Homily on Epiphany: Kaylee Hibbard
This homily was shared at our Sunday Evening Eucharist Service January 8, 2023.
Today is the Sunday following January 6th, which is the day that Christians celebrate Epiphany. If you’re anything like me, the only time you’ve ever really heard the word “epiphany” used was when you were in middle school: An idea would pop in your head, and you’d use “epiphany” in a sentence because you wanted to flex on your friends that you knew a big, fancy word. But I learned that epiphany can be defined as a manifestation, and for Christians, it is a time where people will celebrate one of the four main ways Christ was manifested in his lifetime: his birth, the adoration he received from the Wise Men, his baptism, or when Jesus turned water into wine in Cana. These are four major times that God was truly revealed through Jesus, where his divinity was undeniable and true. These are four times that God made himself known to us through Jesus, giving us a glimpse into who God is.
Today’s Scripture readings come from Isaiah 60, Psalm 72, and Matthew 2. A common motif in all three of these readings is people from faraway places bringing gifts:
“...all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense/ and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.” (Isaiah 60:6)
“May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles/ render him tribute;/ may the kings of Sheba and Seba/ bring gifts.” (Psalm 72:10)
“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.” (Matthew 2:11)
The gifts specifically listed in Matthew–gold, frankincense, and myrrh–went in one ear and out the other the first time I read this. I thought: “Cool, some really smart guys brought a baby things that it can’t even use and probably would just want to chew on like any other baby, big whoop.” But since these gifts were specifically listed in almost all of today’s readings, I looked up what their significance would have been back then, and I learned that all three of the gifts were symbolic of who Christ came to be. Gold was a symbol of kingship, so it would not have been gifted to just anyone; it represented Christ as our King. Frankincense was always used in temples for worship, so this symbolized Christ’s divine nature. And finally, myrrh was a perfume used to anoint dead bodies. The Wise Men weren’t just bringing a fresh new baby a dead man’s favorite cologne- it was supposed to represent the sacrifice that Jesus ultimately made for us later in his life.
These details of the gifts are ones I often overlook, but a simple Google search gave an entirely new meaning to the seemingly “insignificant” pieces of Scripture. Christ acting as our King, our High Priest, and our Savior is the reason we have an Epiphany to celebrate at all. In Isaiah 60:2, it reads, “Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.” The words “appears over you” made me think of the star guiding the Wise Men. In Matthew, it says when speaking of the star, “It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!” The world was shrouded in darkness, a result of the fallen state of the world, and all that was able to save it was the child that was born to save us. The star appeared over Jesus Christ, giving the Wise Men their first glimpse of the joy from the child that lightened the world. Today, more than most days, I am reminded of the goodness that it is to be able to share in the meal provided to us by Jesus. Today, I will remember the manifestation of Christ through his divine ability to turn his body into bread and his blood into wine, to give us the opportunity to know Him and to share Him with the world. Amen.
Kaylee is an incredible servant of Christ. We are blessed here at Wesley by her joy, love, dedication, and friendship which she pours out in full measure to anyone she meets. Now a junior Kinesiology major at LA Tech, she is our worship leader this year, as well as a member of our Wesley Discipleship Team. We’re so thankful for her leadership!