Sunday, January 4, 2009
Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a; Matthew 2:1-12
During the Christmas season we often see pictures of manger scenes, that we see indoors and outdoors, nativity figures and Christmas pageants. Usually in the manger scenes, we see shepherds and three kings bringing their gifts to the baby Jesus. This scene is very familiar and comforting to our eyes.
Actually the visit of the wise men in today’s gospel was shocking to the first people who heard Matthew’s gospel. This story would have scandalized the Jewish community in Bethlehem.
What has made us so comfortable with the wise men …and what made the people of Bethlehem so hostile toward the Magi?
The names and stories we have learned about the Magi are mostly the result of pious imagination. The only factual information we have is what is written in the story we heard this morning.
Notice, it never says there were three kings who visited Jesus. It only describes three gifts that they brought. The story simply says, “wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we have observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.”
The story tells us that the wise men were not kings, but were astrologers or stargazers who tried to interpret present and future events by looking at the movement of the stars. They might have written a regular column in the Baghdad Gazette telling people about their horoscope for the day. Magi were often thought to be untrustworthy frauds or charlatans. The Old Testament condemns astrologers as idolatrous deceivers to be avoided by God’s people. Not long before Jesus was born, a Jewish rabbi wrote, “He who learns from a magi is worthy of death.”
So the Magi were not welcomed as heroes in Bethlehem. Matthew wrote his Gospel to a Jewish audience, and they would have felt very hostile toward the Magi. What was most appalling was the scandalous idea that astrologers from a foreign land, who were condemned in the Bible, would have been intimately involved, with God’s guidance; in the birth of a baby which Matthew claims to be God’s Messiah. The very idea was outrageous and totally unacceptable.
So why does Matthew tell this scandalous story about the Magi? From the very beginning of his gospel, Matthew brings outrageous scandals into the story of Jesus. In the opening genealogy, Matthew broke with tradition to include 4 women in the genealogy of Jesus, and those women were all unacceptable because they were prostitutes, foreigners or notorious sinners. Matthew is trying to tell people that Jesus came for every person, both men and women, both Jews and people of all the nations of the earth, both those who seem good and proper and also those we consider to be unacceptable and on the margins of God’s love…Jesus came to bring Good News of a great joy to all people.
In every generation, the mission of Christians is to let the world know this Good News that God sent his son Jesus to this planet as a child and raised him from death on a cross as victor over all the destructive powers of evil, sin and death. God has made this Jesus, King and sovereign over the whole Universe. Jesus is the King of Love and the Good Shepherd of all people who is eager to bring God’s Kingdom, God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.
And our mission as Christians, in this and every generation, is to let the people around us know and experience the hope Christ brings for the world. Jesus offers a way to find hope in the midst of a struggling global economy, in the midst of increasing poverty, disease and violence in the world. Jesus offers a way to hope in the midst of a global environmental crisis. Jesus has come to be light in the darkness, to show the way to a new beginning, a new creation…no matter what struggles we face personally or as a global community.
Just as God worked through the star and the very imperfect wise men to guide them to Christ, the hope of the world…so you and I are to let Christ shine in and through us, to make us lights, guiding people to discover for themselves that Christ is the hope for their lives, the hope for our Nation and world.
Your vocation, as members of the Church of the Epiphany, is to be lights in the darkness, to be a community who guides others to discover in their relationship with Jesus the hope for which they are longing.
So this morning, Christ might ask us personally and might ask you as a parish, ask us as a diocese, ask Christians around the world. As you begin 2009, how faithful and effective are you in bringing light to the darkness in the world in this generation?
In all honesty I have to answer this question by confessing to Jesus that I personally and we as a Christian community in this country are not doing a very credible job of bringing light and hope to our society. America has one of the highest percentages of church attendance in the world…but look at our reputation in the world. We are no longer seen as a nation of virtue, justice, peace and integrity of character.
As I visit parishes in this diocese every week, I hear of the struggles faced by our congregations. As I talk with the leaders of other denominations in New England, I hear stories of the struggles experienced by Roman Catholics, Evangelicals, Orthodox and Mainline churches. We are all struggling, especially in New England, with our inability to live this Gospel of Christ with authenticity.
Over the Christmas holidays, my son in law showed me a book he was reading. Listen to what was written on the back cover. “Most people throughout the western world have seen what the church has to offer and they have found it to be wanting. The current credibility gap has made it hard to communicate the gospel with clarity and authenticity. Paradoxically, this is the case even though it is currently a time of almost unprecedented openness to the issues of God, faith and meaning.
This is a time when the need for, and relevance of, the gospel has seldom been greater, but the relevance of church has seldom been less. If ever there was time for innovative missionary efforts in the West, it is now.” (from The Shaping of Things to Come, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsh)
This is a quote I am going to live with throughout the coming year. I think it clearly describes our situation and God’s call to mission in our situation. We can bemoan our decline in attendance and influence as Christian churches in this country…or we can prayerfully and humbly be like those wise men…who persistently looked to God for guidance when they did not know the way forward.
I believe God is inviting us to discover new ways of living and talking about the Good News of Jesus in this generation. We will not find the way forward by simply reading a new book. There is no one gimmick or strategy or program that will work for every parish. Each congregation will need to prayerfully and attentively seek for God’s unique guidance to show them how to be authentic communities of “Jesus followers” who bring light into the darkness of their neighborhoods.
We will never be perfect Christian communities. Like the shepherds and magi at the birth of Jesus, we will, at our best, be a motley crew of unlikely and very imperfect characters who have heard God’s voice and been guided by God.
And as we seek to follow God’s guidance our faithfulness may not be reflected in instant results. This Christmas I became aware at a deeper level than ever before that, after the wonderful visits and messages of angels, shepherds and magi at the birth of Jesus…it took another 30 years before Jesus made any difference or brought any changes to the world.
We who are followers of Jesus will have to be patient and persistent. There are no microwave methods of instant, on demand, spiritual transformation. As the wise men had a long and arduous journey with not much clear guidance, so we have a mission which will be demanding, which will take time, but which will be guided by God as we learn to be persistent and disciplined in seeking every day for the guidance of God.
Speaking of following the guidance of God, I want to commend you as a congregation for your decision to participate in the Partnership for the Missional Church in our diocese. You were the very first parish to commit to this initiative. In this way you are being true to your name, being a “leadership light” to the parishes of our diocese. This Partnership is not a program that offers a quick fix.
It is a process of learning to listen to God’s guidance and discover how God is guiding you to live the Gospel in Wilbraham and Springfield, in your homes and places of work. When I return for a visit in two years, I will be eager to see what guidance God has given you and how you as a congregation are learning to be a more authentic epiphany light bringing hope to the people of this community.
Let’s close our eyes and be aware of the Light of Christ’s presence surrounding us with his love…right now. Thinking about your personal life…and about the life of this congregation…What changes might Christ be calling you to make in the coming year… so that you are first, more aware of God’s guidance… and second, more open to allowing the light of Christ to shine through you to bring hope and healing to the lives of people in need around you?