The Epiphany January 4, 2026
Who are the Weirdos, who is Not a Part of the Plan?
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-14
Romans Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Have you ever had an experience or circumstance that was profoundly transformative even though you didn’t plan for it or even want the experience in the first place? Not until the experience was happening, or even over, did the blessing of the experience manifest.
I experienced this during the winter Iona retreat. We were instructed to go for a walk outside in focused and centered prayer to experience ‘wonder and awe’. It is not that I am opposed to walking or praying, but inside it was warm, dry and cozy, and outside: cold, damp and grey. Nonetheless I put on my coat and started walking on the trail that meanders through the property.
The grounds at Sacred Waters are beautiful, but in late autumn the leaves that haven’t yet fallen hung on otherwise bare tree limbs like soggy little bats. The rich and diverse colors of summer and early autumn were gone, only shades of grey from ground to sky remained. There are no flowers or tender green leaves. Just the pending doom of the approaching winter.
And then I noticed it. The beauty of winter. The darkness that comes before dawn. The bareness that appears dead but isn’t dead. Nature in the Pacific Northwest is sleeping and preparing for rebirth in the Spring. I came to find wonder and awe in the landscape of bare trees; limp foliage, fallen pinecones, and all kinds of mushrooms. The trail was covered with wet decaying leaves and pine needles making a gently squishy sound with each step. Even the occasional little animal appeared to be in no hurry at all. The world around me appeared rich and magical in this unique moment in nature between autumn and winter.
Looking out at the overcast sky and blueish grey waters of the Hood Canel through bare tree branches, I experienced God in His creation. I contemplated how nature stops growing for a few months offering a period of respite of peaceful calm before Spring bursts forward. Winter is not death, it is stillness. This experience gave me a deep appreciation of winter. Appreciation is a transformative gift, because until now I hated winter, preferring to keep my focus on pending signs of Spring. I can’t ignore the wonder of winter anymore. It just happened. It was a gift.
And the most wonderful thing about this winter day, the Day of Epiphany, is the celebration that we, everyone, all the people and all the nations are called to live in His light. Because despite the cold and dark season, it is dawn. We are living in the brightness of dawn. Anyone who chooses to gather in the light, lifting their eyes to look around will see the abundance and wealth of God’s light. The Word made flesh is the light, and the gift lives inside of us creating in us a loving and open heart that shines forward to all people.
None of the Gospel accounts indicate that the wise men from the East were Jewish. But they knew the star was leading them to a newly born king of the Jews. They were instructed to follow the star and report back to Herod what they saw. They knew enough to bring gifts. Matthew tells us that the wise men brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Holy family. These were practical gifts. The gold, which is a symbol or royalty, could also buy them passage to Egypt. Frankincense, a symbol of divinity, was commonly used as a healing and pain-relieving ointment that could have been a blessing for Mary’s discomfort after giving birth. And myrrh was used to anoint bodies for burial symbolizing the prophesied death and resurrection of the Christ; but can also be used as an anti-inflammatory or antibiotic.
There is no proof that they were kings or Magi. We can assume, however, that they were educated and savvy men of financial means. They were likely culturally diverse, creating an odd, and even weird, gathering of worshippers at the stable. They followed a star to Bethlehem seeking wonder and awe. They found more than they could have expected. They encountered God in the humblest of settings, teaching us to find God in our own humility and in humble places. In their greatest act of wisdom, they strategically found a way home, without reporting back to Herod. I think this is how they became known as the wise men.
This Gospel story invites us to be open to wonder and awe in unexpected places, and wisdom that is produced by unexpected people. In the first century, the Magi were not worshippers of the Hebrew God, they were pagan sorcerers. Yet Matthew’s story shows us that everyone is invited to understand the signs and seek a path to Jesus.
I’m reminded of an old Grateful Dead lyric: “Sometimes you find you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”
Who did Christ come for? He came for your friends and people you don’t like, People who don’t recycle, People who wear weird clothes, absurd makeup, too many tattoos and questionable face piercings. People who scroll too much, eat too much, isolate too much. People who do stupid stuff that hurts us in their recklessness. And even the millions of people who believe that they don’t deserve, or want, God’s light. The Great Epiphany reminds us that the gift of God’s child is for everyone, even the weird ones. Christ is not limited to any one culture, ethnicity, skin color, gender, or hemisphere.
As John says in his gospel, Christ is God’s way of showing love to the world. And the Greek word in John 3:16 suggests an even greater scope: “God so loved the cosmos that God gave his child.” Christ is God’s gift for all of creation.
Finally, today we are reminded that Christ can be our source of joy. Even when happiness eludes us, when circumstances are grim, when the world turns its back on justice, there can still be joy—the abiding sense that all is well in a world that God loves despite its disappointments.
To quote 16th century St. Teresa of Ávila:
Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you,
all things are passing away: God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
Let winter with its coldness and darkness and sogginess be a gift to you from God. Let the pursuit of wonder and awe reveal more gifts through greater understanding of God. And let all the weirdos and freaks be a gift that expands your understanding of God Creation.