Feast of the Epiphany, 2014

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.