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| Faeq Hassan, The Three Wise Men, 1964 |
A “Thought for the Day” given at Mattins at St Giles-in-the-Fields at 1pm on Wednesday 10th January 2024 based on the text of Mark 1.29-39 and 1 Samuel 3.1-10, 19-20
“All men seek for thee.”
Everyone is searching for
you, Jesus - the disciples say.
Everyone.
This season of Epiphany is bookended by the celebration of events in which a search for Jesus is fulfilled and a new journey begins.
We start by celebrating the
arrival in Bethlehem of three visitors - scientists perhaps - who have
travelled from the East, searching for what lies beneath the light of an
unusual star.
On their return journey they
go out of their way to avoid Herod’s imperial forces who are also searching for
the Christ child.
Everyone is searching for
you, Jesus.
The three visitors become
the first to bring the Good News of Christ to the Gentiles - and to ponder the
significance of what it means. They found Jesus and a new kind of search, a new
journey, begins.
We end the season of
Epiphany by celebrating the Presentation in the Temple. Here, we encounter
Simeon - a devout and righteous man who had been searching for the consolation
of Israel his whole long life. The Holy Spirit had told him in a vision that he
would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
When Mary and Joseph come to
the Temple in accordance with Jewish practice, carrying the infant Jesus, Simeon
declares that he has seen his salvation. A light to lighten the Gentiles. One
who is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel.
Having seen Jesus, Simeon
can now depart in peace. His earthly search is over. A new journey begins.
At that moment Anna, a
prophet who never left the temple, began to tell all who came there searching
for the redemption of Jerusalem that the Messiah had been revealed - they go
out and look for him.
Everyone is searching for
you, Jesus.
Including, perhaps, some of
us.
But did those gift-bearing
visitors from the East - or the devout Simeon and Anna in the temple - find Jesus - or did Jesus find them?
Do we have to find our Lord
or has he found us?
In every one of our services
here at St Giles we hear at some point the words: “The Lord be with you”. A
literal translation of the original Latin would be “Lord with you.” It’s a
greeting we hear at least once every time we gather for worship. It seems as though we need
to be continually reminded that the Lord is with us.
Do we believe it - and do we
act as though we do?
Are we aware of our Lord with us now at this
service of Mattins, in our homes, in our workplaces? When we look at the world
around us are we aware that our Lord is with us? When we speak to one another
are we aware that our Lord is with us? In the best of times, in the worst of
times are we aware that our Lord is with us?
It can be difficult to stop
searching. We can become addicted to the familiarity of the quest. The encounters that bookend
the season of Epiphany show us that everyone has found Jesus. Perhaps it is
more accurate to say that Jesus has found us? Whichever way we look at it, when
we start accepting that reality, an amazing new journey begins.
Everyone seems to be searching for something.
But one thing we don’t need
to search for is our Lord.
He is here.
Our challenge, like that of
the boy Samuel, is to have the courage to listen to what he is calling us to
do.
Amen
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