The Eve of the Epiphany

I hadn't meant this to be a reflection on my father, but here goes.

The lessons this evening anticipate the Feast of the Epiphany, or to use its longer name, the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

In both Isaiah and Romans, we read that God is drawing the Gentiles into a new relationship just as he previously drew the Jews into a special covenant relationship. According to Isaiah, God even says, "I will take some of them as priests and as Levites" (Isa. 66:21).

My father was a priest of the Episcopal Church, devoted to its Catholic heritage but open to the Spirit's leading. He and my Mom were active in the charismatic and renewal movements of the 70s -- when he died, I inherited a green gingham stole with yellow pom-poms and felt "Alleluias" from that period -- but he was above all a priest of the "faith once delivered to the saints."

Being open to the new wind of the Spirit is hard work, because the latecomers invariably don't appreciate our traditions and don't understand our preoccupations. Taking new members seriously is just as hard in the workplace as it is in church -- new staff just don't get how hard we struggled last year, and their enthusiasm is embarrassing (and challenging) to us.

My father remained open to the movement of the Spirit because, in the words of the Collect for the Epiphany, he saw Jesus' glory "face to face." His bishop even remarked in his funeral sermon (has it already been three years?), that for my father, death was nothing to be feared because it meant he would see Jesus.

During Epiphany, in honor of my father, I intend to look for the face of Jesus in the people I meet as I travel, and I invite you to do the same wherever you "live, and work, and worship" (BCP 543).

What new relationship is Jesus inviting you -- and all of us -- into in this new year? Who are you supposed to welcome -- at work or in church -- into a new relationship with our gracious Lord?

Join me in seeking to see Jesus face to face, won't you?