Advent and Christmas 2006,
Cycle C Love Revealed
Epiphany, January 7
(Communion Sunday)
Title: Love reveals the way
Worship Leader: Jonathan
Music Leader: Reed
Prelude: Trevor?
Texts: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew
2:1-12
Isaiah 60:1-6: Arise, shine; for your light has
come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 60:2 For darkness shall
cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon
you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and
kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come
to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried
on their nurses' arms. Then you shall
see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance
of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to
you. A multitude of camels shall cover
you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the
LORD.
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14: Give the king your justice, O God, and your
righteousness to a king's son. May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice. May the
mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May
he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor. May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the
moon, throughout all generations. May
he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the
earth. In his days may righteousness
flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more. …May the kings of
Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him
service. For he delivers the needy when
they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the
needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious
is their blood in his sight.
Ephesians
3:1-12:This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the
sake of you Gentiles--for surely you have already heard of the commission of
God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me
by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable
you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ: In former
generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been
revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become
fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ
Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I have become a servant
according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his
power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to
me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to
make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in
God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its
rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the
heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that
he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in
boldness and confidence through faith in him.
Matthew
2:1-12: In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to
Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its
rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he
was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief
priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to
be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written
by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means
least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to
shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men
and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent
them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and
when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him
homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of
them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the
place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were
overwhelmed with joy. On entering the
house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid
him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of
gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return
to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Contemporary
quote:
There
is little room left for wisdom when one is full of judgment. -- Malcolm Hein
Sermon
Notes, preliminary lectio
divina on the texts:
Sometimes there is a time for open confrontation of
the powers (Eccles. reading last week)—but sometimes there is also the wise
option of choosing another road. Another
thing that strikes me about this very familiar story—like the unwed mother
imagery around Mary, become so routine-ized we don’t even see it any more—is
the bizarreness of wisdom coming from foreign,
pagan astrologers! in this seminal Christ event story. It’s as bizarre as the seraphs, originally
effigies of Assyrian gods foisted on the Hebrews and installed in the Temple by
coercion, who in Isaiah 6 are waiting in attendance on God, circling and
worshipping the Lord whose mere hem fills the temple; eventually these alien
gods morph into the top of the hierarchy of angels along with the cherubim…God
is so much bigger than our little temples of orthodoxy and confident
prediction—exactly that “wisdom of God in its rich variety” (Ephesians) at
play.
On Psalm 72:
phrase that has reverberated for me these past several years, in fact,
since I read about Bush’s sneeringly callous response to Karla Fay Tucker’s
death sentence appeal is our crying need for a leader who “has pity on the weak
and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence
he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.” An article in Christianity today some time
ago talked about empire crumbling with the news of the resurrection (my words;
can’t remember theirs) because resurrection means that the blood of the little
people which oils the ponderous machinery of state is not over and out—those
silenced voices will come back! Will demand
full justice! Will be fully valued on the
ultimate cosmic scale! That has
to be a terrifying awareness to any despot, anyone in fact who does not see the
blood of each person as precious. The
voices of the gassed Kurds heard, each one, in the ears of Saddam; the voices
of the death squad victims, each one, and all the 650,000 dead Iraqis, each
one, ringing in the ears of those who
unleashed the forces of death upon them….not a pretty picture. And Lord, have mercy on all of us who have
paid the taxes that have supported these greed-driven atrocities….
Gary: I don’t say the underlined
headings aloud; they just help me keep track of where I am. Thanks soooo much! L
Introduction:
Epiphany
is one of those church days that tends to fall flat.
In
the church year, it is meant to be the sparkling bright conclusion to the
Christmas season,
a festival of light and celebration of the
Incarnation,
the ‘Epiphany’,
or ‘appearing’ in human form of God
With Us
in
the person of Jesus.
But
here again, real time has swept on by liturgical time
and Christmas is by now passé
along with the stale remnants of Christmas cookies
and discarded tissue paper.
While
this is the day to celebrate
the arrival of the star-guided Magi
at the cradle of the infant Christ,
we
have seen far too many stars already this season
to be
excited by that thought.
We’re
tired!
Maybe
even grumpy….
we need a holiday to recuperate from
our holiday!
A
parent that had a child in their congregation’s Christmas pageant
told her pastor that she had asked
her 6-year-old son later
if he remembered the gifts that the
Magi brought to Jesus.
He
thought for a minute, furrowing his brow,
then said "gold, frankincense,
and ‘hu-myrhh’”—humor!
That’s
a gift we could all use about now!
Matthew’s take on the birth narratives: a dark one
You
are all familiar with this story;
it’s so familiar that it is hard to
see it with new eyes.
In
fact, it’s easy to see details that aren’t even there…
the three kings, the camels….
Complicating
things is that only two of the four Gospels
have any birth narratives at all,
and
of those two, Matthew’s account is very different from Luke’s—
but we hear them spliced together so
routinely
that it is hard to separate the
shepherds (Luke),
from
the Magi (Matthew).
Luke
has a bright, much more peaceful account of the birth of Christ;
Matthew’s account, on the other
hand,
is a darker story with Herod’s
murderous fear
and
its climax
in the slaughter of the innocents
in hopes of catching his rival, the
baby king.
Who are these guys?
And
Matthew brings in other odd or dark touches as well:
look at the Magi themselves.
Who
were these people, anyway?
Contrary
to tradition,
the text nowhere says that there are
three of them
or calls them kings, just “wise men
from the East.”
This
is how most of our translations work with the mysterious Greek word
magoi, (ma-goy, hard g)
from which we get our English
cognates
magic,
mage, and magician.
As
best as we can tell, these “wise men”—it doesn’t say how many—
were astrologers, magicians who
studied the stars.
Imagine
if in our Christmas pageant this year, we had told our kids
that in addition to being the Holy
Family
they could choose their roles as
angels, shepherds, or……..
wizards!
Now
what in the world are magicians or wizards
doing in this story??
As
far as I can tell, this is the only place in the whole library of Biblical
books
where Magi
or the Hebrew equivalents of wizards, magicians and
astrologers
are mentioned with anything other than
deep-seated suspicion.
Elsewhere,
they are condemned as occult
and completely abhorrent to God.
Yet
in this context, these are the folks who are sensitive to the act of God
where the wise and learned of God’s
people miss the point—
and
the significance of the star--completely……
What
is this about?
What
is Matthew doing?
Giving offense to make a
point:
He
could hardly have not been aware
that the inclusion of Magicians in
this story
of
God’s epiphany among humans
would be horribly offensive to the
people of God.
Then--as
now,
they--like
us today,
assumed that they were right;
they
were comfortably ensconced in a religion
that made them God’s privileged
elite
even if they were a tiny nation,
enslaved by Rome.
Blinded by the importance of
being exclusively right:
But
look! Matthew is saying,
Your
ideas of privilege and chosenness and purity and rightness
are just plain blinding you to the guiding light
that
God has put in the world.
See—these
people we have always known beyond any doubt
to be abhorrent to God
have seen and responded to God’s message
in
the light of the star,
even though they are heathen!
Even though they are idolatrous foreigners!
They
got it, folks;
and all you fully credentialed and pedigreed
leaders in Jerusalem
have not.
The
Magi are the piercing light of the Star,
the iceberg, the laser—whatever
image works for you--
that
Matthew uses to blast a huge hole
into the safe and comfortable ship
of religion
that
kept his community self-satisfied
and
isolated from the world around them…
This
is the very world that God loves passionately
and has every intention
of
embracing with love and reconciliation
as
John puts it;
John also talks about the “light of
all people….
that was coming into the world…(John
3:16-17 and 1:1-9)
Paul
picks up a similar shaft of light in the Ephesians passage,
when he describes the privilege of
his calling
to bring the gospel,
the good news of Jesus Christ,
to
the Gentiles who are now
“fellow
heirs, members of the same body…”
And
what is the point and purpose
of opening up the categories of the
people of God
so
inclusively? (this text is printed in your bulletins)
It
is so that “through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety”—
get this phrase; it’s
important here:
that
“the wisdom of God in its rich variety
might now be made known to the
rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places.”
Here
we catch a glimpse of an important part
of the New Testament era’s world
view:
the macro or cosmic
was
thought to be reflected in the
micro
or earthly, and vice versa.
In
other words, what happens in Heaven is reflected in—
and affects—events on earth.
(This
shows up also in Matthew’s story of the star:
a new star showing up in the Heavens
to
this way of thinking meant the advent of a new king on earth.)
In
Ephesians, this world view works the other way:
the mystery of God’s plan to include the
Gentiles—all non-Jews everywhere—
is to be made visible through the church
so that “the wisdom of God in its rich variety
might now be made known to the rulers and authorities
in
the heavenly places.”
What
happens on earth will now affect Heaven itself!
Inclusion, justice,
peace: his reign will know no end
And
what is the point?
It
is to bring these celestial counterparts
of the structures that govern human
life on earth
to a full awareness of the wisdom of
God
in
all its inclusive rich variety!
Structures
that isolate and divide,
that offer power and privilege and
prestige
to
only a few—look out!
There
is a new Light coming into the world, a sea change—
no, more than that; this is a
shifting of the global poles
that
will demand that everything be reoriented
toward the new North and the new
South.
(A text for this morning
that is reflected in the dramatic reading we’ll have a little later is Psalm
72, a hymn of praise for the ideal King whose reign of peace is built on
justice, righteousness, and inclusion; this offers us a clearer picture of what
these changes may involve.)
So
no wonder the writer of the Gospel of Matthew writing years after the birth
used the Magi to blast the hole in
the Titanic
of
his community’s too-small, too-exclusive faith.
Is
an echo of Matthew’s personal story showing up in this?
Remember
that church tradition says that he was a tax collector
before he became a disciple—
one
of the most detested vocations
in Roman-occupied Palestine.
He
must have been very familiar with exclusion and hostility…….
and found the unexpected welcome and
acceptance
he received from Jesus to be the
greatest Good News
of
his life.
He
too, met the Christ
and journeyed home by another road……
Conclusion:
Matthew’s
careful phrases,
bearing
the story of Christ’s birth shod in such innocent shoes
may
turn out to act more like icebergs or lasers
in
our isolated, insulated, comfortable lives.
These
words may blow our comfortable lives right out of the water,
making it impossible for us to retrace our steps
towards
Jerusalem,
towards
the figureheads of human power structures,
towards
business as usual,
towards
our easy assumptions about what is normal,
even the rightness and goodness
of our own thoughts….
Yet
in all the chaos of this blinding new light, these shifting poles,
we,
like the Magi, find the treasure that we seek:
the warmth and brilliance of God’s passionate
welcome,
embracing all that we are, just as we are:
a
welcome into the family.
We
find the wisdom of God in all its rich variety
big enough to gather all of us in…..
warmonger
and pacifist, wealthy and impoverished,
Democrat, Republican, Independent,
Green…
Anne
Lamott says perceptively, “God loves you just the way you are
but he loves you too much to let you stay like this.” (emphasis added)
Along
with the Magi, with Matthew, we may find our Epiphany,
our encounter with the Light
calling
us to come home…..by another road.
This
becomes the theme of the gospel of Matthew
as he sketches that new road in his
next chapters,
moving
from his story of Jesus’ birth
right into his adult ministry with
the Sermon on the Mount.
We’ll
spend a short time in silence as we’ve done throughout this season; today I
would ask you to con-fess,
to
acknowledge
Where are your assumptions being
challenged
in
the penetrating Light of God?
Who is God sending to you in the
form of someone offensive,
someone who is obviously wrong—
but
carrying gifts of wisdom and insight that you need?
Are you being asked to take
the
first steps in a new direction, another road?
(Time 1 ½
minutes silence; cue Reed to begin to play short instrumental before the
dramatic reading begins)