"JANUARY 6 - THE DAY OF EPIPHANY"

 “JANUARY 6 -THE DAY OF EPIPHANY”

Last week was the end of the 12 days of Christmas, beginning with January 6, Epiphany Day.  Epiphany remembers and commemorates the visit of the Magi with the baby Jesus, an account found only in Matthew’s Gospel in Chapter 2.  And now, in American history, January 6 will be associated with the Trumpian riot at the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the presidential election of 2020.

Matthew’s gospel does not present a sweet, little Jesus boy narrative.  From its beginning in Matthew 2, the author wants us to know that the birth of this baby brings a dangerous situation because it takes us into the heart of political power in Jerusalem.  The Magi follow a star that they believe will lead them to a new political constellation, and they arrive in Jerusalem seeking prophetic counsel on where this baby will be born.  When they come to the court of King Herod, the gospel writer tells us that Herod is troubled when he hears inquiries about the birthplace of the new ruler.  But, Matthew adds an intriguing comment, saying “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”  It is not just the political powers who are disturbed – everyone in the city is troubled.  They are troubled because it means that everyone will be asked to make a decision about the meaning the birth of this baby.  Herod’s response is treachery and slaughter – he has all the baby boys of Bethlehem killed in order to seek to snuff out this new possibility.  This Day of Epiphany knows both promise and peril.

We are all feeling that peril these days – the continuing deadly power of Covid has us cowering;  the continuing deadly power of Trumpism has us fearful of the future;  the upcoming mid-term elections makes us anxious.  I also noted that ABC TV started its “Women of the Movement” series on January 6, centering on the lynching of Emmet Till and the powerful response of his mother Mattie Till Mobley - another boy slaughtered to the throne of racism.  Those events echoed the bloodbath in response to the visit of the Magi.  

The story of the Visit in Matthew 2 combines the wonder of the gift of Christmas with the gloom of the world’s response to that gift of love and joy and  justice.  We are grateful for the Vision of Christmas.  It is a vision of hope and joy and possibility, where we can have some moments to consider the claim that at the heart of life is the idea and power of love and justice – “another chance allowed” as songwriter Steve Earle put it in “Nothing But a Child.”  I hope that all of us received the opportunity to consider that Vision in this Christmas season that has just passed.

    But, there is the other side of that story, the story that includes “Rachel, weeping for her children,” as the boys of Bethlehem are slaughtered.  We are now living in a time when the powers of race and domination and oppression are seeking to make an overt comeback.  It is reminiscent of the 1880’s and 1890’s when white supremacy staged a comeback through violence and legislation, especially in the South.  The Trumpster continues to ride this wave of regathering strength of white supremacy in response to the election of Barack Obama as President and in response to the changing demographics in our nation.  The elections in 2022 will tell us a lot about our future. At this point it is looking gloomy because the party of Trump, sometimes called the Republicans, seems poised to take over the House and maybe even the Senate.

    Such a scenario is a depressing start to 2022, but I’m hoping that the January 6 Congressional Committee (there’s that date again) will be able to point us in the right direction.  I am also struck with how Stacey Abrams has started her campaign for governor of Georgia.  She had a meeting of supporters on January 5 to celebrate that as the date that Georgia elected two Democratic senators to bring the Senate under slender Democratic control.  At that meeting she indicated that she was not going to run a campaign of impending disaster but rather a campaign of hope and possibility.  She had looked at the Magi story and had seen hope, not disaster.  As she put it: “I’m not running a doom and gloom campaign because I don’t feel gloomy.”  Perhaps it is her minister parents, perhaps it is her Black woman legacy and perspective, perhaps it is her organic constitution – whatever it is, she brings a fresh vision of hope to our weariness.  Like those Magi who visited the newborn Jesus, they took another way home, rather than going back to the treacherous Herod.

    Keep your eyes (and pocketbooks) on Stacey Abrams in this year.  Because Georgia is so central to Trumpism, her race for governor will go a long way in telling us how the future is going to look.  So goes Georgia, so goes the USA.  And, on our own struggles to come back into “regular” time, let us be guided by Epiphany, by the vision of the Magi.  They waded into dangerous political waters, but guided by the light, they found another way home, a way different from the racism and sexism and homophobia of our usual path.  May we find ours also.