January 14th

Epiphany, Gifts and Waiting

Epiphany – a powerful moment of realization when something important is understood. Also, the name for the day that we in the Christian world mark the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus, the day they show us what we are supposed to realize, that the child before them is the word made flesh.

In the liturgical calendar, however, Epiphany is not just a single day, but an entire season that begins on the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th, and ends on Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday. The date for Ash Wednesday is calculated based on the spring equinox and the full moon that falls around that time, which determines when Easter occurs. All this to say that we, like the Magi of old, are still watching the skies to inform our movements.

The visit of the Magi is quickly left behind as we swiftly turn our eyes to the life of Jesus, beginning with the Baptism of the Lord Sunday this past weekend. Of course, our eyes should always be on Jesus, but I wonder what the visit of the Magi can impart to us today if we sit in that story a little longer. The Magi’s visit brings gifts of great value to the Holy Family, gifts, as Rebecca Schnell from MCC pointed out at the First Advent Hymn Sing in Calgary on November 30^th, would have been invaluable on the family’s unexpected immigration journey to Egypt. After the Magi reveal that Jesus is God enfleshed, what happens next? After the gift giving and bowing in honour is over, do the Wise Men linger a few days to spend some time in the presence of the child they had journeyed so far to see? We know that they had to return home by a different route; any plans and provisions made for the return trip were scuttled by a dream from the Lord. We know the Holy family left in the middle of the night, without warning and presumably without notice to any of their loved ones, but with provisions they could not have expected; gifts that may have made little to no sense until they packed them up to flee.

As we sit in this season of Epiphany at the beginning of a new year, perhaps we can ponder these unplanned and unexpected journeys set in motion by encounters with the Creator. Can we embrace in our lives the powerful moments of revelation? The encounters with Immanuel that change our course, or alter our plans? The gifts that we have been given, which may seem nonsensical, will be oh so important when the time comes.

The waiting of Advent is over; Jesus has come among us. In His presence, let us embrace our journeys, trusting that the Babe of Bethlehem walks with us still.

Taken from Jenn's sermon at Calgary First Mennonite on January 4, 2026.