Epiphany and Infamy

The January 6 Dilemma

How do we remember January 6?

Christian people remember the Epiphany. The Orthodox tradition remembers the Baptism of Our Lord. That’s why the Tarpon Springs boys dove for the cross in Spring Bayou today, just the way they’ve been doing it for 120 years.

The Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions remember “We Three Kings” who came “from the East” to find the Christ child. When they found the child, “They were filled with great joy.” (Matthew 2:1-12)

But Matthew remembers a darker side to that story. “Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.”

Along with the joy of the Epiphany, Matthew remembers the infamy of Herod, the insecure, narcissistic tyrant in Jerusalem. He was willing to do anything to secure his power and protect his wealth including his slaughter of the boys in Bethlehem. It is “a day that lives in infamy” in the gospels. Why did the early Christians keep that story in the gospels, anyway?

Here’s how I tried to answer that question in Everyday Epiphanies.

I believe Matthew’s gospel included the Bethlehem massacre as a bold declaration that the Epiphany includes the revelation of the extraordinary presence of Christ in the ordinary places of human suffering, grief, injustice and pain. Perhaps the early church preserved this ghastly account to affirm that the glory of God in Christ is uncovered unexpectedly beneath, behind, and within the darkness of our pain and loss.

The gospel forces us to remember both the Epiphany and the infamy because both are still with us.

“The unsettling truth is that much of our world is still Herod’s world. The story of the massacre in Bethlehem is our story. We are tempted to turn away from the headlines to hide away in a comfortable cocoon of personal piety that focuses on finding our ‘best life’ or on getting ready to go to heaven. We try to close our eyes to the injustice and suffering around us along with our unintentional participation in it until some undesired epiphany forces us to see what we would prefer not to see.” (p.36)

We Remember Our Infamy

In spite of the attempts to hide the facts of history, on January 6 we remember the infamy of the Trump-inspired insurrection that attempted to overthrow an election. Diana Butler Bass offered an insightful commentary on the anniversary today.

Five years later, the words I wrote in 2021 have been proven to be tragically correct.

The Capitol, with all its symbolism, grandeur, and complicated history bears architectural witness to our highest values and noblest ideals, even when we fail to live up to them. It represents the best of who we have been and who we might yet become.

The rioters who swaggered through the Rotunda replaced reverence for the Capitol and respect for our democracy with self-absorbed arrogance ginned up by a sinister network of groundless conspiracy theories and directly inspired by the relentless dishonesty of the President and his enablers … Removing Trump from the White House will be easier than removing the stain of Trumpism from our life together and restoring a commitment to democracy and the common good.

On this day when we live in the tension of the light of Epiphany and the darkness of infamy, may God help us walk in the light. The collect for the remembrance of the “Holy Innocents” invites us to pray:

We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Grace and peace,

Jim