Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road
Reflection On fire with passion Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, preached for the Feast of Epiphany in Washington D.C. on Thursday morning, January 6th. Here are a few of Curry’s words I have paraphrased. “ It never occurred to me… that it would be necessary to stand up before the people of God and insist we must reclaim epiphany. What we saw a year ago on January 6th at the United States Capitol was not about light. This day, Epiphany, is about light, the light shining in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. …. because we are better than that. We who claim to be followers of Jesus must reclaim Epiphany and bear witness to the light.”
Twenty five hundred years ago the prophets wrote in the present tense. “Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” “Your light has come….” The light, life and love of God lives at the core of our being and this light, life and love of God is meant to flow out of us, to be given away extravagantly for the benefit of others. We are meant to be epiphanies.
Epiphany is about allowing the light, life and love of God already present in the heart of each of us to shine into the world. As people of God we are imbued with these precious gifts. But we are not meant to hoard or hold onto them. We are meant to be epiphanies shining these gifts into world. I believe this is how we respond to Curry’s call to reclaim epiphany; emulate the wise men by consciously choosing to go out of our way (even when it means encountering strangers) to offer the gifts of God’s light, life and love to the world.
Each one of us must decide how we will engage the darkness. Do we choose to adopt the mindset of the wise men, go out of our way and deliver our gifts of light, life and love to the world or do we defer to the dark ways of King Herod, living in fear and scheming to secure our wealth and power even when it means the killing of innocents? What do you choose?
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