Streams of Mercy

Yesterday as we gathered for worship, we celebrated Epiphany, marking the arrival of the three wise Men who followed the star in the east from its rising, til it stopped over the place where Jesus was. Epiphany means to appear, to show forth, to be made manifest; it’s the season we celebrate those moments when eternal truth becomes clear to us, in the same way that Jesus was revealed to the Wise Men so long ago.

We remember this event each January, not because such epiphanies no longer occur, but to remind us that they do. This is the season when we watch for our own personal epiphanies, for those moments when we catch sight of God at work in our lives.

Epiphany says to us that God’s Kingdom is very near, awaiting only the moment of revelation and recognition. The difficulty is that so many times we can’t see the hand of God at work in our lives and in the lives of those we love, and we, like King Herod and the Wise Men, stand asking, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews?

Where is he when my daughter is sick and my son is troubled? Where is he when my father is dying and my mother is unable to care for herself? Where is he when my husband or my wife doesn’t seems to care, and my friends are nowhere in sight? Where is he when I’ve lost my job? Where is he in relation to our lives and our needs, and where are we in relation to him?

“Where is he who is born king of the Jews?” Epiphany whispers to each of us that he is nearer than we think. Whenever through the smudged windows of our human experience, God’s glory shines in, then it’s epiphany, and the Epiphany which we celebrate this day becomes a series of epiphany moments that will continue all year long.

Scripture tells us that the Wise Men returned home another way. What joy would be ours if each of us would return from the experience of Christmas this year by another way, a way marked by the light of the star. If only we would see in each experience the hand of God working in all things for our good; if only we could look beyond the struggle and difficulty of our daily lives toward the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ; if only we could see the faithful love and grace of God in a series of epiphany moments each day of our lives.

“Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”

He is with us, now and forever more!

Giving thanks for this new year, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Elizabeth