St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Gilroy CA
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The Rector's Corner
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. -John 1
But, why only these? Why weren't they joined, at least, by some faithful pharisees, or at least some good Messianic Jews, who were also waiting for Him and who also saw the Light and ran to His side? Why were shepherds and pagans the only ones we hear of? I can understand pagans or those consumed with the secular—the world of the flesh– not seeing Him. They weren’t looking for Him anyway.
But I wonder why it is that those whose very faith was filled with the expectation of the glory of God, and who expected the imminent coming of the Lord apparently didn't see that anything particularly significant had even happened. Could it be that they were all looking so hard that they were actually blinded by their own expectations?
Had they possibly spent so much time dreaming of the coming of the Great King, that they could forget that even kings need to be born? Had they become so selective in their scriptural reading that they had overlooked the numerous passages that would have guided them to His side? Had they unconsciously so formed their expectations of God that even He could not fit into their religion?
Yet these were the faithful, the churchgoers, of their day. These were the ones who knew, by heart, all the scripture concerning the Christ. These were the ones who yearned for His coming. Nevertheless, it was these who failed to see Him, even when He stood in their midst.
Today, WE are the churchgoers and the Bible studiers. We are the ones who seek His second coming. And it is we who have all the gifts at our command to see Him in the world He has made, the World He has redeemed, and the world He has chosen to walk. We who bear His mark on our soul need to remember that the truth of Christ's Incarnation is that God IS with us. The best place to seek Him is right here, and right now. A brighter tomorrow is indeed promised, but a brighter today is a part of that promise.
I pray we will remember, that in calling out to Him, we must --even more-- stop to listen, for even now He speaks. We need to remember , in our awaiting His coming in Glory, that He is now here in our midst. Even as we await His comfort, we are called to receive it. Even as we long to see Him face to face, we are called to seek Him out in the presence of our neighbor, and even our enemy.
Even in a our dark world His light still shines. Indeed, unless we dare to seek Him where He wills to be found, we too may find that He is found by others, seen and experienced by others, while we are still waiting for Him to come.
I pray that we will all search our hearts and our faith to find and make room for the Lord who wills to be found, but on His terms and through His mercy, not our own. He lives in us, even as we continue to seek Him. Praise our God, Emmanuel, God with us. In all things, in all places. There is no darkness that can overcome Him, or His love for us. Amen.
Please check out our online January/February 2010 Living Stones Newsletter - all the latest news and information.