Epiphany is about a star - and a lightbulb
The realization of the power of God - and what we *do* with it.
St. Paul’s announcements:
How many Episcopalians does it take to change a lightbulb?
Three: one to change the lightbulb. One to mix the drinks. And one to talk about how great the old lightbulb was…
Epiphany is about a star - but it’s often associated with a lightbulb.
Which suddenly goes on and illuminates what we had never considered before.
We know the story: wise men, following a star, realizing they are searching for the Messiah, finding baby Jesus..
We celebrate Epiphany year after year - to us it’s not new. It’s not a lightbulb moment.
Or is it?
Epiphanies are only the beginning.
If the lightbulb goes on but no one pays attention, then we just think about new ideas but never put them into action.
Or we just theorize about God, but never believe.
The whole new idea that was Christianity was dependent on the fact that people recognized, and believed and followed this child as he grew to be Jesus the Christ.
Even though this might have been just one more crazy idea.
It took the faith and the actions of those who recognized this birth for what it was, and who met it with wonder and joy and openness.
And it still does.
The magi are not the only ones who have an epiphany.
Herod has one, too.
The lightbulb has gone off for him, too, and he also gets that this is real - that Jesus is truly the Christ, because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have been so upset.
The only difference between these epiphanies: the reaction!
The wise men are ‘overwhelmed with joy’.
But Herod is afraid, ‘and all Jerusalem with him.’
The magi are the seekers and the scientists, greeting each strange discovery as a new adventure.
Herod is determined that the world must turn according to him, and anything new looks like a threat.
This is what we hold up to the light at Epiphany.
God has come into our world.
We know this. we have just finished celebrating this at Christmas.
But the question is: do we see it? And how we will react to it?
Whether the lightbulb moments in our lives will be seen as God’s goodness manifest in the world - something easy to run from or dismiss.
What looks like a disaster to one person can look like a miracle to another.
What looks like some kind of craziness could also be the new idea that changes everything.
What looks like being lost in the wilderness with only the stars to guide us could also be God drawing us nearer,
Epiphany is about our reaction to God’s presence and power in our lives
Even if we are unsure, even if we are afraid. Even if it seems a little odd sometimes.
We can choose to greet the strange and wonderful moments in our lives.
It’s not how many of us it takes to change the lightbulb - it’s how many of us react to the Light with JOY.
Fr. Cathie’s Epiphany sermon, preached on January 7, 2026.
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