Epiphany - Year B

A Different Way

Introduction

So, have you packed away all those Christmas decorations yet? For some reason, it seems like a lot more work to take them down than it does to put them up. Did you notice that the stores are already on to Valentine’s Day?

Christmas has been over for many people for a couple of weeks but for the church, the season of Christmas ends with Epiphany, which we have been celebrating today. Epiphany marks the visit of the Magi or wise men to Bethlehem to visit the baby.

If it seems a long ways from the shepherds and angels...well...that's because it is. 

I'm sure the wise men were moving as fast as they could, but it takes some time to get from the East to Bethlehem on the backs of camels, especially when you're not exactly sure what you're looking for. 

Most scholars say it took up to two years for them to actually get there and when they arrived, Jesus' crib had been changed back into a feed box and the holy family had moved from their temporary lodgings in the shed behind the inn into a more permanent home.

Jesus, then, had moved from cute and cuddly to his terrible twos.

Children’s Story

Of Frankincense and Myrrh – Gifts and Specialness… What would we give God?

Science and Religion

We can learn so much from the wise men – a group of people that we usually don't quite understand

or lump in with the rest of the Christmas characters. We don't usually spend a lot of time trying to understand their wisdom and apply it to our lives. But today we are being called to do just that.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus telling them to embrace the mystery of Christ, to let it be revealed to them. When we do that, when we are willing dive in and swim around in the divine for a little while, then we are truly wise. 

Astrophysicists tell us that the star that the wise men followed was actually a planetary alignment – Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, all in a row, something which happens about every 400 years. It was rare and it was odd and those who know about these things would call it a sign.

And just in case you want me to back this up with some rough-shod historical science, how about this; a planetary alignment happens about every 400 years and changes everything. And here's how history proves it...

Jesus is born. 

400 years later, the Roman Empire falls. 

400 years later, the holy Roman Empire falls and divides Europe in half. 

400 years later, the first Crusades are launched. 

Another 400 years brings us to 1600 when the King James Bible was written, the 30 years war began, and the first colony was settled in Jamestown in America. 

Add another 400 years, give or take, and we're talking about now. And we live in a time when we don't know what's going to happen to the environment, to the economy, to society. But if I had to guess, I would say we might be in a time of great change. 

We might be in a place where the star is leading us into something new and different.

Perhaps all of this significance is why we can't help but be fascinated by the wise men. Perhaps it's why we push them into the manger scene although they couldn't possibly have arrived yet. Their silk robes and kingly presence, turbans and spices and camels are an interesting contrast to all of the swaddling clothes and hay.

To the shepherds, Jesus was a baby – soft and cute. To the Magi, Jesus was a hero, star-prophesied and glowing with destiny.

Matthew and Sherlock Holmes

Perhaps that's why I love the characters of the Magi so much – these Persian priests. I've been there before.  Trying to find the place I need to be at a given moment in life, not knowing exactly how to get there, trudging along in the cold, taking a stab in the dark, not knowing what might come next.

The story of the wise men is like a biblical Sherlock Holmes story. I recently went to see the second Sherlock Holmes movie when it was in theatres. And like any Sherlock Holmes story, you have this eccentric detective with a mystery to solve. 

He has no idea what the solution will end up being, where it might take him, what adventure he is about to go on. But he knows that he will figure it out, that he will end up where he needs to be. So he depends on his keen observational skills, on hunches that seem to come out of nowhere, on clues that are revealed one at a time, on all of these things in order to solve the mystery.

We often forget that the wise men went on a wild adventure like that to get to Jesus. But it's true. I mean, it's not like they were handed a map with “X” marking the spot. It's not like their camels were equipped with GPS.  

Not only did they not know how to get to Jesus but they weren't even entirely sure what or whom they were looking for. They had seen this star and heard about this special baby being born. They put the two together and began a trek to this place called Bethlehem that nobody had heard of; a little po-dunk place, off the beaten track. 

They were travellers, seekers, searchers, journeyers. This is what made them wise. They didn't dismiss those yearnings and longings that kept pulling them forward, closer and closer to God.

The Magi likely thought that the manger was their destination; that the purpose of their trip was to witness and pay homage to the babe of Bethlehem. But really, little Jesus was and is just the starting point.

And that's what the prophets have been trying to tell us for centuries. 

We hear Isaiah proclaim today: “Arise and shine for your light has come.” Even though the world feels like a dark and hopeless place, God is there, a bright light that fills you. “You will see God and then you will be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice because you will be filled with God's abundance.”

Matthew tells us that the Magi chose to go home a different way. Instead of going home the way they came, they chose a different path. Their experience of Jesus changed them. They didn't go back through Herod's territory where they would be questioned about the whereabouts of Jesus and the young child would end up killed. 

Instead, they went out into undiscovered territory. Scripture doesn't tell us what became of the Magi; it just gives us that one evocative statement that says, “They left for home by a different way.” 

Conclusion

 Once you experience God in your life, when you see that divine light shining, you are changed. You can't walk the path you did before. Finding Jesus means taking risks in life, and may mean risking all simply to find him.

But once he’s found, life may have to take a different direction, one that is responsive to and obedient to God’s call.

So as we move away from Christmas and more fully into this new year, are you willing to seek God out and be led in a different way, like the wise men of old? What does your new path look like? How is it different from the well-worn path you have been walking? 

Be brave and allow yourself to shine out there in the world because you are truly radiant. Jesus is the light of the world but you are a light in the world. Arise and shine!