Epiphany Sermon

EPIPHANY SERMON

 TEXT: MATTHEW 2:1-12

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

We take liberties in our Christmas pageant by blending the gospel stories about Jesus' beginnings. Only two of them have birth stories. Luke has the manger and the angels and shepherds. Matthew contributes the star and the magi. Today, it is just Matthew's story we're telling. It is the text for Epiphany, the coming of the light, the star, the wise ones. The scene is Bethlehem. Jesus may be an infant or he may be a young child of about two. We'll assume he is still a baby. His parents, Mary and Joseph are caring for him, still in Bethlehem.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ^[c^] was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 
 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

EPIPHANY ~ A CELEBRATION OF THE COSMIC CHRIST

Epiphany. The church named the 12^th day after Christmas "Epiphany" to celebrate the light of Christ coming into the world. It is no accident that in the northern hemisphere, it coincides with the lengthening days and increasing daylight. Christian liturgical observations ascribe cosmic dimensions to Christ by connecting his coming to the course of nature and changing of seasons.

PERSONAL EPIPHANIES

Have you heard people talk about having epiphanies? "I had an epiphany!" they say. "A new insight. I just knew what to do." They are often referring to a sudden flash of understanding, a revelation of some sort. The Gospel passage we always read on this day is the visit of the magi. Is this about an epiphany? If so, what was it? Whose insight should we be examining?

Well, surely Matthew is providing insights into some particular aspects of Jesus.

MATTHEW'S INSIGHTS OR EPIHANIES

1.) Matthew makes the case that Jesus is the Messiah that the Jewish people have longed for. He continually connects Jesus' life to messianic texts in the Hebrew scriptures. Bethlehem will be the birthplace of the messiah, all nations will pay homage. The very next chapter is about Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod's wrath, this enables Matthew to position Jesus as a second Moses-emerging from Egypt as a leader of his people.

2.) Even though Matthew appeals to his Jewish heritage as he forms his Jesus story, he also claims that Jesus is not just a Jewish messiah. His message is universal. He has come for the gentile nations as well. It is Matthew who includes 3 gentile women in Jesus' genealogy. And now these magi from the east. People who would have been regarded as pagans. Although the hymn makes them kings, the wise men were likely astronomers, perhaps Zoroastrian court advisors. Their lavish gifts put them in a wealthy class.

Have you ever noticed that the birth of Jesus according to Luke takes place among the poorest and least valued of society-in a cattle shed attended by shepherds? Matthew, on the other hand, sets the scene in a house where the child is greeted by the rich and powerful; men who have access to the court of Herod. It is so interesting to read the gospels as individual theological treatises to see what the writers are trying to tell us about Jesus.

3.) And this is, I think, the core of this episode. Jesus is in danger from the very beginning. As the story unfolds we discover that Jesus gets no special protection, in fact, seems to be a target for destroyers.

FROM THE BEGINNING, JESUS' STORY IS INTERWOVEN WITH VIOLENCE AND SUFFERING

From beginning to end, the story of God incarnate in the world is interwoven with all the violence and suffering that the world can serve up. The communion table appears before us today, as a memorial to the last aching gathering of Jesus with those who loved him most. The bread and wine are reminders of betrayal; of broken bodies and broken spirits.

A woman I know chose not to acknowledge suffering. She did not approve of churches that emphasized Jesus' death. She considered hymns like "The Old Rugged Cross" morbid and tasteless. She was devoted to a "be happy" approach to faith. And then she was stricken. Cancer assaulted her body, depression and anger stormed her spirit. At that point, happiness was not an option for her. Then the suffering of the crucifixion spoke to her situation.

AND LIGHT BREAKS IN

From the very beginning, the good news encompasses suffering. But that is absolutely not the whole story and it is not the end. A colleague says this is not the story of three kings but of two kings-King Herod and King Jesus. It is about the tension between the earthly power that rules the world and the power of God in Jesus which challenges that rule. It is about the tension between Herod's power, which destroys and kills and the power of Jesus which heals, restores and welcomes.

 (Anne LeBas, Priest in Charge, St Peter and St Paul, Seal, Kent. UK) Epiphany reminds us that hope may start small, like a child. But finally light does break in. The last verse is the hymn-writer's testimony of faith in Jesus who triumphs over suffering and enables us to do so as well.

Glorious now behold him arise, King and God and Sacrifice;

Alleluia, alleluia! Sounds through the earth and skies.

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