Happy New Year! Meeting this week at church 11 am Sunday for a worship service and 5:30-7 Tuesday for Food Pantry. This week’s message is about “Epiphany” i.e. “Hey, I get it!”
Call to Worship: Isaiah 60:1-6
“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the hip.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.
6 Herds of camels will cover your land,
young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
Opening, Invitation, and Prayer Concerns; Father in Heaven, today we thank you for the glory that is your and that we get to share in that glory for eternity. Lord today we pray that you accept our offering of our very selves and ask that you teach us how to give of ourselves gracefully to others.
Amen!
Message Reading; Mathew 2:1-12
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Message: “Hey, I get it!” (Epiphany)
Today, I am excited to talk about the big idea that has been designed by God, saved by the Lord, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, and resurrected each time we invite the Lord into our hearts. That idea is an understanding that our Lord God, creator of all that is good and wholesome, wants a relationship with each and every one of His creation. This great realization that God has actually been among us and whose Spirit remains with us, is also known as Epiphany. A fancy way of saying; “Hey, I get it!”
Traditionally, Epiphany has been observed in the Church on 6 January each year to commemorate the visitation of the three wise men, magi, kings, to the stable where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were. They presented gifts for the new born King, Jesus! Celebrating that the Jewish Messiah was and is accessible to all people, even you in a Gentile world. (Just look at the three Wise Men!) That David when he gave insight into the future workings and sacrifices of the Lord was correct in his foretelling in Psalm 22:25-27 that from a little baby a new reality would dawn:
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eatand be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
David’s words about what our Lord will do in the future becomes even more of a hallmark for us as we start to move towards Easter / Passover in the months to come. But for now, we reflect on the reality as it sets in that; you, me, and all of humanity have been given an incredible gift that conveys us to an eternity of infinity. Salvation in God!
It is important for us to keep in mind as we ponder all the prophesy, and happenings being described in today’s readings, that when these things are taking place, there is no such thing as a Christian Church as we understand it. There are people of God following the promptings of His Holy Spirit.
Isaiah, the Prophet quoted by the Lord in the Gospels more than any other, will reflect that there will be a time when people from other lands would be led to travel far distances and:
will come,
bearing gold and incense
and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
And we know from today’s Message reading in Matthew that it indeed actually took place hundreds of years later. It is my contention today that when we invite the Lord into our hearts and allow the Lord to transform us, we get to experience the words of Isaiah all over again. It’s as if there is a resurrection of the sentiment of Isaiah 60:1-3 all over again within us:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
The light of our dawn, is the same light that we have been talking about for weeks now. It is the salvation that kings and leaders, mothers and fathers, theologians and teachers, prisoners and innocent children have been drawn to for millennia now. Many without even realizing it. The light of God, Christ, their Holy Spirit, and the light of all mankind shines through in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
This is part of that great Epiphany, the “Hey I get it” moment, when we begin to see that maybe the words of Isaiah resonate not just back in the time of the Nativity with the Baby Jesus, as a cool prophesy, but in the here and now (with the spiritually infant us in the dawn of our Faithwalks). Every time we invite or re-invite Him in to reside within our Tabernacle. Our dawn because we are talking about eternity and not some random number of years through to retirement with a watch. You are much more important that that!
And so, on this first Sunday of 2021, I hope that as Epiphanies, “great ideas of understanding” seem to come in groups or families of thoughts; that you might be experiencing a family of ideas of your own. Beginning with the greatest of understandings, that God wants to be a part of your life because He has a plan for you. And that when we begin to understand who God is and what we are not (our place in the scheme of things); praising, glorifying, and magnifying His Holy and Precious Name, becomes natural and the source of all Epiphanies, or great understandings.
Even Solomon in all of his perceived arrogance, was led by God to foretell the workings of the Son of real royalty in Psalm 72: 1-6, 11-14;
1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
5 May he endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth…
and
…11 May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
Whether Solomon truly understood his own epiphany (the real significance of his own words), God is able to utilize anyone and their abilities to further His kingdom and His eternal plans (with even a guy who thinks he is the smartest and wises man in the room). Or uses three Maji who get it and want to serve and praise, over Herod who only wants power. In short, God’s will be done, and He will be recognized as sovereign above all in due time.
Leading me back to my hopes for you on this Epiphany Sunday. As you reflect on how scripture shows us that regardless of who you are, what you are, and where you come from, all of creation will praise our Lord, in the past, future, and present. This is due to Who God is and what we are not, and because of His greatness, He cares for us in the here and now.
That if you are just beginning to see that this force of Holiness at work in your life is God at work. Your God is the God of all creation and the author of the good in your life. That for some reason He is not like the selfishness of the age, or the feeder of irrational fears that cause anarchy in this time of uncertainty. Perhaps God has been speaking directly to you, and it’s starting to register as that big new idea in your life, your own Epiphany, that:
- We accept God’s free gift of grace by
- Taking a breath and reflect
- Thank Him!
- Own the miracle that is you!
- You begin to build on this new realization by deeper;
- Prayer
- Bible study
- Relationships
- Share God’s good news for fallen man
- Of life’s miracles
- Of really living the miracles of life
- Passing on from glitz to grace
After catching your breath, it all begins with thanks for God giving us the ability to grasp this gift to begin with. We have it within us to really own our lives by opening and then giving ourselves to a God that only wants the best for us and our loved ones. When we lose ourselves in Him who created us, we finally find ownership in the very thing we have been searching for all along.
It’s amazing to me that King Herod could see the implications of a coming Messiah. But like so many, Herod could only see through the prism (prison) of his own selfishness, giving Herod only a peripheral view of God. Unlike three Wise men who may not have even been believers like Mary and Joseph, are open to the Spirit of the Lord, and are actively responding. Living lives that we are talking about thousands of years later.
You see the gods I was feeding in my youth; stuff. Things like, lusts, money, junk that rusts, cloths that wither, behaviors that dithers, and rewards that have no meaning. Hi fidelity music with my low fidelity aircraft mechanic’s ears, VHS tapes and CDs, by the roomful, books, and books, and books, and more stuff! Looking at people as objects instead of the living breathing walking talking miracles that God has made them. All the above are just diversions from focusing on a real relationship and really living with, in, and for our Lord.
Once we have unloaded the weight we have been carrying, carrying all our lives, everything changes from the old days. Trying to get and then hold onto things and yes even people who we manipulate on autopilot. Once I let go of that manipulation urge in my life, I get to actually begin to own the life God is giving me because I have started to show God, I actually am starting to know what to do with what He has so generously given.
That’s when we are reading to start building something that will last, beyond my next tantrum, my next setback. Our future misunderstandings, and disappointments that happen in life.
Now we are ready to begin to build on this new realization by a deeper Prayer life that is focused on what God is telling me and not what I am telling god. It is incredible what I can actually hear from the promptings of the Spirit, when its not all about me, my wants, my dreams, and my needs. Those will come later, they always do!
With a growing, developing, and maturing prayer life, I am also profiting more and more from Bible study. Not cherry picking pre-formed answers to win at my own game of apologetics. You know arguments couched in bible language designed to stifle all other ideas and discussions. No, now we are ready to hear what God has to say in scripture to us in the here and now, understanding that our understanding in Him, grows each time we prayerfully return to His word for maturity, leadership, and growth.
As our spiritual life begins to grow, our relationships become more robust and vibrant because we are learning that its not all about us. I no longer am thinking about how to get my way, but about what you might need. What a difference this makes in our lives. And it just keeps getting better with practice.
And instead of just looking to please my own little group of friends, I am now looking outward at a world; sick, cold of caring, and bereaved of compassion. Dark in outlook and selfish by nature, the world is a mess. Almost as bad as the mess I have made of my own life in times past.
With the world suffering and hurting as it is, we might ask ourselves, why a caring God would allow this nonsense to continue? Well, here is my thought, again, its my thought. You have the burden of thinking and deciding for yourselves, but I believe God has not willed this place to be a mess, and that is why you have been placed here to make it a better reality for all concerned working in partnership with God and His extended family.
So, next on our Epiphany to good life plan for growth is our commitment to share God’s good news of love and grace with the people He places in our lives. To share with others, our growing understanding of life’s miracles. What happens when we look outward instead of selfishly inward feeding our beast of burden, our egos.
This truly is really living the miracles of life, by finding others to share this blessing with for an eternity. Finally, we are no longer interested in the things of the world that do not satisfy, but as we pass on the glitz for a permanent lightshow of grace, the celestial lightbulb begins to brighten. That’s when I am beginning to think; Hey, I get it. An Epiphany of ideas leading into eternity. In this new year of 2021. Amen!
Benediction is based on; Romans 5:1-4
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.