Jesus Delivers Us from Evil (Epiphany 2)

 This is how our Psalm (40) ended. It summarizes the three Epiphany moments of the Readings and also of course, the Lord’s Prayer. This is the great cry of our hearts when we are in trouble. The three Epiphany moments in the Readings are:

·     Isaiah: In Babylon the Hebrews realized they could not save themselves

·     John: realized Jesus was the Lamb of God who would deliver all people from the bondages of sin and spiritual blindness

·     Paul: The Corinthians, like us, needed to experience Jesus deliverance from both the bondage of sin and spiritual evil

·     We all need epiphany moments when our spiritual eyes are opened by Jesus, the light of the world 

 

1.    We cannot save ourselves

Reconciliation Is The Way To Spiritual Life (Epiphany 6a)

The three readings remind us that God has called us into a covenant relationship of love and obedience. This requires us to make a serious choice between life and prosperity and death and destruction. There is nothing in the middle. You cannot be a sort-of Christian in the middle and expect to share in the joy of a rich eternal spiritual life in Jesus Christ. The readings explain why this is so.

1. Moses reminds the Hebrews they must choose.

God Reveals His Plan Of Salvation In Jesus (Epiphany 2 Year A)

I had a humbling epiphany moment early Sunday as I was hurriedly typing the Preface for Epiphany into the laptop I use in celebrating the Eucharist - the Readings for the season of Epiphany reveal who Jesus is and God’s plan of salvation. I added a phrase in the car, revised it in my head and as I taught: 

• ·     We are living in a culture that is unhappy, confused, lost and seeking meaning and new life. 
• ·     Readings describe three Epiphany moments when Gods plan of salvation was revealed
• ·     Isaiah prophecies’ in Babylon that God will raise up a servant who will give Israel new life 
• ·     John realizes that Jesus is the “lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world” and give us new life. (1.29) 
• ·     Paul describes the new life of  “grace given to you in Jesus Christ”. (1 Cor. 1.4) 

1. Isaiah learned how God would gave the Israelites new life 

We Are Called To Be A Community of Followers of Jesus (Epiphany 3, Proper 3)

In the Readings (Jonah 3.1-5, 10) the prophet is called to go to the ancient city of Nineveh and warn them of God's plan to destroy them. They have an epiphany moment, realize they are in trouble, repent and God spares them. In the Epistle Paul is instructing the Christian community of Corinth on how to prepare for the End Times by focusing on God to the exclusion of worldly issues and relationships. This is how to respond to the Epiphany moment in the Gospel of Mark (1.14-15) when Jesus announces "The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the Good News." The Good News is that God is intervening in history and making a new Covenant in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is calling individuals into a community of followers who are developing a spiritual life of love in Jesus Christ through:

Jesus Will Baptize You With the Holy Spirit (Epiphany 2)

John the Baptist had an Epiphany moment. He saw something very important about his Cousin Jesus. This revelation was perhaps even more important than Jesus being the Messiah, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. John saw that repentance, water baptism and the taking away of personal sin was not the end but the means to an even greater end. Jesus sacrificial death created a new way for everyone to enter God's spiritual kingdom through belief in Jesus and baptism in the Holy Spirit.

1. Water baptism prepares us for Holy Spirit Baptism

Epiphany Moments Come To Those Who Seek God (Epiphany)

"Epiphany" is a special religious word. It describes a profound personal experience. An Epiphany moment is when our spiritual eyes are opened and we see something in a very new and different way. An Epiphany moment is a religions "ah - ha" experience when something we thought we new for sure turns out to be wrong or incomplete; or something we thought was not true turns out to be true. Our personal spiritual life is a series of these Epiphany moments. The gifts of the wise men for example teach us the answer to the question "Who is Jesus"? These moments do not come to everyone. They come to those who make a serious effort to seek the wisdom of God.

1. Isaiah was a God - seeker

Witnessing To the Light of Christ in a Dark World (Proper 33b)

As we approach the end of the Church’s teaching Year B we are being sent out to witness to our own experience of being healed, made holy by God and sharing in the love, joy and peace of His Kingdom in our Christian fellowship. People all around us are starving for meaning and fellowship in their lives. Young Muslims of both sexes are so bored and desperate they travel to the horrific violence and danger of the ideal of establishing a new Islamic State. The end of Christendom has left many people without hope or meaning. They have never seen or experienced the spiritual light of hope for healing, forgiveness and an eternal life of love, joy and peace that Jesus taught and modelled on Earth. They have been deceived by false teachers (Mark 13.5, 22) because nobody forcefully proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ to them.

1. Christians are being “made holy” (Hebrews 10.14)

Holiness is a lost value in our time. Many people are focussed on the hollow values of inclusiveness, materialism and individualism – that do not really satisfy our basic human need for meaning, fellowship and community.

Transfiguration Was the Ultimate Epiphany Experience (Transfiguration)



An Epiphany moment is when we see something in a dramatic new way. In this case Peter, James and John see Jesus with his body and cloths changed in a dramatic, visible way; talking to Elijah and Moses (Mark 9.2-13). This is not a dream. There are three very awake and frightened witnesses. The witnesses are having the epiphany moment of their lives. They are seeing Jesus as part of another eternal spiritual dimension. This is nothing less than the heavenly kingdom in visible form intruding on our physical world.

 1. We have trouble with the Biblical supernatural worldview

We have been raised in a culture based on science and reason. The Age of Reason and Enlightenment rejected as Biblical myths. Modern Theological Liberals reject the supernatural as superstition

Epiphany Moments Drive Our Spiritual Life

An Epiphany Moment is when we learn something that changes how we think and how we live our life. The Wise Men have an Epiphany moment when they personally see the baby Jesus. They had been watching the stars for a divine sign for years and now, in a remote stable, they found God in a baby. Their thinking about God was dramatically changes and they responded by giving precious gifts only appropriate to a king, a priest and one destined to die a special death.