An Epiphany Reflection

By Deanna Matzen

In the Christian church, January 6 is the celebration of Epiphany. In the Christmas story, it is the day that the Magi (wisemen) visited the infant Jesus - his first appearance to the Gentiles. This celebration reminds me of the first few verses of the gospel of John:

"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 was 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 does not overcome it."

To me, these verses describe a great epiphany - Jesus is God and all life flows through Jesus and the darkness can not overtake it. That is a truth that gives me flutters of excitement in my chest. I have to believe that this truth means that our efforts to steward and care for God's creation - advocating for good environmental legislation; cleaning up our waterways; reducing our energy consumption at home and church; reducing, reusing, and recycling - will prevail because we are working for the preservation and restoration of life as expressed in our natural surroundings.

Another way to read the first five verses of John's gospel is: God is life. That life came into being through Christ. Christ is in and through all life and Christ can not be overcome. Therefore since God created the world, Christ is in and through creation. Our efforts to preserve the life of Christ in creation will not be overcome.

That's a message of hope for us today, the day we celebrate of Epiphany.