Epiphany (Post from Steve Garnaas-Holmes)

           Magi from the East came to Jerusalem,

           asking, “Where is the child

           who has been born king of the Jews?

                           —Matthew 2.1-2

 

The magi did not find the holy child in Jerusalem,

but among peasants, in a little town like all the towns

they had just passed through.

 

On my morning walk the icy rain whispered,

the dead leaves under the ice proclaimed,

my breath shone.

 

What if the divine unveiling awaits you,

the revelation ready to astound you

in every little ordinary thing?

 

A plant on a windowsill,

a child in the hallway may reveal to you

what words can’t convey.

 

Not spoken but given,

not a theorem but a presence,

not wisdom but being.

 

For Jesus it was lilies, and birds,

a stranger’s daughter, muddy Jordan water

and the air above the water.

 

What if glory hides, poorly disguised,

in a stone, a door, a question,

a word, a look, a silence?

 

Your heart is already searching,

the world is already holy,

the child is already here.

 

Encouragement for today:  Watch for God to show up in the ordinary things today.

 

Prayer:  Lord, we are so often waiting for burning bushes when you come to us in all that we take for granted.  Give us to sensitivity to experience you in the mundane details of our life today and every day.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time praying for your closest friends today.

 

Song:  Light of the World (Sing Hallelujah) – We the Kingdom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWeXVnRm6R8

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light - January 5, 2022

 

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light -  January 5, 2022

 

Isaiah 42:6  - “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.”

Malachi 4:2 - “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings”

Revelation 21:25 - “And there will be no night there,” and 22:5b, “They need no light of lamp or sun.”

 

The Song for this last day before Epiphany is Kathleen Thomerson’s “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.”  Like yesterday, the core of my encouragement is to simply meditate on the lyrics.  Right after the hustle and bustle of the holidays is a natural time to refocus on the “everydayness” of our faith.  We’ve celebrated the Light that was given to us in Jesus and now we consider how we will live differently as a result.  We remember changes that we had considered or even committed to in the past but we, for whatever reason, did not follow through.  Maybe it’s time to consider them again.  Perhaps there is a change that we’ve never considered, but our present circumstances have caused us to see different possibilities. 

The tone of this song is a deep desire to move our faith further into the light of Christ’s way for us.  Hear the words and let them work on your spirit.

 

I want to walk as a child of the light

I want to follow Jesus

God sent the stars to give light to the world

The star of my life is Jesus

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

 

I want to see the brightness of God

I want to look at Jesus

Clear sun of righteousness, shine on my path

And show me the way to the Father

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

 

I'm looking for the coming of Christ

I want to be with Jesus

When we have run with patience the race

We shall know the joy of Jesus

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

 

Listen to the statements in each of the three verses:

I want to follow Jesus.

I want to look at Jesus.

I want to be with Jesus.

 

Question:  What would following, looking at, and being with Jesus in a deeper way this year look like for you.

 

Prayer:  God, I pray 2022 would be a year when I would allow more of your light to permeate the way I live and love.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people facing dangerously cold/severe weather conditions right now. 

 

Song:  I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light – Kathleen Thomerson (performed by Chris Brunelle)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDzcZWa_YqQ

Will You Come and See the Light? - January 4, 2022

 

Will You Come and See the Light? - January 4, 2022

 

John 1:1-5, NIV - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

 

Today, I bring to you a song that I had not heard before today (the day I am writing this).  I was searching for an Epiphany song and came across this one.   I was moved by the lyrics and touched by the beautiful voices that sang the version linked below.  I cannot find the story behind the song, so my encouragement today is to meditate on the words.  Each verse ends with the piercing question, “will you hide, or decide to meet the light?”  The brilliance of the lyricist is that question takes on a different angle based on the verse.  Spend some time with this question today, reflecting on the ways that we often decide to hide from spiritual insight/light because deciding to “meet” the light would force us to confront something unpleasant about ourselves or the world in which we live.  The focus of Epiphany is to engage in this difficult struggle. It is to move from the sentimentality of the “sweet little Jesus boy” to consider how we will live because He was born.  Jesus is God with us in the flesh! So what now?  How will we respond to this incredible event?  Engage with this struggle this week of Epiphany.

 

Will you come and see the light from the stable door?

    It is shining newly bright, though it shone before.

    It will be your guiding star, it will show you who you are.

Will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you step into the light that can free the slave?

    It will stand for what is right, it will heal and save.

    By the pyramids of greed there's a longing to be freed.

Will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you tell about the light in the prison cell?

    Though it's shackled out of sight, it is shining well.

    When the truth is cut and bruised, and the innocent abused,

will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you join the hope, alight in a young girl's eyes,

    of the mighty put to flight by a baby's cries?

    When the lowest and the least are the foremost at the feast,

will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you travel by the light of the babe new born?

    In the cradle lit at night there's a gleam of dawn,

    and the darkness all about is too dim to put it out:

will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Question: What specifically would deciding to “meet the light” mean for you right now?

 

Prayer:  God, we confess that sometimes, we have “loved darkness instead of light” (John 3:19).  Pierce the darkness of our hearts and give us the courage to meet that light instead of hiding from it.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the biggest challenges of our

country today. 

 

Song:  Will You Come and See the Light? - David Haas, Michael Joncas, Marty Haugen and Paul A. Tate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPLTf_vDr6s