Matthew 2:7-12
Is there any image more compelling than a fresh white, sparkling snow on a moonlit, star-filled night? It is hard to imagine finding an image more beautiful.
What is it about the white snow and the stars and the moon blanketing the night sky that draws us in? It is impossible to say why images like this make our hearts feel warm, but they always do.
It is not unlike the images we might also conjure up about the Epiphany story... the three wise men heading toward Bethlehem following the light of a distant, but brightly-shining star. I imagine they did not have to cross a snowy plain or mountainside, like the one in this image, but the image of the wise men and their entourage, heading faithfully and diligently night-after-night, searching for a Messiah newly-born is heartwarming. And the most heartwarming part of all is the part where they decide to add a 'plot twist' after seeing the toddler Jesus... they do not return to Herod, but rather, spare Jesus' life and head a different direction.
This month we begin a new sermon series called "Snow Faith: Finding Spirituality in the Snow." This week we focus on the starry night in the snow. The Snow Epiphany, if you get my 'drift.' Sunday is Epiphany Sunday, a Sunday when we recognize the journey of the wise men, awaken to our own inner yearnings to go a different way in order to keep Jesus alive in our own hearts and lives, and move in unexpected directions into the new year.
What breath-taking moments from the past can you carry with you into this new year? What new light can you shine on the blanket of a new year, with no tracks as of yet tread upon it? What ways can you bow down and worship Jesus and move forward to transform your world in 2014?
Email me or comment below.
Happy New Year! Happy Epiphany! May the 'light' be with you.
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