If you observe liturgical seasons, you likely know that we are in the Season of Epiphany, which began on January 6th, the day in which we commemorate the arrival of the magi from the East. It is the season in which we focus on the ways in which Christ is manifest in the world.
I started thinking about this during a recent service. We gathered with the hymn, Once in royal David’s city before moving on to the bidding prayer. For some reason, one word in the fourth verse of the hymn caught my attention. That word was pattern, as in “For he is our lifelong pattern.” And then, just a few short minutes later, I read this:
And because he particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and helpless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as those who do not know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was struck by how much good we can do when we see Jesus not just as the Christ to be worshiped in our prayers and in our church services, but as the one whose earthly life should be the one after which we pattern our own lives, each and every day. Can you imagine how different the world would be if all people in a position to help in any way remembered Jesus’ particular love for those in any kind of need? And, lest you think this is just a liberal-leaning priest speaking, there is a decades old body of theology of Jesus’ “preferential option for the poor” that is a foundational principle in liberation theology. This theology did not spring out of thin air but, rather, from a deep reading of the Gospels in which Jesus’ radical love and hospitality were repeatedly extended to the poor and marginalized, while those with the resources of wealth, power, privilege, and authority were pretty directly reminded of their obligation to love their neighbor by using those assets for the good of those in need.
So, what does it mean to understand Christ as manifest in the world? And what does it mean specifically for us as we live our faith in 2025?
The second question is the easiest of the two to answer, and, if answered well, leads us to the answer to the first question. We followers of Jesus are to fashion our lives after his earthly life, which means living the commandment to love one another as we have been loved in ways that make a real difference to real people in our communities and beyond. In doing that, we show others what being loved by Jesus can do to make the world a kinder, gentler place in which all people have what they need to thrive, and no one feels entitled to have so much that there isn’t enough for others.
The manifestation of Christ in the world does not consider the accumulation of wealth and power as the ultimate success. We will be truly successful when the world’s resources are not considered to be the property of any person or group to be used to for their own benefit or the benefit of a select few, but when those who have the drive, skills, and connections to build wealth actively work to ensure that the world’s resources are used to ensure that all people have what they need to thrive and no one lacks shelter, food, education, or safety. We will be a beacon of the manifestation of Christ in the world when all people – no exceptions – are valued as beloved of God, and their lives and work are never a means to a better end for some other people.