MATTHEW 2:1-12
MY YOUNGEST GRANDCHILD IS
ABOUT TWO YEARS OLD, AND OVER CHRISTMAS CAME TO VISIT US WITH HER
MOM. NOW I AM VERY FOND OF ALL MY GRANDCHILDREN; EVERY ONE OF THEM
IS UNIQUE IN SOME WAY. BUT LITTLE LEILA SPENT MUCH OF THE FIRST FEW
MONTHS OF HER LIFE LIVING WITH US IN OUR HOME, AND I HAD JUST RETIRED
FROM MY JOB, AND SO SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH HER. WE BONDED.
LEILA IS STILL PRETTY
HELPLESS AND DEPENDENT ON ADULTS FOR EVERYTHING. BUT SHE CAN TALK A
LITTLE BIT AND IS VERY PROUD OF HER ABILITY TO RUN. ON HER RECENT
VISIT SHE WATCHED MARY POPPINS SEVERAL TIMES, AS WELL AS MONSTERS
INC, HER TWO FAVORITE MOVIES. AND WHILE SHE WAS IN OUR HOME,
EVERYTHING CHANGED. THINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE REMAINED ON SHELVES NOW
FOUND THEIR WAY TO THE FLOOR. THE TIMES WHEN EATING WAS SUPPOSED TO
HAPPEN CHANGED. THE SETTINGS ON THE TELEVISION WERE ALL SWITCHED TO
UNFAMILIAR CHANNELS. LEILA QUICKLY BECAME THE CENTER OF ATTENTION
AND WHEN SHE WOULD SEE HER COUSINS THEY WOULD CHANGE AS WELL; EVEN
HER ALMOST FOUR YEAR OLD COUSIN DEFERRED TO HER; SHE DECIDED TO PLAY
WITH ONE OF HIS CHRISTMAS PRESENTS, AND REFUSED TO GIVE IT BACK WHEN
HE ASKED. INSTEAD OF FIGHTING WITH HER, LIKE HE WOULD HAVE DONE HAD
THIS BEEN DONE BY AN OLDER BROTHER, HE QUICKLY GAVE UP AND FOUND
SOMETHING ELSE TO DO.
THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS
OF POWER. A CEO OF A GIANT CORPORATION CAN HIRE AND FIRE PEOPLE; SHE
CAN CLOSE DEPARTMENTS AND START NEW ONES; SHE CAN SINGLE-HANDEDLY
CHANGE THE ENTIRE COMPANY. AN ATHLETE HAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF POWER.
A STAR QUARTERBACK CAN DO THINGS WITH A FOOTBALL THAT SEEM ALMOST
MIRACULOUS. SOME OF THE GREAT BASKETBALL PLAYERS ALMOST SEEM ABLE TO
FLY. AND THEN YOU HAVE A THIRD KIND OF POWER. IF YOU'VE EVER
WATCHED A CONCERT GIVEN BY A POPULAR MUSICIAN OR MUSICAL GROUP, YOU
SOON LEARN THAT IT'S NOT THE MUSIC THAT DRAWS PEOPLE; IT'S CHARISMA –
THE ABILITY TO MAKE PEOPLE BE ATTRACTED TO YOU.
BUT LEILA HAS A DIFFERENT
KIND OF POWER. JUST BY BEING HER HELPLESS SELF, SHE CAN CHANGE THE
BEHAVIOR OF A CEO, OR A STAR ATHLETE, OR A CHARISMATIC MUSICAL STAR;
BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING IN ALL OF US THAT IS TOUCHED BY A SMALL
CHILD; WE FIND OURSELVES WANTING THE CHILD'S ATTENTION, WANTING TO
SEE THE CHILD SMILE, WANTING IN SOME WAY TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE
CHILD. AND IT'S INTERESTING THAT THE CLOSER YOU ARE TO THIS KIND OF
POWER, THE STRONGER IT IS.
ON THIS FEAST OF THE
EPIPHANY, WE SEE DIFFERENT KINDS OF POWER. HEROD HAS ABSOLUTE POWER
OVER HIS SUBJECTS, THE POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH; IN FACT, HE HAD TWO
OF HIS SONS EXECUTED BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THEY WERE TRYING TO OVERTHROW
HIM. THE MAGI HAD POWER. THEIR POWER CAME FROM THEIR LEARNING,
LEARNING WHICH HAD BEEN ACQUIRED OVER YEARS AND YEARS; THE FACT THAT
THEY UNDERTOOK THE LONG TRIP FROM PERSIA TO ISRAEL ITSELF POINTS TO
THE SELF-DISCIPLINE OF A SCHOLAR, AN ATHLETE, OR SOMEONE WHO
UNDERTAKES A LONG AND DANGEROUS JOURNEY. AND THEY HAVE THE POWER
THAT COMES WITH WEALTH AS WELL; THEIR GIFTS ARE NOT CHEAP.
BUT THE BABY, THE
POWERLESS, TOTALLY DEPENDENT LITTLE HUMAN BEING – THE BABY HAS THE
REAL POWER. POWER TO FRIGHTEN HEROD SO MUCH THAT HE WILL DESTROY
OTHER HELPLESS CHILDREN OUT OF FEAR THAT HIS KINGSHIP IS THREATENED.
POWER TO DRAW THE MAGI ACROSS DESERTS AND SEAS, THROUGH POTENTIALLY
HOSTILE TERRITORIES; POWER TO MAKE THEM CHANGE THEIR PLANS AND RETURN
HOME BY A DIFFERENT ROUTE, AS IT SAYS IN THE GOSPEL READING.
THAT'S THE POWER THAT
JESUS HAS AS A BABY, AND THE POWER HE HAS HELPLESS, HANGING ON A
CROSS, CONDEMNED TO DEATH. IT IS THE BASIS OF THE POWER OF GOD
HIMSELF.
WE HUMAN BEINGS WOULD
LOVE TO HAVE A GOD WHO COMES AMONG US AND SETS THINGS RIGHT BY SIMPLY
USING HIS POWER. WAR? NO MORE. CANCER? FIXED. EVIL PEOPLE?
ELIMINATED. WE ALL LONG FOR THAT PARADISE THAT WE DREAM OF, WHERE
THERE IS NO WANT, WHERE WE NEVER AGE, WHERE WE HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL
OVER NATURE. AND WE WONDER, WHY DOESN'T GOD, WHO IS ALL GOOD AND ALL
POWERFUL, FIX THINGS?
BUT THAT IS NOT HOW GOD
WIELDS HIS POWER. IN FACT, WHENEVER THE NEW TESTAMENT REFERS TO
JESUS' POWER, WHEN WORKING A MIRACLE FOR EXAMPLE, IT USES A UNIQUE
TERM, EXOUSIA, WHICH MEANS AUTHORITY OR THE ABILITY TO TURN PEOPLE
AROUND. THOSE WHO ACCOMPANIED JESUS DURING HIS EARTHLY LIFE WERE
AMAZED AT HIM PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY SAW THIS KIND OF POWER.
WHY DID THE MAGI COME ALL
THAT WAY TO SEE A HELPLESS BABY? AND WHY DIDN'T THE SCHOLARS OF THE
LAW, WHO KNEW THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM, GET UP
FROM THEIR BOOKS AND GO TO BETHLEHEM? I THINK THIS IS AN EXCELLENT
ILLUSTRATION OF THE POWER OF JESUS. THINK ABOUT IT; THE WISE MEN SET
OUT NOT KNOWING WHAT THEY WOULD FIND, OR WHERE. BUT AS THEY GOT
CLOSER, AS THEY CONTINUED TO SEARCH, THEY WERE LED TO THE CHILD; AND
WHEN THEY WERE THERE, THEY REJOICED AND DID HIM HOMAGE. WERE THEY
CHANGED BY THIS ENCOUNTER? HOW COULD THEY NOT BE? TO GET CLOSE TO
GOD YOU HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING UP, YOU HAVE TO MAKE ROOM FOR HIM IN
YOUR LIFE. THE MAGI GAVE UP THEIR TREASURES, AND RECOGNIZED GOD
HIMSELF IN THE BABY. THEY WERE NOT JUST TOURISTS; THEY WERE THERE
WILLING TO BE CHANGED, AND ALTHOUGH WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT
HAPPENED AFTERWARD, THERE ARE LEGENDS THAT THEY NEVER CEASED TO TELL
OTHERS ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE, EVEN AS FAR AWAY AS SPAIN – THEIR
ENCOUNTER WITH THE GOD WHO CHOOSES TO DWELL AMONG US.
THE SCHOLARS OF THE LAW,
ON THE OTHER HAND, MADE NO EFFORT TO ALLOW THE POWER OF THE CHILD TO
AFFECT THEM. BECAUSE THE CLOSER YOU GET, THE MORE YOU ARE DRAWN AND
IT IS SAFEST NOT TO MOVE AT ALL IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RISK CHANGE.
THAT'S THE POWER OF THE
BABY, THE POWER OF THE HELPLESS VICTIM ON THE CROSS, THE POWER THAT
WE SEE IN POPE FRANCIS, OR IN ANY SAINT. TODAY LET US PRAY THAT WE
WILL GET UP FROM OUR BOOKS AND MAKE OUR WAY TO THE CHILD, AND ALLOW
HIM TO CHANGE US.
