{"id":607678,"date":"2021-12-03T20:19:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T01:19:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-01T19:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:02:22","slug":"shepherds-and-flocks-the-feast-of-the-epiphany-january-6-2022","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/shepherds-and-flocks-the-feast-of-the-epiphany-january-6-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Shepherds and Flocks, Feast of the Epiphany \u2013 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7,10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-yellow-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-yellow-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=DFMS9469372942&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-yellow-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-yellow-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/NEW-Cover-FB-2-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-257680\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let me share with you a bit of parable: in spite of what the Christmas pageant might have us believe, and with great respect and love for pageant directors everywhere: shepherds aren\u2019t always with their flocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once in a while, they get a day off too. A chance to go into town, get a pint at the pub or a hot meal perhaps. When they get there, they\u2019re dirty; they smell bad \u2013 like the animal dung that clings to their feet. Some say they were raised in a barn, and maybe they were. They\u2019re poor; they\u2019re uneducated; some might have a criminal record \u2013 most of them weren\u2019t born here, though the animals don\u2019t seem to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the good people of Bethlehem do. Shepherds just aren\u2019t the type of people decent folk would have anything nice to say to. So when they come to town, they\u2019re not anyone we invite into our homes, or make a room for in an inn. Instead, we might tell them they can go sleep in the barn, where we can ignore them, and keep them invisible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I picture one such shepherd, late in the morning, as he prepares to return to his flocks, he\u2019s slowly gathering his few belongings in the stable where he spent the night,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To him, this stable\u2019s a special place. A palace, really, by his standards, where he can spend a night on a pile of hay, instead of the hard ground; a place with a bit of roof overhead, instead of the stars \u2013 or this time of year, rain. To him, this stable is a place of comfort, and even if the town folk won\u2019t speak to him, it\u2019s a place where he can occasionally hear a human voice instead of just sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s been coming here on his time off for almost two years now. Ever since that night, when this being had come and stood before him and his mates \u2013 they would swear it was an angel \u2013 telling them, \u201cDo not be afraid; for see \u2013 I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah.\u201d The angel said to them, \u201cGo, find this child, wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.\u201d So together they figured the sheep will be okay; they\u2019d better check this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s been coming to this stable ever since. It\u2019s where he can breathe a little easier: away from the sheep and the wolves that hunt them. Away from those people who won\u2019t meet his eye, or return his \u201cgood morning\u201d when he walks down the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s his place of peace, even if to the people of this tiny town, it\u2019s just a stable, and he\u2019s invisible to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s why he is so surprised this morning. He hasn\u2019t seen them here before. As they park their camels, and give them a bit of water and feed, he looks at them with caution. They\u2019re from away. Their clothes have a layer of dust from their journey, but it\u2019s plain they are expensive. They\u2019re not wearing anything that signifies class or rank, but from the look of them he knows: they\u2019re of a station in life far above his own. Smart guys, he figures. Maybe they\u2019ll just go into the inn and leave him be. But then, they stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They speak to him. They see him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of them wearily asks, as if for the hundredth time: \u201cWhere is the child who has been born king of the Jews? Your king in Jerusalem said we\u2019d find him here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This shepherd thinks to himself, \u201cWell, not my king,\u201d though he wouldn\u2019t dare say that aloud. Still, when you spend your life tending flocks, you get a knack for reading a look, a sense of intuition. Looking into the eyes of the one asking him this question, his gut tells him this isn\u2019t bad a guy. He\u2019s just a traveler with a purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But to be safe, he asks him, \u201cWhere you from?\u201d And the stranger\u2019s only reply is, \u201cEast of here, we\u2019re far from home.\u201d Maybe this visitor is trying to be careful too. As if he, too, needs to be cautious in this foreign land, and hide something, or someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shepherd considers leaving this conversation where it is, At this point he could easily be getting himself into trouble. But hey, the angel told him, \u201cDo not be afraid.\u201d So, taking a leap of faith, he asks: \u201cDo you mean that little kid we were told is the Messiah?\u201d When they stop in their tracks, he figures in for a penny, in for a pound. He goes on, \u201cYeah, I saw him. I was with my flock when we saw angels \u2013 it\u2019s true \u2013 angels! They told us to come here, so we did. We saw him. I remember. He was just a tiny thing, but the angels said he\u2019s the Messiah. That was a couple years ago, but I believe those angels were right; I do.\u201d It\u2019s more than he\u2019s ever said to the people in this town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the travelers just. Stare. At. Him. For what seems like forever, until one says, \u201cYes, that\u2019s him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And another says, \u201cThe king in Jerusalem said he was born here, so we thought we\u2019d better check here first. \u201cWe have come to pay him homage. We want to bring him gifts. Together these travelers say, \u201cThis is wonderful news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And now it\u2019s the shepherd\u2019s turn to stare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He can\u2019t remember ever saying anything anyone would consider wonderful news. Feeling now a bit safer, he goes on, \u201cWell, he was born here, but he and his folks were only here for the counting, they\u2019ve gone back home. They were from Nazareth. I\u2019m headed back to my sheep. It\u2019s on the way, I can show you how to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat would be awfully good of you, shepherd,\u201d says the traveler. \u201cWe\u2019re following a star, but it\u2019ll be good to go with someone who has seen him. You do know where to find him, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He probably does, but do we? That\u2019s the question before us today \u2013 where do we find Jesus? How do you suppose we would answer that magi\u2019s question?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This morning we move from the season of Christmas, the moment God takes on human flesh and form and lives among us \u2013 into the season of Epiphany. And while Christmas may be a hard act to follow, in a very real sense, everything about our faith is a celebration of Epiphany. Epiphany literally means \u201crevealing;\u201d it\u2019s about taking away the veil that covers something. Epiphany is about unveiling what Luke promises us: that \u201call flesh shall see the salvation of God\u201d; and what Isaiah foretold, that: \u201cthe glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Epiphany is our time to explore how Christ is revealed to us. Each of our Epiphany stories start with this one last trip through Bethlehem, but they hardly end there. For epiphanies continue through our own experiences of where we find Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, in the words of the theologian and educator Howard Thurman, we find there is more to life than we have previously imagined. Angels hide in every nook and cranny, magi masquerade as everyday people, and shepherds wear the garments of day laborers. The Good News of the Gospel is this: Christ is revealed to us by both shepherds and kings, by people of all stripes and walks of life. So that when we seek out Jesus, we find him not only with those around our dinner table, or with whom we sit next to in church, but also in the invisible ones who mow our lawns, who shovel our snow, who bag our groceries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And oh, my sisters and brothers, when \u2013 not if \u2013 God gives us this kind of opportunity, then we can never again take anyone for granted. Regardless of whether they\u2019re rich or poor, whether they look like us and talk like us, whether they\u2019re Democrat or Republican, God gives us the chance to see Christ in everyone we meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if this really is how God acts, what choice do we have but to consider every human being as a sign of holy love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now that\u2019s a game-changer: that\u2019s an Epiphany. Thanks be to God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. Geoffrey Smith<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-c7d06c31-70e6-49a5-9ffd-9d17a9b1c280\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Sermon-Epiphany-English-1.docx\">Word \u2013 Feast of the Epiphany Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Sermon-Epiphany-English-1.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-c7d06c31-70e6-49a5-9ffd-9d17a9b1c280\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-05916485-3852-4091-a1c0-f7beec8240fb\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Sermon-Epiphany-English-1.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Feast of the Epiphany Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Sermon-Epiphany-English-1.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-05916485-3852-4091-a1c0-f7beec8240fb\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7,10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 Let me share with you a bit of parable: in spite of what the Christmas pageant might have us believe, and with great respect and love for pageant directors everywhere: shepherds aren\u2019t always with their flocks. Once in a while, they get a day off too&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,43,52,3],"tags":[263],"class_list":["post-607678","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epiphany","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-feast-of-the-epiphany"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":32,"label":"Epiphany"},{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":263,"label":"Feast of the Epiphany"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/607678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/607678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3476352,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/607678\/revisions\/3476352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}