“Epiphany”
Matthew
2:1-12
Once, there were two priests who had
been working hard in ministry and they needed a break, so they decided
to go to a tropical island for vacation.
Since they were on vacation, they decided
to leave their clergy collars at home. They loved being priests, don't
get me wrong, and they weren't planning any outrageous behavior, but
to achieve the full relaxation that comes with being unrecognized, they
decided to go incognito.
So there they were, on the beach, basking
in the sun, with a couple of tropical drinks, you know the kind with
the umbrellas, getting ready to jump in the beautiful water, when they
looked down the beach and walking down the beach was an absolutely stunningly
beautiful woman in a very attractive bathing suit. This woman, in modern
vernacular, was hot. As she walked in front of the two priests,
she looked at them and said, “Hello, Father. Hello Father.”
They were stunned that this woman would
know that they were priests. They didn't have their collars or any other
religious trappings. How did she know?
The next day, they decided to try and
be less recognizable, donning aloha shirts & sunglasses bought in
the hotel lobby. Again, this stunningly beautiful woman walked by them
and said, “Hello, Father. Hello, Father.” Again they could not figure
out how they were recognized.
So they went all out the next day: darker
sunglasses, brighter aloha shirts, straw hats, & white sunblock
on the nose. Yet again, the woman, so beautiful she could have been
a model, came by and said, “Hello father. Hello Father.”
One of them stopped the woman and asked,
“Excuse me, we are priests and proud of it, but we were just curious,
how did you know?”
“Why Father,” she replied, “Don't
you recognize me? I'm Sister Mary!”
I know this pushes the envelope a bit
for a sermon, but I like to do that every once in awhile. This story
suggests for us this morning, as we encounter another very familiar
story once more, that we might want to look beneath the surface for
something new.
This is what I believe that Matthew wants to tell us about this arrival of
Emmanuel (God with us): it is new. Whatever
you were expecting, whatever standards or boundaries that you have established
that shape your understanding of Messiah, be ready to be surprised.
He signals surprise from the very beginning of his gospel in the recounting of Jesus' genealogy. Yes, in a good traditional manner, Matthew draws a line back to
Abraham. Yes, according to ancient custom,
he draws the line back through the male lineage, but surprise! Matthew
breaks from tradition and includes four women in his list of the ancestors
of Jesus. And they were not just any four women. They were women whose
lives bore the scars of prostitution and incest, of adultery and murder.
Reflection on the meaning of the inclusion of these women is the subject
for another sermon, but we can at least see that Matthew is proclaiming
get ready to be surprised. Even in his seemingly boring list of names
of folks long dead, Matthew tells us that in this baby a new day is
dawning that is quite different from anything one might be expecting.
Matthew keeps up this theme when he
introduces the Magi. We see them through the eyes of countless Christmas
pageants. But if you think that this story is about the three kings
of the orient, you might want to read the bible story again. If you
read carefully, you will discover that tradition has filled in quite
a bit about these wise men, or Magi. Three? Doesn't say that in Matthew.
Kings? Doesn't say that either. From the Orient? Well, now we're getting
a little warm because the text says they're from the East.
If these individuals from the East are
not quite whom Christmas pageant after Christmas pageant say they are,
then who are they? What do they offer to us today?
The NRSV translates Magi as wise men.
This is a little mild for who they were. The NRSV includes a foot note
that is a little more juicy. It calls them astrologers.
Perhaps, because these visitors from
the East are such good models of faith, we have been afraid to really
present them for what they were. Originally in Persia, Magi were dream-interpreters. By Jesus' time, the
term referred to astronomers, fortune-tellers, or star-gazers. In fact,
our word "magic" or "magician" comes from this word
"magi".
They were not so much respectable "wise
men" or "kings" but horoscope fanatics-- a practice condemned
by Israelite religion of Jesus' day.
We might compare them to people in fortune-teller
booths, or people on the "psychic hotline" or other "occupations"
that fore-tell the future by stars, tea leaves, Tarot cards, etc.
One writer describes the Magi this way:
“The Magi would thus represent, to
the early Jewish reader, the epitome of Gentile idolatry and religious
hocus-pocus -- dabblers in chicken gizzards, forever trotting off here
or there in search of some key to the future.”1
Surprised? The Magi should not be there.
They don't worship the right God. They are the wrong race, the wrong
denomination, the wrong religion.
These odd fellows from far away were
the kind of folks that good religious people are warned to stay away
from. “The first hearers of Matthew's story of Jesus would not have
had warm, fuzzy feelings when the Magi fell to their knees before the
manger-throne of the King of Kings.”2 They would have been
scandalized.
And yet, this is gospel. God uses unexpected
people doing unexpected things to bring about life. God's grace casts
a much wider net than we expect or believe.
This gives us an opportunity to focus
on a big part of our vision for this congregation. Our vision is to
continue the ministry that has been a blessing for all of us. But a
huge part of it is also to reach out to those outside these walls who
have not yet found a spiritual home, to reach out to those on the streets
of this valley who are hurting, to reach out to the wandering, the questioning,
the struggling ones. They may not look like us, or believe like us,
or behave like us, but they are looking for a star to guide them to
Emmanuel.
God calls us to be that star. We are
not the only star for all in the valley, but we are the only one that
will offer some a chance at discovering Emmanuel. So as we renew this
facility, and as we build this ministry, we want not only to do the
things that have blessed us in the past, but also those things that
will bless those out there who are searching in the future; new things,
fresh things. God calls us all to be a part of it. Does this push the
envelope? Be ready to be surprised. Pushing the envelope is the way
God works.
When we are open to it, we find that
Gay and Straight, black and white, rich and poor, religiously devout
and spiritually seeking, Republican and Democrat, devotees of Bach and
groupies of 50 Cent, we all
seek the star; and Matthew hints that God requires not that we look
and act like each other, only that we find in each other our unique
worth, and our common need to meet a savior.
Today is Epiphany Sunday. Epiphany in
this context means the appearance or manifestation of God. The Greek
word has its roots in the word for sunrise or dawn. So if we want an
image for the appearance of God, we can think of a beautiful sunrise.
Like the dawn offers all the promise of a new day, so too does Epiphany.
The presence of God promises a new day in our lives. Are you willing,
like the Magi long ago, to journey out to meet him?
I got a chance to go cross country skiing
yesterday. Now we, as followers of Jesus, are supposed to be full of
grace. I confess, grace would be far from anyone's mind if they saw
me going down the trail in Green Canyon. Be that as it may, at one point
I stopped & looked up. I couldn't see the sun behind the side of
the mountain, but I could see the light shining over the top, warming
the top of the other side. Covered with snow, having fallen down, well,
a few times, hungry and tired. I was blessed.
When we seek the star, and as we seek
to share the starlight of Emmanuel with all of God's children, we may
not always be graceful. There may be times when we are hungry and tired.
We may fall down and find ourselves covered in snow, but God will pick
us up, and even as we share blessing, we will be blessed. This is the
good news of Emmanuel. Amen.
1 Brian P. Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes at CrossMarks Christian Resources, crossmarks.com.
2 The Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander,
Sermon: "Come Home", Day1 podcast for 1/6/08.
January 13, 2008
Rev. Paul Heins
First Presbyterian Church
Logan, Utah