A Beautifully Busy Season of Epiphany –Pr. Luke Lekander

January is a month full of liturgical events. We open the month with the final five days of Christmas, where we continue to celebrate the incarnation of the Word made flesh. We then celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord with two major events in Jesus’ life, both of which precede his ministry. But first let’s explore what Epiphany is. Epiphany is the realization or manifestation of God’s glory. In this case, God’s glory is manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. The first Sunday after Epiphany celebrates the Baptism of Jesus. When Jesus came up from the baptismal waters, he prayed and “the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended boldly upon him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” I hope you receive your own epiphany with the fact that, in Jesus, the heaven is opened. This means God came to us and remains with us. Just think of all the implications this has on our lives!

The second major event is the Presentation of Our Lord, also known as Candlemas. On Candlemas, we remember Jesus’ presentation in the temple forty days after his birth in accordance with Jewish law. According to Saint Luke, the Holy Family was greeted at the temple by Anna, a prophet of great age, who looked for the redemption of Jerusalem and Simeon, another devout person of great age who sang of seeing God’s salvation in the Christ child. Candlemas speaks to a wide variety of important liturgical and especially pastoral concerns. During a bitterly cold, dark time of the year in Northern Minnesota, as we turn from the manger of Advent and Christmas and journey through the cross to the empty tomb of Good Friday and Easter, we also give thanks for earliest stirrings of the returning sun and remember that in Christ, new life and new light is possible. Continuing the work of our ancestors in faith, we bless our sanctuary lamps for the upcoming year and bless candles for our members to take home and burn through the darkness of Lent. Candlemas will be celebrated on Sunday, February 2^nd. This feast day is not meant simply for mere ornamentation but rather to speak to contemporary issues such as seasonal depression and anxiety, finding hope and remembering that the youngest and most senior members of our community need one another. To my knowledge, Candlemas has never been celebrated at Our Saviors, so this will be an exciting new direction!

Speaking of exciting new directions, this season of Epiphany will include the next step in our 125^th celebration year by continuing the process of “Moving Forward.” We will welcome Anna Madsen to assist us with imagining where God is calling us. Her expertise as a called and ordained Public Theologian will be put to use here in preaching and teaching and guiding us to have several epiphanies of our own. Rev. Dr. Madsen will preach on January 12^th and 26^th. This, and viewing the movie Whale Rider, will all be in preparation for our Mission Planning Event following our February 2^nd Candlemas service. We are calling this event, “Establishing our Core Principles for Mission.” This season of Epiphany will bring with it many opportunities to see God’s glory manifesting right here at Our Savior’s!