Epiphany. Jesus reveals God

A couple times a year there are those moments when I am exposed to the mountains, or to the desert, or to some extraordinary Nevadan vista; and I say “This, this is why I do not live in Ohio.”  Also a couple times a year it seems I get this comment: “Father, I don’t need to come to church. I go to the mountains and find God.”

Learning and learning new things or learning how to do something keeps us alive, alert and engaged. Our brains and hearts need that stimulation. How does this happen?  Think about learning to cook, or even expanding our ability to cook; we try new recipes, we make our family and friends test subjects. Which means we really do cook; we do not simply read the recipe and say, humm this is nice.  Or learning Pickleball, right? We can watch it, read the rules and regs, but the real fun is when we get that paddle and start hitting that ball and earning points and defeating our opponents; and getting that heart rate up a bit!  Those who are educators will also say kids learn better when there is context and experience. I think that was why Sesame Street was so successful.

Learning comes with experience. Yes we need the information, and it needs to be united with the experience, with a context.  

How do we come to experience and know and learn of God? How do we come to a fuller grasp and experience of the divine in our lives? Or do we even want it? Do we truly want to learn more of God? 

Learning more of God comes with a risk The more we learn and experience God, the more we open ourselves to the divine, change can be expected to happen. And it will not be God who changes, but us.

We may think, yes of course, I want to change, but it is easier said than done. We often resist change, even when we know it is for the better; we tend to stay where we are. Ask anyone who struggles with addictions.

Yet God wants us to be restored, to be renewed, to be whole. God created all for harmony and goodness; and that includes us human persons.

Isaiah, and many of the prophets, speak of God restoring Jerusalem, not to its former glory, but to something even more. A people, a nation that reveals to the rest of the world the goodness of God and therefore invites all the nations into relationship with God.

Matthew’s story of the Magi is so interesting on so many levels. Outsiders, Non-Jews, are alerted by nature that something has happened. They discern a new King in the east. So they go east, to Jerusalem, the restored Jerusalem, and they inquire; they seek to learn.  Nature tells them something, but nature cannot reveal the fullness, the depth. Something more is needed to learn.

In Jerusalem the magi encounter the people and more importantly Scripture and the Prophets. The spiritual leaders discern for them the scriptures. The magi learn where they need to go to find the one they seek. Still their experience, their understanding is still not complete. More is needed.  So they set off to the south, informed by Scripture and now accompanied again by the star. We have to notice the direction change. Earlier the star guided them east from west; which we know is how our skies move. Yet now the star moves them to the south, which is contrary to the normal motion of the stars. This tells us God guides them.  And of course nobody from Jerusalem goes with them. They are too concerned with their politics, their lives; or simply complacent.

The Magi though, following Scripture, inspired by this changed star, find the person, the Son of God and do him homage. Homage meant for the divine, not a king. Homage to God, not a ruler.  They encounter God. The encounter God not in the Temple that Herod had rebuilt; not in his Kingship, or Leadership of the people. It was in the person of Christ, the humble child of humble parents.

This passage becomes a lesson in discipleship and growing as disciples. It is a lesson on catechesis, on learning of God.  Our journey of faith to God can only be in Jesus Christ, which comes through Scripture and Tradition, our community. We can experience something of God in the mountains, desert or ocean. But that will only be superficial at best. We can surmise God, but what about God?

In Jesus we know all of God, in Jesus, we say, is the fullness of Revelation of God; there is nothing more to come.

And for centuries, we believers have taken to Jesus; who he was, what he did, what he truly means. Used Jesus to look back and understand the Scripture; then looked forward to see how Christ continues to be revealed in our lives by our Tradition.

We have learned and experienced how following Jesus, truly following Jesus sincerely, leads to forgiveness, reconciliation, freedom for us and the world.

This is a never ending experience for us. We must not become complacent; thinking we know it all, or have experienced it all. God is infinite, God is mystery; there is always more and more to experience, to learn, to practice.

Thus we come to the Church each week to encounter that mystery of God, as revealed in our Scripture, in our Sacraments, in our prayers together.

We come to encounter the mystery of God present in humble bread and wine that is the beloved son. Gifted to us, so that we can grow and be restored.

We come to encounter a God so loving, that God was willing to give up and become Human. A God so forgiving that God raised up the crucified Son and gave him back to us. A God so welcoming, that all the nations are invited to come.

Nothing in nature can reveal this; this only comes through Jesus.