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January 4, 2004
Second Sunday After Christimas
I Was Looking For You
Matthew 2:2
A famous "Magi" mentor, Sam Shoemaker taught me:
"If you want to stimulate your faith, talk with someone who's searching....and striving....and struggling with his/her own faith issues!"
(Repeat): searching....striving....struggling....on faith issues, and you'll BOTH be discovering new-life-in-Christ!
(Prayer): O Lord, meet us in our moments of....searching....and striving....and struggling, providing the possibility of a faith-enhancing EPIPHANY. Amen.
Another "MAGI" mentor, Howard Thurman, speaks to us, as we enter this New Year, 2004:"In times of great stress and strain (in the outer-world) we do tend to retreat within.....to probe our memories and our imaginations. Here is our opportunity to shed light on ourselves, with God's help."
To relate a story by Avery & Marsh, contemporary worship innovators, of 3-Magi in a rather large sanctuary Christmas pageant: "Each one came, humping, as though on the awkward camel, up and down the aisles....coming to the cradle (EMPTY)....go around again....3rd time around, sweating, falling on their knees, exhausted, one gasped, "O thank you Lord Jesus, I was looking for you!"
Yes, friends. That's an Epiphany....a brief, shining moment, when we're literally, or figuratively, down on our knees....after searching...?... for clues, for answers; after striving...?...for something more of value; after struggling...?...hmm....Folks, help me here....fill in the blanks with your
faith truggles....(pause)....e. g. Where is God when I need him?....Why does God allow....?
Another "Magi" for me, Leslie Weatherhead, flashes a STAR of light, of HOPE: "I cannot make sense of the universe, and I certainly cannot make sense of the nature of God, unless for every body in the world there comes an hour when everything suffered....everything forgiven....every bit of patience....every talent....every possibility, is caught up by God, when God says, "Now, I want you, for you too have a place in my plans."
A key-word for me....INSIGHT....as I read Acts 2:16-2....Hmm....
"God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young folks shall see visions, and your old folks shall dream dreams....(and the promise?)....Then, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
My reaction to this stimulating scripture = 2 things:
(1) John Robert Elliott, as a youthful Navy mid-shipman, "cruising" in the Atlantic ...searching....and striving....and struggling....relying on what we Presbyterians call "the means of grace"....(1) a little new Testament and (2) a prayer-book, "Diary of Private Prayer" and (3) supported by several buddies, initiated Sunday worship services on "our" destroyer.
Yes, unexpectedly, unintentionally, I returned home....knowing, sensing EPIPHANY.... that the Lord had found me....and the course of my life was altered forever. "and your young folks shall see visions"....possibilities. And, our children....our teenagers....our collegians??, don't we share the hope of God's call on their lives? their goals? their exciting future? YES!!
(2) Does Christ's living, loving presence stimulate me?....you?....us?..."to dream great dreams"? What happens?....to me?....when two of you, two of our "old folks who dream dreams" come visiting in our home, seeking a commitment - ala "Magnet for Ministry" and I, we, they pray, "Am I giving my best gift, Lord?"...and later, as an Epiphany, I'm recognizing that in the midst of my "senior moments", of searching and striving and struggling....Here is faith-filled "creative possibility"....for each of us, for all of us:
From a modern "MAGI", Ken Phifer, in his "A Book of Uncommon Prayers" pleads: "I do not want epiphanies of flame and thunder, of voices and apparitions in the night. Such things would only frighten me. I do want a sense of belonging in the universe, of being loved, of being able to love others, of acceptance, of being able to accept others. I want warmth in relationships, joy in the good things of earth, and a faith that whatever tomorrow brings, I won't be alone. I want to be fully human, unafraid of myself, and unthreatened by other people. If I could have these things, that would be miracle enough." Amen! Right on! An epiphany par-excellence!
And you? I would challenge you to simply "wonder as you wander" through our hallways and our fellowship hall, to ponder those magnet for ministry testimonies and....later...to write your own such testimonies!!
After years of searching, striving and struggling....of feasibility studies and faith-filled prayers....have we not heard our Lord, Christ, saying, "I was looking for you."? Our prospects?...unlimited! What possibilities! Our talents!...Our time!...Our treasure!
And so, that's where I am....this is what you get by inviting me, and....here is the Epiphany that stimulated my message text: "Where is the child who has been born KING...?" "A Driving Woman"
She looks up at me from her four-year height, eyes as blue as sky and sea can ever be, golden hair tied with ribbon on each side, and with a voice which summons and commands she says, "I was looking for you." Earlier she stopped a robed musician in the hall to ask, "Are you the minister here?" Told, "No," she plunged right on among adults gathered for coffee after Church until she spied me in familiar robe. Then she lifted that shining face to me and said with no apology at all: "I was looking for you." Such an offer no one could refuse. I knelt to meet her face-to-face for glad embrace while her mother felt it needful to explain, "She won't go home unless she talks to the minister." Who could ask for more? No seraphim at Heaven's gate will command my attention more than this, nor eternity outshine this shining moment when love takes voice to say, "I was looking for you." I trust God will be as glad to find me, finally, thus echo her words, "I was looking for you."
(Prayer): Grant us, Lord, to recognize more clearly whom we sought, when you sought us, and whom we found, when you found us, so that we may discover anew the infinite, creative possibilities of faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Reverend John Elliott is a retired Presbyterian pastor and chaplain who worships at First Presbyterian Church.
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First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
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