Small epiphanies
9th January 2020
So here we are again, back after Christmas. In Advent we thought about waiting, hoping and preparing. Now we are in the season of Epiphany – when we think of the light shining out from the one who has come to us, shining out into all the world. It begins with the much loved story of the wise men – and that’s often where we stop.
But if we continue after this story we hear how the magi alerted Herod to this potential threat and he is looking for Jesus to kill him. Joseph is told in a dream to get away to safety in Egypt. Then, after Herod has died, he’s told that it’s safe to go back to Israel. But he’s worried that Herod’s son is still a threat, so rather than settling in Bethlehem or somewhere nearby, he heads up to Galilee and makes his home in Nazareth.
And this is the last we hear of Jesus and his family for 12 years. Then we have a brief story about the boy Jesus being lost, and being found in the temple – and then another 18 years during which he grows into manhood and apparently lives quietly in Nazareth.
These are sometimes called the ‘hidden years’. We know very little about the first 30 years of Jesus life – it’s only in the last three years that we see the wonderful ways that God’s love is made known through him.
You might think, from the Christmas stories, that his life is all angels and stars, breathless visitors from nearby and wondering gift-givers from exotic lands. But it seems that most of his life was living in a small community, being with his family, working in the family business, going along to the local synagogue.
There were moments when a curtain was pulled aside and the glory of God shone through – at his birth – at his baptism – and maybe some in between. But these were brief epiphanies. The inner light which he knew – maybe which he learnt to know more and more – was largely hidden.
I find that quite encouraging. As we move on from Christmas into a new year it can all seem a bit gloomy and depressing – same old same old. Our lives often feel pretty ordinary. As we get up in the morning – especially on these dark mornings – it can feel like the daily trudge beginning again.
But there is another reality underneath – often hidden, but occasionally glimpsed – the reality of God’s presence here with us – the reality of God’s overwhelming love for us – the reality of God’s transforming love working in the world.
Sometimes when we look back over our days we can recognise what a student I saw yesterday calls ‘a God thing’. And those small epiphanies remind us of this deeper reality which may be often hidden but is always true.
And maybe we can do more than just wait for those moments to be given. We were sent a little Advent calendar by a friend this year. There’s a picture behind each little door – but we don’t see it unless we open the door. The pictures are hidden – but they were always there.
Maybe there are ways that we can open some more doors to God’s life, just beneath the surface of our life? Maybe there are ways that we have found to do this already – or new ways which we could explore. It might be a simple as being mindful of God with us each time we walk along the road or across the car park into uni, or pausing in the middle of our day, or taking a little longer to connect with God – maybe a day or half a day every so often. Letting his light shine through into our ordinary days a little more. And then allowing that light to shine through us into the world around us.
Spend a few moments reflecting – where have you glimpsed God’s light and his love over Christmas…
Were there any times that you experienced a glimpse of ‘God with us’ even yesterday…?
What might be the little doors which you could open to know more of the life of God which lies just beneath the surface of our life?
Open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear; open our life to live your calling. Open us, Lord, to love.
