_____ of Wonder

This morning I provided a message for the young disciples of the church. Older, retired couples whose kids have long been out of the house and the category of “young disciples” often attend the first service. However, one couple come faithfully with their two small children, one who goes to the nursery while the older sister with my name stays with her parents. It happened that the two Sarahs were the only ones sitting on the steps at the front of the church, but I didn’t keep our conversation from the rest of the congregation. Doing the children’s message is a great act of improvisation. While I have a topic and fairly good idea of what I might say, the many variables of number of children, age, and participatory personalities require a great deal of flexibility.

How do I explain the Trinity to a 4 year-old, a 8 year-old, a 44 year-old?

Today’s topic revolved around the Three Kings, as today is the Sunday on which we celebrate Epiphany. For my now liturgical friends, Epiphany is the day in the church calendar given to celebrate the King’s arrival to Jesus. The Orthodox Church celebrates the baptism of Christ on Jan. 6 while the Roman Catholic and eventually the Protestant believe this day is when the Magi came to visit. Regardless, it’s a celebration of the revelation of God in Man.

I wanted to explain to the young ones how God revealed his plan to the Kings. They are a great example of those who listened, obeyed and worshipped God- just the lifestyle he calls us to. Well, with just Sarah, I revised that idea immediately and tried to explain the word Epiphany as an “Ah Ha!” moment. Like a big light bulb over a person’s head. Sarah thankfully hasn’t watched enough cartoons to know about the light bulb image so I asked her if she knew what the Kings followed to find Jesus.

“Ants.”

Well, I recovered and tried to plug that thought in just enough to make a simple point, wrap up and pray. Ants. Wow! I went back to my seat, thinking about her response. From her perspective, that seemed just as plausible as a big star in the sky. Come to think of it, both options are very mysterious, tiny in the perspective of the universe and yet both can be seen, followed, and admired in their own right. The star must have been amazingly brilliant in the night sky, making the others pale in comparison. Likewise, ants are tremendously persistent and diligent in their quest, making the surrounding objects look lazy and lifeless. Both attract the eye to mystery and provoke curiosity. And for any non-believer or skeptic both these options are unlikely and uncertain at best. Yet, whether a star or ants, they pointed to something bigger, a power and Creator that works in unexplainable ways.

I won’t forget Sarah’s answer anytime soon especially after imagining these old wise men bending over to watch the ants on a journey across the world. May we look up and down and all around to understand fully how God leads us.