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Saturday, January 05, 2013

Whom do you seek and What do you bring?

Readings for the Epiphany Sunday 6th January 2013 might include

  • Isaiah 60:1-6  • 
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  • Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14  • 
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  • Ephesians 3:1-12  • 
  •  
  • Matthew 2:1-12


  • We all have a very clear picture of those who came looking for the infant Jesus
    There were of course the shepherds
    and today we think about the Wise Men.
    They widen the story 
    Not just those who happen to be around
    like the shepherd, working nearby,
    but strangers from far away.
    By extension we are invited to think......
    Those who are outside the usual sphere 
    like you and me.

    It is a simple idea that Matthew is presenting us with
    not just the cultic Messiah 
    of a small group of Jews
    but the very reality of the universal God.

    I suspect the Wise Men didn't quite know what they were looking for
    nor what they would find
    and we don't really know what they made of it all.

    Like you and me!

    So the Epiphany question for us is
    What are we looking for?
    Do we recognise it when we see it?
    And What do we make of it.

    What are we looking for?
    This is a place to begin.
    What do you want God to do and be for you?
    It would be interesting to go home and write a list
    ...fame, fortune, success..perhaps
    happiness, security, 
    maybe freedom and justice.
    Healing, wholeness...

    Take some time to think about it this week

    Do we recognise it when we see it?

    Take some time to think about it this week
    The Kings come...expecting to find something 
    that fits in with their own idea of kingship
    ...they almost miss it
    Do we miss God in our midst?
    In the day to day encounters that we have with each other,
    in our ordinary lives.

    If we ask ourselves questions like 
    Where do I feel most alive?
    What am I most grateful for?

    Perhaps there we will begin to find
    as new parents do with their child
    what we are seeking

    Where am I alive?
    What fills me with deepest thanks?

    What do we make of it.

    We do not know what the Wise Men made of this encounter
    they go on their way
    We do know that countless others
    have accepted the offer of God 
    to live life differently
    with love and forgiveness
    with hope and joy
    with openness to the Holy Spirit.

    Can we, 
    will we
    open ourselves to the transformation
    that is made manifest to us
    at this time.

    Jesus, with us.
    Our Immanuel---God with us.




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