[ Today's Readings ]
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
The star of Epiphany shines this morning. It reveals the birth of the king.
"Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage."
Let us follow the star, the LORD shining upon Jerusalem, his glory blazing brilliantly. The star calls all nations to worship this king. He is not just a king of this nation or that nation but is rather the king of the cosmos to whom even the stars of heaven owe obedience. We too are meant to be his subjects.
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
This light shines upon and is meant to enlighten to entire world. It is meant as something which transforms, which casts out darkness, which makes us truly radiant at what we see.
How then do we respond to this star, this light, this revelation of the newborn king? The Magi show us how.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
We follow the star to the place where the child and his mother can be found together. We worship. We give our treasures to honor the king. Jesus welcomes all of us. The dividing wall the separates the Holy of Holies from the peoples of the nations is already being broken down as we come into his presence. Let us bring the fullest worship and the most valuable treasures to offer at the foot of Jesus our newborn king, our shepherd, that we too may be radiant at what we see.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment