"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations." -Rev. 21:22-26
January 6th, 2021
Dear Grace Van Family,
The news of the US Capitol being overtaken today by insurrectionists has filled our hearts with grief and sorrow; Tanya and I have certainly been crying out to God on behalf of our home country. I'm reminded of a piece of writing from Pastor John Piper from back in October called, "Policies, Persons and Paths to Ruin; Pondering the Implications of the 2020 Election." In that article Piper writes, "I find it bewildering that Christians can be so sure that greater damage will be done by bad judges, bad laws, and bad policies than is being done by the culture-infecting spread of the gangrene of sinful self-exaltation, and boasting, and strife-stirring. How do they know this? Seriously! Where do they get the sure knowledge that judges, laws, and policies are less destructive than boastful factiousness in high places?"
In Israel's own history, we saw this from having spent a lot of time in the prophetic book of Isaiah, but there were good kings and bad kings; the wickedness of the kings to the North meant a much faster demise of the Northern Kingdom of Israel than the Southern Kingdom; however, in the end even the Southern Kingdom of Israel would come under the judgement of God being unable to keep itself from the love of idolatry, of self-exaltation and the high places. Even the people of the South would be sent off to exile in Babylon as you know. In a word, ALL the kings of Israel taught us that the human condition was such that a True King from the line of David, a heavenly King called the Son of David would have to come to provide the people with an ultimate deliverance and salvation.
And isn't the arrival of this Coming (Adventus) King the One Whom we just celebrated? How quickly we forget the larger story around our sin-sick world led by corrupt megalomaniac "kings" all around us as oppressed peoples suffer under their wicked and abhorrent thumbs.
But January 6th has far more significance from a cosmic perspective than the date every four years when the US Congress comes together to count the electoral college votes according to the 12th Amendment of the US Constitution. January 6th is the 12th day of Christmas, one of "Epiphany" which celebrates the Gentile Magi bringing gifts to Christ the Child King, as a foretaste of the nations and their Kings coming to the Holy City of God to bow before Christ the King of kings. In other words, Epiphany signifies the reversal of this dark love of self and of sin and self-glorification; in their place the Good News of the Reign of God's Kingdom that has arrived in the world because of the gift of Christ, the One who is coming to make all things new (Revelation 21:5). January 6th has been honoured for far longer on the Church Calendar than in US Constitutional history.
Dear People of God, so let your hearts grieve, but do not let them be troubled, rather believe in God and in His Son (John 14:1). Limit your consumption of your social media feeds, step out of the dark rabbit holes of what I call the "I told you so's!" in chat rooms. We fight with a different set of weapons than the world (2 Cor. 10:4). Develop new weekly practices, rather than simply letting technology shape your story. Create spaces for holy rhythms, quiet, rest and mostly prayer in your lives. Why? So you can escape "the world"? NO! Rather so you can step most fully into the world that is eternal and that has come in Christ, the world that is currently overcoming the evil of this world (reflect on Revelation 11:15).... so that you can be most useful to this world rather than continue to conform to the vanity of how it pursues change through power, argumentativeness and coercion. Finally, make weekly worship on the Lord's Day with your church family the highest of all priorities. For this Sunday, we get to hear from our brother Rolland Li one last time before he moves to Singapore later in the month. Rolland will be talking about... you guessed it... the significance of Epiphany!!!
God's people must know that a new situation, a dramatically new state of affairs (from the one we see around us) has arrived in the gift of Christ,... not only so, but we must herald this Good News to the nations. We can only do that if we see it. I begin a series in the Gospel of Mark in a couple of weeks; Jesus said it there so plainly in Mark's opening chapter, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Grieve, but do not let your hearts be troubled. Rather, let your hearts be shaped by the story of Scripture; start a "read through the Bible program" this January; most are 1 or 2 year plans. Or begin with the practice of Daily Office, morning and evening prayers in your lives. Let me know if you would like some help getting started here. What is more, recognise that God moves mightily in the painful and dramatic moments of human history, whether Covid, cancer or (attempted) coups; do you not remember that spending two years in Isaiah or more recently in 1 Peter? As James Burns in his study of revivals through the history of the church has said, revivals and renewals come at low ebbs of church and culture. As Burns writes, "When the night is at its darkest, the dawn is on the way." Or as Mark Sayers says "crisis is the gateway to renewal."
Epiphany is our story dear Church and it is the story of the One who said that despite the fact that we would have trouble in the world, He has overcome it (John 16:33); that is the significance of January 6th.
In Christ,
Pastor Mike
"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever." -Psalm 125:1
