Sunday, January 06, 2013

Sermon, What is this Treasure, this Epiphany?", by Raymond A. Foss, Hillside United Methodist Church, Goffstown, NH, 01/06/2013, Epiphany Sunday

Sermon January 6, 2013
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.


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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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