Epiphany Sunday

I've been thinking about the magi, and what they returned to in Persia, or wherever they were from. They probably didn't set up the First Presbyterian Church of East Persia. They probably went back to being magi, forever changed by meeting Jesus but bringing their knowledge of him to the context of their previous lives. I'm wondering how acceptable their worship would really be to most of the church today...

How many people do we dismiss who might be worshiping God, either without knowing it themselves or without us understanding that what they are doing is worship? I'm thinking of alternative healers, yoga instructors, painters, theatre people, etc, who don't look like they're promoting the gospel as evangelicalism has narrowly defined it. Or people who are doing amazing things like liberating kids from sex slavery around the world, fighting hunger, or working to save the environment in the Galapagos?

Or how often does the church write off Christians (yes, sometimes even denying their faith) who don't fit our script of what a Christian should look like. What about LGBT Christians? Universalists? Community organizers?

I'm playing with a definition of worship that basically is doing things that line up with God's mission and desire for the world. This could come from many places, including from a band of eastern astrologists two thousand years ago.

Confession

God of light, you accepted the gifts of pagan astrologers who saw a star. We confess that we often miss the worship of those around us, because they do not look like us, talk like us, or believe like us. Or worse, we are like Herod, seeking you for selfish reasons - for our comfort, wealth and security. But your light shines in our darkness, and our darkness has not overcome it. Help us to humble ourselves, and seek both to find, and to be a part of, your kingdom on earth. Amen

Assurance

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.