7 January 2018, EPIPHANY / THREE KINGS
●● Isaiah 60:1-6 ●● Psalm 72 ●● Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 ●● + Matthew 2:1-12 ●●
[_01_] On this
feast of the Epiphany of the 3 Kings, we read about the Magi – or the 3 Kings –
coming from the East. And, they are following a star.
They
have left their own country and comfort zone to follow and see the child,
Jesus, in Bethlehem.
[_02__] Last year,
there was big news about following – seeking – something – in the sky, in the
heavens. Astronomically. Scientifically.
On
August 21, 2017, we had the solar eclipse. Many people went out to see
something in the sky. They even went to follow a path – the so-called “path of
totality” or path of total darkness.
It was visible from
west coast / Oregon to east coast / South Carolina.
Why did we go out
to see that – to see that solar eclipse?
[_03_] The
ECLIPSE invited many individuals – scientists and non-scientists- to see things
in the darkness that we cannot see in the bright light.
In
other words, when the moon passes in front of the sun – creating a shadow – we
get a certain view that we cannot get when the sun is shining 100% exposed at
us.
Why did
the Magi come to Bethlehem?
[_03.01_] They come to get a view of the light –
the light of God that is not otherwise visible.
God
appears in the light and appears as a small child to us.
Isn’t
it true that children bring us joy and information and revelation about
ourselves and about God’s love for us?
Children
demonstrate to us the existence of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Of unconditionally loving another person.
Children
appreciate this unconditional love.
Also,
children give unconditional love in a way that we, sometimes, forget how to do.
This is
the star, the star of God’s love coming to us.
[_03.02_] Children demonstrate to us the importance of
forgiveness.
Children
also demonstrate a divine quality that we – as adults – find difficulty. That
is – forgiving and forgetting. Or, forgiving and letting go.
A child
cannot only be forgiving but also can, in their way, forget what happened.
In this
regard, children resemble God because God is able to forgives our sins and
forgets our sins as well.
[_03.03_] So, children in their slightly small stature
– and situation – represent the greatness, the power, the vastness of God’s
love to us.
They
represent to us God in slow motion, we could say.
And,
the eclipse was a similar phenomenon for the NASA scientists and every
physicist and person who went to see the darkness on August 21, 2017.
They
went out to see the SUN in slow motion, the brightness of the SUN in a way that
is not otherwise visible.
And, it
does not happen very often.
(The ECLIPSE
was big news because such an event is not usually visible in North America or
the U.S.– the next such eclipse is April 8, 2024. Save the date.)
And,
the eclipse requires that we have special vision, special eye-protection,
glasses.
Remember
you and I could look up at the eclipse with any glasses or ordinary UVA / UVB
sunglasses.
It
helped if you were a welder or a construction worker. They had the glasses
already.
But,
you needed special glasses. And, remember there were people on August 17, 18,
19, 20 of last year running around …paying high prices for the glasses at the
last minute.
It helped then if
you were prepared, ahead of time …with the vision. The Magi – the 3 Kings, 3
Wise Men were prepared ahead of time with this special vision.
This special vision
is not on their heads but in their hearts, a desire within to discover God – in
the person of a child.
And, we are called
to see and discover in Jesus as the newborn Messiah – and as it is manifested
to us in the children in our lives.
[_fin_]
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