Epiphany Service, January 6, 2014 (full size gallery)
This day has been associated with Twelfth Night which was celebrated at Colonial times more than Christmas with festivities we associate with Christmas today. However, Twelfh Night actually the night of Jan. 5 one day before this day of Jan . 6.
Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the Magi at the Manger. In the east it is second only to Easter in importance. For us in the West, Epiphany is important because it is the “Revelation to the Gentiles” mentioned in the Gospel of Luke: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (2:32). In Scripture, Gentile means all non-Jewish peoples. The Magi, representing the Gentiles as a whole, worshiped the Lord Jesus in stark contrast to Herod the Great, the King of Judea who sought to put Him to death. This among many reasons is why St. Peter’s has traditionally presented a separate Epiphany service.
The Magi are associated with the number "3". This was a later embellishment – we don’t know how many there were or exactly or their names.
At the time of the birth of Jesus, the Magi were an ancient priestly group dwelling within the Parthian empire, a large area to the east of the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Parthia battled Rome for control of Jerusalem. These priests practiced astrology, which at the time was a hybrid of astrology and what we now call astronomy. They were adept at interpreting dreams .
Roman conquered Parthia in 63BC then control changed hands frequently. With Parthian collaboration, Jewish sovereignty was restored, and Jerusalem was fortified with a Jewish garrison. Herod had gained the throne of a rebellious buffer state which was situated between two mighty contending empires, Parthia and Persia.
At any time his own subjects might conspire in bringing the Parthians to their aid. Time was ripe for a new invasion. The situation was tense – not only politically but now a new king had been born. No wonder Herod was paranoid! Were the Magi the beginnings of a new invasion ?
Our service started in the dark of the night, as the Magi approached the manger in the dark, with a short reading from Isaiah. Tucker lit the window candles during the "The First Nowell" We wait until Epiphany to sing this one because most of the verses are about the wisemen
"And by the light of that same star
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went."
The hymn speaks of the gifts. We remember the Magi for their gifts. The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also prophetic, speaking of our Lord’s offices of king, priest, and savior. Gold speaks of His kingship; frankincense was a spice used in the priestly duties; and myrrh was an embalming ointment anticipating His death.
We had 20 people at the service at the beginning of a long cold night. Temperature were supposed to reach down to 5 degree. The readingss appointed for Epiphany are here. The bulletin is published.
We not only had the window candles but also the prominent Moravian star hanging from the gallery. This star is relatively recent in our tradition. The first Moravian star is known to have originated in the 1830s at the Moravian Boy’s School in Niesky, Germany, most probably as a geometry lesson or project.
Marilyn and Mike performed a duet of "We Three Kings" and Marilyn performed "Best and Brightest" at the postlude. Harp and voice are a wonderful combination. 
Kate Huey in the Methodist tradition wrote this about the Epiphany "The early Jewish Christians found and understood Jesus and themselves within the long, long story of God’s work of saving and healing this world, the story of Israel and the promises of God which were, so the Bible tells us, for the nations, too, for all the people of the world. The whole story held together for them, it made sense, and they located themselves within it."
Epiphany calls us to take advantage of the unexpected as the Magi did. The magi left the land they knew, following a light to a place of uncertainty, and discovered the savior of the world, and it changed, literally, the direction of their lives. And they took an unexpected road back.
The sermon was about this flexibility. Here is the summary "I have a little Christmas ornament of the wise men that I keep in my kitchen window all year that depicts the wise men on the move, traveling. They’ve seen a star, they’ve been flexible enough to break away from their routine in order to follow the star, they’ve been flexible about discerning what path to take, not just assuming that their immediate comfortable plans are the right ones, and they are traveling with gifts, extravagant, unique and thoughtful gifts that required some mental flexibility in the choosing. "