Epiphany: Follow that star

 

Epiphany is about looking and seeing, about following and understanding.

The star that first shone the night that Jesus was born, continued to shine over him for another two years, but since the Shepherds’ visit, no-one had paid any notice to it. No-one in Bethlehem that is. None of the people who had been longing for and looking forward to a Messiah who would bring freedom and release from the powers and authorities who used and abused their positions, had noticed that prophecies were beginning to unfold.

Even on the night he was born, everyone in Bethlehem, the prophesied town, was too busy to notice that angels had begin to sing on a hillside. Only those whose lives were much slower, and removed from the business of trade and politics, saw the angels, heard their words and hurried to visit a tiny baby who was so much more than he seemed.

In fact, people had seen, but not seen, this baby grow and become strong and agile, as his family seemed to settle in Bethlehem with Joseph‘s family. This child born to be king was being nurtured, right under the nose of the puppet king Herod. Perhaps his mother sung him a lullaby that was first sung to her cousin Elizabeth? Perhaps his father used to hum the tune the angels sang whenever the child was distressed. And still nobody really saw who this child was.

Not until the magi came knocking that is. The magi, travellers, star gazers, wise and revered men, possibly women, but probably men in those times, had seen the star. They had seen the star and understood that something they would only encounter this one time was being heralded by the star, and they had to follow it. They saw the star and understood that there was more to come. And when they arrived at the throne and met with Herod, they also saw more than met the eye. They saw that this ‘king’ did not rightfully belong, that no star shone over his palace, that his words of ‘adoration’ were laced with murderous intent.

So when they finally reached the place that the star had been leading them to for two years, they saw that this ordinary cheeky, cheery, explorative little toddler, was more, so much more than had met everyone else’s eye. Except perhaps his mother and his father, and maybe the shepherds too, who had long since gone back to their sheep.

And so they knelt, they humbled themselves before Jesus. They glimpsed a future so bright and yet so dark for this little one and finally understood the significance of the gifts that they were carrying, gifts for a prophet and a priest as well as a king. And perhaps they also understood something else too? That as they were welcomed into this humble Bethlehem home, they, outsiders from afar, were being welcomed into God’s kingdom.

 

Something to listen to:

Something to think about:

• What is the most unusual present you have received this Christmas?
• What gift have you given that has been received with the most joy?
• What gifts would you bring to Jesus?
• How can we amend our worship this year accordingly?
• Have we encountered something new in our Christmas worship this year?
• How can we carry that new insight into the new year?

Something to pray:

Sovereign God, with Mary and Joseph gazing into the manger, with shepherds hurrying to and from the stable, with angels praising you on high, with wise men kneeling before the Christ-child, and with generations across the years who have known and loved your son, experiencing his presence in their lives, so now we join to marvel and celebrate, offering our heartfelt worship and joyful praise for your gift beyond words, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen (Nick Fawcett)