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Dear Friends:
Epiphany was on 1/06/2026. "Epiphany" refers to the manifestation of God. When the sages from the east found the baby Jesus, they saw the revelation of God.
Many folks around the world do Christmas gift-giving on January 6 - it is the twelfth day of Christmas and culminates what we might informally call the "season of Gift." In Jesus the Christ, Emmanuel, God-with-us, we receive salvation, healing, and joy. We celebrate the gift of Christ by gift-giving among ourselves.
Related to "gift" is the significance of light. In addition to the star that guided the sages from the east, the birth of Jesus is the dawning of God's light in the world.
So, what does all this mean for us?
It occurred to me that at the very least it means we form ourselves and we form one another in such a way that we develop the capacity to receive the light of the Triune God in Jesus Christ. Many things could stand in the place of Christ as the light of the world. Some might say that what really brings things into focus is money or work or power, or family or clan, and the list goes on.
But for us as Christians, Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
We see things clearly when we see them in the light of Jesus Christ. The gospels provide help to see this Light by testifying to the Light. In their records of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, of his teaching, healing, and preaching, we learn how to recognize the Light of the world.
And, if we are disciples of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, how we see is a serious commitment for us every day.
Do we see one another in the Light of Christ?
In other words, do we see one another as those Christ has been born to save? This salvation is not merely the get-out-of-hell-free card I have referred to previously. The very root of the word salvation is related to salutary, which means health and wholeness. Jesus Christ's ministry, we see in the gospels, was about the well-being of the entire person, heart, mind, body, and soul.
Do we see ourselves in the Light of Christ?
Jesus Christ cares about who we are and how we are. Jesus wants us to be whole and hale and hearty, in soul if not in body. Jesus brings light to help us see the truth of who we and all other human beings are, and that truth is that we are beloved children of the Almighty and all-merciful God.
This is the Light that has come into the world and that will not be snuffed out or overcome. From Matthew 2:
They set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
In the gospel, each time someone encounters Christ they are changed, as were the sages from the east. Though not necessarily for the better. In Matthew 19 we read:
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
This rich young man chose to see the world in a light that was not Jesus. One one hand, he seems to have realized that one cannot serve both God and wealth. On the other hand, he has chosen to see life in the light of that wealth. It almost jumps from the page: wealth makes more sense to him than God's love and the love for neighbor as self.
Jesus comes to us as the light of the world. Because God created the world in and through Christ, our lives as disciples are impacted by how we see the world God loves in the light of Christ. Year after year, Epiphany is a reminder to revel in the light that is God manifest in Jesus Christ, manifest even in Jesus as a baby.
Today is not the sunniest day on record here in Rensselaer. Not the grayest, either, but right now as I am writing I don't see any sunlight through my study window. And it is a challenge almost every day to wake up and go through our days as though the world is bathed in the light of Christ. So many terrible things are happening in our world and there is horrible suffering and fear. How does the darkness not overcome the Light?
Because Jesus is the light of the world. By definition, darkness is not light. The Epiphany reminds us that we are precious to God no matter how much darkness there is in the world or in our lives. The Light is not daily events. The Light of the world is not seen in violence.
In Jesus Christ, the Light of the World reveals to us the love of God.
This includes love for those you think are wicked or wrong. It includes love for creation. It includes love for you.
For God so loved the world.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
By: The Rev. Michelle J. Bartel, Ph.D.
Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Rensselaer
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