Epiphany 2020

Sermon Notes, Epiphany, 2020 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." If you’ve ever treasure hunted with a metal detector you know it can be kind of addicting. You pass the disk over the ground a wait to hear the buzz that tells you there’s something metallic underneath. Then you dig. You hope you’ve found a rare old coin or maybe a sterling silver spoon. But it may just be a rusty nail or a gum wrapper. You won’t know until you hold it in your hand. In Matthew’s epiphany story, wise men come looking for gold, royalty actually, by following a star across unknown lands. It’s a bold and costly journey. They’re encouraged to continue by the star’s promise alone. No one’s heard of this king being born. It’s news even in the land of his birth. When they arrive, they need directions from the local authorities. No one, it seems, knows anything. Is this true gold they seek, or the equivalent of a rusty nail? There’s so many ways to read this story. Unfortunately for us, most are sentimental and misleading and we end up pawing through a handful of rusty crumbs and maybe never discover the true gold buried in the text. The wise men are astrologers, not kings. We get the king idea from Isaiah, which we also read this morning. Kings are lofty and respectable, just the sort of visitors our King of the Jews deserves to have call on him. Astrologers by contrast are forbidden seducers of truth, who lead innocent people away from the God of Abraham and Issac to follow false portents. To say they were the first followers of Jesus offends us. He deserves better than that. But then we’re reminded, he came to serve the least of these. He came to heal the sick not the healthy. Could it be that Matthew says here at the very beginning of his story that Jesus’s life will be topsy turvy? That sinners and publicans and tax collectors will receive him with arms more open than the religious elite? Could he be saying that we need to recognize the true truth seekers who seem so foreign and antagonistic to us the true believers? Their seeking may be God driven even though they haven’t found Him yet.. Maybe in their seeking they come to us, the true believers, who have the heart to share our true faith with them. Then there’s gold to be discovered in them and us. No, these men are not kings. I like to think these are truly wise men, wise with the wisdom of God and not of man. Seekers who come looking for truth, not royalty looking to confer royal status, however much Jesus may be deserving of that. He will earn his crown on the cross. Then there’s Herod, evil Herod. History tells us he ruled from 37 to 4 BC. He’s known as Herod the Great although every account that survives shows him to be a duplicitous, fearful, and obsequious before the Roman authorities. A dangerous man because he has limited but consequential powers. He can kill. And does. And will when he learns that a rival king may live within his jurisdiction. His early appearance in Matthew’s Gospel is a marker for what is to come. There can never be a peace of convenience between he and Jesus. Herod lives in a world of fear. Threaten him and he lashes out. Matthew sets up a classic conflict between the wise men, foreigners seeking to worship a king, and an enthroned King who would kill him. Two world views in direct opposition. Those same two world views are in conflict today. And we, as Christians, are asked to make a choice: do we subscribe to a world of fear or a world of great expectations? On New Year’s Eve I watched a documentary on PBS about violence in the world, particularly human violence where man kills man. The social scientists and psychologists who studied this subject agreed on a surprising conclusion. There’s less violence in the world today than at any other time in earth’s history. From the 14th century on there’s been a steady decline in homicides and other violent deaths through wars or aggressions. That comes as a surprise because we seem to be hearing about such things on a daily basis. Therein lies part of the problem: we hear about murder so much it makes it seem as though violent acts are more prevalent than ever. But if we look at the statistics, we find a steadily declining rate of violent death since the middle ages. Not just incrementally, but by several orders of magnitude over that span. The big question is why? And here is where the authors of the documentary and I part company. They would have us believe that we are genetically evolving to be less aggressive than our ancestors. Couple that with a growing social intolerance for violent behavior and a cultural consciousness inclined to embrace equality, and the result is fewer violent deaths. Nowhere did they say anything about the effect of Jesus upon the world. Jesus became incarnate man. He lived in the world. He took the world upon himself. He provided humankind with an escape from the terminus of certain death. And he changed the world. He continues to change the world. How can we not say that the world is less violent today because Christians are more prevalent, and Christianity stands firmly against human violence? The editors of the documentary went so far as to credit the anti-slavery movement in 19th century England for creating a culture where slavery was ultimately banned. But if we could ask any of those leaders they would say, as their writings profess, that they opposed slavery because of their Christianity. Behind the culture shift is Christianity and believers who chose to live out their faith. I said earlier that we Christians face a choice in how we view the world. But we really don’t. If we are believers, we have already made the choice: that Jesus makes a difference in our world. Our Christianity isn’t just about a final resting place. We believe God is present in the world today and actively bringing about the marriage of heaven and earth. It’s a work in progress and we Christians have a role to play before that dream is realized. But a lot has already been done. The decline in violent deaths is for us proof that God is present and working in the world. We may believe that, but do we act that way? I’m afraid that all too often we submit to the cynicism of the world and despair of how little God is engaged with his people. That’s Herod’s point of view. He didn’t see the fulfilment of the prophetic promise happening under his very eyes. He didn’t see that God had chosen his place on earth and his time to open the gates of heaven to all mankind. He only saw a threat to his fiefdom and violence as the way to protect his own interests. For us today there is a steady stream of denial coming at us from the media to discredit God’s presence in the world. We hear about the recent killing of 11 more Christians by Boco Harem in Nigeria. But do we thank God for their witness? Or for the numbers who will be brought to faith because of their sacrifice? The media would have us cry over their loss and lose a little more faith that God’s will is being done even as they gave up their lives? If the wise men were here today, they would not lament. They would say, “Where is the King for which these people gave up their lives? We come to worship him because He must be mighty indeed.” Seek ye the Lord where he may be found. Because of the incarnation, because of the gift of the Holy Spirit, he may be found anywhere and everywhere in our world. Take the message of the magi and put it to heart. "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." In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.