You’ve probably heard the poem, ”The Night Before Christmas.” It is a story about a family, receiving an unexpected visit from St. Nicholas. Well, that’s not completely true. The visit wasn’t necessarily unexpected. Of course, Santa is expected on Christmas, but most adults aren’t sitting around waiting for him to appear.

The same can be said for the birth of the messiah. It was no secret that God fully intended to rescue God’s people. There were prophets of every generation looking forward to the birth of this King who would save. So even though the Christ was expected, the people no longer had a spirit of expectation.

Tomorrow is January 6th, or the Epiphany. Many Western Christian traditions commemorate this date as the day the wise men arrived to see Jesus. It is considered a holy day, because it was the first time that Gentiles would see the Christ-child. Up until that point, only Jewish citizens had access to Jesus.

The holiday, also called Twelfth Night, isn’t much of a celebration any more. People ‘celebrate’ by taking down their Christmas decorations.

I think about the Magi, the wisemen, who had to be both exhausted and excited by their journey. I don’t know if the baby they saw lived up to what they had imagined in their minds, but they worshipped anyway.

On this, the Eve of the Epiphany, I need to be honest and tell you that 2022, so far seems a lot like 2021. People all around me are getting sick. I’m nervous about sending my kids to school. Our republic seems fractured at best. My taxes and my mortgage still need to be paid. It doesn’t look like what I hoped it would.

But…

I believe in a God who heals, who provides, and who reigns above all. So I’m going to worship anyway. I fully believe my personal epiphany is on it’s way, and I want to be ready when it comes.