The Sunday of the Epiphany

January 6, 2008

Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

          Joyous Epiphany!  Once again, this morning, we find ourselves on a journey.  In today’s Gospel we journey with the Magi as they follow the star to Bethlehem.   This will be the final journey we take to arrive at our destination.  Once again we arrive at the manger to encounter the child who was born there.  The child who was promised to us as we journeyed through four weeks of Advent; the child who was born to us on Christmas day; the child whose birth was announced by angels to shepherds working in their fields; and that same child whose star drew wise men from the far distant East to pay homage to him. 

          Throughout our entire cycle of Advent, Christmastide and Epiphany we have been on a journey.  We journeyed alone during Advent, a people without a savior.  We arrived at that manger knowing what it is like to feel lost and abandoned, living in the darkness of our sin and separation from God, at the same time living in the promise of light and the hope of the manger.  On Christmas Day we arrived at that manger a Christmas people, rejoicing with the angels who announced Jesus’ birth.  After a time we journeyed with the shepherds knowing how it felt to be little valued by the world; having little hope or expectation that our life could become any more than what it was.  But when we arrived at the manger, we knew how much God loved us and cared for us.  The child in that manger made us feel special.   

          And now, on this day of Epiphany we journey to the manger with the Magi.  Like them we are a people blessed by the privilege and abundance of our life, little knowing that what awaits us at that manger can bring us greater privilege and abundance than the world could ever give.  Like the Magi, we are so taken by the child we bow down and worship him.  So humbled by his greatness we offer him our most precious gifts.  The homage we pay him this day?   We come to this place to worship him.  We worship him because he worthy of our praise, and worthy of our sacrifice.  And so, like magi, we come to the manger today and every Sunday to worship the God who came to us as one of us.

          Yes, it has been quite a journey from Advent to Epiphany.   Each of us and all that is us have arrived at our destination. And we have arrived at the manger seeking what we need most. The child in us, feeling abandoned and alone comes to be reunited to the One who loves us more than we could ever ask or imagine; the poor and unworthy shepherd in us comes to be lifted up by him; the gifted and privileged Magum in us comes to be humbled by him. These are the reasons people like us, wise men, shepherds and sinners alike, journey to the manger.  Because the baby who comes to us there knows our need of him.   We come knowing he can meet our need, no matter how we come to him.  As long as we are seeking what we find there.  As long as we are seeking what God wants for us.  As long as we are willing to receive him.    

          On this Sunday of the Epiphany, as we journey with the Magi to Bethlehem, the person we bring with us to the manger is our privileged self.  The self-satisfied us.  The person who is well-regarded.  The person who lives a comfortable and even extravagant life of abundance.   The story of the Epiphany is the story of such people; Magi—and people like us.  Matthew tells us much about who these Magi are in his gospel account   The fact that they follow a star and bring gifts fit for a king tells us much about them. 

Tradition would have us believe these travelers from the East are kings, but modern historical research tells us that are anything but kings.  At best they were high ranking advisors to royalty on political and religious issues.  They were likely learned men, but not as we think of learned folk today.  If, indeed, they were astrologists they were not so much scientists as they were people who interpreted dreams by the movement of the stars and planets.  If you remember, it is their interpretation of a dream which keeps the Magi from returning to Jerusalem to tell Herod of Jesus’ birth.  It was not uncommon in ancient times for kings and leaders of military and government to solicit the advice of those they believed could interpret their dreams.

           These facts about the Magi are important to know if we are to understand why Matthew included them in his birth account.  As I have already indicated in another sermon, Matthew is writing his gospel to Jews.  And perhaps the most important theme which runs through Matthew’s entire gospel is the theme of inclusion.  Matthew is trying to convince Jews that God sent Jesus into the world to redeem all of humankind, not just Jews.  Jesus was born a Jew only because Jews were the people God chose to bring his message to the world.  God did not intend for Jews to have an exclusive right of ownership of him. 

Matthew testifies to God’s purpose of inclusiveness right at the beginning of his Gospel.  He gives us the lineage of Jesus’ birth to show that several of Jesus’ ancestors are non-Jews themselves.  Matthew knows that this will be a scandal to his Jewish brethren, so you can imagine what his Jewish readers think when Matthew tells the story of foreigners, pagans from the East, who follow a star to Bethlehem and bow down to worship the child they find there.  The fact is that from beginning to end, Matthew’s gospel is filled with stories of Jesus’ encounters with Gentiles and with Jews who do not meet the standards of acceptability by Jewish law and custom.  People who are loved and healed and cared for by Jesus. 

              Today’s story of the Magi’s journey to the manger at Bethlehem is scandalous enough, but even more scandalous is the Magi’s side trip to visit Herod In Jerusalem.  The Roman Empire has ruled the Near East and the Middle East for centuries.   In all that time well-established countries have desired to restore the rule of their kings and bring dignity and peace to their nations.  These visitors from Persia would like nothing more than to have their country back with a Persian king to rule them.  Israel is no exception.  If you remember, Jesus dies by the hand of a Roman emperor at the request of Jews who are disillusioned that he has not come to destroy Rome and rule their nation.  So it is to be expected that Herod would be threatened by anyone rumored to be a king who might overthrow him.  The Magi only add to the threat by their willingness to travel a far distance, at great discomfort and inconvenience to themselves, to see this king who would rule all nations with justice and peace.  It is certain that the Magi journeyed to Bethlehem with their own agenda.  They undoubtedly came hoping this child would bring them out from under the oppressive reign of the Roman Empire.   Matthew’s story of the Magi, then, is even more scandalous to Jews who believe that a Savior will come exclusively to bring God’s reign on earth in and through them.   Matthew has combined history and politics with a great story.  But for greater purpose than merely documenting the political climate of the time.  Matthew wants his readers to know that both Gentiles and Jews are heirs of salvation, he also wants his readers and hearers to experience the same epiphany which took place at that manger.

              The Magi might have gone to the manger with a personal and political agenda, but they left with a new vision; a new knowledge and understanding of who this child really was and his purpose for coming into the world.  When the Magi came to where the star had led them, Matthew says they were “overjoyed.”  The original Greek word, however, takes their response up several notches.  A more accurate translation indicates that the Magi were “ecstatic.”  Their response was something like an out of body experience.  An experience which caused them to immediately drop to their knees and worship the child in the manger.  It was then that they offered him their finest gifts, almost as an afterthought—another scandal to people who expect that visitors will give gifts to a king immediately upon their arrival. 

Nonetheless, the Magi give the child gold, the most precious metal; they give him frankincense, to make aromatic smoke for lifting prayers to God; and they give him myrrh, a fine ointment for preparing a body for burial.  But the gifts the Magi give do not come close in value or substance to the gifts they receive.  Their experience at the manger changes them.  When the Magi leave, they go home to their own country by another way.  They will not return to Jerusalem to report to Herod on what they saw at Bethlehem.  They will not allow this child’s life to be placed in jeopardy.

              Today, we have journeyed with the wise men to this manger.  And we, too, will soon leave for our home by that door.  The question for us in Matthew’s wonder-filled story of the Magi is this:  “How has our journey to the manger on this day of Epiphany changed us?”   If we consider all the words which are used to define or explain the word, “epiphany,” we might ask ourselves, “What new revelation has come to us?   What new truth has made itself known to us?  In what way have we become more wise?  What new insight did we gain into the nature of God and of his Son, Jesus? What new insight have we gained about the nature of our own heart and mind?   How has the light of the star given us more clarity to see the light of God’s word in the scripture we read, in the prayers we pray and in the hymns that we sing? 

           Whenever any of us has such experiences of epiphany; whenever any of us has an “AHA” moment, either in our mind or in our heart at any time, especially during this worship, then we can say with the wise men and the shepherds, we have been to the manger.  We can say with certainty that we really saw what God meant for us to see there.  And we had no choice but to bow down and worship.  Our worship of the child compels us to offer our finest gifts to serve his purposes for coming to us, not only gifts of money and material things, but precious gifts of time and talent and service as well.  And when our worship is complete, we know that, like the Magi, we will also go back into the world by another way.  Because coming to the manger has changed us.  The roads we travel will never be the same.  The people, and places and things we give our life to will have greater meaning and consequence for us.  Moreover, we can be certain that the gift we continue to receive at the manger will forever be with us.  The gift of God’s presence in all that we are and all that we do.  God with us.