Springville UMC: Sermon January 6, 2013

Today we celebrate the Epiphany, which happens to fall on the 12^th day of Christmas.  Yes, that 12^th day of Christmas, the one that makes you take a deep breath so you can sing about pipers piping, lords a-leaping, ladies dancing, geese a-laying, gold rings, and a partridge in a pear tree!  In fact, even our readings this morning tell of the gifts that surround the arrival of our Savior.  Over 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the author of Isaiah tells us that a multitude of camels will bring people with gold and frankincense to proclaim praise of the Lord.  David, in Psalm 72, tells us that kings will render him tribute and bring Him gifts.  And this psalm was written between 970 and 610 B.C.  Matthew’s gospel reminds us that the gift of a savior was foretold over 700 years before it happened, in the book of Micah 5:2-5, which says:

“But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.  Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.  And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the end of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.”

But what does the Epiphany mean for us today?  Dictionary.com says that the meaning of the word epiphany is “a sudden perception or insight into the essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple or commonplace occurrence or experience.”  A commonplace occurrence like the birth of a child, albeit a special child!  The symbol of The Epiphany is light, and Jesus is commonly called The Light of The World, the one who helps us to see that which is shrouded in darkness.  So, for me, the Epiphany is a time to gain a deeper understanding of God’s gift to us and to spread the light of God's love through the blessed gift of Jesus.

But how do we share such a joyous and hopeful message when so many of us are prisoners of earthly things?  Prisoners, you ask?  Yes!  It is clearly after the traditional Christmas gift giving season, and many of us are experiencing guilt & regret.  I can see the guilt on your faces!  I can smell the regret!  We now feel guilt over all of the high calorie food that we ate at all of those holiday celebrations.  And we feel deep regret as the credit card bills start rolling in for all of the earthly gifts that we felt that we had to give to who knows how many people; bills that we will need to tap into our bank accounts to pay.  And then there are the resolutions that we, at least for a few weeks, are prisoners to…pledging to exercise, and to diet, and not to swear, and to spend less money on non-essential things, and so on and so on.  And all of them hold until the pressure of modern life crush our dreams into the dust of previous years’ goals.  So what can we do to make 2013 different, a year when we are successful in bettering ourselves and in spreading the hopeful news of Jesus Christ?  I have a couple of ideas that have worked for me.

I begin with that fountain of wisdom know as FaceBook, and a quote that struck me hard a year or two ago.  It goes like this:

People who don't love themselves can adore others, because adoration is making someone else big and ourselves small. They can desire others, because desire comes out of a sense of inner incompleteness, which demands to be filled. But they can't love others, because love is an affirmation of the living, growing being in all of us. If you don't have it, you can't give it!!!

In years past, the Christmas season was not one that I looked forward to because of the financial situation into which we had put ourselves.  Money was tight, and my ex was adamant about making Christmas memories for our family via the joy that our gifts would bring.  I was only worried about her exceeding the budget we had set, the bills that would arrive in January and how I was going to pay them.  I did not speak up.  I made myself small.  And I now know that it was because I did not love myself.  I was not a living, growing being, except maybe around my waist.  And that Julius was not a pleasant person, and I now stand before you as someone who has been divorced for three years and now gets it.  So what changed?

I realized that I needed to change my mind, and my heart.  I was living in the wrong paradigm.  I needed to let go of the wants of the material world and seek the needs of my spiritual being, needs that the material world were helping to hide.  We do not recognize our spiritual needs when we are busy chasing our material wants.  It is not possible.  You cannot pay homage to two masters and be successful with both.  So how did I break out of that life and find myself again? 

I realized that I was never going to find what my heart needed in the material world.  I was blessed to be introduced to people who challenged me to find God in my heart, and they were then kind enough to help me find God in my heart and in my life.  How did they do that?

The answer is actually in today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Paul speaks of the gift of God’s grace that Christ bestowed upon him; a gift that he was told to spread to the Gentiles of the time so that they could see God’s mystery in all things that He created for them.  Prior to his receiving God’s grace, Paul actually persecuted the church and cooperated in the killing of Stephen.  He was converted after seeing a vision of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus.

I can say that my epiphany was not so dramatic…I had no vision of Christ.  I came to understand that the hardships I was carrying on my back were of my own doing…from decisions I had made to keep others happy…while ignoring my own needs, mostly the spiritual ones.  My “vision” was that I would have to drop that material world baggage in order to find my spiritual self.  I had to give up on the wants of the material world and feed my spiritual needs.  And I became convinced that I could not do this if I did not love myself.  When I found love for who I was, and decided to not allow others to judge me, I found God’s grace. 

God’s justifying grace reconciles us, it pardons us, and it restores us.  Through Christ our sins are forgiven.  Through God’s grace we are brought into a relationship with God.  We are only required to believe.  The Methodist church calls this process conversion, changing our earthly orientation to a spiritual orientation.  This can only happen when we see ourselves as right with God through his eyes.  It is a time of pardon and forgiveness, a new beginning in joy and love.  We turn away from behaviors that are rooted in sin and turn toward actions that demonstrate God’s love to others.  We are redeemed!!!

Seems like all I could see was the struggle
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
Bound up in shackles of all my failures
Wondering how long is this gonna last
Then You look at this prisoner and say to me "son
Stop fighting a fight it's already been won"

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I'll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be
I am redeemed, I'm redeemed

All my life I have been called unworthy
Named by the voice of my shame and regret
But when I hear You whisper, "Child lift up your head"
I remember, oh God, You're not done with me yet

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I'll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be

Because I don't have to be the old man inside of me
'Cause his day is long dead and gone
Because I've got a new name, a new life, I'm not the same
And a hope that will carry me home

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I'll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, 'cause I'm not who I used to be

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I'll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, yeah, I'm not who I used to be
Oh, God, I'm not who I used to be
Jesus, I'm not who I used to be
'Cause I am redeemed
Thank God, redeemed

In closing, I ask you to give yourself a gift before this holiday season officially closes.  Take all of the earthly baggage that has been dragging you down and holding you back, and lift it up to God.  First off, He can handle it!  Second, it is an amazing feeling!  And finally, it will give you incredible energy to share His Good News with the world.