Epiphany is the time we see God’s glory shining in the face of Christ and we begin to see the authority that Jesus has – we read lessons where Paul has words falling all over themselves to try and express who Jesus is. All things were made by Him and for Him and all things are in Him and He upholds all things and reconciled all things and on and on. Some people glom onto this concept that God is everywhere and so we get the plaintive cry that we can worship God everywhere. That is the last refuge of the truly pagan and we are getting more and more of those among us. Christ comes to us through the Word and that Word is presented in the church. At least the Word is presented in the church that believes that it is God’s Word. There are fewer and fewer of those around too. My old professor wrote about this along time ago. This from Martin Scharlemann –
The abiding place of God’s presence is the Christian Church. One short statement from Martin Luther makes this point rather succinctly. Said he: “Of course, God is present everywhere. He is to be found throughout the universe. He is in the water; but one does not drown himself to find Him. God is in the rope, but one does not hang himself to discover Him. He is present for us in the Word.”
