We are in the season of epiphany. As you know, Epiphany means the manifestation of God to the world. There are three aspects of epiphany that are real for us.

First, Christ is shown as the visibility of the invisible God. As Marcus Borg puts it, Jesus is the human face of God. Second, God in Christ is revealed as one of us; epiphany is about God’s solidarity with us. No longer do we look for God “out there” or “up there”. Instead, God is with us and among us. Third, epiphany is about the compassion of God.

We are invited to join Christ in becoming an Epiphany for our generation, so that what was offered to us in Christ back then, can be offered by him, through us, to the world right now.

The question today is how exactly do we become an Epiphany for our generation? How do we embody the spirit of Epiphany, making God manifest in the world around us?

John preached a message of eschatological destruction, that the world was so filled with corruption that the only option was for God on high to descend in judgement and wipe the slate clean. Listen to John’s sermon: “His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ In summary, the message is turn or burn or in Afrikaans, “draai of braai”. You may recognise the word braai as the equivalent of BBQ, change your ways or end up on the barbeque.

The question is, is this how we are to be an Epiphany of God’s kindness, God’s presence in the world? Does Jesus endorse the message of John? I suggest not.

The biblical record as I read it, suggests that Jesus turns John’s preaching on its head. The reading from Luke depicts what happens after the baptism. Jesus, it seems, is the Christ of Epiphany in that he stands in solidarity with humanity and the world’s brokenness by agreeing to be baptised. When Jesus is baptised, it would seem that he is an anonymous member of a great crowd of people who were being baptised. However, the prayer experience that happens to Jesus after the baptism turns John’s message inside out: “and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ What is significant about this statement is that this message – with you I am well pleased – implies that Jesus is guiltless before God. Whatever sin John the Baptist is concerned about, has already been forgiven. Luke tells us Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. This seemingly irrelevant detail implies that Jesus’ work is priestly work, because it was only when a man reached the age of thirty that he could begin to function as a priest.

While John’s message is turn or burn the experience of Jesus communicates to us that being the Christ is bound up in the experience of being loved as a beloved, with whom the Divine is well pleased.

Obviously, the presence of the Spirit in bodily form also recalls the presence of the Spirit at the dawn of creation. In Genesis 1, as creation is created, God pronounces at every moment, “Tov” or ”it is Good”. Likewise, to be an epiphany for our generation is to announce to people at the beginning of their journey, “tov,” very good, blessing, you are beloved, you are touched by Divine favour. I suggest to you that the way we are an Epiphany for our generation is to communicate to the world God loves the fundamental blessing that the world is; that at the beginning of anything, every member of the world is a beloved on whom divine favour rests. 

So where to from here? How do we graduate from John’s message of condemnation to Jesus’ message of grace, that at the beginning we are beloved, and the Divine favour rests on us?

Perhaps the journey to being an Epiphany that manifests divine blessing begins in our own souls as we learn first-hand that we are God’s beloved. Announcing that the world is caressed by divine favour often requires that we experience God’s confidence in us first. We live our own truth as touched by divine favour. The hope is that trusting in our own identity as beloved of God may automatically give confidence to others to trust in their identity as deeply loved.

The human condition is one where our core goodness is challenged by an inner voice of self-criticism, self-doubt, or a tireless, negative feedback loop. Many have found writing and meditating on a beloved charter a helpful spiritual discipline in healing the soul’s tendency to resist the grace of being loved. Below is an example.

 A Beloved Charter

NAME, you are my beloved in whom I delight. On you my favour rests. There is nothing that you can do to make me love you more and nothing that you can do to make me love you less. NAME you did not choose me, I chose you. You are my friend. I formed your inward parts and knitted you together in your mother's womb. NAME you are fearfully and wonderfully made, made a little lower than angels and crowned with glory and honour. You have been created in Christ Jesus for good works which I have already prepared to be your way of life. When you pass through the waters I will be there; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you, when you walk through the fire you will not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. You are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you. I know all your longings; your sighing is not hidden from me. Nothing will ever be able to separate you from my love. Abide in My love.