Sermon - 1/4/26

Year A – Epiphany – January 4, 2026

Pastor Megan Floyd

Isaiah 60:1-6

Matthew 2:1-12

Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, our savior, whose light and love we follow. Amen.

***

The crazy beautiful thing about light… is that it shines on all it touches, without judgment or discrimination, and it can also be reflected to shine into places that would otherwise remain in darkness.

There was a movie I saw many years ago… with a scene in a dark cave. There was a hole in the cave's roof where a bit of sunlight shone through… and by adjusting a few mirrors, they were able to illuminate the whole room.

I thought that was a cool effect… even though I later learned that the abundance of light they were able to produce was not entirely logically possible. It still felt pretty magical.

But then, more recently, I learned about a real-life Norwegian town called Rjukan (Roo-Khan), situated in a mountain valley that runs east to west.

From about September to March, the sun doesn’t rise high enough over the northern mountain range to shine on the town, and so for six months, the town is in shadow.

About 100 years ago, when the town was founded, they dreamt about putting large mirrors on the southern mountain peak to reflect and shine the sun’s rays down into the valley and onto the town below… but they didn’t have the technology to pull it off.

But then… 100 years later, in 2013… they built those mirrors! They have three large mirrors that follow the sun all day, powered by… solar energy. They illuminate and warm the town square in a bright pool of light that’s about 80-90% as strong as direct sunlight.

There were lots of people who were skeptical about these mirrors, but they have changed the town… warming the people along with the town’s square… and bringing cheer back to their community during the dark winter days.

It is amazing what light can do… even when it is only a reflection of the original source of that light.

And today… as we celebrate Epiphany… we celebrate the light and love of Christ!

Epiphany… is a celebration of illumination. It’s a celebration of a holy light that guides us… a light that puts us on the path toward knowing our Savior… and invites us into the greatest story of love… that world has ever known.

And on this celebratory day, we hear again… the story of the Magi… those exotic astrologers from the east who saw the great light rising over Bethlehem, and were so moved by its appearance, they set out on a long journey to find the source.

We cannot see, today, the star that they followed… but the light from that holy star is reflected forward in time for us by their courage and curiosity… these magi have sent that brilliant light forward to us so that we, too, might be guided by its light as we seek our savior.

Epiphany is also a celebration of illumination through reflection… for though we are not the original source of light and love, we know that by reflecting that light into the world around us, God’s holy light continues to shine and sustain the spirits of our neighbors.

We know… that the light of Christ guides us in our living and our loving, and draws us close to our Creator, the source of all love.

And yet… we might wonder… how do we know we are on the right path? How do we know that the light we follow is the true light of Christ… and not the false glow of a tyrant king?

After all… the Magi, who were considered wise… followed the star that rose over Bethlehem, but instead of making their journey directly there, they stopped in Jerusalem… that is where they assumed the king would be found.

But instead of a savior, they found a tyrannical strongman who grasped at power that was not his for the taking… they found a selfish ruler who was more concerned with surrounding himself with gold and splendor than with caring for his people’s needs.

These Magi… were drawn in by what felt like strength, but what they found was an insecure and irrational leader that could be won over with bribes, and whose rantings would be comical if it weren’t for his tendency to indiscriminately destroy those who stood in his way…

They found a man who used flimsy excuses to capture and murder innocent people and caused those under his rule to live in terror, or to have to flee for fear of persecution or worse.

You know the man… I’m talking, of course… about Herod.

Herod consulted the scribes and learned the place where the Messiah was to be born, and sent the Magi there, to Bethlehem… he thought they could be used in his scheme to destroy the competition…

But when the Magi found the child Jesus, they were overwhelmed with joy… basking in the true light of God, they knew… they knew that the light of the star had guided them true, and they were, indeed, in the presence of the only true King… they were in the presence of a savior.

And so, still guided by God’s Holy Spirit, they went home… by another road.

How do we know we are on the right path… and that the light we follow is the true light of Christ… and not the false glow of a tyrant?

How do we know that our good intentions aren’t being used by the selfish whims of those guided by evil?

How do we know that the light we choose to reflect out into the world around us… is the light and love of our Savior?

It’s an important question to ask… as there are plenty of false lights in the world that clamor to hold our attention and our loyalty, and many that do so with alarming success.

How do we know? …Well, we know the light we seek, and the light we reflect, is from Christ… when we see how much love it shines onto our neighbors.

We know that the light we are following is the true light of Christ… when we observe how it shines onto those who are hurting… those who are suffering… those who have been pushed aside…

When we reflect the light of Christ onto those from whom others would turn away, and we see how that light warms them… warms them like the sunlit town center in Rjukan (Roo-Khan)… and we see how it cares for their humanity and restores their dignity…

When we reflect that light onto our neighbors, both the ones we like… and the ones we don’t… and we watch how that light draws us together as community… and how it heals… then we know that we are reflecting the true light of Christ.

The false glow of tyrants like Herod will always draw people to their corrupt light… some are drawn because they prefer the darkness to cover their sin… and some are drawn in through misunderstanding, or false promises.

But we know that light is not from Christ because the reflections of it cause so much pain and heartache… and celebrate selfish ambition and greed, with no consideration for those in need, or for the connections of community.

But the true and pure light of Christ… brings joy… and love… and compassion… connection… and empathy… the true light of Christ brings healing to a hurting world… and oh… how much our world is hurting… and how much pain has been caused by our societal and systemic sins.

So, in this season of Epiphany… when we celebrate Christ’s light and how we reflect that light as best we can into our world, let us also be as wise as the Magi in discerning between a false, dim, imitation…  and the true, bright glory of our God.

And know that your discernment doesn’t happen alone… for joyfully bearing Christ’s light is the work of community, with Jesus himself as our guide.

But still, these are challenging times… so now more than ever, we turn to our Savior to guide us… Let us pray…

Lord, have mercy on us… how we need your light. Even if we are mere reflections of your pure, true light… we know that your light has the power to warm us… and to draw all people to your healing arms. Heal us, Lord, and help us to lift up our eyes so we might behold your glory!

Help us to lift up our eyes, so that we might see you… in our neighbor… and that our neighbor might see you… in us… and that, together, we understand that we are divinely connected to each other through your love, regardless of race, nationality, or creed. Guide us always, O Lord, to your light. Amen.