Exploring Faith through Christmas & Epiphany
The first few weeks of the Christian year are pretty busy. It started with Advent at the beginning of December. For most of us, however, the preparations for Christmas crowded out the Advent message. How do you prepare for an event that boggles the mind? Christmas reminds us that the Creator of all that exists became part of what was created. Emmanuel, God with us. The staggering, awe inspiring Christmas event is beyond anything we can think or imagine.
And then, all too quickly, the decorations came down for another year. It has already become Christmas past. But the baby born in Bethlehem can’t be put back in a box for another year. The Christ child isn’t just for Christmas.
So the story moves on to Epiphany. An epiphany is an ‘aha’ experience – a moment of sudden awareness of the significance of something really important. The weeks of Epiphany provide an opportunity for us to open our eyes and ears to grasp the meaning of Christmas and to witness the ways in which God shows up in the world. To take the time to ponder how God chose to slip into the world while no-one was looking, except for a few shepherds and some wise men from the East. How do you make sense of that?
And, might this be a model for how God shows up at other times?
One of the themes that emerged in the Away Day in 2023 was spiritual growth, as individuals and as a church. One way we are responding to this challenge is to offer an opportunity for us to explore our faith through the major Seasons of the Christian Year. We might call it “growing in faith through the seasons”.
So how might we nurture a Christmas faith that lasts throughout the year?
There are many ways of talking about spiritual growth and there are many guides. Each of us will make our own path by walking. But perhaps there are common milestones on the journey that are similar to our physical development.
We begin our spiritual journey as a child with a sense of awe and wonder and a vivid imagination. As we grow into adolescence our curiosity seeks to understand and find meaning in life, helping us navigate the world, creating a road map for life if you will. Spiritually we come to conclusions about what we believe. And for many, our adolescent beliefs remain with us throughout life.
Yet as we mature and life experiences trip us up, questions and doubts can arise. We may be able to ignore them. Or we can see them as invitations to a more adult faith that takes us beyond belief. They can stimulate a desire for a deeper connection to what has inspired our wonder at the presence of God.
A childlike faith provides security and a sense of belonging. Adolescent belief gives us certainty. An adult faith arises from a longing or yearning for connection to what is beyond what our senses show us, and what we can explain. We are moved more deeply into a personal experience of the presence of God in our lives.
So as we travel in time through Epiphany and into the weeks that lead up to Lent, let is open our eyes to notice the presence of God amongst us that, like children, fills us with awe and wonder and fires our imagination. Let us review our adolescent belief and allow it to be tested.
To give us insight to how God shows up we might return to the themes of Advent – hope, peace, joy and love – and pay attention to moments when we witness these in our everyday lives. For us, these can be momentary epiphanies to be noticed and celebrated. Aha – God is with us – often in the most unexpected ways.
Notice through these weeks occasions that evoke a childlike sense of wonder. How do these glimpses of hope, peace, joy or love draw out the child in you? Give thanks for experience. As an adolescent, let the experience awaken your curiosity. If God shows up like this what can I learn? Give thanks for the insight. And pay attention to how this insight might be inviting you to be or do something differently. Notice, in particular, when you find it difficult to explain the experience and how you respond to the frustration. Give thanks for the way this stretches your faith.
We are all in this together.
Dave Adams