Each week, Moravians across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean share a common message through their Sunday bulletins. As we prepare to enter a new year, we share insights written for Epiphany Sunday and the second Sunday after Christmas. Thanks to writers past and present for their contributions, and to the Rev. Hermann Weinlick for his continued editing of our bulletin messages.
The Most Precious Gift
Second Sunday after Christmas
January 2, 2022
In light of today’s Gospel text from Matthew 2:1–12, I want to say first that wise persons still seek the Lord, and when they find him, they give him their most precious treasure. The wise men from the East traveled a long way in search of the Christ Child, not only because they saw the star, but also because they were men of faith who had spiritual insight. They were convinced that with the star’s appearance the promised Messiah had been born; so they journeyed to Bethlehem of Judea to find him.
Unlike Herod, who had a different motive for knowing where the young child was, the wise men wanted to worship and honor the child as an infant king. So they brought precious gifts from their rich treasuries. But their most precious gifts were not gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Their most precious gifts were their hearts, and their greatest honor was acknowledging Jesus as Messiah and King.
For us, as for the wise men, the wisdom to search for Jesus, until we truly find him, comes from above, and the desire to worship and honor him comes from the heart. In our spiritual journey, may we truly find Jesus and get to know him personally, so that while we surrender to him some of our earthly treasures, we also surrender our most precious treasure. That most precious treasure is our hearts, as we worship him in Spirit and in truth.
—Charles C. Harewood, pastor,
First Moravian Church, New York, New York
Looking for Jesus
The Epiphany of the Lord
January 6, 2019
People from all walks of life have been drawn to Jesus, some of whom have gone to great lengths overcoming challenges of one kind or another just to see him. Recently I read a story of a man who created a nativity scene in his front yard. Somebody one night took his plastic baby Jesus. Deeply troubled over the disappearance of his plastic baby Jesus, the man issued a plea, reported in a local newspaper, to have it returned to his nativity scene.
In this season of reflection, the Christian community is drawn to Jesus, “the reason for the season,” and remembers his humble beginning in Bethlehem’s manger, where the greatest story ever told began. This life-transforming story did not end there in the manger, prompting us to wonder what has become of Jesus, and pleading for his safe return. In keeping with God’s redemptive plan for humankind, God directed Mary and Joseph to Egypt (Matthew 2:13). Every successive move from the manger to the cross was in keeping with God’s plan in making Jesus known as the Savior of the world. Today we are not looking for Jesus in the manger where he was born, nor in the king’s palace.
Looking for him at the beginning of this New Year, we may encounter him in spirit and truth in that place where we longed to meet him, or in that place where we least expect to meet him. Importantly, for Jesus’ followers and people of hope, this season is about looking for Jesus and meeting him where we are in time and place. The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us for a while (John 1:14). He became one of us to literally set up his tent among us, as the word “dwell” conveys in the original language of the text, so that we could have full access to him.
—Wellesley Ferguson, pastor,
Vanderbilt Ave. Moravian Church,
Staten Island, New York, and Fellowship Moravian Church, Brooklyn, New York
Once upon this time
Epiphany Sunday
January 6, 2013
Once upon a time . . . wise men from the East came to Jerusalem. We know the story well, and our children act it out in the Christmas plays that invariably hallmark this time of year. And we learn of these strangers from another land, these seekers who were not Jews, who followed a light and had an epiphany, a revelation of Jesus the Christ, who filled them with joy. They responded to this epiphany with generosity, sharing gifts that confirmed the importance of the occasion. And these foreigners were the first to acknowledge that this Jesus was God’s anointed king.
As we hear the familiar story again, do we relegate it to a long ago time in a faraway place? Or do we recognize that there are seekers today who need the same revelation of Christ, the same light to shine in their lives, as did those wise men long ago? Perhaps today’s seekers won’t find the Christ in a fancy temple or palace either. Will they find him within the walls of our churches? Or will they have to go to the lowly places, to the places of dirt and sweat and tears to find this light of revelation? Where will you find the light of Christ in your life?
And those who have seen this light—have known this light—Matthew challenges to be this light to others. He ends the gospel with the call to discipleship, reaching out to all nations. All are still included. We—seekers too—also respond to this Lord of light with generosity to give back to the world and to the stranger the joy of knowing our Lord. We move out from the places of comfort to the places of need, where through us God can write the story anew.
Once upon this time . . .
—Judy Ganz, executive director,
Board of World Mission
Wilderness
First Sunday after the Epiphany
January 8, 2012
A place in the wilderness often sounds like a pleasant retreat from the busy-ness of the day. I can imagine the time simply to sit with God a while as a welcome respite for my life. But in today’s Gospel the wilderness is not a place of tranquility for tranquility’s sake, but a place of (re)commitment and change. John called out for people to repent, confess, and be baptized in recognition of their commitment to living God’s way of life. The wilderness drew them out from their lives so that they could see, through a change in their perspective, new possibilities for ways to live.
So, as we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus and all the possibilities that it brought for the world, let us also hear the call from John. The call of John compels us to go out into the wilderness; to change the things that keep us from following as faithfully as we can; to commit ourselves to the Mission of God as we accept our place in it. It was not easy for people to leave their homes to go listen to this eccentric prophet in the desert. But they went because God had something to say, and they were ready to listen.
Jesus continues calling us out to serve and love the world that God created. May we find our way into the wilderness to seek God and listen for new directions. As the possibilities are laid out before us, may we have the courage to claim our place in the Mission of God as we too prepare the way of the Lord!
—Rebecca Craver, pastor, Zacchaeus’ Tree, Indianapolis, Indiana
