Sheep in pasture

Sheep in pasture
Feed My Sheep, Feed My Lambs, Feed My Sheep

Sunday, January 4, 2015

I Could Have Had A V8…

January 4, 2015
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Worship Theme: Epiphany Sunday
Matthew 2:1-12 NIV
Luke 2:22-40 NIV

 A Reading From the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 22-40…listen for a Word from God to you me the people of God…(Read Scripture)

Epiphany→ noun, plural epiphanies.
1. (initial capital letter) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
2. an appearance or manifestation, especially of a deity.
3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
4. a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

Good morning to all of you and Happy New Year. I can’t believe that we are at a new year already. Have you all made your New Year’s resolution yet? I have made a couple but we’ll see how that goes… I pray this New Year brings you blessings, hope and joy and that you have a renewed vision of Jesus and who He is in your lives.

In the Christian calendar the first Sunday of the year is known as “Epiphany Sunday”. “Epiphany” is a very interesting word to me…so much so that I decided to look up the definition which I just read. This definition kind of reminds me of those old V8 commercials… you know what I’m talking about, the ones that the person has just discovered that what they were drinking had no real nutritional value and they could have had a V8 instead that would have given them nutritional value. That sudden realization that there was something more out there than what you are living with or doing.

From the Matthew Scripture form this morning we see the Magi…these Wise Men…they had their “epiphany”, their V8 moment, before they ever came to visit the babe born in a manger. These Magi…these scholars of the stars…they knew who this child was that they waited for a long time to come into the world. They knew the path that He would travel. Look at the gifts that they presented this new born king.

       Gold →The meaning of this gift represents Kingship on earth. They knew that Jesus was a king. But not just any king…He was the King of King’s and Lord of Lord’s.
       Frankincense →This incense that they offered represented priest ship…priesthood. They knew that Jesus was the High Priest. They knew that He was the one who would lead…would be king of…the Jews.
       Myrrh →This was an anointing oil…an embalming oil and was the symbol of death.
All three gifts were ordinary offerings and gifts to a king. These gifts are also sometimes described more generally as gold symbolizing virtue, frankincense symbolizing prayer and myrrh symbolizing suffering.

These Magi “fell to their knees” when they entered the house where Jesus was. This falling to the knees represented great respect and was typically used when venerating a king. These Magi had it right…they knew who and what Jesus really was. They knew that this infant born in Bethlehem was the true king that would bring justice to the poor and save the lives of the needy.
         
But in this story of the Magi, there is another epiphany, so to speak… the epiphany of King Herod himself. Remember what happened when Herod heard of the Magi coming to visit the newborn King? He was terrified. Now I am sure that there were other kings around and Herod was not afraid of them but this one king, this king of the Jews…well this was a different kind of king and Herod knew it. This would be a king that would turn the world that he knew upside down. As a matter of fact, when Herod called his priest and scholars together, he didn’t ask where this new king was supposed to be born. Oh no…he asked where the “Messiah” was suppose to be born. He knew…he had his V8 moment…his epiphany of what was to be. He knew that the prophecy was being fulfilled…the prophecy of the prophet Micah that was told so long ago. And he was afraid…

God’s people were waiting for that Messiah…the new King that would free them of the oppression they were feeling from the Romans. They knew that God had promised them a Savior and that God kept His promises…but they didn’t get the type of Savior they were looking for. They didn’t get one that would take Rome by storm but one that we gentle and mild and the salvation that He would offer was pretty radical…

The reaction of two such people is found in the Luke scripture from this morning…the reaction of Simeon and Anna. They worked in the temple and I am sure they prayed daily for the savior that was much needed for God’s people. They could look around and see how things were not getting better but worse for their people. They may have even resolved that they would never see the “salvation of God’s people” in their own time…in their life time.  But God had another plan and they would see the “salvation of the Lord” before they went home to rest in the arms of God. Oh what an epiphany they received when Mary and Joseph brought their child to the temple so they could offer their first born to the Lord and bring an offering. They had their Epiphany of who this child was…they had their Epiphany of what this child would do…they had their Epiphany of the goodness and mercy of God. What a glorious day for them…what a glorious day for us as we have our own epiphany of who God is…of who Jesus is…of how good our God is…of how merciful and gracious of Creator is to the created…

I think we all have epiphanies in some shape or form. We are looking for our car keys and then all of the sudden a thought comes to mind of where they are. We may be reading scripture and all of the sudden we have that “ah ha” moment and it all makes perfect sense. We may see or be in a situation and all of the sudden it is like “light dawning on the horizon” we understand why it is all happening…we see it through the eyes of God instead of our own eyes. Whatever our epiphany may be at times it may rock our world…kind of what happened to Herod…with a sudden realization of something.

My prayer for us as individuals and as a church is that we all will have that epiphany that will bring us ever closer to our Lord Jesus Christ this year…That we will have a revelation of who Christ is to us and who we are to Him…That we will embark on new journeys that will lead us to a new and exciting place where we will encounter our Redeemer in new ways. Let us go into the new year with our eyes wide open looking for and following the Star. As the saying goes “Wise men and women still seek Him.” Let us seek Him in all that we say and do and rejoicing as Simeon and Anna did when we find Him in the world in which we live. Let us lead others to their own Epiphany of our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

Let us pray…
We have seen your star, O God, shining brightly over us and all the peoples of the earth. Teach us to trust your light. Help us take risks that we might step out in faith into the unknown. Guide us to the place where you abide, that we may be overwhelmed with joy like the magi before us. Guide us to the stable of your love, that we may offer you the gifts of our lives. Give us that Epiphany moment that draws us closer to you.       (Abingdon Worship 2010)

Amen.

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