epiphany – Storied Grace

A sermon for the Second Sunday after Christmas
January 4, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR

Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a; Matthew 2:1-12

This past week I visited my parents in Missouri for Christmas. It has become a custom of ours that before I leave, they take me to breakfast. This time they took me to a country restaurant, one of those where everything is covered in gravy, with pancakes that are 14 inches across. True to form, the restaurant is covered with rustic decorations: license plates, street signs, just about everything under the sun. Across from where we were sitting that morning was a metal sign, not very big, that said, “if you’re looking for a sign, this is it.” I wondered how many people saw that sign with its catchphrase and thought, “aha, there it is!” Reason enough to make things right, to reconnect, to keep going. There’s my sign.

A sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany
January 26, 2025, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hot Springs, AR

Readings: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Luke 4:14-30

“In Epiphany we trace all the glory of his grace.” Those words belong to a hymn in our previous hymnal, the Hymnal 1940. The hymn explains the seasons of the church year. It’s especially appropriate for children, and it’s also a favorite of Kathy Randel’s, our outreach coordinator, who has made sure I know it. And, to the hymn’s credit, it explains exactly what we are doing this Epiphany season. We are recounting how the glory of God is revealed through Christ: as the magi follow a star and visit a child; as Jesus is baptized and the Father speaks; as Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding; and eventually, as Jesus is transfigured in dazzling white on a mountaintop.

Tag: epiphany

Looking for a Sign

Tracing Glory