A question you didn’t know you were asking
I hope, as you read this, that you’re not suffering from the January Blues, as you contemplate the January diet (contemplate it, not necessarily activate it!), and reboot the ordinary after the Christmas-extraordinary where chocolate can be eaten at breakfast-time, pyjamas worn all day and turkey persists beyond all reason.
If the days feel dreary and the darkness deep, perhaps, with me, you’d like to recover the season of Epiphany as a time of revelation, of seeing clearly for the very first time; of discovering someone you didn’t even know you were looking for; of being given an answer to a question you didn’t even know you were asking.
In Bethlehem, the wise men discover a baby King. On the banks of the river Jordan, the crowds hear that Jesus is God’s Son, the Beloved. On the road to Damascus, Saul is blinded by a light that helps him see more clearly than ever before. In the temple, Anna and Simeon are surprised by their redeemer, the salvation of all people. And, through it all, Mary is given a new, terrible, understanding that the child she has birthed will one day birth her through his death.
Even though the darkness is deep at this time of year, now is the time of revelation.
I wonder who you might be seeking, the answer you’re searching for. I wonder whether, despite not seeking, and not searching, you will be surprised by God calling you in a new way, or diverting you onto a new path, or giving you wisdom for something that has felt intractable. I pray that it might be so.
The hope for all the world
The events of Epiphany move an understanding of who Jesus is from the parental to the public, from Nazareth to the nations. Jesus is now not only the apple of his parent’s eyes but hope for all the world. These revelations are world-changing.
And so I wonder: what might God show to our own broken world this Epiphany? What revelations might be given to world leaders, influencers, bankers, academics, broadcasters, to the church; to anyone who might hold sway and exercise power over others – for good or ill? I wonder, when the revelation comes, whether we will have eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to respond. I wonder whether we even want the revelation, or are prepared to pay the cost of what it might ask of us.
When God speaks, we might find God says the things God has already taught us: that strangers are to be welcomed, the vulnerable cherished, that God’s love is wide enough and deep enough for all who seek refuge within it.
Dare we pray for God’s revelation? Dare we amplify what God shows us so that others might hear, too?
My prayer for this season is that God would speak to me, and to you; that God would speak to the hearts of those who have never heard God; that God would convert the hearts of those intent on harm, or indifferent about neglect. My prayer is that God would be seen again in a way that is irresistible and changes the world.
Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.