Seeing Jesus

Every Epiphany draws me back to Matthew’s familiar story of wise men following a strange star. Its power is in that very familiarity: we keep repeating what matters. The magi—likely Zoroastrian astrologers from Persia—travel across cultures and borders to honor a king who is not their own. We often focus on their gifts, but the key is what they do with their bodies. They see the star. They enter the house. They kneel. They worship. Their movement tells the story: seeking, seeing, bowing, offering.

I suggested their gifts may have been practical—gold as currency, frankincense and myrrh as medicine—because what matters most in the scene is not the treasure but the homage. The magi are the first to recognize the holy in ordinary space, the divine in a small child, the fullness of God in flesh. But they don’t get everything right at first. They assume Jerusalem, not Bethlehem, and get five miles off. Only when they re-fix their gaze on the star do they find joy, the kind that overwhelms and reorients. Then they go home by another road.

That pivot is where many of us live right now. Our church is in a liminal season—a threshold between what was familiar and what is not yet clear. It’s disorienting to realize the old maps don’t quite work. Yet this is the very place where Christ meets us. The invitation is to dwell in the ambiguity long enough for worship to reshape our direction, to trust the Light more than our assumptions, and to welcome being reordered by love.

So, I asked us to look for Christ in unexpected places this year, to keep our eyes open for small Bethlehems we might otherwise pass by. Around the Table, we remember that life in Christ begins now, not “later,” and that the light we receive is the light we bear. As we renew our baptismal promises, we stand on the “eighth day” of creation—God’s ongoing work of making all things new, including us. Step into the different road. The star still shines.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Familiar stories train faithful sight Familiarity can dull attention, but it can also sharpen perception when we return with intention. Repetition forms us; it rewires what we notice and what we love. Let the well-known lead you deeper, not merely back to the same place. Pray the story until it begins to pray you.
• 2. Worship matters more than impressive gifts The magi’s kneeling precedes their offering; posture makes the gift true. God is not impressed with rarity as much as openness. Bring what is practical and present, and let worship transform its use. Our lives become gifts when our hearts bend first.
• 3. Course corrections are holy work The magi misread the map, then reoriented by the star and found joy. Discipleship is not a straight line; it is steady repentance—turning again toward the Light. Don’t waste energy on shame for being off by five miles. Spend it on attention to the One who guides.
• 4. Liminal space becomes sacred ground Thresholds feel uneasy because control slips from our hands. Yet Christ often meets us where the old certainties fade and the new has not formed. Stay long enough in the ambiguity for worship to reframe desire and direction. On the threshold, futures in God quietly take shape.

Bible reading

- Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 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.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 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.

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
‘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.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 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.”

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. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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.

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

Observation questions (3-4)

- What specific actions did the magi take when they arrived at the place where the star stopped? Which verbs does the story repeat, and how do those actions shape the scene?

- How does the text describe the magi’s gifts (gold, frankincense, myrrh) and what clues in the sermon suggest those gifts could have been practical rather than only symbolic?

- Where did the magi go first, and what detail shows they were “off course”? How does the narrative mark the moment they reoriented their journey?

- What phrase or image in the passage signals the magi’s emotional response when they finally saw the child? How is that response connected to what they do physically?

Interpretation questions (3-4) — written in third person, to prepare for personal application

- How might a person understand the repeated movement of seeking → seeing → kneeling as a pattern for recognizing God in ordinary places?

- How could someone interpret the fact that the magi’s worship (kneeling) comes before their offerings? What does that order say about the relationship between posture and gift?

- In what way might someone read the magi’s detour to Jerusalem (being “five miles off”) as an example of how cultural assumptions or old maps mislead people spiritually?

- How could a person make sense of the sermon’s claim that liminal or disorienting seasons are the place where reorientation and joy happen?

Application questions (5-7) — specific and personal

- Name one familiar Bible story or liturgical practice you tend to skim over. How will you “pray the story” this week so it prays you? (Pick a day and a short way you’ll re-read or reflect on it.)

- Think of a gift — time, money, skill, neighborly help — you could offer this month. How will you begin with a posture of worship (a short prayer, an attitude check) before you give it?

- Identify one area of your life where you suspect you’re “five miles off” from where God intends you to be (work, relationship, spiritual discipline, a habit). What is one concrete step you can take this week to re-fix your gaze on the Light?

- What liminal space are you currently standing in (uncertainty about a decision, grief, vocational change, church transition)? How will you deliberately “stay long enough” in that ambiguity this month so worship can reframe your direction? Name one weekly practice that will help (silence, scripture reading, meeting with a friend, prayer).

- The sermon says the light we receive is the light we bear. Who is one specific person you can intentionally look for Christ in this week (neighbor, coworker, family member)? What will you do to notice and name Christ there?

- If the magi went home by another road, what practical “different road” might you take in your daily routine or relationships to reflect the reorientation God is calling you to? Be concrete: a new habit to start, a conversation to have, or a boundary to set. When will you begin?