And make us restless
Till we journey on
To seek our peace in you
Song "We Three Kings of Orient are". https://youtu.be/jBwL3y-Wlms
Jesus says "I am the Way", and so we come to follow Christ.
Jesus says "I am the Truth", and so we come to dwell in the light of
that Truth.
Jesus says "I am the Light", and so we come, leaving all else
behind, to which we cling. Amen.
Song “Every star shall sing a Carol” https://youtu.be/O_XES6MwVbA
Reflection Mathew 2v1-12
The word Epiphany means "showing" and the season begins with the story of the
visit of the wise men or magi in Matthew 2v1-12. The wise men in Matthew's
story are astrologers. Here are astrologers from the East, thought to be Iran
visiting the infant Jewish Messiah because their stargazing has foretold of a very significant birth.
They embark on a long and dangerous journey to find the reason
for this large star. They believed that the star depicted the birth of the King of the Jews, and they went to the palace to find the king-because kings live in palaces.
But Herod is troubled by the arrival of the magi, the magicians from the East,
because he thinks he has a rival, another King of the Jews. He pretends that he is interested and encourages them on their way to Bethlehem, the House of Bread, to where the prophet Micah has foretold that the Messiah will come from. (It is 19 days from Iran to Bethlehem walking, 1,400 miles on Google maps).
And so they hurry off on their camels to Bethlehem and on arrival, give the infant Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and pay homage to him: Myrrh for a kings anointing, gold symbolizing costly worship and frankincense prayer. And they departed another way having been warned in a dream of impending trouble, if they went back to Herod. Dreams were important then and understood as away of God speaking to you or a situation. Do we take notice of our dreams?
These travellers were so convinced by their astrology that they, non-Jews, went to find the star and the baby born to be the Jewish Messiah. To do so they had to physically travel, mentally adjust to cross cultural differences
and religiously adopt another set of beliefs or at least some of them.
They had to journey. They had to leave behind the safety of their homes, their
occupations, and in great danger follow what they believed. They were generous
in their gifts, they gave expensive gifts to the new king. And lastly they listened
to their dreams.
Will we travel for our faith?
Will we cross cultural boundaries?
Will we give expensive gifts for our faith?
We all will undertake different journies this year. We are all unique and our
destiny is unique. Some people will journey to motherhood, Some people to
university, to health, to life alone, to another country.
Real lasting satisfaction for you and for me comes when we listen to our dreams.
Without a vision, a dream, we become as dead people. So do something this
year that fulfils your dreams and comes from the heart.
It can be like a divine spark, a hunch, a passion to right injustice or hunger that drives us like the Magi to foolishly follow the God of Truth and Wisdom. But of such stuff are dreams made of and of such stuff is the journey as Christians we embark on when we decide to truly follow this Christ, this Light in our own darkness or the darkness of our world.
The Epiphany story continues through dark days with murder. The murder of
innocent children because of jealousy. Joseph and Mary take seriously their
dreams, so they make different plans. God's plan will not be thwarted by evil.
They flee to Egypt and become refugees, eventually returning to Nazareth to
their home but living in the shadow of political opposition in Judea.
Will we listen to our dreams. Its scary stuff,
really being able to peel back the layers and listen to our hearts desires or our
dreams because it can result in changing our world to follow that dream and
others may not be sympathetic. But without this we are automatons, not really
living. The choice is ours. Be blessed by God.
Song ”Longing for Light ” https://youtu.be/kt3Qc04ulOM
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry and release the prisoner.
With thanks to (c) Janet Morley
