On the church
calendar, the Christmas season officially ends today with an epiphany
celebration. Epiphany is a churchy word
that means “manifestation” or “glorious display.” It’s important because it points us to the part
of the Christmas story where the Magi – who represented the non-Jewish world --
followed a star to find Jesus, the greatest gift of and for all. That bold light in the darkness was like
some kind of eternal GPS – God Positioning System!
Upon arrival, these spiritually
sensitive fellows presented three very symbolic gifts. They offered gold, which was customary to
offer a king; frankincense, which was used in religious rituals; and myrhh,
which was curiously enough used to anoint and embalm the dead. Of the three, I have to say that I most
appreciate the frankincense. Not just
because it’s the gift suitable for a religious leader, but also because some
modern researchers have discovered this tree gum resin has an active ingredient
that helps relieve arthritis. The stuff
you find out when you dig into Bible study!
Having given their
gifts to the glory of Jesus, the newborn king, the Magi then returned home. We are told that they heeded the dream
warning not to go back to Herod, so I think it’s safe to assume they continued
to be guided by the holy light that called them to Christ. Truly, the best gift they gave to baby Jesus
was not a material one. I believe it’s that
they chose to use their spiritual gifts of wisdom, faith and praise.
They could have chosen
not to do so and to ignore the summoning star.
They could have kept their heads down, focused only on solid facts and
familiar circumstances. They could have
dismissed mystery, especially one involving a people not their own. They could have been religious but not
necessarily spiritual. They could have
kept their personal and their precious gifts to and for themselves. But
praise be to God the life filling holy Light of all, like the moon’s pull upon
the tides, was stronger than all this!
A couple weeks ago, my
step-son Crosby came home after attending his father’s church. In his hand was this box. It’s a Sunday School project. I’m
told it contains real frankincense, myrhh and fool’s gold. Crosby was quite eager to have his mom and me open
it up. So we took it in hand and tried
to lift the lid. But it was immediately
clear that this gift box was not going to be opened. That’s
when we looked closely at the creative way Crosby had decorated it. Particularly, where he’d placed the colorful
gems. He totally didn’t realize it at the time, but
he’d glued these along the seam between the lid and the rest of the box. He laughed this off, but seriously did want
us to take a knife to it! We decided
not to, and instead starting thinking what a nice object lesson this is about
how the desire to share our gifts with the Lord can be unexpectedly
challenging.
Think for a moment
about the gifts you exchanged this past Christmas. Did you offer and receive them for the sake
of celebrating our Savior? Do they help inspire you to use your spiritual
gifts to God’s glory? With the Christmas
season over, will your heart and mind be closed or open to following the Light
of God’s love and revelation in Jesus Christ, in unending celebration and
gratitude for the greatest gift of all?
I ask these sort of
big questions, but I also want you to know I spend time trying to answer them
for myself. So this morning I’ve
brought three gifts that I received at Christmas. The
first one is this wonderful pair of wool socks. No worries – they are clean and so they don’t
smell. These were given to me in loving
recognition that I needed help with the chilly days that are here and still to
come. I’ll be able to walk through winter more
comfortably and on surer, warmer footing.
They are a gift that celebrates Jesus because as I wear them, I’ll also
remember how we are all called to faithfully follow Him. If at
times our willingness to do so feels frozen or gets iced over with anxiety,
grief, depression or whatever else, these here wool socks will remind me that the
heartwarming love of Jesus – the Good Shepherd -- has us all covered. And
they remind us to take one step at a time as we use our spiritual gifts to
offer comfort to others whom we companion.
The second gift is
this … Jesus on a spring! It was super
fun to pull this out of my stocking. I
have a feeling I’ll be moving this little item around instead of sticking it in
one place. Sometimes it’ll be on the car dashboard, other
times on the pulpit, and maybe I’ll occasionally put in on my nightstand to
help wake me up in the morning. It
celebrates Jesus not just because it’s an artistic depiction of the historic
person, but because it also reminds me to use my spiritual gifts in fun, flexible
ways. And it’ll remind me that Jesus popped
up in lots of different situations during his time on earth and that in the
Spirit He goes with me wherever I go.
The third gift I
brought today is this beautiful blue life vest. It was given to me by Stefanie as a way of
supporting our goal of learning to kayak in 2015. More than this goal, however, it was given
because she knows well of a deep and life-long fear I have – namely, drowning. You see, I never learned how to swim. I love spending time beside bodies of water
but not so much going in them. I will
get in a pool, but I don’t go in the deep end. I do occasionally canoe and row boat, but
absolutely dread the thought of ever tipping over. I use whatever life vest is available, but
now I have my very own. And one that
truly is a loving, supportive gift.
The way this celebrates Jesus is a bit clearer and more serious
here. Fully trust in Jesus. Jesus calms the storms. Jesus rescues. In every situation, the saving grace of our
Lord is wrapped around us, securely holding us as we navigate through life’s
adventures. We can thus feel confident in using our
spiritual gifts for the further building up of his peaceful, eternally secure
kingdom.
Epiphany isn’t just
one Sunday in the year. Each and every
day we should be seeking and following the glorious manifestations of God as
they are revealed to us with the help of the Bible, tradition, fresh prophetic
voices, and all kinds of community. Both
the spiritual and physical gifts we’ve been given can help us to not lose sight
of signs that constantly calls us to the side of Christ.
As you consider what
it means to live by the light of endless epiphany, there’s a passage from a non-fiction
book by James Madison University professor Paul Bogard that I hope you’ll find
as inspiring as I did. The book is
titled, The End of Night and its research addresses the issue of artificial
light pollution’s impacts on us. He talks about the brightest artificial beam
of light emanating from the earth. Do
you know where that is? Atop a casino
in Las Vegas, of course. In addition to
the destructive disruption this causes for many creatures, I’m also pretty sure
this beam isn’t intended to draw people to our Lord. He also talks about the impact of artificial
light on people working night shifts, how this disrupts natural sleeps patterns
and leaves folks feeling exhausted and with ragged nerves. I’ve only read excerpts of this book so
far, but it seems like really interesting stuff.
The passage I want to
share now concerns a time when he was visiting the edge of the Sahara
Desert. He writes, “One night, in a
youth hostel that was more like a stable, I woke and … standing bare chest to
cool night, wearing flip-flops and shorts, I let a storm of stars swirl around
me. I remember no light pollution, heck, I remember no lights. But I remember the light around me -- the
sense of being lit by starlight -- and that I could see the ground to which the
stars seemed to be floating down. It was a time in my life when I was every day
experiencing something new.”
Maybe you’ve had this
kind of experience before? I haven’t …
yet. So I find myself interpreting this
metaphorically. There is darkness that we
face each and every day. There are all
kinds of human made ways to disrupt and interpret this darkness. But the only truly safe way through it is
the find ourselves living with a sense of being lit by starlight – by the holy
light of our Savior – which purifies instead of pollutes our lives. By His great Light, every day is indeed the
gift of a fresh, holy experience. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment