Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 2 January 2011 by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Jeremiah 31:7-14, Ephesians 1:3-14 and Matthews 2:1-12.


It is a great joy and inspiration to begin the new year of 2011 by praising our Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Redeemer of the captives and the healer of the sick and the wounded.

In 31:7-14, the author of Jeremiah gave praises to God for his promise to the Israelites, His chosen people. This is an important message to people of all generations. The Lord will save the people from all kinds of captivity, and lead them to liberation.

We heard from the prophet about the promise of God for his people, which included: “The young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry.” In addition to that, “God will turn the people’s mourning into joy, comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. For God’s servants, the priest, he will give them their fill of fatness, and his people shall be satisfied with his bounty.” (Jeremiah 31:13-14, New Revised Standard Version.)

A good beginning is half of success. This begins with our faith in the Lord. Praise to God and a daily thanksgiving to what God has given and achieved is the key.

According to the Church liturgical calendar, we are still in the season of Christmastides. In the season of Advent, we looked forward to the coming of the Lord and celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas. On 6th January (this coming Thursday), we will start the season of the Epiphany. The term epiphany means "to show," "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it recalls the coming of the gift-bearing wise men to visit the Christ child. They are those people from a foreign land who "revealed" Jesus to the world as the Lord and the King.

The wise men were from the East were gentiles and not Jews. That God used the gentiles, not the Jews, to reveal Jesus as the King of the Jews is indicative. God will use different people in His will to achieve His plan. God will also do things extraordinary to the world and in our life. As Christians and the Church of Christ, we should be prepared for being called by God to reveal the light of Christ on earth. We have to be prepared to do something out of our expectations and different from our usual pattern.

The wise men brought to child Jesus precious gift ‒ gold, frankincense and myrrh. Obviously, the wise men were well prepared to see a King of the Jews; he was the Lord, great and powerful. The wise men went to pay homage with reverence and respect. If we take the Lord as God who is almighty, holy and gracious, we would do the same as the wise men to worship God, to pay respect to God and bring the best to Him. The first and most fundamental thing God calls us to do is to worship and pay Him homage. We are called to worship the Lord as the people of God. Therefore, a well prepared heart and an attitude of reverence for the weekly Sunday worship is fundamental and vital.

A good preparation includes doing what God has called upon us to do: Give our best gifts to the Lord.

What are our good and precious gifts? We may have more than one. If time is precious to you, reserve your time to God. Try to spend some time of silence to communicate with God and do some personal reflection every day. If money is precious to you, give your financial gift for God’s kingdom generously. Think of anything that is precious to you, bring it to the Lord for revealing God’s glory. Whenever we bring to God our precious gift, it reflects one important aspect in our life; that is, we focus our life in God and to lead a Christ-like life as priority. The encounter with God is a great joy. When we seem to be a giver to God, we actually receive more. Look at the response of the wise men when they saw Jesus. They were overwhelmed with joy. Are you prepared to give the best for God and receive this joy in encountering Christ our Lord?

The Church was established by Jesus Christ and has been sustained and further developed by the faithful community who follow Jesus Christ and serve as his disciples. The Church is a gift of God in Christ. The Church which is regarded as the body of Christ is given a call to become a faithful witness of God on earth. The life of Jesus Christ, which includes his suffering, death and resurrection has inspired millions of the faithful to devote their lives to him.

The early Church leader, the apostle Paul reminded the faithful (in Ephesians) that God had given them the spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ. We are thus given promise and hope to engage deeply a life to praise God.

As Christians, disciples of Christ, we all know in principal that we should follow the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ and become his good witness in the world. Due to personal weakness and worldly temptations, we find it difficult to follow Christ and focus our life in God. What apostal Paul shared with the Christian community in Ephesians is very encouraging. He reiterated that all the believers are the children of God, who come at a great price, and we are given spiritual blessings from God through Christ. For our lives, we are given promise and hope. This is a life of praising God and bringing Him glory.

God has wisdom and knowledge. Through Christ, God builds up the wholeness of human beings and the Church, the body of Christ. The apostle Paul regarded the Church as a goal in God’s plan.

We, as disciples of God, are called to take up God’s calling and his plan with responsibility. Epiphany is to reveal Christ. Therefore, we need to do our best to reveal the light of Christ to the world, by bringing love and care to the needed. God has given us strengths through the Holy Spirit to overcome all kinds of difficulties and barriers.

Christians, individually and collectively as a Church, are called to fulfill God’s plan in Christ. As reiterated by the apostle Paul, “In Christ we have obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of Him who accomplished all things according to His counsel and will, so that we, the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of His glory.” (Eph 1:11-12)

Conclusion

Epiphany is more than a celebration of the Magis’ visit to the young Jesus. The star leads each of us to embrace the gift of Christ.

This is a time we remember and engage our life in the promise of Epiphany. This is also a time we remember that Jesus Christ reveals himself with his full identification as a human being. Jesus’ forgiving and sacrificing love brings us new life and hope. The suffering and pain of the innocent people, and those who have been fighting for social justice and freedom in human history, manifest Christ Himself.

The price of salvation and human liberation is high. The grace given by God through Christ is never cheap. It is worthy of our active response and commitment to God’s calling to be Christ followers, real “God’s children” to reveal and embrace his light and glory on earth.

At the beginning of the year, we are challenged to follow faithfully God’s leading in our life, and to serve the Church. It is a time when we are asked to prepared for the joys and risks of accepting the call to live into God’s unfolding vision of wholeness through the life of Christ.

The liturgical color for Epiphany is white. White symbolizes newness and hope.

May we start the year of 2011 with a hope that is deeply engaged in the love and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us pray:

We praise You, Holy One, for visions of Your loving ways.
Stir our hope and fill us with courage to imagine how we might journey in the paths You illuminate with the brilliance of the Christ child in the year to come.
Amen.