Epiphany 2012

MATTHEW 2:1-12

ON THIS FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY, WE TEND TO FOCUS ON THE THREE KINGS. BUT YOU'LL NOTICE THAT NOWHERE IN THE GOSPEL ARE THEY REFERRED TO AS KINGS, AND NOWHERE DOES IT SAY THAT THERE ARE THREE OF THEM. IT'S VERY HARD FOR US TO SHAKE THE SCENE WE SEE BEFORE US – IN MOST DEPICTIONS OF THIS EVENT WE SEE THREE MEN WEARING CROWNS, AND EACH HOLDING A GIFT. OBVIOUSLY THOSE WHO PUT TOGETHER THESE SCENES ARE INFLUENCED BY THE PROPHECIES IN ISIAIAH. BUT ALL WE REALLY KNOW IS THAT MATTHEW IS REFERRING TO MEN USING THE WORD “MAGI”. AND SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THAT WORD MEANS EITHER. IN THE COUNTRY OF PERSIA, THE TERM “MAGUS” WAS USED FOR PRIESTS OF THE ZORASTORIAN FAITH. BUT LATER IT REFERRED TO ASTROLOGERS, AND BY EXTENSION, ADVISERS TO THE KING. BUT THAT IS JUST THE PERSIAN STORY. IN SOME OF THE OTHER LANGUAGES THE ROOT “MAG” REFERRED TO MAGIC. IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, WE MEET A MAN NAMED SIMON MAGUS WHO TRIED TO GET SAINT PETER TO SELL HIM THE SECRET BY WHICH HE COULD CALL DOWN THE HOLY SPIRIT. THAT WORD COMES FROM GREEK. SO WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT MATTHEW MEANT BY THE TERM “MAGI”.

BUT YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT THE POINT HERE. THIS IS NOT THE FEAST OF THE THREE KINGS, IT IS ABOUT TWO KINGS. AND THE MAGI ARE TRACING A ROUTE WHICH YOU AND I ARE EXPECTED TO TRACE IN OUR LIVES AS WELL. SO EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE MAGI, WE DO KNOW A FEW THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT. FIRST, THEY HAD OPEN MINDS. THEY WEREN'T CONVINCED THAT THEY WERE RIGHT AND EVERYONE ELSE WAS WRONG. WE SEE FROM THIS STORY THAT THEY HAD STUDIED THE SCRIPTURES OF THE JEWS, AND THEY WEREN'T JEWS. THEY LOOKED FOR TRUTH WHEREVER THEY COULD FIND IT. THEY WOULD HAVE MADE VERY POOR LEFT WING DEMOCRATS OR RIGHT WING REPUBLICANS. THEY WOULD NEVER BE VERY GOOD PEOPLE TO RECRUIT TO A CAUSE, BECAUSE THEY WERE COMMITTED TO TRUTH, NOT OPINIONS. SECOND, THEY WERE WILLING TO TRAVEL GREAT DISTANCES BECAUSE THEY VALUED TRUTH. ONCE THEY WERE CONVINCED THAT THEIR REASONING WAS CORRECT, THEY DID NOT SIT ON THEIR LAURELS, THEY WENT OUT TO SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES WHETHER THIS WAS SO. THIRD, THEY WERE NOT SWAYED BY THE TRAPPINGS OF POWER. THEY DID NOT RETURN TO HEROD AS HE HAD REQUESTED. ALL THESE QUALITIES INDICATE THAT THE MAGI VALUED TRUTH ABOVE ALL ELSE – AS SHOULD WE ALL.

FOR US HEROD IS A VILLAIN. THE HEROD WE MEET HERE PUT JOHN THE BAPTIST TO DEATH, BUT WAS NOT THE SAME ONE UNDER WHOM JESUS WAS CONDEMNED. OUR HEROD WAS MUCH ADMIRED FOR HIS EFFORTS AT URBAN RENEWAL. HE CAUSED CITIES TO BE BUILT, HE OVERSAW THE CONSTRUCTION OF AQUEDUCTS AND CANALS, SO THAT PRECIOUS WATER WAS AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE LAND. HE DELICATELY BALANCED ROMAN INTERESTS WITH THOSE OF HIS SUBJECTS, SO THAT HE COULD BE CALLED A “FRIEND OF ROME” AND THE “KING OF THE JEWS”. BUT HEROD WAS A LOT LIKE OTHER MONARCHS OF HIS TIME. HE WAS VICIOUS WHEN HE FELT THREATENED. AND WE KNOW HE HAD TEN WIVES AND MANY SONS; HE CHANGED HIS WILL SIX TIMES, NAMING DIFFERENT SONS AS HIS HEIR. HE PUT ONE SON TO DEATH, WHO HAD TRIED TO POISON HIM. WE MAY THINK THAT'S TERRIBLE, BUT CONSTANTINE PUT TWO SONS TO DEATH FOR TRYING TO OVERTHROW HIM. FOR HEROD, IT WAS TERRIBLY IMPORTANT THAT HIS BLOODLINE BE CONTINUED ON THE THRONE OF ISRAEL. AND JUST WHEN HE THOUGHT IT WAS ALL FINALLY WORKED OUT, ALONG COMES SOME STRANGERS WHO INSISTED THAT THE KING OF THE JEWS WAS NOT IN THE PALACE, BUT OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. HEROD DID WHAT HE HAD TO.

FOR HEROD, HIS WHOLE IDENTITY WAS TIED UP IN HIS KINGDOM. FOR HEROD, ANY SLIGHT SUGGESTION THAT HE WAS LOSING CONTROL CAUSED HIM GREAT ANXIETY. AND I CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH HIM. ALL MY LIFE I'VE HAD A TENDENCY TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME OR TO MY FAMILY IF SOME CATASTROPHE OCCURRED. AND I'M SURE I'VE MADE DECISIONS WHICH WEREN'T VERY GOOD ONES, BECAUSE OF MY CAUTION, MY INSECURITY. I THINK MANY OF US CAN IDENTIFY WITH HEROD – WE STRUGGLE TO BUILD, TO MANAGE OUR LIVES TO THE LETTER; TO GUARD AGAINST AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE, UNTIL THESE EFFORTS TEMPT US TO ACT AGAINST OUR BETTER NATURE.

WHEN THE MAGI FOUND THE CHRIST CHILD, WHAT THEY FOUND WAS A BABY, THE CHILD OF A PEASANT WOMAN AND HER CARPENTER HUSBAND. THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A HOME OF THEIR OWN. SURELY THE FIRST REACTION OF THE MAGI MUST HAVE BEEN DISBELIEF; HOW COULD THIS CHILD BE THE KING OF THE JEWS? IN THOSE DAYS, PEOPLE PAID A LOT MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR SOCIAL STATUS, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR NAME; AND KINGS CAME FROM KINGS AND PEASANTS FROM PEASANTS, AND THAT WAS THE NATURAL ORDER, AND NO ONE THOUGHT TO QUESTION IT. BUT THE MAGI WHO HAD DEMONSTRATED THEIR LOVE FOR TRUTH, RECEIVED A REVELATION FROM THE GOD OF TRUTH, WHICH BROUGHT THEM GREAT JOY, AND THE CONVICTION THAT DESPITE THE EVIDENCE OF THEIR SENSES, THIS WAS THE REAL KING, AND HEROD WAS AN IMPOSTER.

THE MAGI HAD A CHOICE AT THAT MOMENT. HAD THEY RETURNED TO HEROD AS HE HAD REQUESTED, THEY COULD HAVE MADE A CLAIM ON HIM. SURELY HE WOULD HAVE BEEN WILLING TO REWARD THEM, JUST AS HE HAD BEEN WILLING TO GIVE HIS FOSTER DAUGHTER HALF HIS KINGDOM FOR A DANCE SHE PERFORMED. JUST AS ORIENTAL KINGS REACTED TO SLIGHTS WITH OVERWHELMING PUNISHMENT, THEY REWARDED THEIR SUPPORTERS LAVISHLY. IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HARD TO RATIONALIZE, AND THE MAGI DID NOT KNOW THAT HEROD INTENDED TO KILL THE CHILD.

BUT THE SIGNIFICANT WORDS IN THE GOSPEL ARE THESE : THE MAGI “DEPARTED FOR THEIR COUNTRY BY ANOTHER WAY.” FACED WITH THE CHOICE BETWEEN HEROD, WHO REPRESENTED THE WORLD, THE WAY THINGS ARE, THE CONCERN FOR SECURITY, FOR CONTROL, FOR BUILDING UP AND TEARING DOWN, FOR MAKING SURE I GET MINE – OR THIS BABY, WHO IS ONLY A PROMISE, AND AN UNLIKELY ONE AT THAT, THEY CHOSE ANOTHER WAY; THEY REJECTED HEROD AND ALL HE REPRESENTED, AND CHOSE TO PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE PROMISE.

SO THIS IS THE FEAST OF TWO KINGS. AND EACH OF US IS CONFRONTED WITH CHOOSING ONE OVER THE OTHER. AND WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EVERY DAY, MANY TIMES EVERY DAY. AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU OFTEN MAKE THE WRONG CHOICE.

SO TODAY LET US REMEMBER THE MAGI AND THE TWO KINGS, AND RESOLVE WITH THEM TO FOLLOW ANOTHER WAY, A WAY THAT IS NOT THE WAY OF THE WORLD.