Epiphany

For those of you who like to avoid spoilers, STOP READING NOW if you haven’t heard the Epiphany sermon, because this post is the nutshell version of that thought.

I’ve been thinking about the Wise Men. I’ve been thinking mostly about why they knew the Messiah had been born and why the religious establishment had missed the memo. What were some of the possible causes for that complete communication breakdown? Why did the Powers That Be complete drop the ball when the Word became flesh?

Let’s get specific. The Wise Men discovered the Messiah based on some odd astrological clues. They found him right where they expected him to be. The religious establishment of the day missed the coming of the Lord because they were expecting something completely different.

The real question is what might WE be missing since we are the modern day equivalent of the religious establishment.

I think the saddest note is the fact that the Wise Men came to the Powers That Be to get a precise fix on the location of the Messiah–and they had no clue. When the world comes to our door and seeks to worship the Messiah, can we honestly show them the King?

In their book Unchristian, Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons make several observations about the inability of the Church to point unchurched seekers to the truth of the Gospel or an experience of the Living God.