Feast of the Epiphany

January 6, 2008
The Rev. David R. Hackett

The trouble with some texts of scripture is that they bulge with too much meaning. Certainly that is the case with those appointed for The Epiphany. Here in Matthew’s gospel we bump into astrologers (non-Jews) chasing down a star in search of a new-born king. We encounter prophecy predicting the messianic birth. We have divine interventions via starlight and dreams. We are given large doses of irony from hostile Herod. We get an indication of Christ’s destiny of the cross. And all of this is packed in just twelve verses. So, let’s spend a little time today examining this twelve verse wonderful old story.

First: this story is telling us that God’s saving work in the world is often not recognized. Remember, the hosts of angels which appeared didn’t wake up the whole town of Bethlehem. The audience of God’s great revelation consisted of only a few animals, a few shepherds, and these three wise men who are on the road thinking that something important was going to happen. The epiphany of Jesus was not obvious.

His appearance then and now is concealed as well as revealed. When Jesus grew up those who saw him and heard him were often confused about his identity, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Don’t we know Mary his mother and his brothers and sisters? Who does he think he is?” John, in the fourth gospel, tells us that at the crucifixion Jesus heard God’s voice answer his agonized prayer, but the bystanders simply said it was thunder and walked away. One man, a Centurian, saw and heard the truth and murmured, “Surely, this was the Son of God.” God’s saving work is often not recognized. How many times have you and I failed to see God at work in our lives and in the lives of others?

A second truth to be learned from this story of the wise men: God’s saving work in the world often comes through a surprise. Even the faithful, those who were looking and listening for him, are surprised when he is born in Bethlehem. Only one prophet mentions that he will be born there. After all, it was logical that Messiah, the King of the Jews, should be born in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the center of power, the center of politics, the capital of the Jewish nation. Jerusalem was the center of academic learning and study. It was the Holy City, the location of Solomon’s temple. It would be similar to Washington, D.C. for Americans: great cathedrals, fine universities, the seat of government. Isn’t it logical that if Christ were to come in the flesh today, if he were to be our king, it would make sense that he be born in the center of power.

On that first Christmas the inhabitants of the village of Bethlehem had every reason to greet the new day as they had greeted the day before and the day before that, as far back as they could remember with the prayer, “May the heel of the enemy not crush us today.” But it was to that little town that the magi came with gifts for the king before whom someday every knee will bow. God is a surprise and will reveal himself in unexpected ways.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly to us who are not of the race of Abraham, God’s epiphany is for the healing and restoring of all people. Remember that the wise men were goyum, gentiles, non-Jews. The revelation is for all people regardless of race, religion or status. This Epiphany shows forth a savior whose followers are called to overcome racial, cultural, economic, and religious barriers.

A rather remarkable thing happened this year in the weeks before Christmas. It didn’t get much press; most people didn’t hear about it. A letter was written to Christian leaders by 138 Muslim clerics and scholars who represented every branch of Islam. The letter was entitled, “A Common Word Between Us.” They stated that the peace of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians. They asserted that love for God and neighbor is a central belief of both religions and provides a common ground on which we can stand. The Muslim leaders wrote, “Our eternal souls are at stake.” Yale Divinity School’s Center for Faith and Culture put together a response that was published in the New York Times on November 18. It expressed gratitude for the letter and asked forgiveness for historical Christian hostility toward Islam and promised dialogue with Islamic and Jewish leaders that “seeks the good of the other” and asks how God “would have us fulfill the requirement that we love God and one another.” It’s a beginning. A small step, but it is a step in the right direction.

St. Paul preached of a church which included “Jew and Greek, slave and free, wise and foolish, male and female.” From the very beginning the question of “who’s in and who’s out?” has confronted the Church. We are still wrestling with the question. The Church, when it is truly being the Church, is in the business of inclusivity. And it has always been hard, and always controversial; but it is always right. We, who profess to be the church of the Messiah revealed to the wise men, cannot be exclusive.

And so today we celebrate this Feast of the Epiphany and all that it means. In a few minutes I’m going to ask you to “lift up your hearts.” And you will respond, “We lift them to the Lord.” That means we lift up ourselves, our whole beings, as an offering to God. With the wise men we worship the God who is a surprise. We kneel before the One whom we all too often fail to acknowledge and certainly fail to obey. We come to reverence the Messiah who would embrace all of humanity, even when we don’t.

In Charles Williams’ marvelous Christmas play, A House by the Stable, the character named “human being”, full of sin and half drunk shows up at the stable. And wanting to join the wise men in giving something to the Child fumbles around trying to come up with a gift. He remembers he has a string around his neck that holds a faded jewel. “There,” he says, “it once was bright: it might serve. I do not know what it is at all.” One of the angels rubs the jewel clear and exclaims, “But this is your soul.”

Let this be our prayer today,

“And here, O Lord, with the wise men who worshiped you by offering gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
we offer ourselves, our souls and bodies,
as dimmed by sin as they might be,
to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice to you,
to be rubbed clean until we are clearly and wholly yours, to be redeemed by you.”

Amen.