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One year ago, I visited Seattle for the first time since moving to New England several years prior. On that same visit, I preached from this pulpit for the first time in nearly seven years. It was a whirlwind of a weekend. But two things really stand out from those few days.
First, the appointed reading for that Sunday last January, was the calling of Samuel. This is the story of when God called Samuel in the middle of the night and told him he would be the leader of his people.
While I had an inkling at that point, that our family might be moving back to Seattle, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would end up back at Epiphany. That wasn’t my planm and I am really good at making plans.
In that sermon, this is what I said about God’s plan for our lives. “The thing about calling is that it always requires courage because it is always a deviation from a path. Responding to God’s call requires not only courage, but trust. You have to trust that God has you as you step into the unknown.”
What is that old Yiddish saying? We make plans and God laughs…I don’t know that God laughs, but life has a funny way of working out when we are open to the whispering of the Holy Spirit. God nudges and encourages, but we have to be willing to listen and respond.
The other thing that stands out in my mind from that long Seattle weekend last January is the weather. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Grey skies, drizzly rain, and not much daylight. But, that’s not it!
Emerging from a New England winter filled with bare trees, brown grass, and endless piles of dead leaves, the Pacific Northwest was jarringly beautiful and full of color. Laura Sargent reminded me on that trip that the secret to a Seattle winter is looking around and not up. When you do that, Seattle winters are actually gorgeous.
When you look around, you see green grass, abundant evergreen trees, bushes and leaves in an array of colors including rust, ochre, and carmine. You see the soft fuzzy moss covering trees and rocks in a dozen shades of verdant green. Stepping off a plane in Seattle winter provides a colorful assault to the senses. When you are immersed in it every day, it’s easy to forget.
The reason I mention this is that I have found this to be the perfect metaphor for Epiphany this winter. We have to look around and not up.
At Epiphany, we talk a lot about how relationship is primary in the Kingdom of God. Doyt was talking about that when I first came here in 2009 and here we are…16 years later…still talking about it. In the Kingdom of God, our relationships are primary.
When we look around, we see one another, God’s beloved, all around us. On the third Sunday of Advent, Lex invited us to actually look at each other. At first, we were hesitant, asking ourselves, “Did Lex really just ask us to make eye contact with one another? In the middle of a sermon?” And then, we did it. We looked around. I want us to do it again today. Look around.
Look to your left and then, to your right. Notice the people in the pews around you. Maybe even smile at your neighbor. Notice how that makes you feel. Maybe it gives you a spark of joy, a sense of peace.
Epiphany has articulated a clear theology of God’s kingdom that differs from popular culture. In literature and pop culture, we have a binary between earth and heaven. Humans dwell here on earth and God lives high above in the heavens.
But that isn’t what scripture teaches. The cosmology of the Bible tells us that God’s kingdom is where what God wants to happen always happens the way God wants it to happen. And God’s kingdom is right here, so near.
We have to remember to look around and not up. We look around in an effort to truly see one another, to catch glimpses of God’s kingdom, and to see the vibrant beauty that is all around us.
The Feast of Epiphany as observed by Epiphany Parish perfectly illustrates this. This is a feast day for Christians as we commemorate the arrival of the magi to visit the Christ child. This is our eponymous feast, extra special because in 1907 this nascent worshiping community – right here on the corner of 38th and Denny – was named for this feast day.
On this night, we remember the magi arriving to visit the holy child so many years ago. While they did look up – to follow a star. That star led them to what was right there in front of them, the infant Jesus. God with us. Emmanuel.
Can you even imagine what that must have been like for the magi to travel for so long, only to find themselves in the presence of holiness and beauty? They brought gifts and knelt at the infant’s feet.
Those magi certainly followed God’s calling. And it required courage and most definitely a deviation from a path. Responding to God’s call requires not only courage, but trust. Think about how much the magi had to trust God as they stepped into the unknown.
As a community, we are about to step into the unknown in a wonderful way. 48 hours from now, the Great Hall will be filled with people we’ve never met. They are coming because we have invited them. God has invited them. And they said yes.
On Wednesday, we will begin our next session of RELATA, an 8-week series offering a meal, a short talk, and intentional conversation. We will share stories of connection and belonging, love and the soul, practice and community. This is for the spiritual, but not religious. And, it is for you. This series is for anyone who is ready to look around God’s kingdom, being open to new relationships and experiences.
These new people coming to RELATA are coming because you have invited them, or they heard about it on the radio, or saw a poster in the grocery store, or replied to the ad on the #2 bus. However they find their way to Epiphany, we are looking forward to greeting them.
On a Thursday night, about a month ago, I was leaving campus after a service of Evening Prayer. As I walked out of the church, through the skybridge, the Great Hall, and down through the courtyard, I was struck by the bustle of activity. Musicians were here practicing for a concert. School families were socializing. RELATA table hosts were preparing for this next session. A community group was gathered in support. The campus pulsated with life and energy
118 years ago, Epiphany was founded as a neighborhood church for the city of Seattle. The community was initially led by a non-ordained person who served as Epiphany’s first teacher. He was also a physician, and he set the tone for spiritual health, wholeness, and holiness, and for Epiphany to become a spiritual center for the rigorous practice of Christianity.
That is what God continues to call us to today; to be a spiritual center for the rigorous practice of Christianity. And in 2025, that looks a little bit different. In addition to worshiping God multiple times on a weekly basis, we are called to learn and grow, serve the community, and care for one another.
As we remember the magi following God’s call let us as a community have the courage to do the same. May we remember to look around and not only up, to see the beauty and holiness that is all around, especially in one another. And let us trust God as we step into the unknown.