Feast of the Epiphany (trans.) – January 4, 2026: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. The actual feast is on January 6th, and today would be the Second Sunday after Christmas. Still, this year, the story of the magi’s visitation to Jesus would have been a part of the text choices for today, so all good.
Now, this feast, which occurs on Tuesday, ends our Christmastide – our twelve days of Christmas. So, as I said in previous years, don’t let anyone give you a hard time about still having the tree up. Besides, they can be thankful you don’t celebrate Christmas until Candlemas on Feb. 2,nd as some do!
Every year we tell the story of the Magi who travel from the East to bring gifts to the Christ child, and as it is good to repeat each time the origin of this story of the three wise guys.
Matthew, the only gospel account of the magi, never tells us how many there were, or even if they were all men. But since Matthew mentions three gifts, later Christian tradition came to identify three of them. And in the late sixth century Armenian Infancy Gospel, the Magi are even given the names-Melkon or Melchior, Balthasar, and Gaspar. But just as we don’t really know the names of the people who wrote the gospels, we also don’t know the names of these folks, so call them whatever you want – Larry, Mo, and Curly –really up to you.
This story is one that is celebrated not only because of gifts, but as a symbol that the child born to us at Christmas was for all the people of the world, because the sages came from lands so very far away.
Whatever you name them, we know you can’t call them “on time.” As we hear today, Jesus was not a baby anymore, but a child, and living in a house. Apparently, Waze or Google Maps was not available to these Eastern travelers.
Well, even if they were late, and brought really weird gifts to a young child, each year we like to tell the story of their visit…
Loud Knock Heard From The Back
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 1 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a snow gauge.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“We saw a star and were guided by its light to the Christ child. As we moved along, we needed to always check that we were still on the right path.
The truth is – While being too restricted is not good for anyone, taking an occasional measurement on your life journey does allow you to be sure you are still on the right path. His life should be the measure you use.”
Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and says,
Thank you great sage! While I love a beautiful snowfall, let’s hope I don’t need to use this too often. Now, as I was saying…
Loud Knock Heard From The Back
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 2 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is Bluetooth speaker, and a scroll.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“We stopped along the way at the palace of King Herod. He told us to return and tell him where we found the Christ child. Yet we were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and went home by another way.
The truth is – There is a lot of noise in the world, and many voices will try to tell you who you are, where you are to go or what you are to do. Be sure you are listening to the right one.”
Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and says,
This is sooooo cool! I can’t wait to set this speaker up. Now, as I was saying…
Loud Knock Heard From The Back
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 3 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a wreath of bird food, and a scroll.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“We brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus. Impractical? Perhaps. But a symbol of who he was to be for the world – King, God, and Sacrifice. Yet he was clear about the gift we are to bring in his name, and it was none of those things.
The truth is – Food is essential for life, and the law of God in our time, and yours now, is to care for the stranger among us. How you feed others is the gift of love you bring to Christ.”
Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and says…
Wow – thank you great sage – I am so excited to think about this gift – it looks so pretty. Let’s see…three magi, three gifts, I guess we must be done. So…
Loud Knock Heard From The Back
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 4 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a mixing spoon and a scroll.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“The star awakened us to something important happening in the world, and Christ stirred us to new life.
The truth is – There are important things happening in the world now too, and Christ desires us all to come to him, to follow him, to be him in the world. This is a time to be stirred up.”
Well, thank you great and final sage??? – You have given me a lot to think about.
Are we done? [look around]
Well, this is an assortment of cool gifts, right? A snow gauge, a Bluetooth speaker, a bird food wreath, and a mixing spoon. These Magi have given us something to really think about, haven’t they?
The thing is, these all might be quirky gifts, but the magi did manage to come up with just what we need this year.
Especially in this time when it seems the world is spinning and we struggle to know where to go or what to do.
Especially in this moment in the world where the voices of bigotry and hate are not only prevalent, they are coming from our nation’s leaders.
Especially now, when we hunger for righteousness, and hear the cries of the vulnerable who are starving for lack of shelter, food, and most especially – love.
Especially now, when we are worn to the bone, but there is oh so much more work to do in the name of Christ.
These gifts we received today can be a reminder to us all of who we are and whose we are, and what that means for us as we welcome the Christ child into our hearts.
As we move through the world, there will be many who try to guide our paths. The measure of our lives will not be like measuring snow, which is needed only for a season, and tells us only what is true in a snapshot of time. It will be how we measure up to our commitment to the Christ born to us that will be most important for us to keep in our heart and mind. Here, at this table, and among other travelers in our faith, we are able to check-in, gauge our lives, and adjust as needed.
This world is filled with so many angry and hateful voices, who will try to lead us to abandon the Jesus in our midst to the cross. For he told us that he is in the immigrant, the sick, the poor, and the imprisoned. But like those sages of long ago, we are meant to listen to his voice, not to these others. How do we discern which is which? His will always be the voice of compassion, generosity, kindness, and love. We will always be reminded of that voice here too – in the scripture and at this table.
So many cry out in hunger – hunger to be seen, to be heard, to be fed, to be loved. All of creation groans from our abuse and neglect too. We feed on him here, so that we can feed him in the world. The food of life that is Christ, is to strengthen us for the journey, that we may feed others, caring for them and all of creation by his love shining in us and through us.
And finally, the world is too dangerous and dark for us to be silent, to be hesitant, or to hide away. We must not only be stirred up, we must stir up the conscious of the world! There is no time to waste, not a moment to spare. People are dying – physically, emotionally, spiritually – God’s children – our sisters and brothers. What is done to any one of them is done to Jesus himself. We cannot sit here in the warmth of his love, and then ignore his pain when we leave. If we do, we render Christmas meaningless for ourselves, and all the world.
The wise folks brought Jesus symbols of who he was – gold for a king, incense for a deity, myrrh for a sacrifice. Today they bring symbols of who we are as followers of that Christ child. And just as that night so long ago changed everything, letting all the world know that God’s love is stronger than hate, that light will always overcome darkness, and that death is forever defeated by life – by our lives lived in Him the angels continue to rejoice in heaven as he is reborn in each of us at Christmas, and every day we open our hearts to Him.
So, with all that in mind, as I do each year I offer this quote by Michael Dougherty. “When the carols have been stilled, when the star-topped tree is taken down, when family and friends are gone home, when we are back to our schedules, the work of Christmas begins…to welcome the refugee, to heal a broken planet, to feed the hungry, to build bridges of trust, not walls of fear, to share our gifts, to seek justice and peace for all people, to bring Christ’s light to the world.”
May we, like the magi, be willing to follow where God leads us, trusting that there is always another path to take that will lead us out of darkness into light –His light.
May we know that we need no star, only an open heart, to see the God who yearns to love us – and wants so much to be in relationship with us.
And most especially, that once we receive the gift of Christmas, the Christ child, in our hearts, that we do the work of Christmas and share that light with the world.
Because it is we, not the magi, who are now meant to reveal Christ to a world who hungers for God’s love.
Christmas isn’t over…it’s only just begun.
Amen.
Based upon a concept by the Rev. Phillip Dana Wilson – Used with permission.
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The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
January 4, 2026
The Feast Of The Epiphany (Trans.)
1st Reading – Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-7,10-14
2nd Reading – Ephesians 3:1-12
Gospel – Matthew 2:1-12
