Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-6   Matthew 2:1-12
A Communion Meditation by the Reverend Odette Lockwood-Stewart

“Epiphany” means, literally, appearance, manifestation, showing forth of the light to the world.  During the season of Epiphany we remember the story of the Magi, wise ones from the East, who followed the rising of a star to Jerusalem on their journey to find the newborn King of the Jews.  These scholars and practitioners, from other lands and religion, traveled far, from Persia, Babylonia, to pay homage and to bring gifts to the infant Jesus, Immanuel, God-with-us.  

They came to Jerusalem because they had read the words of the prophet Isaiah ... they knew the verses we heard this morning ... Isaiah’s vision of triumph spoken to returning exiles in a devastated Jerusalem... “Arise, shine, for your light has come.”  Isaiah calls the people to look up to a future of peace and prosperity, and points to the arrival of a new ruler who would usher in an era of power for a restored Jerusalem.

But, of course, Jesus wasn’t in Jerusalem.  According to Matthew, the chief priests and scribes, religious authorities and scholars, redirected the Magi to another text, the words of the prophet Micah... “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel...” They redirected the Magi from Jerusalem ... to a peasant territory town, Bethlehem.  This little town of Bethlehem, with ancient roots of faith and history, this would be the context for the birth of the one who would save the people. It wasn’t just a matter of location ... it was a designation of meaning.  The Magi did not hesitate.  They turned towards Bethlehem.

We Christians, however, have been struggling ever since between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, between Rome and Bethlehem, between Washington D.C. and Bethlehem ... struggling to let go of the overwhelming temptation to claim faith as an insurance policy or self-justification, to claim God’s future as triumphal promise, Christ’s reign as a victory of might, rather than the risky power of love and life given in vulnerability.  The well-being of people and of creation, not power and might, are the gifts we receive in Jesus, God-With-Us,  these are the gifts we are asked to bring to the Christ child, this newborn king.

There are two kings in this story.  King Herod ruled over Judea, a puppet king of the Roman Empire.  The Magi told Herod that the purpose of their journey was to find a newborn king of the Jews who was revealed to them in sacred text and in the stars.  As we heard moments ago, “When Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him...” When ruling power is threatened, all people have reason to fear.  Herod immediately gathered religious leaders to help the Magi find the child, because it became King Herod’s mission to find this newborn king... and kill him.  Herod thought there was no room for two kings.

Herod was right.  When one King rules with the power of military might, wealth and dominance of a superpower, and the other is a refugee child, there is no room for two kings.   We choose to whom we will pay homage.  Which king will shape our hopes? Which will shape the living of our days?  

I heard the story about a friend whose children were putting on their own Christmas pageant at home.  One child was playing all the Magi, and announced, “I bring precious gifts: gold, circumstance and mud.”

What better resolution for the new year – to bring our gold, money, to bring our circumstance, the whole of our lives, including the mud, and give it to Christ.

Bethlehem then, Bethlehem today, was and is a place where children are killed.  The Magi went home by another way.  They did not return to King Herod and report on Jesus’ whereabouts.  They thereby protected the infant Jesus from Herod’s plan to find and kill him. But their journey did not stop the brutality and violence of empire that killed and continues to kill innocents today.  Avoiding direct collaboration with dominant powers and principalities is not enough.  This Jesus, King of the Jews, that shone forth in the certainty of Magi in Bethlehem was later nailed to a cross on Calvary. And over his head a sign was posted, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.”

At Epiphany we pay homage with all that we are and all that we have to the light of the world who was revealed to the world by wise ones from the east.

Philip Andrews wrote this poem, “The Song of the Magi”.  Let this be our meditation as we come to the Communion table:

There is dignity here –
        We will exalt it.
There is courage here –
        We will support it.
There is humanity here –
        We will enjoy it.
There is a universe in every child ==
        We will share in it.
There is a voice calling through
  The chaos of our times;
There is a spirit moving across
  The waters of our world;
There is movement,
  A light,
 A promise of hope.
Let them that have eyes to see, see.
Let them that have ears to hear, hear.
But
Look not for Armageddon,
Nor listen for a trumpet.
Behold, we bring you good tidings of great joy:
The incarnation.

Thanks be to God. Amen.