A Epiphany – January 5, 2014 (transferred from January 6)
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
+
INJ +
Grace and peace be with you, from
God our Father, revealed to us in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Today is actually the twelfth day
of Christmas, and so even though it seems a bit off, today is the last day we
can say “Merry Christmas” to each other, for today is the last day of the
Christmas season for another year. In our homes and offices and here at Our
Redeemer, the evidence of Christmas is going away, it is getting packed up in
boxes to hide away in closets, garages, and attics for another year.
Tomorrow is actually Epiphany (it
falls on January 6 every year), but I decided to move Epiphany to today so we
could celebrate this important day together this year. The word, “Epiphany”
means a “revealing,” and so Epiphany is the day upon which we remember Jesus
being revealed to the wise men who travel from the East, just to find him.
There is a lot of activity in
today’s gospel lesson – a lot of movement. These wise men – we don’t really
know how many – but we see that they are on the move, following a star in order
to find an extraordinary child. The star they are following is also moving.
These wise men arrive in Jerusalem
to ask Herod, the king, where this extraordinary child might be found, and in
hearing this simple question, Herod and others are thrown into turmoil. We
might not understand this completely, but this is the political part of the
story of Jesus being born as a king. Herod is worried for his job – for his
position in society - as king.
Herod sends the wise men to
Bethlehem to find the extraordinary child because – he says – he wants to
worship the child, also. And so, the wise men are off, again following that
star, only stopping when the star stops.
In some ways, this story today is
reminiscent of the flurry of activity that comes when the angels and the shepherds
appear at the stable to see and worship the baby Jesus. Here, too, today, is
another flurry of activity – these wise men, traveling from afar to see and
worship Jesus, and to give him their homage and bring him their gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
And the center of all of this
activity is Jesus.
He is no ordinary child. We’ve seen
this already through all the Christmas stories of the past weeks – this is no
ordinary child. His presence in flesh and blood is God with us – God with all
of us.
It’s the wise men who get this,
somehow. They get what God is doing here with this extraordinary child. They
are so deeply aware of what God is doing with this child that when they find the
child, they are overwhelmed with joy.
Jesus receives several gifts from
the wise men, but the first gift they give to him – before anything else! – is
the gift of their homage. This means that before they give him anything
tangible, they give completely of themselves – their inner selves - pouring out
their honor and their devotion to him. Then, and only then, they give their
costly gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
We don’t know what happens to these
wise men after this encounter with Jesus. Their part of the story ends with
them going home by a different route in order to avoid Herod. Presumably, they
go home to resume their normal lives, but we don’t know how their encounter
with Jesus has touched them or affected them.
And yet the story of Jesus goes on
from here.
We are very near the beginning of
the Jesus story for another year. As I said before, “Epiphany” means “revealing,”
and so during today and in the Sundays that follow Epiphany – going through
into March, when Lent begins – we will find an ever-broadening circle around
Jesus, with Jesus at its very center.
The circle begins quite small in
the stories of Christmas – it begins with some angels and Mary and Joseph and,
later, the arrival of the shepherds. Today, the circle is enlarged even more to
include these wise men from the East.
As we continue on, we’ll see the
circle expand to include a group of people at the Jordan River when Jesus is
baptized, and the first disciples of Jesus, and then the crowds present at the
Sermon on the Mount. Each time the circle expands, we get to see a bit more of
the love of God, revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
For us, the evidence of Christmas
is going away as décor gets packed up and tucked away behind closed doors. But
the center of the circle – Jesus – doesn’t get packed up at all. With
Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus – the beginning of God with us, in
flesh and blood. But the story keeps going from there – the circle keeps
expanding for us.
If Epiphany is a time of revealing
the love of God found in Christ Jesus, then I ask us to consider today how it
is that God is revealing his great love to you. Where do you see the love of
God?
And then – I want us take it a step
further – and consider how it is that God is revealing love through you – to others. That is what we
are called to, after all – to be the ones through whom the love of God is
displayed, shining brightly - shining like the star that led the wise men to
find the extraordinary child.
Let us pray:
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend
to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be
born in us today.[1]
Be born in us today, O Lord, and
every day, that we might have you with us always, and share your great love
with others always.
Amen.
+ SDG +
No comments:
Post a Comment