Today begins the season of Epiphany, when we commemorate the various ways Christ’s divinity was made manifest to the world. Through the Magi, God revealed Christ’s nature to all people, Jew and Gentile alike. At Christ’s baptism, God revealed Christ’s sonship and the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry on earth. At Jesus’s first miracle in Cana, Christ revealed his glory and his power to provide.
Epiphany is a season of revelation and manifestation, and as Christians living in the world today we, too, have a role to play. As the Body of Christ, we live as the physical manifestation of God’s presence on earth — the very hands, feet, and heart of Jesus himself. We choose every day, in our actions and inaction, in our words and in our silence, to reveal to the world around us something about the nature of what and in whom we believe. Our choices result not only in revelation but also in manifestation, molding and shaping the bricks we will use as we attempt to build God’s kingdom on earth.
Some Christians are molding bricks to build up kingdoms of power, privilege, and oppression. These Christians are loud. They boast of their ambition and the beauty of their bricks. Their foundations are laid according to the strictest rules and regulations. The buildings they construct for themselves are opulently adorned with gold finishes and flourishes, crafted from the stolen labor and resources of the city’s majority, who live in ramshackle dwellings. The city they build tells a story of conquest, capture, and control.
Other Christians are shortchanging the molding process, using bricks still too soft for any building purpose. They make many bricks, build many buildings, and their numbers are strong. Yet, their city lacks any strong foundations. The buildings they construct will sway with the breeze, bend, and buckle under pressure. The story of their city will be consumed into the story of those who desire power and conquest.
Another group of Christians are not participating in the molding process at all. They are producing no bricks. They are building no foundations. Their city will never come into shape. They sit distracted in awe (perhaps jealously) of the riches of the loud and powerful Christians and the deceptive plenty of the numbers-driven Christians. Their city tells a story of wishy washy indifference and a lack of care. Like those laying softened, half-formed bricks, they too will be consumed into the story of those who desire power and conquest.
And, yet, there remains a steadfast group of Christians working largely unseen and unnoticed. The bricks they mold are building cities of care and community. They work with intention and humility, laying strong foundations capable of supporting a city full of humble buildings designed for all. The city they manifest in the world tells a story of patience, providence, and protection. In this city, prayer replaces power, discipleship replaces dictates, and compassion replaces conquest.
We get to decide what kind of work we will go about in this world. We get to choose the story of God our actions will reveal to the world. Our actions will make manifest God’s kingdom on earth or something entirely unlike it. Epiphanytide reminds us that while God alone is the builder, God calls us into active involvement and participation in God’s mission on earth. How we respond — what kind of bricks we’ll mold for the building of this city — is entirely up to us.
