Epiphany

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Matthew 2:1-12  in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Starlight
   
    "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."  From the very first days in Bethlehem up to this very moment finding Jesus is an occasion of light and joy. 

    Matthew is not alone in associating Jesus' coming into the world with light.  There are many biblical passages that make that association, perhaps none so beautifully as the prologue to the gospel of John which introduces us to the ministry of Jesus with these lyrical words:

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

    What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:1-5 NRSV
 

    And there is the beautiful prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-7 (NRSV):

    But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

    The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

    For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

    Jesus is light and life and joy!  Sometimes we resist that light for years, but still it draws us as it did the Magi of long ago.  There is something about it, something wonderful that we can not quite explain, try as we may.  It does not yield itself through analysis or "the scientific method."  We can not reach out and touch it or break it down into its component parts.  And yet, somehow, we eventually come to know that light is real and powerful.

    Coming into that light changes things.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons so many of us avoid it for so long. 

    Having that light shine in our lives does many things.  Like turning a light on in a dark room, it dispels illusions and reveals reality.  It shows us the shallowness of life lived only with our own self-interest at heart.  It quickly shows us the hollowness of our struggles for power or of a life lived mostly to get yet more material "stuff."  It shows us the presence of God in other people, often other people we may never have noticed before.  It reveals to us how we have defeated ourselves by buying into others' notions of who we are and what we "ought" to find important.  As last week's reflection reminded us, it shows us how much God loves us and that we are worthy children of God--something the world does not want us to realize for we become much less easy to manipulate when we are armed with that knowledge. 

    So little by little we follow the starlight and it remolds our lives.  Usually, God does not show us how in advance, for that might frighten us, but we can look back over the years and see how it happened.  And best of all, when we look back it brings joy and wonder and profound gratitude.  When we look back our biggest sorrow is only that we waited for so long before following the light.  The path that God takes us on may be to strange places, as it was for the Magi, but God leads our lives only to those places where the real treasures lie. 

    Follow the star light!

revclay

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Matthew 2:1-12 (King James Version)
   
    ~The Visit of the Magi~

    Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

    When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, "In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 'And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.'"

    Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also."

    When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

    And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.