{"id":5152,"date":"2019-12-30T10:43:01","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T17:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=5152"},"modified":"2019-12-30T10:47:52","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T17:47:52","slug":"an-outline-for-an-epiphany-sermon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=5152","title":{"rendered":"An outline for an Epiphany sermon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Please click here for a pdf version of this document<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An outline for an Epiphany sermon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The lectionary overlooks these appropriate texts for\nEpiphany.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A beginning: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epiphany is the 6th<\/sup> of January in the Western\ncalendar. Epiphany means \u201cshining forth.\u201d End of the 12 days of Christmas. In\nthe early Church this was \u201ctheir Christmas Day.\u201d This tradition continued for a\ncouple of hundred years. Early Christians celebrated the coming of the light in\nthis world of meaningless and hopelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve heard it said: \u201cIt is better to light a candle\nthan curse the darkness.\u201d In bad times it\u2019s worthwhile to do good. Or in\ntimes of trouble, it is more useful\nto do some good, however small, than to complain about the situation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is similar to the message of the\ngospel song: \u201cThis little light of mine. I’m going to let it shine. This little\nlight of mine. I\u2019m going to make it shine. Hide it under a bushel? No! I\u2019m going\nto let it shine! Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song, like the saying, is a\nkind of pep talk for doing good. Finally, however, pep talks, however well\nintended, are inadequate in the face of sin, death, and the devil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A middle: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 John 1:5: \u201cGod is light and in him is no darkness at\nall.\u201d The God of light comes to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And John 1:5: \u201cThe light shines in the darkness, and the\ndarkness has not overcome it.\u201d We\u2019re lost and in darkness, on our way to\nnothingness. Ashes to ashes. (John 1:9: \u201cThe true light that enlightens every\nman was coming into the world.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1:13: \u201cWho were born, not of blood nor of the will\nof the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not of blood: Not by the ancestors. Not family or heirs.\nNot the way we build families and civilizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor of the will of the flesh: Our human condition is \u201call\ntoo human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor of the will of man: Not our will. Not our way. Not\nour decisions. John 6:44 and 6:65: \u201cNo one can come to me unless it is granted\nby the Father\u201d and \u201cYou did not choose me but I chose you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But of God: The light explodes in the darkness and the\ndarkness does not comprehend it (John 1:5 KJV). God does it. By light\novertaking darkness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel of John doesn\u2019t have a Christmas story like\nMatthew and Luke. For the Gospel of John this (John 1:1-14) is the Christmas\nstory! Into this world of darkness the light explodes. Into this world of\ndarkness comes the one who dies and rises again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An end:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1:14: \u201cAnd the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,\nfull of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son\nfrom the Father.\u201d Glory, light. By the will of God: The will of God is the\ncross and resurrection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stated again in another way by the Apostle Paul: 2 Cor\n4:6: \u201cFor it is the God who said, \u2018Let light shine out of darkness,\u2019 who has\nshown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in\nthe face of Christ.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light, glory. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A beginning: <\/p>\n

Epiphany is the 6th<\/sup> of January in the Western calendar. Epiphany means \u201cshining forth.\u201d End of the 12 days of Christmas. In the early Church this was \u201ctheir Christmas Day.\u201d This tradition continued for a couple of hundred years. Early Christians celebrated the coming of the light in this world of meaningless and hopelessness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5152"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5159,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5152\/revisions\/5159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}