Epiphany is a season of revealing and revelation. From the story of the Persian (Iranian) magi’s journey to Jesus and machinations of the powerful and wealthy, Epiphany reveals 1) God’s presence in all creation and every culture and person; 2) the ability of foreigners and non-humans to intuit God’s presence; and 3) our resistance to the universalism of God’s grace. These are theological, spiritual, and ethical/political affirmations.
First, Persians visit the Christ Child. People of a foreign land and different religion (likely Zoroastrianism/Zarathustrianism) follow the star and are, in the story, more perceptive than the religious and political leaders of Jerusalem. Every person is touched by God, the true light enlightens all, as John’s gospel proclaims. Though there is chaos that shades our eyes from God’s truth, everyone is touched by the holy. Epiphany reminds us that we live, move, and have our being in God. (Acts 17:28) Not just humans but all creation. Epiphany overcomes the binary us-them, humanity-nature, saved-unsaved dichotomies of binary world views and scorched earth politics.
Second, Epiphany shows us that the “wholly other” is the “holy other.” Human and non-humans can experience God’s revelations and be vehicles of revelation. Psalm 148 proclaims a world of praise in which non-humans as well as humans and even the natural world of hail and rain praises God. Whatever can reveal holiness deserves our personal, ethical, and political consideration. A world of praise is a world that challenges us to recognize the intrinsic reality of others, that is, their reality apart from our purposes. We may still have to make hard political and economic decisions, and still may have to use power to constrain chaos and violence, but our power, politics, and economics need to operate with a sense of the value of human and non-human otherness. A fundamental sense of connection must characterize even the most challenging economic and political decisions. There ultimately is no “other” in any interdependent, God-filled world.
Third, Epiphany reveals our resistance to God’s universal and affirmative grace. Most people missed the irony of Christian insurrections storming the Capitol and praying for victory in the Senate chambers taking place on January 6, the Feast of Epiphany. On a day that recognizes God’s revealing in strangers, rioters proclaimed divisiveness, exclusion, and destruction of otherness. The profound reality of grace revealed in the Baptism of Jesus and the Coming of the Magi stands in judgment of any – including our own – binary theologies, world views, and politics. Diversity is real, and diversity is at the heart of the Epiphany message. Otherness is real in the journey of the Magi and the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. Yet, otherness is an invitation to understanding and growth. Epiphany reveals our temptation to separate the world into us and them, dehumanize our opponents, and diminish their political and ethical status.
During the season of Epiphany, the personal is the political, and the political is always personal. The light of the star illumines us all, and in that illumination, we see our failures to love as well as the Wondrous Wisdom that guides our way.
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Bruce Epperly is a pastor, professor, and author of over sixty books, including “Mystics in Action: Twelve Saints for Today,” “Walking with Francis of Assisi: From Privilege to Activism,” “Process Theology and Politics,” and “Prophetic Healing: Howard Thurman’s Vision of Contemplative Activism.” He may be reached at drbruceepperly@gmail.com
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