Happy Epiphany – in the Orthodox tradition and for all those church traditions which follow the Julian Calendar as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar. Steve led us this Sunday.

Epiphany of course marks the visit of the mysterious Magi. Traditionally their names are thought to be: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Who were these wise men. Were there only three? Or is that based entirely on the number of gifts? What did they believe? Were they monotheistic? God-fearing? Zoarastrian priests perhaps? What was revealed to them and what did they think they were about to see upon arrival?

• READING – Mt 2 v. 1-12

• Epiphany or Theophany or Revelation. Orthodox Christians celebrate the visit of the Magi AND the baptism of Jesus by John AND the wedding at Cana. All revelatory events – 1. JESUS FOR THE WORLD – 2. JESUS THE SECOND PERSON OF THE TRINITY – 3. JESUS FIRST PUBLIC MANIFESTATION.  

And the traditions in the Orthodox communities include: Epiphany singing, chalking the door, having one’s house blessed, consuming “Three Kings Cake”, blessing the waters and winter swimming. (PUTIN ice plunging.)

• Chalking the door – looks like  20 + C + M + B + 25  

2025 – CMB names of Kings and/or Christus Mansionem Benedicat – may Christ bless this house. 4 crosses represents the wish that Jesus will be at the centre of everything this year. So folk were given chalk to write on and around the bandstand and to take home to sign the doors of their homes.

• Little Epiphanies this year. May we be blessed with mundane and revelatory little epiphanies this year.

• Bread and Wine

The trouble with ritual is it can all become so very mundane, ordinary, predictable, un-noteworthy. The liturgy seeps unconsciously through us. It’s wallpaper noise. We sleep walk through it. It’s just bread and wine we’re sharing – as we do every week. Nothing special. As common as seeing a pigeon. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing very impressive.

Just God with us… in the mundane and ordinary and emanual way that God meets with us – or wants to meet with us if only we had eyes to see the little epiphany here.

Emanual. God with us. Here. Now. For all peoples. Everywhere. Happy Epiphany. In Bread. In Wine. Amen.