Oh...Now I Get It
January 6, 2019
Stetson Memorial UMC
Epiphany
of the Lord Sunday
Psalm
72:1-7, 10-14
Matthew
2:1-12 NLT
Isaiah
60:1 NIV
Ephesians
3:10-11
“Oh…Now I Get It”
Let us pray… (pray for the Spirit’s leading
and for God to be heard)
Please
stand for the reading of the Gospel according to Matthew. We will be reading from
the second chapter verses one thru twelve. Listen to the Word of God full of
wonder…for you and I…sojourners of faith.
Epiphany:
1 capitalized : January
6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first
manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in
commemoration of the baptism of Christ
Good morning. Welcome to the first Sunday of
a New Year. I look so forward for what this year will hole for my life. I am
sure that God will bless all our lives as we strive to be all that we can be
for him and His kingdom… I pray that God’s Shekinah…His Glory…will shine upon
you and yours this year and forever more.
Today is Epiphany of the Lord Sunday in the
Christian Calendar. The day when the Magi came to the house where Jesus and His
family was. It is the day that within the story of God’s redemption we see how
it was the Gentiles that were the first to see Him for who He was. When you
hear the word Epiphany what comes to mind? I know for me, I think of those V8
commercials when the people in the commercial realize that they could have made
a much better choice of food or themselves.
Epiphany: an appearance or
manifestation especially of a divine being.
You hear about these people that see these
manifestations of angels and divine beings and their lives are forever changed.
Sort of like Mary, Joseph. The shepherds, and even the shepherds, just to name
a few. It is within their encounter with these divine beings they came to understand
who they were and received a special message, some of great joy as well as
warnings to go another way.
Epiphany: : a usually sudden
manifestation or perception of the essential
nature or meaning of something…an intuitive grasp of reality through something
(such as an event) usually simple and striking… an illuminating discovery,
realization, or disclosure… a revealing scene or moment
Have you ever had one of those Epiphany
moments while you were doing something or watching something? I know that my
greatest Epiphany moments are when I read my Bible. I may have read something a
hundred times but on the hundred and first time…something clicks, and it
becomes all clear to me. It is as if a light bulb goes on and I can’t believe
that I had missed it the first hundred times…my V8 moments I like to call them. “a moment when you suddenly feel
that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you”…” a
powerful religious experience”
On Epiphany Sunday, I tend to wonder about
the Magi’s visit to Jesus and how they paid homage to Him with the gifts fit
for a king. It makes me ponder over the fact that I am one of His followers and
what does that mean to me. How am I known as His follower and what is it about
me that attracts…or detracts…others to Jesus? It is within these questions that
I realize that I am known by Jesus and am called beloved…it is what I hang onto
when I need hope…
Think about it for a moment…you and I are
known by the light and are called to joy. When the Magi were looking for Jesus,
they followed a star…a light…and when they found Him, they were filled with joy.
You and I are called by the light…the Light of the world. When we follow and
find that light, we are over joyed not only in the finding but in the fact that
the Light that shines in the darkness lives within you and me. Mind Blowing V8 Moment …
We are the light bearers for the Light. It is
within that joy and light that others are attracted to those who follow the Light
and are indwelled with it. Isaiah 60:1 tells us: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord
rises upon you.”
We are known by the light and called to joy. We
are called to be a joyful people who are known by the light that shines
forth. The question I pose is this…what
must we do to claim this light and joy “so that,” as the letter to the
Ephesians says in 3:10-11,
“10 His
intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be
made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according
to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How do we bring that message to the world
that still sits in darkness? Just something to ponder over as we embrace that
we are known by God and bear the light of His Son. In that we can take much
joy.
Amen!
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