Epiphany 2019

Fr. Chris Sherren

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

0 ratings

· 15 views

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Epiphany: God’s Self-Manifestation

Today’s feast of the Epiphany gets its name from the Greek word ep-i-PHA-neia, which means “appearance” or “manifestation.” It’s about the Lord making himself known to the nations in fulfillment of… well, a whole bunch of Old Testament prophesies, like the one from , “All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.” God had already revealed already revealed himself to the Jewish people… but he made the whole universe… and wanting the whole of his creation to know who he is… he was now going to reveal himself to the rest of the world, represented in the Magi.

How God draws us in: The Shepherds / The Magi

Now, consider for a moment how he draws both the Shepherds and the Magi to the manger, so he could reveal his presence to them.

The Shepherds

The shepherds were Jewish people. When God wanted to reveal his birth to the shepherds, he used something that they were familiar with… he sent angels to them. Even though the shepherds may have been uneducated, they knew their Jewish faith. They would have heard about angels interacting with God’s people, bringing messages from God to his people. So, God sent them an angel with the message of his birth. He used what was familiar to them to draw them to himself.

so God used what was familiar to them to draw them to himself.

The Magi

The same thing happens with the Magi. The Magi were advisors to kings and other powerful people. They sometimes claimed to gain the knowledge through divination and often studied the stars using a combination of what today we might call the science of astronomy… and the superstitious practice of astrology. In their religious worldview, messages don’t come from angels… they come from the stars. So when the Lord of the universe wanted to reveal himself to them, he began by sending them this star that would guide them to himself.

The Star: As a Character

As a character

This, of course, was no ordinary star. It would have looked a lot like an ordinary star but it behaved very strangely, almost becoming a character in the story.

It appears in the skies.

It guides the Magi to Jerusalem.

And then it seems to disappear when they get close.

This forces the Magi to ask Herod where the child would be born, who in turn consulted his own advisors, who in turn consulted the Scriptures.

After that, the star seems to reappear and continues to guide them to the child Jesus.

One Church father witnessed to an early Christian tradition that this particular star moved from north to south, which was strange in its own right.

Playing on the fact that the word “angel” means “messenger,” the strange behaviour of this star led early Christians like St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) and Saint Gregory the Great (d. 604) to argue that the star was a kind of messenger of God, like an angel in disguise, sent for the Magi, to guide them to himself.

Some Christians, like St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) and Saint Gregory the Great (d. 604) argue that the star was likely a messenger of God, like an angel in disguise, sent for the Magi, to guide them to himself.

So as with the Shepherds, we see God using what was familiar to the Magi, to guide them to himself.

What it shows about God’s methods

This teaches us something about God’s way of acting. He wants to reveal himself to us. He wants us to get to know him. And he will often use what is familiar to us to draw us to himself.

God will often use what is familiar to us to draw us to himself.

It might be through movies,

it could be through literature,

or maybe music,

it could be through sports…

even a chance encounter at a coffee shop you visit often.

God will often use what is familiar to us to draw us to himself.

The Magi went searching

The Magi, seeing the sign in this star but not fully knowing where it would take them, went out in search of the one who made it. And when they found him, God revealed himself to them.

Likewise, when we see these signs of God, let us imitate the Magi and go in search of the one who speaks through it… and he will reveal himself… because he was searching for us first.

We know this, because God uses signs that we are familiar with. Before we went in search of him, he saw us, figured out what would attract us, and used that to get our attention and draw us to him.

We can be confident then that if he searched for us first, then he will surely reveal himself when we follow the signs and start searching for him.

An Encounter that Changes Us

But what then? When we have encountered him?

Well, we see that the encounter changed the Magi. And we see this in two ways:

The Gifts

As I mentioned, they were astrologers. They would engage in various forms of divination, often using gold, frankincense, and myrrh as part of their ritual.

But when they encounter the Christ child, they bow before him, and offer up the gold, the frankincense, and the myrrh… these things that they once used in their spiritual practices before they met Christ are now being offered to the Lord who drew them by the star.

The gifts inspired St. Ephrem the Syrian to write these words in an ancient Christian hymn, “The gold that had been worshipped… [now] worshipped you, when the magi offered it. That which had been worshipped in molten images, gave worship to You. With its worshippers it worshipped You, it confessed that you are he that is to be worshipped.”

Going Home by Another Road

The other place where we see the change in the Magi is in the last verse of the Gospel, “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road” ().

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993), .

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993), Mt 2:12.

These Magi, spent their life advising kings… but here, they decided not to go back to king Herod and advise him on the location of the child. We don’t know the details of what transpired in their hearts in their encounter with Christ… but to quote Pseudo-Chrysostom, “It was impossible that they, who left Herod to go to Christ, should return to Herod.” Instead, they made their way home “by another way,” having met the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1: St. Matthew 2:12

It was impossible that they, who left Herod to go to Christ, should return to Herod

https://ref.ly/logosres/cataur61mt?ref=Bible.Mt2.12&off=2257&ctx=%0aPseudo-Chrysostom.+~It+was+impossible+th

These Magi, who spent their life advising kings, decide not to go back to king Herod, and instead making their way home by another way. We don’t know what transpired in their hearts in their encounter with Christ… but to quote Pseudo-Chrysostom, “It was impossible that they, who left Herod to go to Christ, should return to Herod.”

We don’t know what transpired in their hearts in their encounter with Christ… but to quote Pseudo-Chrysostom, “It was impossible that they, who left Herod to go to Christ, should return to Herod.”

It was impossible that they, who left Herod to go to Christ, should return to Herod.

Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew, ed. John Henry Newman, vol. 1 (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841), 78

Our Encounter with Christ

And so it is with us, too. God wants to reveal himself to us. He will often use what is familiar to us to lead to Christ. When we take up the search as the Magi did, Christ will reveal himself to us… and in that encounter, if we open ourselves to Christ, we will be changed.

And having met Christ, let us go all the way. Having left our old life, let us not seek to go back to it. As the Magi did not return to Herod, so we must not return to the ways of the “old self,” as St. Paul calls it sometimes.

Instead, on this Feast of the Epiphany, let us recommit to walking in the way of the Lord who drew us to himself through many signs, who reveals himself to us, and whose...

Related Media

Related Sermons