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Jesus experienced epiphanies throughout his life and ministry. If Jesus wasn’t always so sure of his life’s direction, why should we expect to have all the answers in ours? Whether you are about to graduate, plan a family, or look for a new job, modern epiphanies can give you some clue as to the direction that God is calling you. Three ELCA pastors from churches named Epiphany reflect on this liturgical season and what it means in the life of faith. Look for new articles on Monday, January 11, and January 18.

Human beings have always sought signs for direction, meaning, and hope in life. Who hasn’t wished for a simple word from somewhere, through a dream or an instant of awareness in prayer or meditation? Show me what to do, Lord. Give me a sign, clear, unmistakable.

One of the reasons we continue to pay attention to Scripture is because through experience, we’ve discovered what we find there helps us sort out our lives. And while we aren’t often given flashes of brilliant revelation, we are consistently nudged, turned, and directed. Bible verses seep into our souls word by word, sermon by sermon, season by season. By and by, the way becomes clear.

Perhaps the season of Epiphany—always beginning January 6 and this year ending on February 16 just prior to Ash Wednesday—can be understood as a Season for Seeking.

Immersed in the Gospel texts on Sundays, we find ourselves nudged toward more faithful discipleship and growing clarity in our lives. That’s the invitation I offer to our Epiphany community in Pickerington, Ohio.

When we read in the Gospels about Jesus’ life, we learn that there were signs that helped give him direction.

Jesus’ baptism
The story of Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3 is brief. There are few details—just the listing of ancestors, the baptism, and his wilderness sojourn. I wonder if Luke’s inclusion of the genealogy just before his description of Jesus in the desert is intended to focus on seeking identity. Jesus sought direction as he tried to understand what it meant to be the child of Joseph and Mary, descendants of David and, at the very beginning, Adam.

It is a comforting to me that even Jesus needed time, space, and experience to discover who he was and what God wanted from him. If Jesus struggled to figure out his life, we’re in pretty good company!

Jesus’ first miracle
At the wedding at Cana in John 2 we see how family and community can help guide us toward our life’s purpose. Sometimes as we’re trying to figure out who we are and what we’re up to, it is someone close to us who cajoles us toward something that we’re reluctant to do. Is that what Mary did in the story? “Do whatever he tells you,” she tells the servants, not giving Jesus much chance to hang back. Has a friend ever told you what you knew you needed to hear?

Jesus’ new ministry
When Jesus first appeared in the synagogue at Capernaum in Luke 4, he read a passage from Isaiah describing ministry in prophetic terms: caring for the poor, the prisoners, the blind. Jesus’ life direction, his ministry, wasn’t aimed at serving the privileged. How often do we seek a similar direction?

Reading a bit farther, we see that Jesus is going to have some trouble in his ministry. He describes God as being just as attentive (or more so) to those outside Israel as to the insiders. As we seek to follow Jesus, we need to focus more intentionally on those who don’t belong, today’s “widows, orphans, and strangers.”

Then, when Jesus told Simon, whose boat he had been using as a pulpit, to “put out into deep water and let your nets down” (Luke 5:1–11), he was asking him to do something he had done many times—nothing out of the ordinary. But this time it was at the master’s request.

Maybe Jesus expects us to seek him in the ordinary and routine and to do so with intention and awareness. What we find might be amazingly unexpected.

Jesus’ return from the mountain
In chapter six, where we find Luke’s version of the beatitudes, Jesus meets the crowds on “a level place,” having come down from a time of prayer on the mountain. Could this be another clue as to where we might seek Jesus? In him, God was identifying with us in a radical way. Can we find meaning and direction through and with those around us? Can we identify with others who are also sometimes lost and alone?

Finally, in the Transfiguration, we get a reinforced message: “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.” If we haven’t yet figured out where and how to find meaning, direction, and hope for our lives, here it is again. Pay attention to Jesus if you want to find your way!

In the season of Epiphany—as well as in all of our days—seeking Jesus is the way to life.

The Rev. Tim Kuenzli is pastor at Epiphany Lutheran in Pickerington, Ohio, and has, fortunately, a host of congregational members and staff who help pray and plan for the seasons of worship. To seek together is always the best way!

You can read the next reflection by Phillip W. Martin Jr., a pastor of Epiphany Lutheran Church, Richmond, Virginia, on January 11, 2010.

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Faith reflections + study by Jennifer Baker-Trinity

Visit the study page for ideas for discussion and further reflection.

You know the song, “This little light of mine?” Perhaps you remember learning it in Sunday school or Vacation Bible School when you were a child. Maybe, like me, you sing it with your own children. Singing the song, we are energized to share the light of Christ “everywhere we go.” But how do we let that little light shine?

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1)

The author of chapters 56—66 of Isaiah addressed a discouraged people. Conditions were hard in Judah and money was tight. Yet amid this struggle and poverty sounds the prophetic imperative: “Arise, shine.” The words are followed by the promised coming of God’s glory. Christians have associated this passage with Epiphany, the festival marking the Magi or Wise Men following the light of the star to the infant Jesus. We believe that Christ is the light that has come into the world, a light that is the life of all people (John 1:4). It’s Christ’s light that dwells in us and allows us to arise and shine.

. . . Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy . . . Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. (Jeremiah 1:6, 9)

“But.” “If.” “If only.” The excuses come so easily. We hear the call to let our lights shine and respond: “But I don’t know enough" (my personal favorite), or “If I had more time.” “If only I had more experience, then I’d surely volunteer.” There goes the light, tucked safely under the bushel basket. We read in Matthew, “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and gives light to all in the house.” (Matthew 5:15).

We have a biblical companion for these “buts and ifs” in the prophet Jeremiah. He was called by God as a young man and believed he was not ready to be a prophet. He thought, I’m only a boy. I have nothing to say.

Age doesn’t matter
We all have these Jeremiah moments. Perhaps it’s an invitation to lead a group and you aren’t sure you have enough experience. Maybe a friend has asked for advice and you feel you have no words to offer her. Surely there are times to take stock and question whether your gifts are the right ones for the moment at hand. Most of the time, however, we could risk shining a little brighter.

Jeremiah thought his age was a hindrance to the light shining. We certainly benefit from the wisdom of our elders. The young, however, can shed light on life in ways adults may miss. (Continued on next page.)