1.
Good
Morning. Let’s pray. O Lord may the words of my mouth and the
meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2.
Today
is Epiphany Sunday. It marks the end of
the 12 days of Christmas. All of our
Christmas lights and decorations should be taken down and stored away. The
Season of Christmas has officially come to an end with the day of Epiphany.
In some liturgical
traditions, it’s the central celebration of Christmas. It commemorates not only
the birth of Christ and the visit of the Magi, but also his baptism in the
Jordan and the manifestation of his glory at the wedding feast of Cana.
For us and for most of
the Western Church the focus is on the visit of the Magi and the implications
of that visit for the revelation of God to all the peoples of the earth.
Truly it’s the Sunday when we celebrate the
fact that Christ came not only to save Jews but also to save all humanity!
As I read today’s readings I was reminded
that the coming of Christ was anticipated for many many centuries and even then
there was a sense that this coming Savior was coming to save the entire
world. The King of the Jewish nation was
coming to reclaim the Kingdom of the entire earth.
In our Old Testament Reading in the 60th
chapter of Isaiah we are given glorious images of the coming of a cosmological
king for whom the whole earth awaits in awe and wonder. Listen to this readings closing lines:
Is. 60:5
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.
These few lines depict the King
whose heart throbs and swells with joy as the world – all of creation – come to
Him with their arms filled with praises and offerings.
The Apostle Matthew and the writer
of our Gospel reading for today depicts this historical happening when Magi
came from the east to find this King whose arrival was signaled by the very
alignment of the Stars.
Matt. 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem
village, Judah territory—this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars
called Magi arrived in Jerusalem from the East. 2 They asked around,
“Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed
a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to
worship him.”
By the way, we really don’t know much about
these wise men other than they came from the east probably on camels and that
they were star-gazers or astrologers.
They probably would have
thought that the birth of those destined to be great figures in the world would
be signaled by the stars. They really believed that stars influenced and
controlled the destiny of human beings.
Little did they know that the one they had come to see was Himself in
charge of those very stars!
What I find so
fascinating is that these wise men were true to their name – they were wise –
wise enough to look with open eyes and open hearts for a sign – the portent of
something great happening or about to happen.
These wise men – the
unbelieving Gentiles - were looking for God’s revelations! They were looking at the tablet upon which
God wrote – the works of His hands – His creation.
St. Paul also a wise man
wrote about what he saw in our Epistle reading for today:
Eph. 3:2 I take it that you’re familiar with
the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody. 3 I got the
inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief. 5
None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear
by God’s Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. 6
The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard
of him all their lives (what I’ve been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on
the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises
in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across
the board.
And so today we see God
revealing the arrival of Jesus Christ to all of humankind! Through stars and angels and ultimately
through the words and miracles of the very one He had sent – Jesus Christ – the
Lord and Savior of the world!
Now reflect with me upon what it means that
Jesus is the Lord and Savior of the entire world.
If Jesus were only to be the God of the
Jews then there is ample room for more gods:
·
the
ancient Hindu God like Brahma, and Krishna and Rama and Shiva;
·
the ancient
Norse gods like Thor and Modgud;
·
the Greek
gods and goddesses like Zeus and Hades and Athena:
·
What
about the Mayan God’s of Central and South America like Hunab Ku and Cizin;
·
Let’s not
forget about the gods of the ancient Egypt like Isis and Aten and Amun.
·
What
about the totemic God’s of the North American Indians and those of the
Australian Aborigines?
The list of other god’s goes on and on and
on.
But today we’re reminded that at one point
in the history of this universe all of creation declared the birth of the King
of Kings and the Lord of all Lord – Jesus Christ. Here are just a few of His Titles:
·
the
Prince of Peace
·
the Son
of Man
·
Beloved
Son of God
·
Co-Creator
with God the Father of all Creation
·
Author
and Finisher of our faith
·
Captain
of our salvation
·
Cornerstone
·
Counselor
·
Holy One
of Israel
·
King of
Glory
·
King of
Kings
·
Lord of
Lords
·
King of
Righteousness
·
Light of
the World
·
Lord and
Savior
·
Morningstar
·
Potentate
·
Power of
God
·
Prince of
Life
·
Sun of
righteousness
·
Wisdom of
God
·
The Way,
the Truth and the Life
·
The Vine
·
The
Wisdom of God
The one name Jesus
Christ Himself preferred and used most often to speak of Himself was “The Son
of Man.”
He was and is and will
always be Emmanual – God with us – God for us!
God for all of us!
Now if that is the
truth – the fundamental reality of all realities - and not just the hubris or
triumphalism of some fist century Jewish zealots then it follows that IT IS
WHAT IT IS! And the role of His creation is to bow down and worship Him.
The only question
remaining is this will humanity become wise like those first wise men and look
for and find Him in His creation and then come before Him and pay homage to him
or will we be unwise of look only upon His creation for what it can give to us
and thus make what which He created our gods; totems to our self-deception.
Jesus Christ is not
just one god amongst many! He is in fact
God of all gods and deserves our unmitigated worship. Amen and Amen!
I want us now to watch
a brief video by Pastor S.M. Lockridge and it’s entitled “That’s My God.”
This is who we love and
worship.
Invite Kevin
to play “That’s My God.”
After video
Let us now pray . .
