What A Promise!
The Epiphany Blessing: Typically, celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany, (January 6, 2021), it is a tradition to use chalk to write above the home’s entrance asking for God’s blessing on the home and those who dwell in or visit the home. As you gather together in prayer, it is an invitation for Jesus to be a daily guest in your lives and your home.
Mark your front doorway (use chalk) with 21 + C + M + B + 21.
…The numbers represent the New Year.
…C M B stands for “Christus Mansionem Benedicat” latin for “May Christ bless this house”
…The “+” signs represent the cross, and the four seasons of the year for blessings over all the earth in every cardinal direction.
Collect for Sunday:
Eternal Father, at the baptism of Jesus you revealed him to be your Son, and your Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove: Grant that we, who are born again by water and the Spirit, may be faithful as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
As I meditated on this collect, two sets of Scriptures came to mind. Of course, the first set of Scriptures relates to the Lord’s baptism (Matthew 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11 & Luke 3:21–23). All three gospels tell us that on that day in the Jordan River, God announced something new through his Son, Jesus Christ, born King of the Jews. These baptismal scenes reveal God’s plan to usher in a new kingdom through him, a realm of peace and humility and love and acceptance.
The second set of scriptures that came to mind are from Ephesians 1:3–14. They are significant because, like the collect and gospels above, they emphasize the redemptive work of the Holy Trinity. God the Father has chosen and adopted us as genuine and legitimate children, and through faith in Jesus Christ, we become heirs to that blessing. He redeemed and forgave us through the blood of the Son he loves, all by grace. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, our guaranteed inheritance as bona fide and loved children was sealed by the Holy Spirit.
With such great a salvation, let us pray for the power to live faithfully. Along with the Apostle Paul, I’m convinced that God will answer that prayer because “nothing… absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus has embraced us.” (Romans 8:39, MSG)
What a promise!
