Epiphany, one of the definitions of Epiphany is… an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure. That is certainly accurate for the Magi, but what about you? Any epiphanies for you this Holiday season?
At our home we bump into the everyday life epiphanies like…
When our children work to understand a difficult math concept and then it clicks.
That laundry and dishes are never done.
How it feels better to give and help someone, than to get something.
The Epiphany we celebrate this week is a big one, but all epiphanies don’t have to be that big. These A-HA moments we call them when we receive clarity about something that was once more unclear.
Is God still in the spiritual epiphany business?
Are we still seeking, sitting, discerning, praying to see what God might have for us?
Our gospel text this week is a familiar one…
Matthew 2:1-12 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 ‘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.’ ”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 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.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
I have some questions about this text that maybe those star gazers among us can help answer for me. Maybe I will receive an epiphany this week.
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
~ Pastor Dustin
