Feast of the Epiphany 2008

MATHEW 2:1-12
WE ARE SIX DAYS INTO THE NEW YEAR, AND FOR MANY, WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A YEAR OF NEW BEGINNINGS HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO LOOK A LOT LIKE LAST YEAR. I RESOLVED TO LOSE WEIGHT, BUT HAVEN’T REALLY STARTED A DIET YET. I’VE RESOLVED TO QUIT SMOKING, BUT JUST YESTERDAY I BOUGHT A CARTON OF CIGARETTES. I’VE RESOLVED TO WATCH TELEVISION LESS – BUT CERTAINLY THAT DID NOT CHANGE DURING THIS LAST FEW DAYS.
IT’S KIND OF SAD THAT SO MANY PEOPLE JUST DRIFT ALONG, AND YOU CAN’T TELL MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR, OR 10 YEARS AGO AND NOW. THE SAME HABITS, THE SAME PLANS TO CHANGE, BUT NOTHING EVER REALLY CHANGES. AND ITS EVEN SADDER THAT WHEN YOU SPEAK TO MOST PEOPLE, THEY CAN QUITE READILY IDENTIFY WHAT IT IS ABOUT THEIR LIVES THAT NEEDS WORK. THEY JUST DON’T HAVE THE MOTIVATION TO CHANGE. THEY JUST DON’T FEEL LIKE CHANGING.
THIS IS A RELIGIOUS ISSUE. MOST PEOPLE WHO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS HAVE AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER SUFFERED FROM STAGNATION IN THEIR RELIGIOUS LIVES. SOMETIMES PEOPLE GO A WHOLE LIFETIME IN STAGNATION, GOING TO MASS MOST SUNDAYS, SAYING GRACE BEFORE MEALS, BUT MAKING NO EFFORT TO DEEPENING THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST, REACHING OUT TO THEIR NEIGHBORS, ESPECIALLY THE LESS FORTUNATE; OR BECOMING PROMOTERS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. AND YET, YOU CAN’T READ A PAGE OF SCRIPTURE WITHOUT RUNNING ACROSS ONE OF THESE IMPERATIVES. WE JUST DRIFT ALONG, CONVINCED THAT WE ARE OK, AND AS LONG AS THERE ARE PEOPLE LESS COMMITTED THAN WE ARE, WE DON’T HAVE TO WORRY.
THE STORY IN THE GOSPELS THAT YOU JUST HEARD IS AN INTERESTING CONTRAST. THE MAGI HAD ACCESS TO SOME INFORMATION WHICH LED THEM TO BELIEVE THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN IN PALESTINE. THAT INFORMATION WAS ENOUGH TO SEND THEM ON A LONG AND DANGEROUS JOURNEY. HOWEVER, WHEN THEY ARRIVED, THEY STILL DID NOT HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION THEY NEEDED, AND CONSULTED THE JEWISH LEADERS, WHO, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, HAD ALL THE INFORMATION. THEY KNEW WHERE THE MESSIAH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BORN; THEY KNEW FROM THE PROPHETS ABOUT WHEN HE SHOULD BE BORN, BUT NOT A ONE OF THEM GOT UP ON HIS CAMEL AND WENT LOOKING FOR THE MESSIAH. THESE WERE THE LEADERS OF A PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN EXPECTING THE MESSIAH FOR CENTURIES, LEADERS AND SCHOLARS WHO REPRESENTED A PEOPLE WHO LONGED FOR “THE DAY OF THE LORD”. THEY KNEW WHAT THEY SHOULD DO, BUT CHOSE NOT TO DO IT.
THE REWARD FOR THE MAGI WAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER INTO THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, AND WITH HIS MOTHER MARY. THEIR LIVES, WE CAN BE SURE, WERE CHANGED FOREVER, BECAUSE THEY HAD STEPPED OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE AND MADE THE EFFORT TO FIND THIS GOD WHO HAD BECOME MAN. THE SCHOLARS AND LEADERS OF THE JEWS REMAINED IN THEIR LIBRARIES PORING OVER THEIR BOOKS AND DISCUSSING THE ANCIENT PROPHECIES, BUT SAW NO REASON TO LEAVE JERUSALEM, NO REASON TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES IN ANY WAY, AND THEY NEVER MET THE JESUS CHRIST WHO WAS BORN A FEW MILES AWAY, AND WHO SPENT THIRTY THREE YEARS MOVING AMONG THEM.
YOU AND I HAVE THE SAME GOAL AS THE MAGI – WE WANT TO MEET JESUS, WE WANT TO COME INTO HIS PRESENCE, NOW AND IN ETERNITY. WE PRAY IN OUR MASS THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN, WE PRAY FOR THE GRACE TO CHANGE SO THAT WE CAN BECOME BETTER SERVANTS. WE EVEN SYMBOLIZE THIS BY TAKING INTO OUR OWN BODIES HIS BODY AND BLOOD IN HOLY COMMUNION. BUT ARE WE CHANGING, ARE WE MAKING PROGRESS?
TO PROGRESS, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN. TO PROGRESS IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NO DIFFERENT. AND IF YOU HAVE A PLAN, YOU HAVE TO HAVE BENCHMARKS SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IF YOU ARE MAKING PROGRESS. AND IF YOU HAVE BENCHMARKS, YOU HAVE TO TAKE A LITTLE TIME EVERY DAY TO SEE WHERE YOU ARE WITH THESE BENCHMARKS.
AN EXAMPLE: MY PLAN IS TO READ THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW THIS YEAR, SLOWLY AND DELIBERATIVELY. MY BENCHMARKS WILL BE TO GET THROUGH TWO CHAPTERS A MONTH, SINCE THERE ARE 28 CHAPTERS. THE LAST THING I WILL DO EACH EVENING IS TO ASK WHETHER I’VE DONE MY READING FOR THE DAY. PLAN, BENCHMARKS, REVIEW.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE: I HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, EARLY DIABETES, AND MY KNEES HURT ALL THE TIME. MY DOCTOR HAS SUGGESTED DIET AND EXERCISE. MY PLAN IS TO LOSE 20 POUNDS, AND TO SPEND 15 MINUTES A DAY WALKING ON A TREADMILL. EACH DAY I WILL REVIEW WHETHER I’VE ACCOMPLISHED MY DIET AND EXERCISE GOALS. EACH MONTH I WILL HAVE LOST 1-2 POUNDS. (AND DON’T EVER THINK THAT TAKING CARE OF YOUR BODY IS NOT A RELIGIOUS DUTY. IT IS. WE ARE, AFTER ALL, TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.) PLAN, BENCHMARKS, REVIEW.
WHEN YOU BEGIN TO WORK ON YOUR PLAN, NO MATTER HOW SMALL IT SEEMS, YOU WILL NOTICE MANY OTHER THINGS STARTING TO HAPPEN. THE MAGI HAD TO GET UP EVERY MORNING AND GO FURTHER AND FURTHER INTO THE UNKNOWN, BUT THEY DID, AND WERE REWARDED.
SO THIS YEAR, MAKE A PLAN THAT POINTS TOWARDS JESUS, AND THEN FOLLOW IT. NEXT YEAR MAY BE TOO LATE.