Dear Emanuel Members and
Friends –
"In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born
in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed
his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod
heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together
all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it
has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are
by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the
wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then
he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the
child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay
him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of
them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the
place where the child was. When they saw
that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child
with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening
their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.'" (Matthew 2:1-12)
With the coming of the New
Year, we enter into another season of the liturgical calendar. January 6 is Epiphany, in which we remember
the coming of the wise men from the east – gentile wise men, likely Zoroastrians
from Persia (modern day Iran) who studied the stars and somehow knew that a
Messiah was to be born in Judea.
Epiphany represents the
revelation of the Messiah to the nations – to the Gentiles - to non-Jews,
including the members and most of the friends of Emanuel Church. (I say “most” because our congregation has
been blessed with some very good friends of the Jewish faith, for whom we are most
grateful.) Isaiah and other prophets
long ago had written that Israel would be a light to the nations, dispensing
knowledge of God, and that the nations would come to Israel bearing gifts. The coming of the wise men is both an
enactment of Isaiah’s words, and a foreshadowing that many, many Gentiles, non-Jews
would be drawn to Jesus, the light of the world.
“Wise Men and Women Still
Seek Him!” In recent years, we’ve welcomed
a surprising number of visitors to Emanuel Church – praise God! Some come through the invitation of friends,
others through events at the church, still others because of our website, our
presence on Facebook, and our occasional newspaper ads. Some come because of family connections to
our cemetery. Some initially come
seeking food or other assistance, and decided to stay. And some just show up seemingly randomly,
providentially – they walk or drive by, see our small church building for the
first time, and decided to take a look.
And while our visitors may come seeking many things – fellowship,
familiar hymns and comforting liturgies, words from the pulpit to restore
fragile faith or encourage comfortable faith to stretch and grow in new and sometimes-uncomfortable
directions, a place where their children can be brought up in the faith,
assistance and support, information on departed family members, opportunities
for service – ultimately they come seeking Jesus, seeking the child who is Emanuel,
God with us.
“Wise Men and Women Still
Seek Him!” Our church has grown not only
numerically, but spiritually because of those who have come to Emanuel Church
in search of Jesus – those who grew up in the church and have been here with us
for decades, and those who have come more recently. Even though at Emanuel Church we sing many of
the same hymns and worship using the same liturgy as we have for decades, our
church changes – we hope for the better – every time somebody new walks through
our front door. Like the Wise Men at the
manger, those who visit and those who join come bearing gifts, knowingly or
unknowingly. Renewed faith, new perspectives, fresh energy,
wider networks of connections to our community (which have blessed us greatly
in the past few years) – these gifts, among many others, come to us through our
visitors and new members.
Who will God send our way in
2016? What will they seek? What gifts
may they bear? May prayer is that
Emanuel Church will continue for many years to come to be a house of prayer for
all people, a place where all can come to find and know Emanuel – “God with
us”.
I’ll close by sharing a well-loved poem by Howard Thurman, African-American theologian, educator,
and civil rights leader.
The Work of Christmas
When the song of
the angels is stilled,
when the star in
the sky is gone,
when the kings and
princes are home,
when the shepherds
are back with their flocks,
the work of
Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the
prisoner,
to rebuild the
nations,
to bring peace
among the people,
to make music in
the heart.
May Emanuel
Church be about the work of Christmas in 2016!
A blessed
Epiphany and a blessed New Year to all
See you in
church –
Pastor
Dave
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