The Epiphany – an almost forgotten celebration in the West.

In Eastern Christianity and in Spanish speaking countries the Feast of the Epiphany is still celebrated on 6 January with more outstanding liturgies and dazzling church services than Christmas. 

It is only in recent years that the Epiphany was again included in the celebrations and seasons of some branches of the Western Church, including some of the Protestant churches.

Epiphany celebrates that with the visit of the Wise Men from the East, the Messiah was revealed to the Gentiles, while Christmas, the birthday, is celebrated as the day when Jewish believers, such as the shepherds, worshipped the new born King.

This is why  Gentiles in the East took ownership of a Gospel moment, the visit of the Magi, where they, as non-Jews, were enlightened and received the revelation of the coming of Christ to our world and our lives.

What makes the Eastern Feast important is the understanding that enlightenment about Jesus as Messiah and the revelation of his light and glory is only possible when our thinking and prayers go beyond the Christmas story!

The glory of the Son of God, as it was revealed to his followers through his miracles, parables and teachings should help us understand who the King is that came to reconcile both Jew and Gentile with God! 

And the radical, complete and final epiphany of the glory of Christ can only be understood when we consider the meaning of his eventual suffering, and his glorious resurrection and exultation.

An epiphany of who the Son of God really is, requires a new path in life for followers of the King that was born on Christmas day.  

In the end, God is the ultimate actor. God has moved ahead of the church to embrace the entire world.  Indeed it is God's initiative that sets the apostles of biblical times and the church of every century to the monumental enlightenment where we clearly see that the true Messiah is not only the Saviour of a few Jewish believers – but equally so, the Redeemer of the entire world.

The wise men from the east have no other message to tell, than the Gospel that we should embrace the Jewish Messiah as our own Christ, our Lord and our Saviour. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

The shepherds received a remarkable Christmas experience from God. They shared a heavenly Christmas service with God’s angels and went to see the Child. And they did not treat the message thoughtlessly and indifferently.

No, they knew that what they saw, heard and experienced, was really important. “And they made known the statement, which had been told them about this Child. (Luke 2:17)

The significance of Christmas escapes some. Yet others cannot wait to proclaim it.

It is a true and life changing encounter with the Lord Jesus that moves us to live for him the whole year round. Our personal relationship with Christ certainly makes the difference.

And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen ... (Luke 2:20)

Celebrate Christ!  And your worship will glorify the Lord!  

If you receive a similar real-life experience from God this Christmas, like the shepherds did 2000 years ago, will you not sing his songs, pray his prayers and serve the majesty of Jesus every day of your life?

I wish all my readers a merry and blessed Christmas!

As you seek the Lord’s face, may you know his gracious, merciful heart and may this Christmas restore hope, peace, joy and love to your journey with our Saviour.

Fourth Advent Sunday: God so much loved the world...

God shared his love for us, and for all of his creation, by “sharing” his Son with us.  Sending his Son to become one of us, to be born for us, to teach us and guide us, to die for us and conquer for us, is God’s amazing love declaration to an entire human race in dire need of the light of the Lord.

God so much loved the world that he gave his only Son...

And the Son of God demonstrated sacrificial love during his ministry on earth, showing us the loving character of his Kingdom that will never end.  Advent is a season that reminds us to do what Jesus does, as we remember what he did when he ministered on earth. We are reminded to be kind, selfless and sharing.  It is a time to practice how to love as God loved us, by giving us his most precious gift, his only Son. Because our God is love, let us become love too.

The Gospel according to John says: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  – John 13:34-35

During the last Advent Sunday we express our need, even our desperate want, for God to love us in spite of whom we are and what we became. The Child in the manger is the confirmation of the divine love of God for his people.

It is his love and his mercy that brought us home and made us family, sons and daughters, of our Lord too. 

His is the love that reconciled us with Godself, in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer.

Joy to the world! Third Advent.

On Sunday 13 December 2015 we will light the pink candle of joy in church as our call to worship the Lord.  I am preparing a sermon on how Advent and Christmas joy should be part of our celebrations and excitement about the coming of the Kingdom of God through our lives and testimony as children of God, in Christ.

But I find it hard to focus on joy and gladness right now!  Deep concerns about the way our country’s finances is managed, the plummeting of confidence and of hope that our politicians will be wise and good in handling anger and despondency as a result of poverty and hunger, inequality and corruption – and many other issues - cloud my vision of a congregation passionately singing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come”, with sincerity!

While the drought is diminishing any hope of providing food security and irresponsible wasteful spending by apparently apathetic leaders overshadows one’s contemplation of Christmas cheer and gospel-joy, it is hard to look deep enough into the gospel to find the meaning of the “good news of great joy” the angels sang when Christ was born.

So why does the expected level of joy during this season seem to be absent from my heart and from the lives of many around me? Why do these endless concerns dominate so much of our thinking, leaving little time or energy for reflecting on the good and kind nature of God and the coming of his Kingdom in the world?

The much loved hymn that proclaims “joy to the world” encourages “every heart to prepare him room”. My struggle to allow godly joy to excite me must be because I haven’t comprehensively considered why I’m called to such (supernatural) joy.

Do I truly realize who God is? Do I comprehend the love shown by him coming from heaven and living among us in poverty for 33 years, giving his life for us on the cross that we could live with him in heavenly riches forever?

Do I truly see that despite my fleeing from God because I live in selfish decadence, he still came to seek and to forgive me at the cost of his suffering and death? Because if I earnestly did, my heart would prepare him room and find rest in the profound peace and joy that we sing about during this Season.

If I in faith saw God’s love and compassion as proven and illustrated by my Lord’s sacrifice and pain, concerns would not have impaired my convictions and cheer by trying to carry all these burdens that saddens me so much.

I really can do very little, if anything, to dry the many tears from countless eyes. But then, I do not rule the world with truth and grace. I do not have all power and authority in heaven and earth!

No, Jesus “rules the world with truth and grace …” as the hymn so boldly claims.

So I pray for myself and all my brothers and sisters that our Lord deepens and enlightens our understanding of Christmas, of the birth of the Son of God and I pray to understand the profound message of great joy the angels sang when he was born!

I admit I have been too focused on my own concerns and fears to prepare my heart to fully receive Jesus during this festive time. I have not done what I should have, to prepare room for the joy the Word promises to those who are in Christ Jesus!

“O God, help me to lay all my concerns at your feet, and in your mercy, open my troubled heart to make room for godly reflections on the grace you have in stall for me, freeing my mind to believe what Jesus has done for me and to fully and unconditionally receive my Lord’s intended Advent Joy and Christmas cheer.

O my God, grant me insight and faith that I can proclaim your eternal joy under even the harshest challenges and remain happy because you love me and all who receive your Gospel of forgiveness, release and power! Amen.”

Peacemakers travel on the highway...

Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace comes to us and to our world.

We need to change our ways.  Instead of being crooked paths of anger, vengeance and making trouble, we should become peacemakers.  Peacemakers travel on the highway of the Kingdom to spread the news and the reality of the coming of Christ’s rule and reign!

Jesus gave us a new way to live. He gave us the ability to not only forgive (as we are forgiven by God) but to release others from the consequences of their sins (as God releases me of mine).

Jesus gave us a new way to deal with violence – to resist it by being peacemakers.

Jesus gave us a new style of leadership - by drawing on the spiritual gifts of each member of the Body of Christ.

Jesus gave us a new way to deal with an immoral society – to build a new order in every sphere of influence we have.

Jesus gave us a new way to deal with relationships – in marriage, politics, civil society and our economic life,  where we share true humanity with each other and base the restoration of our associations on forgiveness, release of past divisive actions and moving forward in the unity of true peace.

Let's make a straight path for the coming of the Kingdom of our Lord. Let’s, like John the Baptist, become agents of repentance, forgiveness, release and a new life in Christ Jesus.

Let’s brand our lives with the words of the Christmas angels:  “Peace on earth!”

(See Luke 3: 1 – 6) 

Second Advent: Peace! Shalom!

On Sunday 6 December 2015 the Church observes the Second Advent Sunday and considers the peace that Christ, the Prince of peace, brought to our world and to us.

The apostles greeted the churches in the New Testament with the words, “grace and peace be with you!”  They were thinking of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that brought the “shalom” - the peace of God and peace with God - into our lives.

Divine peace describes the very way that God exists. It describes the heart and character of God.  It is all about the eternal love, grace and unity within the Holy Trinity since before time began.  God in perfect joy takes pleasure in peace within Godself.  This is the peace he shares with his children.

When our relationship with God is restored, he removes the warring madness and makes us peacemakers and peace- beneficiaries again!

God came to us in Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, to be with us always. God comes through his Spirit into our lives to restore peace with him and each other.  Christ comes again one day to perfect eternal peace as we share eternity with him.

The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world came to us as Immanuel to stay with us and grant us his peace with God and also with each other!