12 Days of Christmas–Epiphany

Epiphany is a greek word meaning "to reveal." This is why the 12 days of Christmas culminates in an epiphany celebration. It is the ultimate revelation of the Gospel message. "In Him was life, and that life was the Light of all mankind." (John 1:4, NIV) This day is closely associated with the revelation of Jesus's birth to the Magi (Gentiles) to show that salvation is for all who call upon His name.

I skipped day 9 of Christmas tide, not on accident, but because I needed to study a bit about the man who is highlighted that day. I had never heard of him. His name is Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah. He was the first Anglican Bishop in South India. Upon realizing that 100 million Indians were beyond the reach of the Gospel message, he organized not one, but two missionary societies. Afterwards, he resigned his leadership role and took a small Diocese in one of the poorest regions of India. And although he had to withstand hostility towards his efforts, his ministry averaged over 3000 baptized believers a year. He was also a vocal advocate for a unified church in India stating, "We believe that the challenge of the present hour...and the present critical situation in India itself, call us to mourn past divisions and turn to our Lord Jesus Christ to seek in Him the unity of the body expressed in one visible Church. We face together the titanic task of winning India for Christ–one fifth of the human race." https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/dailystory/permalink/v-s-azariah-indias-amazing-home-grown-apostle

In looking at the American church today, we are anything, but unified. And, I can't help but think it is because we have lost sight of the truth of the ultimate revelation–the true Gospel message. Maybe the best thing we can do today to celebrate Epiphany is to pray for God's people (all of us) to receive a renewed revelation of God's heart for all mankind.

And, I think I will end this blog series here...not pointing my finger at all that I see as broken, but rather pointing it back at my own heart, asking Jesus to reveal Himself to me in deeper ways so that I might be ready to reveal Him to others as He sees fit. He is still the Life and Light for all mankind. Merry Christmas!