LIFE IS A MAZE(ing) | Stars and Knees | Romans 12:1-2 | Week 1

How many of you thought that was a Christmas song [We Three Kings] that we just sang during our offertory? Here's a little pastoral rebuke for you:  It's actually not.  It's not a Christmas song at all.  It's a song about a season that actually begins today.  Christmas technically ended yesterday, and today we begin a season in the church calendar called Epiphany.  Epiphany comes from a Greek word that means "to manifest" or "to show" or "to reveal."  It's the day where the church comes together and celebrates the magi.  They were sort of pagan stargazers who came and worshipped King Jesus.  There weren't three of them; there were probably multitudes of them.  They brought three gifts, though, and that's where we probably get the idea of "We Three Kings."  Just a nerdy, anecdotal side note:  The Church celebrated Epiphany for hundreds of years before it ever celebrated Christmas.  We started, as a Church, celebrating Christmas because of some heresies that arose that said that Jesus wasn't really fully man; he was actually sort of a spiritual being.  The Church said no, no, no, no, no, it's so important that Jesus was actually born of a woman, we're going to start celebrating THAT day.  We call it Christmas now, but for hundreds of years before the Church ever celebrated Christmas, it celebrated Epiphany.  Today.  The revealing or the showing of the Messiah.

If you have your Bible, open to Matthew 2:1-2.  {This won't be our main text for today.} After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."  I've thought about that this week as I've been dwelling on this transition from Christmas, and the celebration of incarnation, to Epiphany, the celebration of the revealing of the Messiah.  I don't know about you, but I'd love to have a few more stars in my life.  Wouldn't you?  I would love to have a star over.....hey, here's the city you're suppose to live in.  In fact, let's get more specific, why not a star over the house you're suppose to rent or buy?  Or, how about a star over....here's the job that you're suppose to take.  Or, how about a star over the date you're suppose to retire.  Let's get a star for that, God!  Why don't you deliver on that one for us?  Or, here's a star over the person you're suppose to marry.  I haven't gotten a whole lot of stars in my life.  What about you?...