Matthew 2:1-12
The Truth and Nothing but the Truth!
A man’s car once stalled in heavy traffic, just as the light turned
green. All his efforts to start the engine failed. Shortly, there were all
kinds of cars, honking their horns.
Feeling frustrated like all the other drivers trying to get home for the
weekend, the man got out of his car and walked back to the first driver.
He then said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to get my car started. If
you’ll go and try to start my car, I’ll stay here and blow your horn for you.”
Patience is a difficult virtue for all of us, especially me. I’m not
great at waiting – especially when I’m driving.
I’m the guy who will change lanes to gain that extra car length that
assures me on a one hour trip to see my dad, saves me about one minute.
We live in a society where everyone is in a hurry. We want what we want
right now. Waiting is not something we do very well. Most everyone included the
three wise men in their nativity sets … and guess what?
Ah, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Today we celebrate a religious holiday called “Epiphany.” Epiphany is
Greek for “to manifest” or “to show.”
And it celebrates the “shining forth” or revelation of God in human
form. And it commemorates the visit of
the Wise Men to the baby Jesus.
Epiphany completes the Twelve Days of Christmas. It actually ends on January 6th …
Originally, Epiphany was a bigger celebration than Christmas – it was third
after Easter and Pentecost. That,
obviously, is no longer so. Enough about
that.
Epiphany. You all
know the plot line of Epiphany. It is the wise men's day in the spotlight,
their day in the limelight, their day to take center stage. Epiphany is the day
the cameras focus on the magi.
Does
anyone remember the story of the “Three Wise Men” we sing of in the hymn, “We
Three Kings of Orient Are?” You
remember, the three kings who came from the “Orient” in search of the Christ
child. … Do you remember their names?
Let’s
see, there was Melchoir, the oldest of the group, who was bringing the gift of
gold. Balthasar, who was bringing the gift of myrrh, and Casper, the
youngest of the three, who was bringing the gift of frankincense.
They
traveled by …check out the painting behind me for a clue … camels loaded with
their gifts. I think we even had a
picture of that on a bulletin cover one week.
And
how did they know where to go? … Well, they navigated their trip following the
… the North Star, right … which led them
to Jerusalem
where they met with the evil King Herod to ask where was this “king of the
Jews.” Only account on record where men
actually asked for directions! But I
digress…
The
Kings took leave of Herod and went on to Bethlehem, continuing to follow the
Star until it rested over … the manger … where Jesus was born.
There
they met the newly born Christ child and presented him with their
treasures. Then what happened? … Yes,
they continued their journey, traveling as far as Spain,
telling the world the good news about what they had seen. …
Great story, isn’t
it? Only problem is that most of it
isn’t true. The truth is, they weren’t kings. They are identified as Magi, or
astrologers, or learned men, some translate the Greek word used as magicians. Magi from the East… that’s all we know.
And we don’t even
know for sure how many there were. Some “legends” say that there may been as
many as 12. The idea of THREE KINGS came when the three gifts were given - one
each. (Somebody has suggested that there were actually FOUR kings, but the
fourth one's gift was a fruitcake, so he was not allowed in.)
There’s
no mention of camels. Now there was a
star, but there’s no mention of the North Star, and it only began “moving”
after they arrived in Jerusalem and
then guided them to Bethlehem.
And
how about when they got there - did they find Jesus, wrapped in swaddling
clothes, lying in a manger? Probably not, if we had read further in our Gospel
text, we would find that Herod, trying to eliminate Jesus, had all children 2
years and under killed. So Jesus might have been as old as two when the wise
men finally got there. The three wise men in a manger scene? Lots of poetic licensing going on!
And
where did these Magi go following their encounter with the Christ child? No word in scripture of them going west
towards Spain. Just that they returned home by a different
path. …
I’d like to focus
though on the Magi’s meeting with Herod for a moment. The Magi traveling from the East are looking
for a king … that’s what the text says … so once they get to Israel,
they head for the palace of King
Herod. That's where you'd expect a King to be
born.
But no. It's all a
bit of a surprise for King Herod, isn't it? And a nasty one at that! The last
thing King Herod wants to hear about is a usurper to the throne. There's only
room in this town for one King. No, this is very disturbing news, really.
Though, diplomat that he is, Herod doesn't show his hand. He's seen enough
court intrigue to know how to handle a situation like this.
And handle it he
does … ultimately eliminating anyone who might stand in his way. That gives Herod more than a bit of a bad
name. Deservedly so! I mean, sending your soldiers out to kill all the boys in
the area under the age of 2, doesn't look too good on your resume does it?
But you know, he
wasn't all that different from lots of people today. Not that they go around
killing anyone who gets in their way, but there are lots of people who'll do
just about anything to avoid the possibility that they might lose control, that
someone else might have sovereignty over their lives.
Most people in
fact want to run their own lives the way they like and they don't want
to have to worry about what someone else thinks. They certainly don't want
Jesus Christ coming along and upsetting their equilibrium with demands for
godly living, let alone giving up their Sunday mornings to worship him!
But also, like
Herod, many of them are well versed in how to sidestep the issue. Say the right
words. Express the right sentiments. But never commit themselves to doing
anything about following this King.
You see, that's
what Herod does. He plays along. He calls in his advisors – actually he calls
in the chief priest and scribes – the religious leaders of the day.
So the chief
priests and scribes come in and are asked where the Messiah will be born. Well,
it doesn't take them long to find the answer. The Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.
How did they know? The prophet Micah had
said just that some 700 years before.
Yep, that's the
place to look. You see, these priests and scribes, these teachers of the law,
knew their scriptures. They knew all the stories, all the predictions of the
coming Messiah.
But again, that
wasn't enough was it? It wasn't enough to know the prophecies. It's not enough
to just know the Christmas stories.
Thomas Merton once
wrote this: "there were only a few shepherds at the first Bethlehem.
The ox and the ass understood more of the first Christmas than the high priests
in Jerusalem. And it is the same
today."
Well he was right. There are plenty of people
around today who know the stories about the baby Jesus. I mean they've been
hearing them since they were in pre-school. But knowing the story doesn't help
if it doesn't lead to us worship and follow the one the stories tell of.
Well, they tell
Herod where the Messiah would be born and he tells the magi. First, though, he
finds out when the star appeared, then he tells them to go and find the child
and when he's found, let him know, so he too can go and pay him homage.
Of course we know
from what happens later that the only thing he has planned for this baby is a
funeral. If only the magi knew!
The magi continue
on their way to Bethlehem until
finally the star stops overhead and they realize they've reached their
destination and are overwhelmed with joy.
There in Bethlehem
they enter a house and find the child with his mother and they kneel down and
worship him. Then they open their treasure chests and offer him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. And as the scripture says, return home by a different
route.
So … which of the
people in this story are you most like? Are you like Herod? Happy to play along
with the Christmas celebrations as long as you can continue to rule in your own
world. As long as no-one expects you to change the way you are?
Or are you like
the chief priests and scribes? Knowing the Christmas stories backwards, but
never letting them touch your life? Happy to go through the religious motions,
buy the cards with the manger scene and the angels, sing Christmas carols, give
a generous gift to World Vision, but never actually getting around to giving
God your whole life in worship?
Or are you like
the magi, not knowing all the answers but wise enough to recognize that here is
one who deserves our homage, our worship.
Are you one who'd
be willing, like them, to give up your life of comfort to travel through the
wilderness to come and worship this great King?
Are you one who
recognizes that in Jesus Christ is to be found the one and only way to be right
with God, to enter freely into his presence, his kingdom, without fear? Are you
one who's willing to lay before his feet your treasure chest?
Sometimes I think
we have it too easy. We are impatient
with our faith. We want it all right
now. We aren’t willing to travel a great
distance or follow a star for months.
The magi patiently followed the light of God until it finally came to the
place where Jesus was. We are called to do the same. Unfortunately, we don’t always trust that God
will see us through the dark moments of our lives. We panic, live in fear, or
get frustrated because things are not going fast enough for us. If the story of
the wise men teaches us anything, it teaches us of their patient trust in the
light of God.
My invitation this morning is to be patient. Realize that we are on a journey that may
take time. It certainly deserves our
attention. And it may not be easy … but
that’s okay … for we travel not alone.
May we cease the moment and know that God goes with us, loving us,
forgiving us, encouraging us, and supporting us … every step of the way in good
times and in bad, when we rush and especially when we are patient.
AMEN.
