Epiphany 1 Year A 010613
Matthew 2:1-12
Light Enough
By Rich Gamble
This is Epiphany. My computer’s
dictionary defines epiphany as: “a sudden intuitive leap of understanding,
especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence.” It is the time that we
celebrate the Aha moment in the Christian story when the longed for savior is
discovered to be that peasant prophet Jesus.
In some traditions Epiphany
celebrates the baptism of Jesus. In others it celebrates the coming of the wise
men. Depending on which gospel you are reading either of those times can be the
big Aha moment. Today we are looking at the story of the wise men. The wise men
only appear in Matthew’s gospel. Luke prefers shepherds as the official
witnesses of the birth of Jesus. Mark and John are not really that interested
in the story of Jesus’ birth.
Matthew’s story of the birth
of Jesus, is just that, a story. There are a great many people who want to read
it as history and if that is important to you, understand that even if it were
chronicling actual events, someone is choosing which events to write down and
which not. Even if it did happen as told and if we had a video camera there to
record the event, there is always a mind behind the camera choosing which
events to focus on, which direction to point the camera. So whether you see
this as theological story written to highlight a truth greater than the actual
events or whether you see this as history faithfully recording the events,
either way, it is a creative work.
In Matthew’s story, the wise
men set out from the East. They had seen a star rising and believed that it
signaled the birth of a king. So they went to Jerusalem
Herod doesn’t have any
children recently born. Herod is a pretender to the ancient throne of Israel , kept in place by the power of Rome Bethlehem Bethlehem
We know what the wise men do
not, that Herod is not interested in paying homage; he wants the baby dead. The
wise men set out towards Bethlehem and the star
is there and they follow it right to the house of Mary and Joseph (remember
that in Matthew’s story Jesus is born at home in Bethlehem
So in terms of the story, why
did the wise men go to Jerusalem
So maybe having followed the
star in the dark for who knows how many hundreds of miles the wise men saw a nice
level road to Jerusalem
And why not? Herod was the king, so if you are
looking for the next king wouldn’t going to the current one be a wise thing to
do? Instead of keeping their eyes on the guiding star the wise men turned to
Herod. Once they leave Herod’s presence, then the star reappears in the story
but by then it is too late. Herod has been warned, and when the story continues
Mary and Joseph have to flee for their lives, becoming refugees in Egypt and Herod sends his troops to kill off
every baby boy in Bethlehem
The blood of the babies is on
Herod’s hands but the blood wouldn’t have been spilled if the wise men had been
more wise. If the wise men had followed the star and not their own ideas and
expectations about what a king was and where to find one, then the babies of Bethlehem
The story of the wise men
points out to us our own tendencies to seek answers and solutions from the
traditional places of power and influence, from people with power measured in
money horded or in the potential to use violence.
All thoughts these days are on
the doings in Washington
The wise men had expectations
as to where a king was to be found. Such persons would be found in the palace
in the capital, not in a carpenter’s house in Bethlehem
It is good and right that we
get involved in politics as a matter of faith. That is one of the underlying
truths of Matthew’s Gospel, our story of faith is wrapped up in politics, and
economics and social structure. Jesus wasn’t born on a cloud but in a town
occupied by Roman soldiers ruled by a murderous Roman lackey.
But even as we involve
ourselves in the messy business of politics and economics and social systems,
we are shown by this story and many others in our tradition, that answers to
our longing for a world aligned with God’s vision of justice and peace, will
not be found in systems of domination. The president and the new congress could
do amazing things to make this world a better place but it is unlikely that people
willing to make such fundamental changes to our structures of power and wealth would
ever win the office and if they did it is unlikely that their reforms would
last more than a few years. We cannot legislate the Realm of God. In the long
run, we are called to keep our eyes fixed on something bigger and brighter than
any one person or party or election. And if we lose sight of that, we turn into
those people who justify all manner of evil: who kill to bring peace, who
torture to establish the rule of law, who lie to establish their truth, who
ignore the suffering of others to bring prosperity to all. Our hopes are tied
not to kings of industry or politics but to babies born into danger. Our hopes
will not be realized as a gift of the powerful but as a negation of that sort
of power.
When America turned to President Reagan we aided in
the slaughter of babies in Nicaragua Iraq Afghanistan
Sure, we try to get the best
person possible into office; best not in terms of what they can do for us, but
in terms of what they can do for peace and for the poor. But then the day after
they are elected we are called to align ourselves with the guiding light of
justice and if that means we stand in opposition to the politician of our
choosing, so be it. The president is not our star. A party is not our star. The
nation is not our star. Democracy is not our star. The majority can be and
often is unjust.
The light we follow leads
onto some uneven ground, for the light of God leads us to work for those who
are vulnerable, those who are suffering. Such places are not easy to travel. Our
story shows that the wise men were led to the crib of an infant who would one
day not become a Herod but who would die at the hands of the Herods.
The star that we follow in
the dark of our world leads down a challenging path. There will be times when
we will stumble. The brightness of the star that we follow can be dimmed by the
glare of our greed or fear. Over the centuries of the following of Jesus, many
have lost their way. Many have taken the easy road to Herod by turning to
patriotism or prosperity.
Our star leads us down
another road. Our challenge as a community of faith is to know our star and
follow it. The light of God shines forth from the plight of those with the
least. It shines forth from the lost and alone; from the sick and sad, from
ghettos and battlefields, nursing homes and homeless shelters.
Our star is the light love
that is drawn not to the palaces of the powerful and prosperous but to the
places of need. Our star is dream of a better way for humanity to travel than
down the road that leads to Herod. Our star is a dream that cannot be killed, that
rises again and again on the horizon of each generation. Our star is our true
nature, our true power, our true destination, the self giving love that is God.
That is our star. And it leads us still. Amen.
