A powerful
and influential Bernie Madoff’esque Wall Street king is visited by some Middle
Eastern soothsaying speculators who are seeking the newborn who some believe is
destined to bring about the redistribution of wealth and power, including with
the oppressed underclasses. After
learning that this newborn has not been born among the establishment leaders on
Wall Street, the head of the banking empire tries to trick these foreign
visitors into telling him where they end up finding the home of this future
leader so that all of Wall Street can honor him as well… with the real agenda
of locating and eliminating this threat to the economy. Instead, when these non-Christian astrologers
journey outside the city and into rural areas, they find this new leader born
to a young, lower-class couple among migrant workers. The visitors kneel before
this newborn, lavish him with fine gifts fit for a king, and leave overwhelmed
with joy at what has been revealed and without reporting back to the ruler on
Wall Street.
A future king
with a radical social agenda is born to a no-name family and is noticed first
by some rough ranch hands who go on to proclaim far and wide what they’ve seen,
and then by exotic foreigners who neither share his national identity nor his
religion but nonetheless reverance before him and lavish him with
extraordinarily generous gifts. The
truth about this child is not revealed to them through an existing religious
establishment, but through direct divine revelation in one case and through observations
and interpretation of natural signs that have gone unnoticed by everyone else
in the other case.
What is this
story challenging us to consider about the future reign of this newborn
leader? To what sorts of people is the truth first
made known? What might this story be telling
us about how people are to encounter each other and behave in his kingdom?
Epiphany
(meaning of the season):
·
Today
is one of the seven principal Feasts of our Christian liturgical calendar (BCP,
p. 17)
· Originating out of disputes over the proper date to celebrate the birth/Incarnation, Epiphany has come to represent (in the Western church tradition) the climax of the twelve days of Christmas.
· epiphaneia…to shine upon / show / manifest / make known / reveal
· …also known as “the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles” (BCP, p.31), or the revelation of Israel’s God to people of all nations
· Recall that according to the author of Luke, it was lowly shepherds (in contrast to the wealthy magi) who were actually the first to make known the truth about this newborn Lord. Today we have the author of Matthew telling us that non-Jews from the East are also some of the first to honor Jesus as new royalty through their kneeling before him and offering to him of gifts fit for a king. That these two contrasting sets of seemingly unlikely evangelists are first to ‘reveal’ the truth about this special birth are indications that God intends this revelation of a new kingdom to be available to people of all sorts and not limited to only one tribe or class.
· As I said in one of my Christmas sermons, a ‘virgin birth’ is not what the beginning the story so interesting. What is more unique and compelling about the hero of our religious story is the type of people to whom he is born, into what circumstances he arrives, what sorts of people are first to notice him as special Incarnation of God’s rule of love, and how the first witnesses respond to this revelation.
· Originating out of disputes over the proper date to celebrate the birth/Incarnation, Epiphany has come to represent (in the Western church tradition) the climax of the twelve days of Christmas.
· epiphaneia…to shine upon / show / manifest / make known / reveal
· …also known as “the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles” (BCP, p.31), or the revelation of Israel’s God to people of all nations
· Recall that according to the author of Luke, it was lowly shepherds (in contrast to the wealthy magi) who were actually the first to make known the truth about this newborn Lord. Today we have the author of Matthew telling us that non-Jews from the East are also some of the first to honor Jesus as new royalty through their kneeling before him and offering to him of gifts fit for a king. That these two contrasting sets of seemingly unlikely evangelists are first to ‘reveal’ the truth about this special birth are indications that God intends this revelation of a new kingdom to be available to people of all sorts and not limited to only one tribe or class.
· As I said in one of my Christmas sermons, a ‘virgin birth’ is not what the beginning the story so interesting. What is more unique and compelling about the hero of our religious story is the type of people to whom he is born, into what circumstances he arrives, what sorts of people are first to notice him as special Incarnation of God’s rule of love, and how the first witnesses respond to this revelation.
·
In
today’s Gospel lesson, we have someone who would claim to be a king of Jews
(Herod) fearful that people outside his jurisdiction (the magi) believe that a
new king is found among the common people. And, we see wealthy foreigners and poorer
commoners uniting in joy and peace around Jesus as a vulnerable child – a
powerful testament about the new order this Christ calls us to. In
the lectionary readings that follow in this season (for the next six weeks), we’ll
hear of other signs that ‘reveal’ Jesus as Christ (our Lord) and point toward
the mission of his church in the world:
o
The
Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32, “Lord, you now have set your servant free…”) at
the ‘presentation’ of the baby Jesus to him at the temple by his mother (observed
Feb 2)
o
The
Holy Spirit announcing Jesus as ‘beloved by God’ as his baptism (Luke
3:15-17,21-22)
o
The
miracle of Jesus turning water to wine at the wedding banquet in Cana (John
2:1-11)
o
And
perhaps most revealing, Jesus’s own proclamation as boy in a Nazareth synagogue
that scripture has been fulfilled (to the astonishment of those listening) …the
Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the poor, release to
captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed (Luke 4:14-21)
·
Our
Epiphany-season Gospel readings will conclude with our Lord’s transfiguration
on a mountain alongside appearances of Elijah and Moses. We will hear this story on the Sunday before
Ash Wednesday (Feb 13 this year, the day before Valentine’s) ushers us into
Lent.
“Wise men
from the East…” (what’s the significance of their story)
·
magos – wise men, probably more priestly
than kingly, likely what we’d consider astrologers, and certainly practitioners
of ‘other’ religions
· The star was up there for all to see… but it was foreigners outside of the religious and political establishment who interpreted it to mean something so extraordinary that they were willing to travel long distances, away from what was familiar to them, into a new land and to offer extraordinary gifts to this new king
· The star was up there for all to see… but it was foreigners outside of the religious and political establishment who interpreted it to mean something so extraordinary that they were willing to travel long distances, away from what was familiar to them, into a new land and to offer extraordinary gifts to this new king
o
“Three
Kings Day” (in some Latin cultures) –the notion that there were ‘three’ or that
these were ‘kings’ is a matter of tradition based on the mention of three gifts
(frankincense, myrrh, and gold) that were fit for royalty
§
traditional names of the three: Caspar, Melchior,
and Balthasar (scholars from India, Persia, and Arabia)
§
ref. house blessings and chalking on door lintels
20+C+B+M+13
§
ref. Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat,
"Christ bless the house"
· Whoever they were, and however many there were, we can consider them ‘wise’ because of their prudent interpretation of what God revealed to them (by stars and through dreams) AND, as importantly, their faithful action according to what had been revealed to them. They are humble in their approach, generous in their giving, and wise in their going forth from their encounter with Christ.
So where
are we in this story – what’s the Spirit calling us to do this season?
·
During Christmastide, we were celebrating the extraordinary act of
love in God coming to us. In Epiphany,
we’re invited to come to God through witnessing and sharing what has been
revealed in this event.
·
To
kick-off this season of revelation, what is made known is that God reaches out
to people outside of what is familiar to most of us to draw us all together in
wonder and faith, particularly using the visions and perspectives of people
different from us to help us see anew the truth of God at work in our shared
world
·
[anecdotes
about mission and ministry with young-adults around campuses]
o
Many
young-adults are spiritual seers and seekers who are not coming from within our
own religious norms and traditions, and yet have something important to share
with us about how God is at work in our shared world
o
What’s
possible when we’re less concerned about conformity and converting to a
particular way and more focused on radical hospitality and curious conversation
with each other about how we perceive God’s light in the world and what they
might mean to our lives together?
o
How
can deeper discussions of the circumstances of the first Christmas and stories
of who first noticed this new birth draw people together in holy curiosity?
·
We’re called to join the shepherd and the magi in being awe-struck
and humbled by the truth that God chosen to come among the common people first
and to be revealed through the wisdom of visitors from outside our comfort
zone.
o
Has Christ ever been revealed to you through an epiphany through
something foreign, unfamiliar, or outside your comfort zone?
o
Where might we look today to see God’s love being revealed among
people who are otherwise overlooked?
·
We’re called to be as extravagant as the visiting magi in the
generosity of our offerings and as enthusiastic as the shepherds in spreading
of the word about the light that has come to the world through God’s love
incarnated among us through Jesus.
o
What offerings do you make in Christ’s honor that might be
perceived of as extravagant or unreasonable generous?
o
What
can you personally do this Epiphany season to encourage compelling conversation
about how people perceive and follow the light of Christ?
·
epiphaneia…to
shine upon / show / manifest / make known / reveal
o
How will we show growth in our knowledge and love
of God through Christ this Epiphany season?
o
How will we invite conversations with others this
season to more fully reveal how Christ is manifested and made known among all
people?
AMEN
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