Carol of the Seekers by Philip Britts

We have not come like Eastern kings

With gifts upon the pommel lying.

Our hands are empty, and we came

Because we heard a baby crying.

We have not come like questing knights

With fiery swords and banners flying.

We heard a call and hurried here--

The call was like a baby crying.

But we have come with open hearts

From places where the torch is dying.

We seek a manger and a cross

Because we heard a baby crying.

This poem by the British Poet Philip Britts really hit home with me as we close 2020, Edgemont. While things this year were not as we wanted them, our worship of God never faltered. We have been celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus, though in different ways than we prefer. Even in trying times, we are still seeking, we are still bringing what we have to the Lord.

The image from the last stanza gets me: ‘But we have come with open hearts, from places where the torch is dying.’ 2020 has been a hard year. We have been overwhelmed, called on to adjust, wrestled with uncertainty around so many corners. Yet Jesus still came in that manger, still gave his life on the cross for the world, still was resurrected and ascended which gives us hope in these trying times. I am reminded that each and every day, we have to keep seeking as we hear God’s call in our life. That crying baby would grow into a man who would say, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8).” Church, as this year ends and we begin to think about the next one, let us dedicate ourselves to continue our seeking of Jesus.

Pastor Henry