ini Message

It is amazing how many People today do not realize that Epiphany is really the last part of the triad of the Christmas season. Sadly, Epiphany has no real place within much of our culture any more. Some people think about the story of the wise men, but they lump this in with the Christmas story forgetting that their visit was well after the birth. Our society spends lots of time, money and energy on the preparation for Christmas(one aspect of the advent season of looking forward) and many do take time to truly celebrate Christmas when it eventually rolls around. But then they seem to drop the ball and forget to take time to reflect on the meaning of all that we have experienced. Although sometimes people reflect on Christmas with groans once they get the credit card bills in during January, but that is not the kind of reflecting I am talking about. Epiphany is the wonderful time for reflecting on the coming of God into our lives and thinking through what it means to us to know that God loves us, and cares enough to touch our hearts with his love. Jesus, after all, is the living God come to be in our midst and our Christmas celebration is not just about his historical birth, but about his coming here and now in 2006 breaking into the midst of our busy world. Epiphany is about discovering the wonder and meaning of this coming for each of us each year.

I would encourage you to take time to think about what the Christmas season has brought into your life. Look for the place or the ways, that the spirit of God was in the midst of all the hustle and bustle and take time to focus on and celebrate this. The wise man came to worship and celebrate Jesus with their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and myrrh. The gifts pointed to the deeper significance and meaning of God's coming. We can do the same. We can witness to others in our world by how we respond to God's coming and help them to know that He is alive and well and in our midst, still bringing us the good news of his love. We can do and say things that point to God's presence as he leads us forward in our spiritual walk. Letting people know that your spiritual walk with God has this kind of real world implication can go a long way to helping others be more in touch with the God who has come to be were they are. It is a great witness to the living word of the Lord, the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit active today. Don't miss the Season of Epiphany in your life. For if you do, you will miss a very real and important joy that God's coming wants to bring to you. May God help you as you reflect in this season of Epiphany on his coming and may you be richly blessed by doing so. If you want to talk to me more about this please feel free to email or call.

Rev. Tijs, at St. Giles Presbyterian Church.