2153AFC123121 – A Precious Jewel From Heaven – An Aloha Friday Gift
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Isaiah 60:5-6 – 5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
Psalm 116:12-18 – 12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people
1 Peter 2:7 – 7 To you then who believe, he is precious*; but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner stone”
* Precious – in Hebrew yaqar (yaw-kawr’) – precious, rare, splendid. In Greek timé (tee-may’) – a valuing, a price Usage: a price, of the honor which one has by reason of rank and state of office which he holds as in deference, reverence
“An’ POW! That’s all she wrote!” Thanks be to God 2021 is over. It won’t be long until this pandemic is endemic and the world settles in for the next crisis. So many people have lost so much in the past two years. Incredible weather phenomena (ma-na-ma-na!); despicable violence; tortuous contentions in politics, religion, and even science! Heresies abound, the courts are dealing with the life and death of innocents (↔ Click Link), the nation is struggling to cope with the largest numbers of immigrants ever witnessed, a war “ended” but still lingers on in oppression and terror, and the “gods” of many people around the world have been sidelined with COVID-19 VIRUS, nearly 5.5 MILLION (↔ Click Link) people have died – about 2% of the 282,356,994 infections recorded. The vaccine crusade is floundering in some parts of the world and we’re finding out that it’s probably going to take more vaccinations to get this to simmer down enough to go back to work. So much has been lost – most of it precious to us like family, friends, businesses, homes, perhaps even nations (e.g., Haiti), and yet the 2021 spending record for the “Holiday Season” was way higher than anyone predicted and ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of $859 BILLION. Just as impressive is the degree of kindness and charity we see as thousands pitch in to help the millions of persons displaced or reporting incredible damages to property and life. World-wide areas of drought have crippled farming in some locations endangering food reserves. Supply-chain backups are costing millions and there’s no end in sight. And we still have the 2022 midterm elections to suffer through. Nonetheless, we take time this Sunday (and I’m hoping every Sunday) to rejoice in the presence of our Jewel from Heaven.
One of the goals I set at the inception of the MBN was to “pray without ceasing” for each other. It’s just a short little prayer (↔ Click Link), maybe 30 seconds or less, but it is a prayer that covers all of us – and many, many more people – with the intentions of Light and Love and Life.
There is a deep spiritual reason for asking our El Shaddai-Olam to grant all of us that trio of blessings on a daily basis. The reason is that it helps us to follow Christ’s command to “love one another as I have loved (↔ Click Link) you,” and to “let your light shine (↔ Click Link) before all.” Your day-to-day life is given to you so that you can show the world the Light and Life of the Word. We use a special word for that – MANIFEST: demonstrate, show forth, exhibit, make plain, or reveal. We are to let the Light and Life of the Word become so obvious in us that it allows others access to a Spiritual Epiphany so that they, too, know the Light and Life of the Word.
The Feast of Epiphany is a commemoration of the Epiphany – the appearance, the revealing – of Christ to the World by recalling the visit of the Magi (↔ Click Link). Long story short, Jesus was revealed to the lowest and poorest (shepherds), the purest (Anna 
and Simeon), and the most clearly-defined outsiders (the Magi), before his own nation learned who he was. The “Three Kings” knew Jesus as THE King, the fulfillment of Prophecy. The Shepherds were told “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Anna and Simeon (↔ Click Links) knew Jesus to be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Both of these Prophets were walking in the Holy Spirit because “the Holy Spirit rested” on them.
Beloved, guess what? THE HOLY SPIRIT RESTS ON US, TOO! Not only can we recognize Christ when he is shown to us, others can recognize Christ in us when we show him to them. That is AWESOME!! And I mean “awesome” in the way that it should be defined – overwhelming, amazing, awe-inspiring, wonderful, evoking respect, reverence, esteem, worship, adoration, praise, glory, and veneration. In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He is the Light. But remember this: He also says in Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the World … let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” How can HE be the Light and WE be the Light? You know the answer; his is in us and we are in him and the Spirit rests on us in unity with God the Father.
God bless you in this year of 2022! May he bless you with an irresistible affinity for HIM and an irrepressible commitment to Love others as he has loved you. You are the light of the World, the salt of the Earth, the hope of things to come. When I love you as HE loves you, his Love is multiplied. When you love him as I love you, his love is multiplied again. When you love me as he loves you, his love is multiplied. When we give all of that love back to El Shaddai-Olam, his love is multiplied. When our Gift to him is all of that love we have multiplied, his Gift to us is the Light and Life of the Word.
Let us pray: Almighty Triune God, our El Shaddai-Olam, our gift to you today is the love you gave us which we then multiplied in the love we give to others, the lovely and lovable people you gave to us to love. Our love for them and our love for you is our thanks-gift to you today. Grant that this gift may increase so that it will be more fitting tomorrow. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
We have said an epiphany is an expected arrival, or shining forth. It modern times it has come to mean a sudden realization that puts everything into perspective – a paradigm shift where our understanding is “suddenly” brighter and clearer. I put that “suddenly” in quotes, because generally an epiphany comes about after much laborious thinking and 
working. Those “AH-HA” moments are rare, but they are usually preceded by intense effort even if the moment of understanding seems to come effortlessly. Famous “epiphanies” in recent history might include Isaac Newton and Arthur Fry (he invented Post-It Notes), and there have been a few in politics recently which we will not mention today. The basic idea is that genuine innovation comes through inspired thinking based on hard work. They are wonderful experiences whether we feel them ourselves, or watch others “see the light go on.” That experience is the Central Joy of Teaching!
For Christians, Epiphany is the commemoration not so much of the visit by the magi, but the fact that Jesus is revealed to the whole world – Jew and gentile, rich and poor, 
righteous and sinner, young and old, and whatever other earthling set of opposites you can think up. He came here for every single soul on earth before or after his birth. All of us can turn our eyes toward Jesus and see God with us – Emanuel. That always gives me goose-bumps. God. With. Us. The Manifestation of The Christ. Born of a virgin in abject poverty in a tiny village outside Jerusalem, he grew up in obscure places in Egypt and Galilee, and was anointed with the Holy Spirit at about age 30 (we assume). A few years later he died a horrible death as a criminal falsely accused of sedition against Rome. In the Nicene Creed it is summed up like this:
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death, and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
In Latin, that phrase “for our sake” is etiam pro nobis. It might also be translated “he was crucified even for us. For something like 50 years, that is the way I have thought of that part of his life and that part of our creed – “even for us” who repent and sin only to repent and sin again, and again, and again. Even the best among us – whom we admire for their saintly righteousness and service to God through service to their fellow earthlings – even they still fall under that phrase “even for us.” Everything that has anything to do with “Salvation From On High” was done, became reality, and miraculously was set into place “even for us.” Here’s the thing to learn from the Feast of the Epiphany and the Visit of the Magi:
The “us” in “even for us” is all of us. Christians know that Jesus lived, and died, and rose from the dead to free every living soul from sin, including the ones who want nothing to do with that whole scenario. When Jesus entered into the world as that tiny baby on a cold night in a tiny village a few miles away from the capital of a nation once again under foreign domination, he carried with him a power of Grace so immense that it could actually redeem every soul that has now, has ever had, or will ever have been born of a woman and still there would be an immeasurable amount of that Grace left over. The magi demonstrated that God sent that child for the entire world to know and to love. It doesn’t really matter if they rode camels or donkeys, if there were three or two or even thirty of 
them. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t kneel around the manger. It doesn’t matter if we named them Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior. It does matter quite a bit that the gifts were highly symbolic. Myrrh is an aromatic resin. It was used in preparing the dead for burial. Gold reveals that the baby born to a virgin and at someone’s house under a special star is actually a king. The frankincense tells us that the King the magi came to honor was none other than God incarnate. And the capper is that the myrrh tells us that he has come to die.
What we have lost in the past two years is infinitesimally small compared to the richness of the Jewel from Heaven more precious than all the gems, all the cattle on a thousand hills,(↔ Music Link) the wealth in every mine, more precious tha all the gold in them that hills. This extraordinary Jewel from Heaven is a gift from Our Father. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift. For Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice. Then you will sing joyfully What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of Salvation and call on the name of the Lord. O Lord, I am your servant; I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. Precious in our hearts is the showing forth – long expected arrival (↔ Music Link) – of the Son of God. O, come – let us adore him. (↔ Music Link) more precious still is the death of the Christ “even for us.”
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
