The 2nd Epiphany Sunday: Isaiah 62:1-5; John 2:1-11
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Hello, This is Jade.
Welcome to Yi.kigai
A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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Happy Epiphany. It is the 2nd Sunday of Epiphany. Let us continue our journey to see how God manifests God-Self through the life of Jesus that continues having impacts on the world and the people of faith. How are you coping with the pandemic that seems to last forever?
During the pandemic, my husband and I's workload got heavier than usual. So we decided to take a four-day-three-night trip and drive from north to south on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula. What made this vacation unusual was that we had to sanitize the hotel rooms right after checking in and make most of our food before going to bed each night. Despite not feeling well rested and having to adjust to this new routine, I knew I wanted to make the most of the vacation and see something beautiful. What I wanted to see badly was a sunset.
That was what we did. We spent evenings chasing sunsets. The weather conditions and our timings didn’t work out well until our last evening at Long Beach. After walking along the shores for a couple of hours and waiting, we were rewarded with a stunning sunset. We took many pictures like tourists do, and enjoyed every second of the sun setting. The sense of satisfaction didn’t even fade away while I stared at the farthest edge of the horizon at the pacific ocean where the sun set.
In John 2, Jesus reveals God’s glory by turning water into wine towards the end of a wedding ceremony at Cana. After seeing God’s glory, his disciples believed in Jesus. What is seeing God’s glory like for you? For me, seeing God’s glory is like seeing a stunning sunset.
A sunset is like God’s glory. It exists all the time. The fact is that the sun doesn’t rise or set each day. It is simply the combination of Earth's elliptical orbit and the tilt of its axis which gives us different sunrises and sunsets each day. Just like God’s glory, it is always in our lives. It takes a combination of our faith and our life circumstances to see it.
Jesus teaches in Matthews 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Having a pure heart is neither gullible or naive. The meanings of this word ‘pure’ in both biblical Hebrew ‘bar’ and biblical Greek ‘katharos’ are clean and innocent. There aren't any hidden motives or agendas. We love what God loves, and we see what God reveals. Didn’t Jesus promise his disciples in Matthew 7:8, “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened”? When we feel tired or miserable, God’s glory overflows our weary soul and fills up our void; when we feel well or successful, God’s glory provides us with the ability to be humble with a pure heart. Why don’t we let God’s glory shine upon us each day so that we may shine for those who feel forsaken and desolate?
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May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace
As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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