The Sundays after Epiphany offer us a fascinating journey through the different ways God reveals himself. It begins at the Epiphany, when the wise men, guided by a star, discovering the young Jesus—a revelation with worldwide ramification. Fast forward, and we witness Jesus’ baptism, a powerful moment when the heavens open, and God declares, “This is my Son!” Revelation continues with Jesus performing miracles, teaching, and calling disciples. And just when we think we’ve seen it all, there’s the Transfiguration of our Lord—Peter, James, and John witnessing Jesus in dazzling glory.
All this unfolding revelation is an invitation to recognize God’s presence in unexpected moments, to follow the light guiding us, and to let the transformative power of Jesus impact our lives. As we navigate our daily journey, may we discover the divine in the ordinary and experience the difference God’s presence in the world, in our own lives makes for us. Let’s embark on this journey with open hearts, ready to witness God’s ongoing revelation, just as those wise men and disciples did so many years ago, today, tomorrow, and every day.
Let us pray. May only God’s Word be spoken and may only God’s Word be heard; in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Archimedes was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily, who lived about 250 years before Christ. Legend has it that Archimedes discovered something so mind-blowing that he couldn’t contain his excitement. I know what you’re thinking. It’s his invention of the compound pulley, but no. Not that. Well, then, it has to be the screw pump, which even bear his name—Archimedes Screw, a screw inside a hollow pipe, that when turned can be used for raising water from below to a higher level, often used especially for filling irrigation ditches. But no. Not that. Archimedes had discovered something that excited far more than any of that.
It all happened one day while he was taking a bath. The king had asked him to figure out how to tell if gold was pure or if it had been mixed with other metals. He couldn’t just weigh it, so he was stumped. But that day, as Archimedes dipped into the tub, he noticed the water level rising. Eureka! The light bulb went off in his head. He realized that the water displaced in the tub was equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged, and that was related to the density of different things, despite their size or weight. He’d found the answer. Eureka!
Now, this wasn’t just about some fancy science principle; it was more like Archimedes cracking a secret code about measuring stuff. So thrilled by his eureka moment, he couldn’t keep it to himself. Apparently, Archimedes was so overcome with his discovery, that he jumped out of the bath, stark naked, and sprinted through the streets of Syracuse, shouting “Eureka! Eureka!” to share the revelation that changed how we measure things. And that, folks, is how a bathtub became gave rise to that famous expression, “Eureka!”
Today, we’re diving into a Biblical eureka moment. But first, a word…about this word, eureka. Bare with me. I’m a bit of a word nerd, but this word is great. Both Archimedes back in the bathtub and St. John in the gospel today use this word. In fact, in today’s gospel, it comes up five times, in John 1:41, 43, and 45. This word, eureka, is directly from the Ancient Greek, and it’s translated for us today in the gospel text as “finds.” This isn’t a fantastic translation, though. It doesn’t convey the depth of the word, the finer nuance. The Ancient Greeks used this word, Archimedes used this word for an unexpected find, something surprising. Like finding money in your coat pocket in the fall after you’d left it there last spring—a fortuitous, surprising, happy discovery! It is the aspect of “unexpectedness” or “surprise” that isn’t translated well by our word “finds” today.
We tend to think that we “find” something after “intentional searching.” We play “hide and seek.” We find after seeking, after looking, searching. We can talk about “finding” God all we want, yet if God wanted to hide from us, we couldn’t find him. We can only “find” God if and when God wants to reveal himself to us.
Nonetheless, it’s common to talk about “finding Jesus” in our lives, as if it’s a treasure hunt. Well-meaning people will ask you, “Have you found Jesus?” Sometimes in those moments, I want to respond, “Oh, no! I didn’t know he was lost!” At any rate, let’s rethink that. It’s more accurate to say God finds us. Our faith isn’t a game of hide and seek with God. He takes the initiative, revealing himself to us, opening our eyes to see him in unexpected places, and telling us to come along with him and see what good is in store. God loves surprises. He reveals himself in the everyday moments—a kind stranger, a breathtaking sunset, or the warmth of a friend’s hug. Just like Archimedes’ revelation wasn’t something he found as he laboriously sought, God’s presence often shows up unexpectedly. These eureka moments are glimpses of God, calling us to recognize his presence in our lives.
Imagine the skeptical Nathanael questioning if anything good could come from Nazareth. Jesus found him and revealed something greater. Sometimes, like Nathanael, we doubt God’s presence in unexpected corners of life. God meets us there, saying, “Come and see.” Jesus calls us to see beyond preconceived notions, opening our eyes to unexpected goodness in unlikely places. God calls us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, to expect the unexpected. Not to find God, but to be found by God…not to seek, but to allow ourselves to be sought. I’ve often said, and I’ve experienced for myself, when I try to orchestrate plans for myself, to get myself out of an impending difficult situation, my plans fall apart; yet, when I’ve opened myself up to things I’ve discounted, or to avenues I didn’t expect, something far greater, something better than I could’ve expected comes about. That’s God demonstrating his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts higher than ours. That’s allowing ourselves to be found by God, not seeking out our own agendas but calling them God’s plans.
Take the ultimate eureka moment—the cross, the most surprising place where God’s love is revealed. Popular wisdom may see it as foolishness, but God’s wisdom shines through. “For God’s foolishness,” writes St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, “is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” The cross seems like utter absurdity to those hellbent on their own way, but for those on the way of life it makes perfect sense—we’ve lived it. It’s the way God works, and most powerfully to boot. On the cross, we find the unexpected: love overcoming darkness, grace replacing judgment, and redemption in the midst of suffering. It’s where God’s love conquers all expectations—and it’s done all for us, right in front of our eyes, yet not where we’d look for it.
Our relationship with God is filled with eureka moments—times when God breaks into our lives unexpectedly. Just as Archimedes discovered the answer to a difficult physics conundrum in something as mundane as bathwater, we discover God’s extraordinary love in ordinary moments. What’s at stake for us isn’t so much to go looking for these moments, but to see God’s surprises when they show up right in front of us, and respond to his invitation, “Come and see.”
That’s our challenge as Christians, we who would be disciples of Jesus. Pay attention to the unexpected. Keep your eyes peeled for God in places you wouldn’t normally think to see him. Share your eureka moments with others—just maybe don’t run naked down Fourth Street, though! Through us, in, with, and through the unexpected love of Jesus, God will and does create a world marked and transformed by his surprising presence. When God is among us, things change—change for the good. Yet we must open our eyes, we must “come and see” where that’s happening. It’s not about finding Jesus; it’s about recognizing how he finds us each and every day already. It’s about those moments when we can cry, “Eureka! Jesus found me!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev'd Daniel W. Spigelmyer, Jr. 