Epiphany, 2009

MATTHEW 2:1-12
THE WORD “MAGI” MEANS ASTRONOMER, OR PERHAPS “ADVISER”, SINCE IN THOSE DAYS, ASTRONOMERS WERE FREQUENTLY ADVISERS TO THE RULERS OF THAT TIME. SO WHY DO WE CALL THEM “WISE MEN”? I THINK THE SCRIPTURE WE READ TODAY MAKES IT OBVIOUS. THEY WERE TRAVELING, AND THEY STOPPED TO ASK DIRECTIONS.
THE STORY OF THE MAGI CONTAINS SOME VERY INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS. FIRST, WHEN THE MAGI ASK WHERE TO FIND THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS, HEROD WAS GREATLY TROUBLED. WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT, PERHAPS, ALTHOUGH HEROD WAS AN OLD MAN AT THE TIME, AND A NEWBORN “KING” WOULDN'T BE MUCH OF A THREAT. BUT IT SAYS ALL JERUSALEM WAS TROUBLED AS WELL. WE CAN IMAGINE THE SCENE: JERUSALEM IS NOT A VERY LARGE CITY AT THIS TIME, AND RIDING INTO TOWN COMES A BAND OF MEN ON CAMELS, AND IT IS OBVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE MEN OF GREAT WEALTH AND ROYAL RANK. AND THEY ARE ASKING A TROUBLING QUESTION. BECAUSE WHAT WILL IT MEAN – HOW WILL THEIR LIVES BE UPSET, WHAT WILL HAVE TO CHANGE – IF THERE IS A NEWBORN KING? THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM WERE GREATLY TROUBLED. THEY AREN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM US. WE ARE GREATLY TROUBLED BY CHANGE, OR BY THE CALL FOR CHANGE. WE ARE SO COMFORTABLE AS LONG AS THINGS DON'T CHANGE. AND JESUS DEMANDS CHANGE. THAT IS THE WHOLE MEANING OF THE WORD REPENTANCE.
HEROD HEARS THEIR QUESTION, AND IMMEDIATELY CALLS IN HIS ADVISERS. THE WISE MEN OF HEROD'S COURT, RABBIS, SCRIBES, LAWYERS – HAVE THE ANSWER. THE PROPHECIES ALL SAID THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM. AND THE WISE MEN COULD PROBABLY HAVE TOLD YOU WHEN THE MESSIAH WAS TO BE BORN AS WELL – THE TIME HAD BEEN PREDICTED BY AMONG OTHERS, THE PROPHET DANIEL. THE WISE MEN KNEW THE SCRIPTURES INSIDE AND OUT. THEY KNEW ALL THE ANSWERS. BUT AFTER THEY TOLD HEROD THEIR CONCLUSIONS, THEY WENT BACK TO THEIR LIBRARIES AND THEIR BOOKS. ANY ONE OF THEM COULD HAVE GONE TO BETHLEHEM TO FIND THE MESSIAH, BUT THEY DIDN'T BOTHER. IT SEEMED NOT TO HAVE OCCURRED TO THEM. AND THEY AREN'T VERY DIFFERENT FROM US. HOW MANY OF US MAKE TIME TO VISIT THE KING? WE GET HERE ON SUNDAY, THAT'S GOOD; BUT IS THERE A REGULAR HABIT OF PRAYER, OF MEDITATION, OF DIALOG WITH OUR LORD? DO WE DO SPIRITUAL READING, DO WE MAKE A RETREAT EVERY NOW AND THEN, DO WE TAKE OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH SERIOUSLY? BECAUSE OUR ONLY HOPE IS DEVELOPING THAT PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, AND WE CAN ONLY DO THAT BY FOLLOWING A PLAN.
HEROD THEN TELLS THE WISE MEN THAT THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR IN BETHLEHEM. HEROD DOES THIS SECRETLY. WHY? WE KNOW THAT LATER HEROD WILL DISPATCH HIS TROOPS TO KILL ALL THE BOYS TWO AND UNDER IN BETHLEHEM. BUT WAS THAT HIS PURPOSE HERE? I WONDER IF HEROD WASN'T SURE? I WONDER IF HE PERHAPS HAD A THOUGHT THAT HE MIGHT GO AND WORSHIP AS WELL – BUT HEROD DIDN'T GET TO BE KING BY SHOWING HIS HAND, AND IF PART OF HIM WANTED TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH, PERHAPS ANOTHER PART WANTED TO DESTROY THIS UPSTART, THIS PERSON WHO DID NOT PARTICULARLY THREATEN HIM, BUT COULD BECOME A THREAT TO ONE OF HIS HEIRS. AND HEROD IS PERHAPS NO DIFFERENT THAN YOU AND I AT THIS POINT. SO MANY OF US ARE AFRAID OF COMMITMENT, AFRAID TO TAKE A STAND. WE WOULD RATHER BE AMBIVALENT, SO THAT WE COULD JUMP EITHER WAY, DEPENDING ON CIRCUMSTANCES. AND IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES, OUR COMMITMENT REQUIRES ACTION; FEED THE HUNGRY, CLOTHE THE NAKED, BE A PEACEMAKER; SUFFER PERSECUTION FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE. WHEN WE PUT OUR FAITH INTO ACTION, WE ARE BOUND TO BE DISAPPOINTED, PERSECUTED, OPPOSED . AND IT'S EASIER TO HOLD BACK, TO FAIL TO COMMIT.
CONTRAST THESE WITH THE MAGI. THEY DID NOT HAVE THE SCRIPTURES. THEY STUDIED THE STARS, AND DREW THEIR CONCLUSIONS FROM ASTROLOGIC SIGNS. BUT HAVING DRAWN THOSE CONCLUSIONS, THEY IMMEDIATELY SET OUT, LEAVING BEHIND THE COMFORTS AND PRESTIGE TO WHICH THEY WERE ACCUSTOMED. THE JOURNEY FROM PERSIA TO PALESTINE INVOLVED A LENGTHY PERIOD OF DANGER AND HARDSHIP, CROSSING BORDERS, AVOIDING ROBBERS. AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE TRIPLE A, JUST THAT STAR.
LIKEWISE, THE MAGI WERE CERTAINLY NOT AMBIVALENT. THEY PUT THEIR TREASURE WHERE THEIR HEARTS WERE. THE JOURNEY NOT ONLY TOOK A GREAT DEAL OF PERSONAL COMMITMENT, BUT YOU CAN BET IT WAS EXPENSIVE AS WELL. THE MAGI WERE SINGLE-MINDED; THEY MEANT TO WORSHIP THE MESSIAH, AND NOTHING WOULD STOP THEM.
AND FINALLY THEM MAGI WERE NOT TROUBLED. IF CHANGE WERE NECESSARY FOR THEM TO ACHIEVE THEIR HEART'S DESIRE, THEN CHANGE WOULD HAVE TO BE. WHEN THEY SET OUT THEY MAY HAVE BEEN A LITTLE TROUBLED – WHO WOULDN'T BE? BUT THAT SENSATION WAS OVERWHELMED BY ANTICIPATION. THEY KNEW, EVEN THOUGH THEIR KNOWLEDGE WAS NATURAL, AND NOT BASED ON THE EVIDENCE OF THE SCRIPTURES WHICH THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAD, THAT THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH WOULD DEFINITELY UPSET THE WORLD, BUT IN THE END, EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER. THE WORLD WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH, THE TERROR OF DEATH, BUT OUT OF THIS WOULD COME A NEW WORLD, A WORLD WHERE ALL THE HOPES AND DREAMS OF MANKIND WOULD BE FULFILLED. THEY CHOSE TO EMBRACE THIS.
SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE WISE MEN, THE MAGI, THE KINGS – AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THERE WERE ONLY THREE, AND WE'RE NOT SURE WHETHER THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME WISE WOMEN AMONG THE PARTY AS WELL – BECAUSE IT ISN'T LIKELY THAT THEY TRAVELED ALONE, PROBABLY BROUGHT ALONG A WHOLE CARAVAN'S WORTH OF PEOPLE – THE IMPORTANT THING FOR US IS TO LOOK AT OUR OWN SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. ARE WE WILLING TO BELIEVE THE WORDS OF OUR OWN SCRIPTURES, OF OUR CHURCH? OR DO WE SAY, “THAT'S NICE” AND GO ON WITH OUR ORDINARY LIVES. AND DO WE TRY TO AVOID CHANGE, TO LIVE IN OUR OWN COMFORTABLE LITTLE WORLD, TO HIDE OUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL, OR DO WE WELCOME THE NEW AND SOMETIMES FRIGHTENING, THING THAT JESUS BRINGS INTO THE WORLD? ARE WE AFRAID OF COMMITMENT TO A LIFE OF SERVICE TO JESUS, WHICH DOES INVOLVE HARDSHIP, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND EVEN PERSECUTION, OR IS OUR ATTITUDE LIKE THAT OF HEROD – KEEPING OUR OPTIONS OPEN, NOT BEING WILLING TO COMMIT.
THE STORY OF THE MAGI IS A MIRROR FOR ALL OF US, SO ON THIS FIRST SUNDAY OF THE NEW YEAR, LET US REFLECT ON OUR JOURNEY, AND RESOLVE TO BEGIN ANEW, AS WISE MEN AND WOMEN.