The Epiphany 2024
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Though today is officially the 2nd Sunday of Christmas, the Gospel lesson comes after the text for The Epiphany. It’s about what happens after the wise men visit the baby Jesus. So, we’re kind of out of order in the story. Tomorrow is The Epiphany, one of the most important holy days in the Christian faith, so I’d like to preach on that Gospel text instead.
In Orthodox Christianity Epiphany is more important than Christmas, more important that the birth of Christ. The Orthodox are celebrating this day as we in Western Christianity celebrated Christmas Eve in the church. Perhaps we could learn something from our Easter brothers and sisters, which brings us to a very important question.
What if Christ had been born and no one in the world acknowledged it?
Though his own people had waited for the Messiah for thousands of years, when Jesus was born, few if any Jews recognized him as the Messiah described in the Old Testament. The educated Jews, those who knew the scriptures best, strongly rejected Jesus, and his birth most likely at the time would have gone unnoticed by less-educated Jews. Yes, the shepherds most likely were Jewish, but they were not drawn to the manger by the biblical prophecy, but by angels, to see Jesus as the Messiah. Without the direction revelation of God using angels, stars, and dreams, would anyone have recognized Jesus as the Messiah?
Our familiarity with this story—for most of us learned it early in our childhood as part of the Christmas story, depicted in Christmas pageant, nativities, and hymns—our familiarity with it should not cloud the deep significance of this event for all of humanity and the world. As John well stated it in his Gospel, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”
The wise men from the East represented the non-Jewish, or pagan-Gentile world. Since the wise men noticed an unusual star rising in the east, they most likely would already have been students of the night sky, perhaps even early astronomers, scientists observing the natural world, and trying to understand it. In theology we call this natural revelation—God reveals himself and his purposes in the natural order. The wise men would not have been looking for someone to fulfill the Hebrew biblical prophecies. They may not have believed in God in the first place.
So the story from the 2nd chapter of Matthew pulls together the God of Hebrew Scripture who is also the God of the natural order, observable by anyone—Hebrew or Gentile.
Because an unusual star appeared in the sky and these Gentiles were so drawn by that star, they received the revelation of God and understood quite clearly the importance of Jesus’ birth for the world. Their act of homage was sincere, as evidenced by their leaving valuable gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to a poor, newborn Jewish baby in an insignificant village.
Where are the wise men, and women, today? Who is truly open-minded enough to to receive the revelation of God in our time? Who even remembers why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us?
Those of us who do believe have a critical role in answering these questions. By virtue of what we believe and how we practice our faith, we can assist God now in drawing new souls to him. When those who do not yet believe come into relationship with us, or when they observe us and the way we live, what do they see? Do they see wise men and women among us, quietly but openly practicing our Christian faith, living lives of prayer, faithfully worshipping God every Sunday, serving others in the name of christ, teaching our children and grandchildren to have faith also?
We must each find a way to let everyone know that God became flesh and dwelt among us to forgive us all our sins. Forgiveness is central to the Christian faith.
I remember a few years ago when a crazy man took a gun to an Amish school and he killed 5 children and shot 5 others. These were quiet, peaceful Christians living their way of life, not bothering anyone. Their community had never experienced violence like this, yet together as a community they immediately decided they would forgive the killer, who had also killed himself. That very day the Amish took food to the killer’s widow, and since then they have stayed in a caring relationship with the killers’s family. The whole world responded to the Amish’ extension of forgiveness with great surprise.
10 years later, members of the Amish families whose children were killed or shot were interviewed by reporters. They acknowledged that the decision by the community to forgive the killer was not as simple as it had been seen to be. “It’s not a once and done thing,” said Linda Fisher, the mother of one of the girls. “It is a lifelong process.”
As a principle, forgiveness is closely adhered to by the Amish. But it takes a while for each person’s emotions to catch up with such an outward decision. When Linda’s husband, John saw the wounded girls fighting for their lives in the hospital, he was angry. “That’s when it hit me, “ he said, “As a father, I felt helpless.”
Steven Bolt, a professor of history and Anabaptist studies said, “The decision to forgive the killer would have been collective and about giving up the right to revenge and grudges. The essence of Amish life is about giving up,” he said. “Giving up self to the group, to God. From how one dresses to the kind of work one does, Amish life is shaped by rituals of self-surrender.” The Amish did not want to be thought of as being saintly, he said, nor as “stoically stuffing their feelings into a box.”
The Amish believe that harboring anger and resentment is corrosive. “It will eat you up,”Aaron Esh said. Forgiveness “is so ingrained in our heritage that it’s part of our character”.
It often appears that what brings so much violence and suffering in the world today is anger, resentment, and vengeance. Yet the answer to it all comes from that little baby boy born in Bethlehem who came to forgive us all even our worst sins.
Though we are not Amish, withdrawn to some extent from the spiritual dangers of the modern world, we too are a Christian community here at St. Michael’s. While we may not be known for forgiveness, we each have the opportunity in our lives to forgive others, and to show them the mercy and love of God, and to tell them how important receiving the mercy and love and forgiveness of God has been for us.
I do get tired of hearing this saying often attributed to St. Francis, “Preach the Gospel always. Use words if necessary.” It becomes an excuse for never saying the name Jesus Christ to others who truly need to hear his name and what that means.
A few years ago I was mentoring a homiletics-preaching class in our diocesan school in the Diocese of West Virginia. One of the assignments I gave the students was to write the kerygma in their own words. The kerygma is the essential message of the Christian faith, that God became incarnate to forgive us our sins out of his mercy and love, basically. It’s the thing that Billy and Franklin Graham articulate so well.
At first the students balked at it, then they struggled with it, then they each found a way to put it into their own words. Afterwards, they said they would never forget the exercise. I hope they each rely on their own—orthodox—statement of faith in everything they preach and do.
So, I ask again, Where are the wise men and women today? Those who are seeking to understand God’s revelation? Who is truly open-minded enough to receive the revelation of God in our time? Who even remembers why the word became flesh and dwelt among us?
Again, by virtue of what we believe and how we practice our faith, we can assist God in drawing souls to him. When those who do not yet believe come into a relationship with us, or when they observe us and the way we live, what do they see? Do they see wise men and women among us, quietly, but openly practicing our Christian faith, living lives of prayer, faithfully worshipping God every Sunday together, serving others in the name of Christ, teaching our children and grandchildren to have faith also?
I hope they will find us, here at St. Michael’s. Amen.
