial.
So there we have it - the three Gentile wise men on that first Epiphany twelve days after the birth of Christ - the three kings were already presaging the bloody death of Christ for us sinners and our salvation; they were already foretelling His ascension into heaven, as frankincense is lifted up; and even now at His birth they were demonstrating that the baby Jesus was in fact the king of the universe, the master of all creation.
Last Sunday, as sat here in a pew at Mass, I looked up toward the roof and saw the sun shining through the clerestory windows. I thought of that light as a token of the light of Christ, first guiding the wise men on that first Epiphany, the true and eternal light, leading us even now here in Rangoon, shining the way of Christ.
The holy Gospel of Saint John on Christmass day tells of the coming of the light of Christ, when it says: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehends it not."
This word which is translated here, "comprehended," - and the darkness comprehended it not - in Greek means either understood or overcame, or full grasped, or took control over. The Gospel tells us that the powers of darkness, the powers of the world, the powers of evil cannot overcome, cannot comprehend, cannot understand, cannot control, cannot fully grasp the light of Christ.
Just as at that first Epiphany the wise men had been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, not to betray the light of Christ to the powers of darkness, so are we throughout eternity alerted to that true light.
Saint John the Baptist bore witness of the light; he was not the light, but came to bear witness of the light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Who are the children of darkness; who are they who have seen a strange light? How can we tell who are the children of light and the children of darkness? A few tests: does what they say, does what they do conform to what we know to be the unchanging, eternal will of God? Do they act and speak proudly, openly, in the light? Or are they secretive, hiding, fearful of the light?
If we are children of light, our words, our thoughts, and our deeds will be brightly revealed in the light of Christ's truth. If, on the contrary, we are children of darkness, the burning light of Christ will engulf us in consuming fire; the children of darkness will repent and return, or they will be burnt to a cinder in Christ's light.
This operating of the powers was foretold in Isaiah, when we heard this morning,
"Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
"For behold, the darkness will cover the earth, and great darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
"And the Gentiles shall come to the light [Isaiah tells us], and kings to the brightness of thy rising."
We, living two thousand years after that first Epiphany, cannot fully appreciate what an overwhelming change was going on then. The Jews were God's chosen people, called apart from the Gentiles to worship the one true God. There was a solid wall, separating the Jews from the Gentiles. There were the Jews, the called people of God, totally distanced from the unclean Gentiles.
How astounding, then, that we hear Saint Paul this morning telling the church at Ephesus,
"But now in Christ Jesus we who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ... He hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.
So it was with the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile noted by Saint Paul: there was an absolute, insuperable wall of division between Jew and Gentile.
Now our Saviour comes: He, the light of the world, pierces the darkness of the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile. He pierces this darkness of separation with His light of truth. He shatters the black gloom with the shining power of peace and health.
What effect does this Epiphany have on us, here today at the Holy Trinity Cathedral? How does the light - which led the wise men to Jesus in Bethlehem - effect us here in Yangon?
Let me use an illustration from housecleaning: when a room is in the dark, no dirt is seen; if we wish to clean the room, we must bring light to it, so that we may see where the dirt is, so we can sweep the dirt away.
Just so, we might be full of sin and evil. However, as long as we are in unredeemed darkness, our sins and our wicked thoughts, words, and deeds remain undetected and continue virulently to corrode our being.
Now comes the Epiphany, the shining forth of the light of Christ, the living illumination of all creation. Now our sins and failings are clearly seen; now all the perfidy and evil, whether spoken, thought, or done, now all of that corrosive baggage is visible, defined, and exposed.
Now comes the Epiphany of Christ to us here on the sixth of January; now the light of Christ shines into every corner of our lives. Now the light of Christ finds every one of our sins, our evil thoughts, words, and deeds. Now detected, our sins are washed away from us; now the corrosion of our souls is reversed; now the light overcomes, comprehends, conquers the darkness.
There is another effect of the Epiphany, the shining of the light of Christ. We are no longer hidden from Him or from each other. We are no more aliens, strangers. We are all made one in the Epiphany of the Christ.
Whether from Boston or from Yangon, whether from Bethlehem or from the East, the one Body of Christ is brought together. As Saint Paul says further to the church at Ephesus, "Now therefore we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow heirs with the saints, and of the household of God."
So, beloved in Christ here in Yangon, now that our sins of alienation and separation have been wiped away, now that Christ has broken down the middle wall of separation between us, we come together as one, the united body of Christ.
We come before His altar with our little offerings. In His purifying love our Lord will take these gifts of bread and wine and transform them into His very Body and Blood, so that we the members of His Body, may be nourished, cleansed, and strengthened with His Body and Blood.
Thus fed, may we from henceforth be a further Epiphany of Christ to the world. May our lives shine as that star of Bethlehem, that people may be led to the Christ. May our daily reflection of the Light of Christ be to the world a further Epiphany, an extended shining forth of our God to the world!
May we run with confidence the race that is set before us by Jesus Christ, strengthened with His Body and Blood, for our Epiphany of Christ here and now. As Saint Paul reminds us, we are part of God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him.
Last night, at a garden party, the stars were out as normal. And then clouds came over, and there was only one star shining in the sky last night, one star - as for the wise men two thousand years ago. May we be led by the star of Christ to Bethlehem, to the altar of God, today.
And now unto Christ Jesus be the glory as we celebrate His Epiphany, in the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
7p 1,671 w 191 l = 13 min.