Epiphany means "manifestation", that is, a revealing, an illumination, which is precisely how we experience the jubilation of Israel experiencing the fulfillment of Isaiah 40. This passage is the joyful song of those who have returned from exile and whose reinvigorated relationship with God will serve as a beacon for "the nations," which signifies the non-Jewish peoples. The God who has delivered Israel in an act of great salvation becomes, for Christians, the sign of God's supreme act of salvation that saves not only the people of Israel but the world. Paul's epistle picks up this theme in "the mystery made manifest" and the notion of the Gentiles being "coheirs, members of the same body". In the Gospel, we have the ultimate revelation of God's salvation in the form of Jesus' birth, being announced to Gentiles, who then come to worship the Christ child, again mirroring the idea expressed in Isaiah that "Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance." This king has qualities of the Davidic kingship of justice and concern for the poor contrasted with the megalomaniac paranoia of King Herod. I think there are a few important ideas developed in today's readings.
It strikes me that God's revelation over time with the Jewish people, and then to the Gentiles, has been expansive. Rather than simply lavishing all His attention on his "chosen", we come to see that the choice is for a role in salvation history. It is the God who is incredibly lavish with his love and attention, which is a key element in understanding God's manifestation to the world. It is a God of great inclusion rather than exclusion, yet so much of what we see in Christianity today seeks to privatize God, limit access to communion, set up laws of access, decide who's "in communion" and who isn't, goes against God's essential movement to embrace humanity, all of humanity, in all the messiness and chaos that this momentum encounters.
We promulgate doctrines that attempt to put a legal tabernacle around God and deny anyone access except through priests who have the stamp of approval from the corporate office; perhaps chaos isn't so much a sign of evil in the world as the facade of unity that is really uniformity. When we put "Christian" in front of nouns to transform them, like "Christian writer," we mistake God's act of salvation. The transformation of Christ in the world came from the center of lowliness, vulnerability, and exile as a child in a manger, and expanded through acts of healing and resurrection rather than from the outside in. A "Christian writer" becomes in this new world a "writer of Christ," one whose work brings Christ to the world and helps manifest Christ. Now, we can ask if the writing brings Christ's healing and resurrection rather than concentrate on whether or not the writer is a Christian. "The writer who is Christian" focuses on Christ's presence through the boundless and expansive energy of the Holy Spirit, "the Christian writer" is an investigation as to the legitimacy of affiliation with the Christian community.
When we make decisions as a faith community that defines ourselves over and against those who are not like us, we make feeble attempts to limit the Spirit. When we reach across denominational and even religious boundaries to recognize the dwelling of the Holy Spirit and of Christ, in those not-like-us, we act most in concert with God, whose saving act in Christ is for "the nations", not "the nation." It is shameful that those who most need God's love and salvation are often handed literature rather than a hug, a dismissive tone rather than a place at the table. In a modification of St. Francis's admonition, we need to go out and preach the Good News, and if we must, use words.
