Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
How’s your first step into the New Year 2021 going?
As we take this step, we are still celebrating the season of Christmas! And we will begin another season, Epiphany, in a few days with Wiseman who came from afar to give homage to the baby Jesus, a new born king of Israel, following the star.
Those two seasons, Christmas and Epiphany, have one thing in common: The gift of God is for everyone but it was revealed by the few who were chosen or who were looking for something special, even from afar, when most of the people that were near did not care about it. The Bible calls them “the wise”. So now, as you enter into the New Year 2021, are you looking for something good, better, or special?
Like the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a little over two thousand years ago, we went through quite some gloomy days dealing with COVID 19, the election and post-election turmoil, kidnapped by the law of the world, the power of social media, and abusive mass media. “Yes” became “no” and “no” became “yes”; “truth” became “lies” and “lies” became “truth”; “good” became “evil” and “evil” became “good”. In other words, we are not able to see the fact as it is now-the era of confusion and mistrust!
So, I might say we are looking for the truth or the era where we can see truth as truth and lies as lies. If the world becomes like that, the good ones, like the Wiseman, will love it; however, the evil ones, like the king Herod, will fear of it.
“The star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them
and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were
filled with joy!” (Matthew 2:9-10, NLT).
We
Tree Kings of Orient Are, Kings College Choir
Are we the wise ones or the unwise ones? I am pretty sure that if we follow the star and if we are filled with joy when we find the truth, we are the wise and good ones!
However, James urges us today, “prove it!” But how? “By living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom!” Then he continues, “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. it is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18, NLT). But with warning, “Don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying” (3:14b, NLT). Sounds like that is how we follow the star in the time of confusion and mistrust!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we consider ourselves wise because we follow this star, is that a huge dream for us to dream for this year? Is that a problem with having a God sized dream? No! Not at all! So, for this New Year, we will continue to follow the star like the Wiseman from afar each day until we see the truth.
Join us!
Pastor Kyochul
