Feast of the Epiphany - January 6, 2018
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
(homily given at St Stephen's New Harmony Indiana)
It seems like I have always loved this Feast Day
Epiphany
But the truth is
I started loving it when I met my friend Joann
Epiphany was Joann’s favorite day
For the last 20 plus years
My quirky friend Joann
(who went to her heavenly reward this past Summer)
My quirky friend Joann would come by our house bearing gifts
She would come by…never calling ahead…
And at odd times…sometimes when the whole household was in bed
She expectantly rang the door bell
For Joann this was just more
Epiphany SURPRISE
She came
Bearing gifts
Odd times and odd gifts
Picked carefully from her stash of collected close-out sale items
Whimsical treasures she called them
And always the gifts were accompanied by squiggly notes
bits of Joann poetry
Love messages in thanksgiving for friendship
And so
with the wise men and their gifts
and with Joann and her gifts
I found myself…on this feast day…reflecting on
Gift
Giftedness
God's gifts
And then
This week…preparing to preach today
I realized that everything I ever thought I knew about Epiphany was wrong!
…okay…slight exaggeration…
-----
In my Nativity scene at home
I have these three Kings
They are very elegant and wise looking
…holding their respective gifts prominently
One is riding a horse
…another an elephant
…and the third on a camel
And they are all turned in such a way that they must be placed on the right side of the scene…facing WEST
When the kids were young I used to put the three kings/wise men/Magi half-way across the room
And as Advent and Christmas unfolded they would slowly make their way
Across the miles to the stable
…finally arriving,
...right in sync with Joann
…on January 6th
…bearing gifts
BUT
What I do NOT have in my Nativity scene is a figure of HEROD
In my study this week I found that Herod
Who I have never given much CHRISTMAS thought to
gets even more print in the story than the wise men do!
Especially if you take the whole story…
including the next few lines where Herod
…Not taking any chances…
Slaughters every male child in the area age 2 and under!
I love where our Collect Prayer takes us today
We will ask:
O GOD
LEAD US
LEAD US TO YOUR PRESENCE
LEAD US TO YOUR PRESENCE
WHERE WE MAY SEE YOUR GLORY
Herod and the Wise Men share center stage on this feast of Epiphany
Which means to me
That there is something about the two
When placed side by side
There is something illuminating
Something that sheds light
…That exposes or reveals…TRUTH
Which is the meaning of EPIPHANY
And Truth…Truth makes a very good LEAD
Side by Side
The Magi are the example
And Herod is the warning
So
Who is Herod?
And
Who are these Magi?
Herod is the name of a Jewish family dynasty
with deep ties to the Roman government
They ruled over Palestine for over 100 years
The Herod Matthew refers to is
Herod the Great…the ONLY Herod with the title: KING…King of the Jews
A title bestowed on him by the Roman Senate in 40 bc
Not surprisingly
his rule was characterized by strong loyalty to Rome
And a necessary ZERO-tolerance policy toward opposition
Brutality was the price to pay
Now for the Magi
Most of my sources suggest that Wise Men and Kings
Most of my sources suggest that Wise Men and Kings
Are way too generous translations of the Greek word, MAGI
(the root for our words Magic and Magician)
These sources suggest that we might rather imagine:
horoscope fanatics, readers of tea leaves or tarot cards
The bottom line is that they would represent
To Matthew’s first readers
the epitome of gentile idolatry
-----
From a literary perspective
the first chapters of Luke and Matthew…
The chapters that deal with the birth and infancy of Jesus
Are often referred to… …
as “the Gospel in miniature”
which means that the important themes
that will unfold with the telling of the Gospel
are all hidden in the beginning
Matthew ends his Gospel with what is known as the great commission:
Go…Go therefore and make disciples of all nations! This is a great theme of Matthews Gospel…the universality of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Make disciples…even of tarot card reading astrologers who have never heard of the prophet Isaiah, or Moses, or the Temple!
But I think there is something even more surprising
In this theme set in our reading today
These MAGI
Were LED
Not by an Apostle and his witness and preaching
But by a star
Led by that which was within their realm of experience
God is so surprising!
The MAGI are…our… example because
They were open to being led
They work together from their collective humility
They are curious
They ask for directions
They get help along the way
The opposite of the MAGIS’ openness to being LED
Is Herod
Who demands to be on the leading end
Who plots the course
I AM THE KING OF THE JEWS…the Romans said so;)
AND I WILL STAY THE KING OF THE JEWS
Herod and humility haven’t met
HIS MOTTO: Kill the competition!
Collateral damage be damned!
For sure these are extreme portraits
But placed side by side
The Gospel reveals to us
That we are…perhaps…a little of both
Allowing ourselves to be led
And believing that Love is stronger than violence
…is plain NOT EASY
But somehow
By camel or golf cart or Subaru
Each of us was led here
Led by our believing
And our experience
That love is stronger than violence
And like the MAGI
Each time we return home
We go by an ever so slightly different route
So the Epiphany message
shines a light on our
Herod-likeness
as well as our
Magi-likeness
But it LEADS
It LEADS us in the Magi’s direction
A direction that helps us see
Epiphany…all around
And SURPRISE!
I am back where I started
Because…
Being led to see Epiphany all around…
That …is a huge gift!
Joann was right!
Happy Epiphany!
