What do you fear? Epiphany

Affirmation of Faith
What do you fear?
We have seen the valley.
We have seen a sky without stars.
We have seen the longest night,
and still we believe.
We believe in a with-us God.
We believe in the hope of tomorrow.
We believe that good news is louder than fear.
We believe this good news is for all people.
So even when our knees shake,
even when our voice trembles,
even when fear is all around us,
we will hold onto that good news.
We will reach for each other.
We will look for God in our midst.
We will sing songs of joy.
We will proclaim:
Unto us, love is born.
We have seen the longest night,
and we have seen unimaginable love.
So still, we believe.
Amen.

Scripture – just click on the link below
Matthew 2:1-12;16-18 as in NRIV

Reflection for Epiphany
by Rev. Dr. Boyung Lee

We arrive at the end of the Advent
and Christmas journey,
and yet the world still brims with
violence, uncertainty, and fear.
The birth of Christ has not silenced
the Herods of the world.
Empire continues to rage.
The innocent still suffer.
The question, then, is not whether fear exists—
but what we do with it.
Do we freeze?
Flee?
Or move forward, as the magi did,
refusing to let fear be the end of the story? …
By kneeling before Jesus,
they make a bold and embodied declaration:
their loyalty lies not with empire,
but with the vulnerable child who
reveals another way of power.
Fear permeates this story.
Herod is afraid.
Jerusalem trembles.
Yet the magi do not turn back.
They travel through uncertainty,
seeking truth.
After encountering Christ,
they return home “by another way”—
a phrase signifying not just a new route,
but a transformed life.
This is the power of epiphany:
not merely a moment of recognition,
but the beginning of a new path.
The magi become witnesses to God’s new order—
not by heritage or status,
but through their bold seeking.
While the religious elites remain static,
the magi cross boundaries,
bow in humility,
and respond to revelation.
They do what Herod and his allies refuse to do:
seek, kneel, and listen.
Epiphanies are not always warm or personal.
Sometimes they are disruptive, even dangerous.
Sometimes they lead to confrontation
with empire.
Sometimes they ask us to cross borders.
Sometimes they send us home by another way.
And always, they ask something of us:
Will we move the way fear makes us move?26
Or will we move the way love calls us to?
Their journey becomes an invitation to us as well.
Who are the magi among us today—
those willing to cross borders for truth and love?
Who are the Marys,
holding the Christ child in fragile arms,
waiting for a knock at the door?
Who are the Herods,
terrified their illegitimate power
might be exposed by the light?
In the face of fear, let us travel together.
Let us defy empire not with swords,
but with solidarity.
Let us kneel in awe,
not before the powerful,
but before the powerless Christ,
whose birth marks the beginning of
God’s peace campaign.
Let us believe, with trembling hope,
that fear does not have the last word.
Because fear doesn’t stop us.
Love leads us forward

Benediction
In a fearful world,
may you look for God’s spirit.
May you reach for each other’s hands.
May you choose courage whenever you can.
And in all things, may you remember
that good news is louder than fear.
In the name of the one who calls,
the one who sends,
and the one who journeys with—
go in peace and
be not afraid.
Amen.