“A King for the People of God"
January 6, 2013
January 6, 2013
The Feast of the Epiphany
Isaiah 60: 1 - 6; 9/Psalm 72: 1 - 2; 10 – 17/Ephesians 3: 1 – 12/Matthew 2: 1 – 12
His Eminence
His Eminence
The Most Reverend Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
and
Primate
of the
National Church in the Philippines
and
the Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
The Season of Christmas has passed. We enter the Season of Epiphany. As each of these Seasons are set and celebrated in the Church, they bring to us a lesson in spiritual growth and spiritual life. Christmas taught us the favor of God. How that in the midst of our rebellion, our sin, God was committed to us through covenant and He brought favor by sending His Son to us. God sent His Son not an ordinary man because what He was going to do was going to be a traumatic change in the life of mankind.
Christmas proclaims this. This is why we have the lights, the joy, and the excitement. The loving God has reached out to touch us. He has come to set us free, to heal us, and to restore us into our family. This was the purpose of His coming. This was why He came in the manner He did because there was a purpose and a reason that God was giving to us. Christ could have come into the world as an adult and change things instantly.
God speaks to us in the midst of this. He shows us the sacredness of the family. He shows us the power and the responsibility of the family. Even though Christ was of God and was God, when He became man, He came into the order that God has set for the earth – into the family. That family took upon themselves the responsibility to raise Him, to train Him, and to prepare Him for His ministry.
God challenges us because we have lost all of this basically in our society today. We see other things more important. We don’t want responsibility. “Let us murder our babies. Let us slaughter the innocents so that we don’t have responsibility. We don’t want to take care of anybody but me. I want me to be taken care of.” God shows us principles and guidelines. Two years after the birth of Christ, born in a manger, God speaks again to us about our patterns and goals in life.
Last Wednesday morning, I was sitting in Daily Office of Prayer and God began to speak to me about Epiphany. I was awed at the things He was sharing with me and ever since then, I have been doing research and study, trying to put all of these together.
In most of our lives, we don’t pay a lot of attention to our past. We take things out of the past but we don’t know why, we don’t know when, we don’t know who. Have an understanding so that we grasp where we are today and what God wants us to be.
Isaiah 60 says, “Arise shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples.” What is this saying to us? The system of man is darkness and it comes upon mankind as deep darkness. In our lives, we go for the world system, for the things of man rather than listening to what God speaks to us. God said, “Your light has come.” The light is symbolic of our deliverance, our hope, and our provision of new being, but God says, “You don’t follow it.”
“But the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”This is prophetic utterance from Isaiah. Scriptures tells us that the prophets have foretold the coming of Christ. They have proclaimed it in many different generations, in many different times, and in many different prophets. All proclaiming that the Messiah was coming to set man free. The Jews had been given this opportunity. They have been taught of these through the synagogues. They had researched and listened to the prophets of old. They were looking for a Messiah, praying for someone who would come, deliver them, and set them free.
When Christ was born, the angels pronounced His birth. Who responded to the manger? First, it was the shepherds, the poor. It wasn’t the established people of the Jews; it wasn’t the wealthy; it wasn’t the religious. There were no scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. The others were too busy with their work, their business, and their involvement. The angels were singing, making the preparation but only the shepherds saw it and responded.
How many times are we in the midst of something and we don’t even see it. We don’t even understand it. We don’t grasp its meaning and we just go right on in the darkness. The shepherds came and they rejoiced and honored the Messiah and they went back to their sheep. Why do we know that the shepherds were poor? Their job was the least important in the society. You don’t put somebody who was valuable watching over the sheep. It was somebody who didn’t have anything else to do. Like David, he was the youngest in the family so he was the one sent to watch over the sheep. Those who had their business, those who were educated, and those who were involved in many of the things of life didn’t notice the angels.
Secondly, we have the star that says so much. In education, we have those who receive stars for their achievements. In military, they have Generals who have stars. They show importance, value, and that which is of extreme value to life. Some have said it couldn’t have been a star because stars don’t move like that. I have seen shooting stars and they were moving. Besides, it is God who is controlling the universe. God can do anything He wants to do. If He wants to move a star, He can move a star. If He would want to move this earth, He could do it because He is God. He has that power, that authority, and that ability. Yet, we belittle Him. We look down upon Him. We think, “God couldn’t do something like this.” He can do whatever. He is not limited. All power is His.
A star in the heavens proclaimed the value of His birth, the importance of what was taking place. Who saw the star? The Magi. They were in the East, not near Jerusalem. To show how far it was, it was a two-year journey to Bethlehem. The Magi were descendents of Ishmael. They were not what we would call Jewish as far as background was concerned. They came from the bastard son of Abraham, Ishmael. Today, they are known as Islamic. These were the Three Kings.
Scriptures in Isaiah 60 talks about the young camels of Midian and Ephah, and from Sheba. Each of these are descendents of Ishmael. All these names that we see in Scriptures like Tarshish or Nebaioth are either sons or princesses of Ishmael. This is something that should cause us to wake up. God’s chosen people was through Isaac, but when Christ came, the chosen people of God who had been given the prophecy through the prophets did not recognize the coming of Christ. They did not respond to it.
Looking at the birth of Isaac and Ishmael, in the Old Testament, in Genesis, when Ishmael was born, it was said that he would live to the East of his brother; so we know that if these Wise Men came from the East, they came from Ishmael’s seed. Ishmael was to be a wild donkey of a man. His hand would be against everyone and everyone would be against him.
In Genesis 17, because Abraham interceded on behalf of Ishmael, God said, “I will become fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. I will make him a great nation, a father of twelve princesses.” Here was God’s blessing on the mistake of Abraham. God did not curse him, but instead He spoke a blessing upon him, “But my covenant will be with Isaac.” “I will bless Ishmael. I will bless his lineage. I will make him prosperous, but my covenant will be with Isaac.”
The Magi were astrologers, enchanters, scientists. History tells us that they came from Midians, the Persians, and the Babylonians. These characters that we have been reading all about in the Old Testament were Ishmaelites. They were that which came from a different lineage or line than Isaac, the Jewish, the chosen people of God.
These Magi were intelligent men, the elite, the professionals from the areas where they came from. They were not Jewish, but when they saw the star, they gave up their profession. Their profession was not more important to them than finding out what the star was signifying. The light had come and so they followed the light. All that they had done with their own efforts, their profession, they set it aside. By faith, they began a journey which took two years to achieve.
In the manger scene, we see the Wise Men at the manger scene. Somehow, for convenience, we put all of these together in one scene showing the birth of Christ which is not totally wrong. It is not correct either. Scriptures tells us that they came to His home, not in a manger. It was two years and the family had already established a home and Jesus was two-years old and being trained at that time by His parents.
The Magi came looking for Him. I mention this because it is important to understand that they came not because they knew what they were doing, but they came because they knew something special was happening. The light was shining and they sought Him.
It challenges us. We think, “God is with us and He is going to do this, heal the nation and others.” No, we’ve got to seek Him, to know Him, and to build a relationship with Him. This is something we ignore. We want the excitement. We want all the phenomenal and the flamboyant things but we don’t want the work. Scriptures says, “Seek and you will find.” This is work, effort, and this is what this is proclaiming to us as we look at the scene of Christ and the Magi coming to Him. It is saying to us, “Here is how you are going to grow in Christ. You’ve got to seek Him. He is here but you are going to have to do your part to come to Him.” It was a star that is bringing light to Him.
Scriptures says, “Our light has come.” Are we seeking, are we following that light, or are we setting things according to our own desires, our own ways? We set goals for ourselves and principles and these things become a controlling factor in our lives and faith has no more a place in us.
The Wise Men set it aside. They did not use logic and plan it all out and said, “Okay, we can do this and that. We don’t have to go through this because something good has happened. We will rejoice.” They were trained in it but yet they walked by faith. Logic will never fulfill restlessness. You can come up with all the logic you want, but how many times do we feel restless, nervous, and can’t sleep. There is something missing, there is something wrong so we try to analyze and try to come up with a solution. It is not logic, but it is faith that is required.
The Wise Men showed this to us and proclaims it. There is a reason why God did this in this manner because He wanted to speak to us. The Jews had ignored Him. The Jews were not paying attention and yet, these were His chosen people. They were so involved in the things of the world that they did not see the star. They did not hear the angels. They were too busy with their own things.
Faith is what was required. How was it shown to us? O shame, it was the descendents of Ishmael! The thing that God was showing me while He was proclaiming it from the very moment Christ was born was that He came for ALL mankind. Before He was involved in His ministries, God was making the declaration that the Ishmaelites and those from Isaac would be a part of His church.
We have heard how many times in just symbols or in words that He died for all. We don’t put them together. We don’t identify who the ALL are. We don’t realize it is more than just us. We have this identity of ourselves, “As Christians, we are the elite of the world. This is why God favors us. This is why we have all the blessings of God because we are the Christians.”
My Bible says, “ALL men.” In the very beginning of Christ time on earth, He shows us that He came for ALL. Who were the ones who sought Him? It wasn’t the Jewish people, other than the shepherds. It was those descendents of Ishmael. What a shock, a revelation to us!
“Arise, shine; for your light has come.” Are we seeking that light? Are we giving of ourselves like the Wise Men did? It was two-year journey. They didn’t have jet planes, automobiles. They had to ride on a camel. Can you imagine riding on a camel for two years? You would have callousness in certain parts of your body. This talks about dedication, commitment and sacrifice.
Do we see what this speaks to us? Do we see the challenge when we are screaming that we want relaxation? We don’t want responsibility. We don’t want to take care of other people. Let us kill all the babies so that we could get rid of them so that we can enjoy life. What kind of a people have we become?
Here are these men who are not of what we call the Christian lineage putting more effort in what they were wanting to find out. We are not two years away from the Church, and yet many times in the Morning Prayer, the Noon Prayer or the Evening prayer, we don’t find the people in attendance. We don’t have time. We are too busy like the Jews. We are not committed like the Magi to find that time to seek Him. Two years they sought Christ.
When we begin to look at Scriptures and you begin to research the words, the names, you find out that many of these names in the Old Testament are Ishmaelites – Babylon, Persia, Tarsius, Sheba, Kedar – association of one of the twelve sons of Ishmael. What does Scriptures say? They will bring the sons back. They will be the ones to restore. This is quite a shock!
Let us be honest that we have some feelings against Islam, and yet God is going to use them also, not just us, for His kingdom. Ephesians talk about giving us the insight over the administration. The Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the Body. It shows us that the Church is not made up of not necessarily of those who come from a certain lineage, but those who walk by faith. Logic won’t get you there. Knowledge will not get you there, but faith. Seek and you shall find.
The Magi knew there was something missing in their life. They felt that so they went to seek what was missing. They wanted it fulfilled. In our lives, do we do that or we go to the disco, turn on the TV, put a plug in our ears, go to the Internet and Facebook and spend hours there rather than seeking the One who can bring peace to us, the One who can bring fulfillment to us?
Epiphany speaks so loud and clear how that we have a responsibility. Yes, Christ is here. Emmanuel; He has come, but what is our reaction? What are we doing with this gift? Are we just saying, “Oh great! Emmanuel! God is with us! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” and then go off and do our own thing?
The Wise Men shows us the necessity of seeking. They speak loudly of our responsibility to set aside our own personal desires and look after Him, come to seek Him, find Him because He is the only hope that we have.
Scriptures says, “Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.” Did we include the descendants of Ishmael there? Did we understand that this would be a part? Do we understand that the coming of the baby, whether it was in the manger or in His house, that this prefigures the Church because it was men seeking Christ which was what the Church was supposed to be?
God is proclaiming and sharing with us, “Here is what I want of the whole world. I want them to seek My Son. I want them to realize that, “Yes, My favor is with you and I want you to seek that favor. I want you to give off yourself to that.” If you seek, you will find.
Later in Christ’s life, when He went to the cross, He died for all men – not just the Jews, but all. When it talks about Gentiles, it talks about those outside of the Jewish lineage that includes us and a lot of other people that we have not paid a lot of attention to.
A star was prophesied. The Magi, very possibly, had heard some rumors about this. By faith, they were going off to find it. In Matthew, when they came to Jerusalem, Herod was asking them questions and the Bible says that they told him, “We saw the star in the East.” Jerusalem did not see it. “We have come to worship Him.” I am not questioning the statement, but it is possible that they were just telling Herod this because they did not want to get in trouble with him. I don’t exactly know what the root of this was, but if it were true that they were coming to worship Him, can you imagine what this says to us today? “Every tongue shall confess and every knee shall bow.”
The Jews did not do this but the Ishmaelites. Do we want to be like that today? Do we want others to do the will of the Father for us? Do we want them to be the ones to establish us and minister to us? Or do we want to fulfill the task that God has given to us? We have to act by faith.
Scriptures tells us that the Jews were very logical and rigid in their rules and regulations. When it came to what they did for the temple, they gave their tithe. Scriptures says that they were very diligent even down to the mint, the dill, the cumin. Everything was ten percent that they gave.
When the Wise Men came, they did not bring tithe; they brought their treasures. They had more value for this Christ who was not a part of their religious leanings, but yet they felt so strongly about His coming that they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They were expensive treasures because they valued this birth. They were recognizing Him and giving perhaps their all. After a two year journey, they brought their all. They did not have hotels and restaurants on the road. They were really roughing it to get there and yet they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.
This confronts me! How valuable is my God to me? How valuable is Christ to me that He would come? That He would eventually take away my sin and my iniquity? Would I just be still like the Jews and give of my tithing or will I give Him my all? Did He deserve more? Scriptures talks about tithing in the Old Testament, but when Christ came, it says, “Your all; your whole heart. You worship Him with all that you are.”
These Wise Men, the Ishmaelites, were doing more than the Jews. They were showing more reverence, honor and more glory and respect than God’s own people. It should challenge us. This is what Epiphany is all about. Yes, it is God with us and I don’t deny that but why? What are going to do with this God with us? Are we going to seek Him? Are we going to want to know Him? Are we going to want to understand Him? Are we giving ourselves so that this can be a part of our life? We are aware of who our God is and it brings stability, confidence, peace to us.
I can just picture these Magi on this journey. How many times were they thinking, “Is this wise that we have done this?” They did not use logic but they rode their camels by faith because they believed something great was happening and they wanted to be a part of it.
Epiphany, God with us, so what? Emmanuel, so what? Are we seeking Him? Do we want to know Him? Are we wanting to give of our lives to Him so that He can live in us and be in us? He was showing us how the Church was going to be built so that He could dwell among us. It was all; it wasn’t just the Jews, but also the Ishmaelites and the Gentiles. They were the ones who came to Him. They were setting a pattern. They were speaking loudly as to what was in the heart of God. This wasn’t just for the Jews. This was for all of mankind. Remember, all life comes from God. Even though they were Ishmaelites, they belonged to God. He blessed them. He made them fruitful and gave them tremendous abilities. We see this even today.
Where are we? What are we doing? Are we like just the shepherds, the poor? Or will we be willing to set aside other things to follow Him? Sometimes, when I say these things people think, “I have to get rid of my business, my job.” This is not what I am saying, but what is important in our commitment? It is Him and we don’t allow anything to get in its way. We are still going to do what we’ve got to do, but it doesn’t become the most important thing in our lives. The most important thing in our lives is our relationship with God. Seeking Him. The promise: seek and ye shall find.
Epiphany: God with us! How are we going to handle this? What are we going to do with this?
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