They All Gather Together

The color for Epiphany Sunday and Baptism of the Lord is white. White has been the liturgical color since Christmas. So, it might feel like a continuation, which isn’t a bad thing. Bask in the glow of Christmas and the promise of incarnation, God with us. The rest of the world has moved on from the holiday observance; maybe in the church, you can cling to it a little longer.

This is more than sentimentalism. This is an opportunity to begin to see the implication of the Christ presence among us. The Christ child, who grew “in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor,” says Luke’s Gospel (Lk. 2:52), becomes the light by which we walk each day and the way we find one another. We gather to the light; as a result, we grow closer to one another.

Epiphany is about celebrating the light that is Jesus the Christ. But it is also a celebration of the community that gathers to see and follow that light. Worship this day needs to be corporate. It needs to move away from “I” language toward “us” language. We need to be reminded that this is a walk we take together. Making disciples is about making relationships, working on relationships, broadening relationships, relying on relationships, and deepening relationships. Give extra time to the passing of the peace or the gathering time. Assign hosts who will work through the gathered congregation and welcome and include and introduce so that everyone feels included and all have access.

This does not deny the importance of the individual and the reality that each can come to the light and be sustained, reset, and commissioned for service and for love. But, as Jesus taught, we find ourselves most profoundly when we lose ourselves in service to another. We find our leadership capability when we put others before us. Worship raises our vision above our individual horizons, so we catch a glimpse of a kin-dom vista before us.

As the magi set aside their personal agendas to follow the star that appeared, and as the nations come to the light that shines forth from the people of God, we are disciples when we follow the Christ who goes before us. The old saying is true, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” Let us gather together.