Raymond A. Foss
Certified Lay
Speaker
Hillside United
Methodist Church
Goffstown, NH
Epiphany Sunday
Matthew 2:1-12
Isaiah
60:1-6
with:
Matthew 2:13-18
(Herod’s slaughter of children)
Mark
12:41-44 (widow’s offering)
Luke
15:11b-32 (Prodigal Son)
Luke
1:46-55 (Magnificat)
What is this Treasure, this Epiphany?
Good morning, my name is Ray Foss.
My wife is Pastor Ruth Foss of Suncook United Methodist Church. I’m an attorney
and a poet, I help Ruth raise our three daughters, and I try to be faithful to
my call as a disciple of Christ.
Each year, we celebrate a new year with noise
and fury. There are even checkpoints to being sure people aren’t drinking and
driving. We’ve finished with Christmas, the Advent season, the New Year is here,
and there begins, within the church, the rush the Baptism of the Lord Sunday
next week, to learning about his ministry on earth, to Lent, and to Easter.
Today is Epiphany Sunday, when we
celebrate the visit of the Wise Men, the Magi, the misnamed Three Kings, to the
baby Jesus, no longer in the manger. They bring these weird baby gifts. We
wonder what this all means. They were all foretold.
I found a funny quote on Twitter a couple of
days ago about this visit and these presents. It reads,
“I bet toddler Jesus threw a wall-eyed fit
when he tore open those presents only to find a rock, cologne, and air
freshener.” Really, for a 2 year old?
We wonder what these gifts mean. I
mean, this quote is right, what 2 year old wants these gifts? They were
expecting onesies or something. And I’m sure Mary and Joseph must have wondered
about this. I love in the bible how it said Mary held these things in her
heart, but hmm. What strange gifts for a baby. And they didn’t have time to
ponder them much. They had to flee to Egypt because Herod was about to
slaughter all the infant boys under two to kill Jesus.
The word Epiphany is that about a moment of
light, that “ah ha” moment, something big, momentous, Like falling at the feet
of the baby Jesus, as the wise men did.
As Christians, we too expect something big,
something special to happen. Some people long for it their whole lives. But we
can’t do what the wise men did, not in the flesh anyway. Christ is risen.
Or we wonder if we are ever going to have that
Epiphany Moment, that we will be born-again, saved. We hear others shouting. For
many, these never come. There is no big ah ha moment.
For some, they never left the church. They
have just a simple abiding warm feeling about their faith.
I talked to one person at Wesley
church in Concord about six years ago. Now, I did have the epiphany moment, I
had left the church when I was 18 and came back when I was 43. I had turned my
back like the Prodigal Son did and had followed the world.
This person had been asked to do the
stewardship minute and they weren’t sure what to say. I said to share your
story about the church always being there, being a strong part of your life.
I wrote a poem about this, called
“Methodist Epiphanies”. It goes like this.
Methodist Epiphanies
Looking for
epiphany moments
rebirth, born
again, anew
in an instant of
God’s providence
may be a
wondrous, joyous pristine
second of time,
segmented, cut out
from the days of
one’s life,
how much simpler,
more natural
the daily walk
with the Lord,
brought up and
living in the faith
of ones
forebears, walking to perfection
in the family of
our faith
seeing the joy of
that same path
the repeated
gestures, the purity
of the same words
part of our
lives, over and over
refrains of a
message of grace
of love and
redemption
paid by the
savior’s blood
without fanfare or
fireworks
perhaps, but no
less real,
no less a breath
of magic
walking in faith
one foot in front
of the other
the days of our
lives
September
24, 2006 15:04
There is actually a lot of meaning
in that, . . . that we are still
faithful, we are no less worthy, if we stayed. If we are always faithful. Sort
of like the older brother in the Prodigal Son story. He never ran off like the
younger brother. God was always there with him. We forget the pain of the
younger brother, all those others who have that Epiphany moment, coming in from
the darkness of the world. We forget that loss they felt. The older brother
needed to learn that he was always with God, but that wasn’t the same as his
younger brother. Each had an epiphany of their own.
And there is meaning in the gifts the wise men
brought. They tell the whole story of the rest of the year to Easter. It is
outlined in these three small Gifts, as we heard in the Isaiah piece this
morning and in other scripture, all fulfilled in Jesus.
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
The life, the
fulfillment, the prophecy of old
his life, his
ministry, his burial in the tomb
woven into the
gifts, the three, the wise men
the gold,
frankincense, and myrrh at his bed
the king, the
priest, the martyr on the cross
living humbly,
teaching another way, dying for our sins
the word, the
living, the risen Lord
shoot of Jesse,
carpenter’s son, God incarnate
at the beginning,
Emmanuel, judge at his return
The bread, the
lamb, the way
To him, for him,
for us all throughout time
was given, the
gold, the frankincense, and myrrh
by the wise men,
traveling from the east, to his bed
January
2, 2009
These gifts outline everything we
need to know about the truth of who Christ is, who he was, and how we are to be
preparing. They show the ministry of Jesus, God fully-human and fully-divine,
walking with us, our Lord, Emmanuel.
In Their Gifts His Journey
Knowing the
meaning of the star
the prophecy, the
Messiah
the king come
into the world
But, more words,
that which was
foretold
Prophecy on the
role, the life of Christ
before he was
even born
words, long
before, of his ministry
his death, for
our sin
In their gifts
his journey
the steps of his
holy life
the gold,
frankincense and myrrh
three faces of
the Christ
king and priest
and sacrifice
all of this
foretold
January
4, 2010
So what are we supposed to do, how are we
supposed to live, what does this mean to us, these gifts of Gold, Frankincense,
and Myrrh. We ourselves are on the same journey, seeking to serve, to follow, following the
same star, trying to live our lives as worship.
To submit our lives as fully as Jesus, to
trust in God as did the widow who put the two small coins in the offering
plate, all that she had. To sing with Mary the Magnificat, submitting our lives
to the purpose of God.
We are to have our lamps ready, filled with
oil, ready to serve where God calls us. We are the treasure, the sacrifice, the
offering, which we offer to God.
A Journey of Treasure – v3
Like the ancient
Magi
We are each on a
journey
each on their own
following their
own calling
their own bright
morning star
A quest for the
King
Ourselves the
treasure
the metal, the
myrrh, the offering
Following a star,
our hope
A search for
Epiphany –
Life changing
meaning
Through loving
adoption
by our Savior,
Creator
with one another,
in Love
sharing Christ’s
message
God’s light to
the world
Edited
January 5, 2013
We are called to be that treasure,
that light shining in the darkness, our lives our offering to God, when that
judgment day comes.
We are to follow where the Spirit leads and
use our gifts, our talents, for God’s glory. Maybe it isn’t us who need Epiphany
moments, maybe it is the people out there, out in the world.
Amen.
====
January
6, 2013
Epiphany
Sunday
Matthew 2:1-12
Isaiah 60:1-6
with:
Matthew 2:13-18
(Herod’s slaughter of children)
Mark 12:41-44
(widow’s offering)
Luke 15:11b-32
(Prodigal Son)
Luke 1:46-55
(Magnificat)
and
sermon – “What is this Treasure, this Epiphany?”
by
Raymond A. Foss
Certified
Lay Speaker
(substituting
for Pastor Lorrin Radzik)
Hillside
United Methodist Church
Goffstown, NH
January
6, 2013
Epiphany
Sunday
All of my
poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights
reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage.
See all 39,900+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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