“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise menfrom the East came to Jerusalem, ² asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶ ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” ⁹ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:1-11

Soon into the New Year we encounter these dual festivals – Epiphany and The Baptism of Our Lord – Revelation and Inclusion. Epiphany begins with the appearance of the Magi who have followed a star that had announced the birth of a new king. And when Jesus is baptized, a voice from heaven announces his favor as G-d’s beloved Son.

That is how the Christ-like life flows – it flows through revelation and inclusion. There is the revelation that G-d has intruded into and entered into the world through the birth of the Christ child. And when Jesus comes to be baptized by John, his Baptism is a baptism of inclusion – Christ joins himself to become one with all of humanity.

The light of Christ is a revealing and inclusive light that banishes the darkness of this world. That is what baptism does for you and me. Baptism annihilates the dark side of our lives – the sinful side. The infusion of the Holy Spirit through our baptisms is the gravitational pull of faith that continues to draw us to the light of Christ.

And so we have another choice here in 2021, along with all of the other choices that a New Year brings. We can make it insignificant — reducing it to a moment in time that we cannot remember – letting our Baptisms slide into the black holes of life — in other words keep it hidden, and invisible. Or we can get up every morning, make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, the same place the Pastor made a cross at our baptism, and determine to make it matter. This year let us resolve to let the light of Christ so Shine before Others that they will see our good works – because it is the Light of Christ that shines through us.

Pastor Dave

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:7, 12  

“A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was? The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.” The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”  

“No Time Lost?

Godric is speaking: AILRED, I KNOW hours well enough,” I said. “Stick a twig into the soil and watch the shadow turn. That’s hours. Or take old Wear out there. Let him rise another inch or two, and either we’ll grow gills or shipwreck sure. That’s hours for you. It’s inch by inch and hour by hour to death. It’s hours gone and hours still to go. No puzzle there. A child can count it out. But what is time itself, dear friend? What is the sea where hours float? Am I daft, or is it true there’s no such thing as hours past and other hours still to pass, but all of them instead are all at once and never gone? Is there no time lost that ever was? Is there no time yet to come that’s not here now?” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life . HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Frederick Buechner’s book Godric retells the life of Godric of Finchale, a twelfth-century English holy man whose projects late in life included that of purifying his moral ambition of pride…Sin, spiritual yearning, rebirth, fierce asceticism. In his book Godric Buechner describes a living battleground where G-d fights it out with the world, the Flesh, and the Devil.

No one has ever seen G-d — well no one except for Moses, and possibly a few others in the Old Testament. But, wouldn’t it be nice to get just a glimpse of G-d? Well, some people believe that when we look into the eyes of the poor, the needy, the “Anawim” of this world, then we are looking into the face of G-d. Anawim is a Hebrew word from the Old Testament which describes the “poor ones” who remained faithful to G-d in times of difficulty. As Christians we are encouraged to see Christ in the faces of everyone we meet.  

Here is another challenge for us as we enter into 2021: if we are serious about beginning the new year with renewed purpose, perhaps now is the time. The Greeks spoke of two kinds of time: Chronos time and Kairos time. Chronos time is the time that passes with each tick of the clock. Kairos is G-d time, time that holds no bounds to the forces of Chronos time. Godric speaks to a truth about time: “Am I daft, or is it true there’s no such thing as hours past and other hours still to pass, but all of them instead are all at once and never gone?”

Kairos time is G-d time, and though we do not know what G-d might look like, we know that time has no hold on us when we enter eternal life. That should compel us to use this time we have, right now, to the glory of G-d – especially through loving acts for our neighbor. We can begin by changing our perspective on our neighbor. Instead of being annoyed with our neighbor who parks his/her car in our parking space, shouldn’t we step outside that anger and see someone who needs that spot more than we do? Instead of being angry at our co-worker who never stops talking, perhaps we can see someone who is lonely and needs someone who honestly will listen to them. Our true challenge in 2021 is to see Christ in the faces of all people – even the annoying ones.  

Pastor Dave