"The Kingdom of God"
The Feast of Epiphany that we are observing today has to do with the story of the Wise Men as told in the Gospel of Matthew 2: 1-12. The Wise Men followed a star, for perhaps as long as two years, looking for the baby Jesus.
Following the star, they arrived at Bethlehem. The Magi went to the palace, but didn't find Him there. So they again followed the star and it stopped over a little house, and they were overwhelmed with joy. When they saw Jesus, they "knelt down and paid him homage and worshipped him" (Matthew 2:11). They opened their treasures and presented expensive gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Their actions reflected their faith that they were, in fact, in the presence of the one and only real king.
Epiphanies are those times when something calls us, moves us, to a new place and we see the face of God in a new way. This Epiphany journey is not just the wise men’s journey; it is everyone’s journey. There have been times when we have experienced Epiphany; times when our night sky has been lit brightly, times when our minds have been illumined, times when our hearts have been enlightened. These are moments that gives us the courage to travel beyond the borders and boundaries that usually limit our lives. This journey took the wise men to the house where they found the answer to their questions in the arms of his mother, Mary. But we will not find the answer if we don’t take the journey. We may travel a different route than the wise men did but the answer is the same - Jesus. And in this Epiphany we manifest God’s Kingdom to this darkened world.