George Strait had a popular country song out a while back that was
entitled, “I Saw God Today.” In it, Strait describes how, upon the birth of his
daughter, he began to notice little things that were God’s revelations of God’s
self in the everyday, mundane things of life.
A flower peeking up from between the cracks of the sidewalk, a young
expectant couple holding hands, a sunset…all are whispers of God’s grace that he
hadn’t noticed before, but now seemed to manifest themselves before his very
eyes.
It seems as
though God has been revealing God’s self to us for, well, forever. From the beginning of Genesis, through
burning bushes, through the prophets, and finally through his Son. God has been in the business of
revealing. This revelation didn’t stop
with Christmas. For twelve days the
Church has been celebrating the birth of the Christ Child – the Anointed One –
to the people of Israel. But God wasn’t
done there. No, God chose to reveal
God’s self to even more people – strangers from the Eastern Orient. Stargazers.
Wisemen. Royalty. Gentiles.
Why? Why would God go to all the trouble of trying
to share this small, insignificant birth, this tiny newborn child, to a group
of foreigners? Who were they? What was so important about this child? What would make these strangers travel so far
across vast deserts to come and visit him?
(I think about what it takes to get our family ready to travel to San
Antonio for an afternoon – I cannot fathom what it took those ancient travelers
to set out and search for a child, with only a peculiar star to guide them!)
And yet, God’s
plan was for this child to mean something to more than just a small group of
people. He would matter to
everyone. For without his birth, there
is no salvation. Without his being
revealed to outsiders, there is no hope for becoming included in the divine
plan of redemption. And without him,
there is no conquering sin and death.
A new year
arrives for us once again. And with
every new year, there comes with it the possibilities of knowing God more
deeply. Of knowing what God wants for us
– from us. Of knowing how we can become
a part of something bigger than ourselves.
We are given a new opportunity to start afresh in living our lives after
the example of Christ. We can be who God
has created us to be – reaching our God-given potential through the
strengthening power of the Holy Spirit – to be more Christ-like. We become blessed to be a blessing, and share
with those strangers (grandma used to say a stranger was just someone you
haven’t met yet) the ultimate love of God.
Perhaps, in some
strange sort of way, God is revealing God’s self to the world through us. Maybe, through our faith and faithfulness in
Jesus Christ, as we seek to live more into his likeness, someone might be able
to see God today through us. Which gives
you and me hope for the church and the world. Transformation becomes possible – through
God. And there is a future. Take that, Mayans!
See you in
Church!
Grace and peace,
Brad
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