I was privileged to give this sermon Epiphany Sunday ( January 4th, 2026 ) at the Episcopal churches, Saint John’s, Lancaster, OH and Saint Paul’s, Logan, OH.

Listen to this sermon here.

In our readings this Sunday, Isaiah is joyful, he is enthusiastic! Even though darkness covers the Earth, and many of their people are currently enslaved by the Babylonians, the Lord God will appear in light and bring great things to the people. Good times are a coming! It is time to rejoice!

This passage in Isaiah is a prophesy to the people that there will be a religious rebirth in their worship of God. The Sons and Daughters of Abraham will return. Reverent and sincere religious practice will be the norm. And not only that, but all nations will be converted to the worship of the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Gold and Frankincense are mentioned as gifts – which shows how we Christians believe this prophecy foretold the birth of Jesus Christ and the wise men of neighboring kingdoms recognizing His divinity even while He was a small child. Isaiah is prophesying that the Kingdom of God is at hand!

I imagine the people receiving this message from Isaiah being destitute. Their country had been destroyed, all able-bodied men and women taken into slavery. Everything valuable has been stolen. And here is Isaiah – the Lord is coming, it is going to be great, everyone is going to return and all the nations around us are going to give us the riches of world. But that is not all; we will not only be incredibly wealthy, but we will also be pious, and upright in faith and wise as Solomon. Which is the reason why all the peoples of all the nations of the world will want to worship as we do.

Paul talks about this also in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul knows all about this prophecy that someday all the peoples of the world will worship the one God. Paul after all feels he personally has been called to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the gentiles.

This message is a mirror to this season of the year. Two weeks ago, we had the shortest, darkest day of the year – the winter solstice. From now until this Summer, the days will lengthen, life and light will return to the world little by little until Spring comes with Easter and the Good News that we are forgiven in Christ. It is in this Winter season we also observe the cyclic nature of time; an ending of the year past as we celebrate the start of a new year.

As my favorite author Roger Zelazny – writes:

“The stars have run their fiery courses to their proper places, positioned with
elegant cunning, possessing of noble portent”

Just as the wise men were guided by the star to the birthplace of Jesus, so do the heavens align to the start of a new year. In the depths of Winter, we anticipate new possibilities. A brand new year when we are given another opportunity to try again, to do better.

As a fan of American popular cinema, I am reminded of a movie from 1993 staring Bill Murray – Groundhog Day. In this movie, Bill Murray’s every man character is a very flawed and unpleasant weatherman named Phil from Pittsburgh. He is in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to witness Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog, predict the coming of Spring. Phil is stuck living this same Groundhog day thousands of times, living it in different ways with each repetition until he perfects that single day, and he is finally released from repeating it yet again.

One of the great things about this movie is the progress of Phil, the weatherman. Phil is a real jerk, however he has the talent to do almost anything and with the thousands of repetitions of this single day he learns to ice sculpt, to play the piano, to speak the French language, but he remains someone who does not love anyone not even himself. He finally lives that day where he loves someone else and knows that he is undeserving of their love of him.

This movie also reminds me of an important fallacy about the nature of people and belief. We often talk about the eternal nature of God, that we believe in unchanging Truth with a Capitol T. The common conception is that we churchgoing people, we Christians who believe in God should have an unshakeable ever-present faith, which sustains us through all our troubles as we live our lives. Just as Phil the weatherman is basically a jerk and is fundamentally that person even in his redemption, we Christians should have this unchanging righteous nature due to our faith in God.

I have never experienced my belief in God this way. Our beliefs, our faith, are formed from our thoughts, which are constantly changing, from moment to moment, as we have our doubts and as we have our epiphanies. With enough coffee in the morning, I can experience spiritual highs and lows every 20 minutes or so. In the middle of a sleepless night, when I am worried about my daughter Olivia or my wife Darlene, my thoughts can run wild with all the terrible things that might be happening to them. I believe we conclude during our episodes of frantic thinking that there is something wrong with us. That we should be more constant in our faith in God, and in Jesus Christ.

We then feel even worse about being fearful, and afraid, and human. When nothing could be further from the Truth. ( Air quotes during Truth ) We fail to appreciate the agility of our minds, created by God; able to imagine the infinite possibilities in each moment, whether in our hopes or our fears. Our faith or our doubt. We should find comfort with our thoughts as we do with our changeable Ohio weather. That whatever our thought of the moment, our next thought will at least be something completely different. We should embrace the speed of our thoughts as yet another human strength, because it allows us to explore many possibilities in the twinkling of an eye, and yes, to also doubt ourselves and what we believe.

We all have this ability to test our beliefs, our faith, our actions, and to change our lives. Having minds which can change, to improve ourselves by refining our beliefs, when we are presented with information that is new – what a marvelous tool God has given to us.

Faith is not Faith, until it is tested in the crucible of our thoughts and fears. We will have our doubts – there is no doubt about that. We will be afraid, we will be fearful, and we come together in this place, with our family and friends to find comfort in each other and our collective belief in the Good News of Christ. To find refuge in each other. To lend a helping hand to those who are in a dark and fearful place right now. In the sure and certain knowledge that we ourselves will need that helping hand in the future. That is why we come here, to worship, to be reminded of who we are, to share in the mystery of faith.

Every year is our Groundhog day. Every year, we are given that same opportunity, that same gift, another year to live and love with all the wisdom and experience from our past years. Every year, we can correct where we fall short, to perfect what we do well, to become our better selves.

Many people at this time of year make New Year resolutions, those promises to ourselves about what we will do better in the coming year. Today, we will be renewing our baptismal vows. A new years’ resolution, to affirm our service to God in this coming year.

Using the liturgy of our baptismal vows is a way to focus our variable thoughts, hopes, and doubts. To open ourselves to all the possibilities present in the mystery of faith. The kingdom of God starts within each one of us. When we make that better decision. When we help one other person, who in turn helps someone else. Maybe this coming year will be the year that everything changes for us and for our world.

Even though darkness currently covers the earth and the people are lost in deep darkness, may the light of the Lord arise in each one of us in glory and in our leaders with the brightness of the dawn.

Amen

Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.

Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.

Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,

because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.

Psalm 72:1-7,10-14

Deus, judicium

1 Give the King your justice, O God, *
and your righteousness to the King’s Son;

2 That he may rule your people righteously *
and the poor with justice;

3 That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, *
and the little hills bring righteousness.

4 He shall defend the needy among the people; *
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

5 He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure, *
from one generation to another.

6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown field, *
like showers that water the earth.

7 In his time shall the righteous flourish; *
there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, *
and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts.

11 All kings shall bow down before him, *
and all the nations do him service.

12 For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, *
and the oppressed who has no helper.

13 He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; *
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.

14 He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, *
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

Ephesians 3:1-12

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles– for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.