Investing time and work

You wouldn’t know it from shopping in any of he retail stores in our town, and you wouldn’t know it from visiting some of the churches in our city, but today is still the season of Christmas. In fact we still have four more days of Christmas left. The twelve days of Christmas is a somewhat arbitrary count. The reports of the events in the life of the infant Jesus, found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, do not give direct evidence of exact amounts of time. The feast day of Epiphany, on January 6 was first established in the Eastern Church. Since there was no schism between the eastern and western expressions of Christianity, some assume that the formal observance of Epiphany couldn’t have started before 1054. That date, however, is almost certainly late in terms of the establishment of the celebration. The exact origins of the festival have been lost. The establishment of the date of Christmas occurred around 354, when Christianity became recognized throughout the Roman Empire. There is significant evidence that the early Roman church did observe Epiphany on January 6 not long after the establishment of Christmas as December 25. After the Great Schism in 1054, the Eastern Church recalculated the dates of Christmas and now celebrates Christmas Eve on January 6 and Epiphany on January 19.

It is clear that the church has for a long time separated the reading of Luke’s narrative of the birth of the Christ Child and Matthew’s report of the visit of the Magi and recognized them as two separate events. It makes sense from a variety of different perspectives. If the magi had to travel far to see the child, the journey would necessarily have taken time. Though we often associate camels with the magi, the Bible makes no mention of them as the mode of transportation for magi. It also doesn’t give an exact count, though three gifts are mentioned. From those three gifts, a tradition of three magi has developed.

For contemporary Christians, there is value in seeing the two events as being separated and there is value in spreading out the celebration of Christmas over all 12 days. We live in a culture of instant gratification. I get upset if it takes too long for my computer to upload my essays. I’ve heard people complain about how “long” it takes to warm food in a microwave oven. When Amazon fails to offer next day service, people get upset. We want things to happen quickly and are used to instant responses. There is, however, great value in waiting, in patience, and in things that require a bit of time.

Unlike many contemporary members of the church, the magi were willing to undergo an arduous trip and invest time in coming to worship the child. This contrasts greatly with the prevailing culture, where we often hear that people are simply unwilling to make any effort to worship. If we don’t make the church very convenient and cater to each wish of those who worship, we are viewed as not being in touch with the needs of modern worshipers. No one seems to mention that perhaps the discipline of making and effort and investing time might make the rewards of worship that much more meaningful for those who are willing to make the investment. Return is often related to investment. When little is invested, little is gained.

Personally, I enjoy this “in between” time in which we are now living. Christmas day passed over a week ago, but Epiphany Day has not yet arrived. In this in-between time we are called to wait and to think of our investment in the community of Christ. Since the church often is referred to as the body of Christ, we need to consider what we are willing to invest in that body if we are to draw close to the incarnated Christ.

In the cycle of readings and the traditions of the church, we often designate the Sunday nearest to the day of Epiphany as the Baptism of Christ. Sometimes it is recognized a week later. Of course Jesus was baptized as an adult, so that period of delay is much longer than just 12 days. It is fairly easy for a worshipper to be confused about the holidays and festivals that surround the season of Christmas. The cycle of readings speeds up so much during the season of Epiphany. It generally feels like we are on a headlong rush to get to Good Friday and the crucifixion fo Christ. Along the way we want to tell the entire story of his life. so we cram a lot of readings into a relatively short amount of time.

Christmas, however, gives us the luxury of slowing down and paying attention to what is going on. When we don’t rush to get beyond the season, we can savor the incredible gift of God coming to us in human form. There is an ancient greek word that refers to any appearance of God. Theophany is the place where a human witnesses God’s presence. Jesus is the ultimate expression of that term. The manifestation of the Christ child in a form that could be recognized by those from outside of the Jewish faith is considered to be a significant moment in the story of our faith. The gift of the child wasn’t just to a select few, but rather to the entire world.

We will have much to celebrate when the season of Epiphany arrives. The gift of light and the revelation of the true nature of the Christ child all lie ahead for us as we tell the story of our faith. This week, however, we submit to the discipline of patience and waiting. It is, however, a different sort of waiting than we experienced during Advent. Now we have the precious infant to celebrate. Like a family with a new-born baby, it is appropriate to simply savor the power and wonder of the moment. There will be time for other pursuits soon enough.

Copyright (c) 2020 by Ted E. Huffman. I wrote this. If you would like to share it, please direct your friends to my web site. If you'd like permission to copy, please send me an email. Thanks!

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