Have you taken
them down yet, or are they coming down today? Your decorations should not be up
for too long now. The glitz of Christmas is giving way to reality just as surely
as the post box so full of cards are now being replaced by holiday brochures and
bills.
We sometimes miss Epiphany, the festival we mark today. It is lost
in the getting back to normal. But it is significant; in many European countries
this is the day that presents are exchanged.
This day is special as we commemorate the visit of the wise men to Jesus. There have been many traditions which have crept up around the visit of the Magi.
We do not know whether the wise men were wise, or whether there were three of them, or who they were at all, let alone the glorious names given them by tradition: Melchior, Balthasar and Casper.
Yet another legend goes on to tell us that after seeing the baby, the three continued travelling as far as Spain, telling the world the good news about what they had seen.
The interesting thing is that there is no need for embellishment. There is enough going on !
St Luke sets the nativity in an historical context: "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world." In Rome Caesar Augustus was at the height of his power. Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, he became sole ruler of the Roman world after a bloody civil war in which he had overpowered his opponents. The last to be destroyed was the famous Mark Anthony who committed suicide not long after his defeat at the battle of Actium in 31 BC.
Augustus turned the great Roman Republic into an Empire, with himself at the head. He proclaimed that he had brought peace and justice to the world. He declared his dead adoptive father, Julius Caesar, to be divine, and by implication he was, therefore, the son of a God. Poets wrote about the new era which had begun. Historians told about the rise of power, reaching its climax with Augustus. He was its king, its Lord and increasingly people worshipped him as a god.
Meanwhile far away a boy was born, who would within a generation be hailed as 'the son of God.' His followers would use the same words of Lordship and empire about him. His arrival was considered to have brought true justice and peace.
The birth of this little boy is the beginning of a confrontation between the kingdom of God in all its apparent frailty, weakness and insignificance, with the mighty power of Rome; and by extension with all the powers and realms of our world.
Augustus had never heard of Jesus but within a century his successors were trying desperately to obliterate his followers. Within just over three centuries the Roman Emperor Constantine himself became a Christian.
So today the story of a baby in a crib, being visited by Magi is poignant. It is about a change taking place in the balance of power and it based in fact not fiction.
We know for fact that the Jewish Messiah the King of kings is visited by three gentiles, not just any old gentiles, but star gazers.
We don't know much
about the Magi from the East; possibly they were from Persia - the land we now
call Iran. We call them kings, but Matthew calls them or Magi. The word, kings,
might come from Psalm 72:10, which speaks of the kings of Tarshish rendering
tribute and the kings of Sheba and Seba bringing gifts. Isaiah 60:6 also speaks
of the people of Sheba bringing gold and frankincense. We think of them as
astrologers because they are observing stars, and astrology was considered a
learned occupation. The word, magi, is also found in Acts, where it is
translated magician or sorcerer. From the perspective of the Jewish people, magi
looked to the stars for answers that legitimately come only from God - or work
magic using demonic powers.
They are far from the kingdom of God, which
makes them especially useful for Matthew's purposes as he shows how the Messiah
brings salvation to those considered beyond the scope of God's interest. These
were not the expected beneficiaries of the birth of the one who would be king of
the Jews. Yet we see that the birth of Jesus is going to bring about change and
that change will involve an inclusivity which would trouble those who expected a
traditional Jewish King.
The Good news had come in Jesus, but it was not good news for those who were the good people of God. Jesus was God's good news for Bad people!
What the Magi saw was hardly impressive; a poor family in a nondescript village and an infant. However, the Magi had been led by the light of the star. Was it really a huge star in the heavens like the Christmas show, or a small brightness of Jupiter or even as some believe, an interior light that kept them looking and then shone brightly for them revealing the truth at the end of their quest? We will never know, but God was present among the obscure; hidden in an out-of-the- way place.
Today we like the
Magi, ask God to stir up a hunger in us. For the courage to let go of the
comfortable and familiar and request the energy to once again go looking for
God. To be open to finding the holy in unfamiliar and "unholy" places.
Amen.
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church
of Manchester. Click here for further information.