Rev'd Robyn Boyd
(Our Locum)
Rev’s Robyn’s Reflection: Come and See
During the season of Epiphany, the Scripture readings invite us to consider our responses to God’s call to us.
Three weeks ago, with the story of the Magi, we thought about how God takes the initiative and ‘speaks’ to people in many ways. The Magi – astrologers, Gentiles, worshippers of different gods – were way outside what was acceptable to be in the company of Jews. Yet, here was God sending an overwhelming sign to to them, ‘speaking’ to them in ways they would interpret and comprehend – a star drawing them to the birth of a king.
Throughout the Scriptures – Old and New Testaments – we read of ways in which God reveals Godself to people sometimes in a quite extraordinary manner. In our gospel readings this Epiphany, we find the person of Jesus himself encountering those whom he invites to follow him, or to ‘come and see’; or, to use epiphany terminology – to have an epiphany, a revelation, to perceive and grasp something new.
At times, I encourage people to be alert to the ways in which we may encounter Christ (echoing the theme of Advent, no less); to be alert to the promptings that help us see God in our lives. In future weeks, as we read of the ways in which Christ’s disciples encounter him and follow, we won’t necessarily find anything out of the ordinary – Christ meets them in their everyday circumstances; and from their everyday lives, they follow him.