Epiphany

Epiphany

January 7, 2020

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9

Thus says God, the Lord,
   who created the heavens and stretched them out,
   who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
   and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
   I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
   a light to the nations,
   to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
   from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
   my glory I give to no other,
   nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
   and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
   I tell you of them. –Isaiah 42:5-9

God is very consistent about wanting the very best for God’s children, all God’s children from the blind to the prisoners. God is the very source of life who gives breath to the people. The world has taught us differently. The world prefers hierarchies of people with some being better than others. Oh, we call it something else, richer than others, whiter than others, prettier than others, better educated than others. It is not God’s way.

Once this better than phenomenon is implanted in our being it is really hard to erase. I think the only way we get rid of it is by getting to know others in our day-to-day lives in their day-to-day lives. I once provided transportation for a mother and her three or four-year-old son to several specialists visits at Children’s Hospital clinics. He had multiple medical problems and was developmentally delayed, but he was the same size as a normal three or four-year-old. He lacked the ability wrap his arms around our necks or his legs around our bodies. He could not sit up in a wheelchair and we did not have the kind of chair in which we could have transported him, so we carried him. That mother, tiny though she was, had developed the muscles to handle his dead weight. I was young and healthy so I could carry him for short periods to give her a break, but he was her precious child and she wanted him in her arms. I learned a lot about love that day. I learned a lot about loving like God that day.

Prayer: Lord, grant us those day-to-day experiences so that we might grow more loving and accepting every day. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.