Epiphany is the season of light. The liturgical color of this season is green. If you need a reminder just look at Pastor Greg’s cast….it is very green. Maybe it is to remind us that amid the darkness of winter the days are growing longer and we will see the green of the mountains and grass before long. The light of the sun will turn green the white of winter. Epiphany is a short season in our liturgical calendar. I always want it to be longer before we dive into Lent. I want to focus on the wonder and miracles of Jesus public ministry before we dive into Lent in the middle of this month. I want to get to know what it is like for Jesus to be different.
It takes a while to get used to someone who is different. When we encounter someone different or a different culture it makes us start to question what we knew to be true. This questioning is good, it allows us to explore the “what ifs.” It challenges us to look at other ways of doing things and step out of our comfort zone. It makes us grow up and think about our lives and faith and ponder larger questions. We get to see in our Sunday readings just how people too struggled with Jesus and his new ministry that did not follow all the traditions of the past. We are getting a picture of something new, reminding us that in the waters of our baptism we too are made new. Getting used to something new takes time, but in the end usually it is well worth the effort, it allows us to open our hearts and understanding. In this epiphany season we get a glimpse at the new, then we drop into the journey of lent, where we learn to see and understand that the new comes both as a gift, and at a price to God.
During Lent we will be looking at Martin Luther and the Small Catechism. Talk about being different, he was doing something totally out of the norm. Because almost 500 years have gone by, we do not always see the radicalness of his ministry and convictions. Like Jesus, the approach to the gospel was new and different. During Lent maybe we can look outside ourselves and see how we can reach out in ways we have never done before.
Pastor Kristi Bummer