When was the last time you were truly attentive to something or someone?

Epiphany means appearance or manifestation.

How do we truly behold the glory of God revealed in Jesus?

Advent teaches us to wait for the Light.
Christmastide celebrates that the Light has come.
Epiphany proclaims that the Light is revealed to the world.

The season of Epiphany is designed to show that there is no road to the glory of God through human seeking; it cannot be summoned by human endeavor. It cannot be repeated too often: it comes as pure gift.

- Fleming Rutledge

Matthew 2:1–12
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6  “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

1. God's Glory is Revealed Before It Is Fully Understood.

Matthew 2:1-2
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

2. True Beholding Leads to Worship
.

Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Psalm 27:4
4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
 this only do I seek:
 that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
 all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
 and to seek him in his temple.

3. What We Behold Shapes Who We Become.

Matthew 2:12
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

John 1: 29 (NKJV)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Generosity Prayer:
Father, you are an abundant giver. There is nothing that we have that you have not given us. The way of your kingdom is the way of generosity. Help us to honor you with our resources. Free us from the deceit of riches. Lead us on the path of generosity. For your glory, Lord, for the abundance of our own lives and for the sake of others. In Jesus' name, Amen