“They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
- Matthew 2:11
Well, that did not last very long. In hindsight, we should have seen some of these election aftershocks as the inauguration draws closer. While I despise violence (which includes breaking and entering), the dangers of conspiracy theories, and so on that took place on January 6th; I have to admit that its hard to understand and process all that is happening. Many see the act as domestic terrorism and hypocritical of our national defenses, others see this as an appropriate act of patriotism to “save” the nation. Since I do not view myself as Republican, or Democrat I will not critic or process their means of keeping or gaining power. For I believe myself to be a follower of Christ, and seeker of His Kingdom, first. Second, I see myself as a husband. With those priorities in place, I can better look at what happened.
As a follower of Christ, I know something more amazing, and earth shattering was commemorated on January 6th. We call it, Epiphany.
Epiphany:
On Epiphany, we draw our attention to one of the earliest and more crucial events of Jesus’ life. The coming of the wise men. While our nativity scenes lead us to believe the Wise Men came alongside the shepherds when Jesus was born, that is on Christmas. The Wise Men likely came when Jesus was a few months to two years old, while they still resided in Bethlehem.
The Wise Men were not Jews, but they perhaps knew better the Law and the Prophets then Jews who were raised to study those texts. The Wise Men came from a far-off land in the East. Though that is unspecific, scholars guess they came from either Arabia, Persia, or Babylon. These men were like celebrity priest in their homelands, hence their riches, and they perhaps where well familiar with the stories of Balaam (the guy whose donkey talked to him), which is also an educated guess based on some historical tablets found mentioning Balaam’s prophecies.
While all that information is fun, what is important here is that these Gentiles have come to honor and worship the messiah. They even bore gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Regardless of what those gifts might mean, they are gifts fit for a King and high expensive and apparently worth the travel to deliver personally.
These Gentiles recognized this baby to be the true King of Israel, the Son of David, the Son of God. Since they are Gentiles too, the recognized Jesus to be the King of all the Earth. Which helps fulfill every Old Testament prophecy about Gentiles coming to Israel to pay tribute to the King.
Jesus is not only a carpenter’s boy but is the LORD! The only true King, the anointed Son of God, who both Jews and Gentiles bow in worship to.
January 6th:
Yet just because He is King, and worshipped by high-ranking people, does not mean His goals were inherently political. Which makes Some of what happened in D.C. on Wednesday troublesome for Christians.
I remember seeing pictures and videos of banners saying, “Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President,” or a cross be put up in front of the Capital building. While the media, most of us, and myself do not know the true motives of those Christians, I am deeply troubled they how the Church is being wrapped into American politics. They could have been there as peacemakers, or they could have been happy for break windows of the Capital, I do not know which or who was feeling what.
I am troubled, because Epiphany is not about crowning Jesus as King over America, of Modern Israel, or any other individual country, but is about crowning Jesus as King over the World. What happened, I perceive was a ploy to gain power an intimidate “other” groups so as to impose and legalize “Biblical” morals. Trying to advocate for Christian causes is great, in particular when it helps those who do not believe in Christ but using the same means as those who do not believe in Christ ultimately abandons Christlikeness to reflect the world.
Epiphany helps us to remember that Christ being King, means we need not worry who is ruling the nation we reside. Sure, push against tyranny and abuses of power, but not out of selfish reasoning. We have to model Christ in how we walk, talk, and think. He calls us to FOLLOW Him, to PROCLAIM Him, and to RENEW our minds. For Christ is not for America alone. Christ is not for Conservatives alone. Christ is not for Liberals/Progressives alone. Christ is King and LORD overall.
Keep in mind Herod, was governing Israel at the time Jesus was being worshipped by these Wise Men. Rulers of the nations will always fall short, but we must be sure not to fall short of Christ being our top priority.
Work for the benefit of America? Yes, go for it, we represent Christ well in doing so. But NEVER let values of America taint who you are to be in Christ by worshipping American ideals or politicians. We have the Good News and Peace that is far greater than anything written in the last 200+ years.
Final Blessing:
So as someone who tries to seek the Kingdom of Heaven first and foremost, I must FOLLOW Christ, PROCLAIM Him, and RENEW my mind, because I am to be His special possession. I do not belong to this nation any more than a refugee. Sure, I have my rights and duties, but the Christian comes to serve and surrender. I have faith that God will always preserve His faithful ones. I am troubled by those who seek other gods. Follow, Proclaim, and Renew, for Christ is King overall the world, may we bend low like the Wise Men when we have that Epiphany.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
I am always open to conversation and hearing you out, so as long as you hear me out as well. They will know us by our love.
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