January 4, 2023

Beloved in Christ:

On Epiphany Sunday, 2020, I climbed a tall ladder and wrote some numbers and letters over the door that leads from the nave into the ambulatory at Calvary, as the congregation participated with me in the Chalking of the Door liturgy. Ever since then, the letters “C,” “M,” and “B” have been over that door, but the dates have changed… 2020, 2021, 2022, and now finally, we can gather together for 2023.

Because that liturgy took place at one service a few lifetimes ago, someone asks me almost every Sunday about those chalk markings. Chalking The Door is a ritual that has come down through the ages – perhaps finding its roots in the Passover of the Lord, when the Hebrews in Egypt marked their doors according to God’s commandment, for their own safety. In our time, it is traditionally done around Epiphany, and the three initials represent the mythological names of the three Magi who traveled for many weeks to find the child Messiah, Jesus, in his bed after being led there by a star.

Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar are the names that have become attached to these wandering Magi, although no where does Matthew say their names, or that there were three men. This is a wonderful story that we tell to help understand the miracle of Christ’s birth and the way in which God’s entering into history through a baby became part of God’s people’s story that has been told for thousands of years. The Magi found the child and paid him homage, gave him gifts, and then returned to their homes to start telling this wonderful story.
Today, the Chalking of the Door is not a ritual that blesses the year ahead; it is a prayer of blessing, to welcome the strangers into our homes, or church – our space. A prayer that all who enter Calvary are blessed by God in whatever they are seeking. As the Magi were strangers in a strange land and were welcomed into the holy space created by Mary, Joseph and Jesus, we are called by God at Calvary to welcome all who come through our doors, and pray wholehearted welcome, blessings, and healing for them and for us, for the next year.

I hope you will come to church this Epiphany Sunday for the Chalking of the Door service at 10:30. All are welcome through our doors.

In gratitude,

Beth+