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Elma United Methodist Church |
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The Gift of Thanks |
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Elma United Methodist Church |
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Light for the World Dan Shelly Elma United Methodist Church January 1, 2005 (Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12)
Today we celebrate Epiphany Sunday, the celebration of new light that has come into the world through the birth of Christ. And it’s a traditional time to celebrate the arrival of the Magi whose journey following the star is recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew. And it’s been a fascinating exercise to research information concerning the Magi, because the bottom line to all of it is that “we just don’t know.” We just don’t know exactly who the Magi were. That term was used to describe several different types of people. The term was originally associated with the Medes and the Persians around 700 BC and described priests of the ancient Zoroastrian religion. But by the time of the birth of Christ, this religion had been persecuted for centuries and its’ priests only remained in hidden areas of the Persian Empire. By that time of Jesus’ birth, the term Magi was being used to describe anyone who possessed unusual or secret powers, and it became the root of the word we use today for magician. But there was another kind of person labeled as a Magi as well, and these people were trusted advisors to royalty. They studied natural phenomena like the stars and the tides and attempted to bring together all of the known knowledge of the times from science, poetry, and religion to help advise their rulers and try to predict events that would take place in the future. So this is probably the use of the term Magi that the writer of Matthew had in mind, but the bottom line is, “we just don’t know.”
We also don’t know exactly where they came from, except that they came from somewhere in the East. Current theories have them coming from Persia (which is modern day Iran), or Arabia, or even Babylon (modern day Turkey). And we don’t know how many Magi there were, some ancient accounts record 2, others 3, others 4, and some as many as 12. We’ve settled on 3 because there are 3 gifts recorded in the gospel, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But once again, we just don’t know! The same goes for their names. There’s a tradition within the Western church that they had the names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, all names of early Christian saints who met their deaths in the month of January, but the Syrian church remembers them as Larvandad, Hormisdas, Gushnasaph, etc. and the Armenians as Kagba, Badadilma, etc. So you guessed it, once again we just don’t know.
So what do we know? Well most of us know the story of the Magi from the Christmas carol “We Three Kings.” But even that can be pretty confusing. As the song goes…We three kings of orient are, bearing gifts we travese afar. I grew up singing that song, so I was pretty sure I knew the story of the three kings and their gifts, but what I couldn’t figure was, where was that country called Orientare? And it had to be a pretty exotic place because it didn’t have just one king, but three kings. I still remember the exact moment when I was old enough to read the words of the carol and suddenly realized that this wasn’t what the song meant at all. There wasn’t a land called Orientare, in fact there was a comma between the words orient and are! It was one of those defining moments when you suddenly find out that something you were so sure of wasn’t true at all. And it had such an impact that I can still remember it clearly today.
And that’s the problem that we face at the very heart of our human condition. We really want to know things for sure. If you go to buy a house or a piece of land, we have full disclosure laws in place to make sure that we get all of the details before we make the purchase. We want to know if there’s ever been any flooding or termites, fire or dangerous hazards on the property. And we cover the sides of our food containers with tiny print showing us absolutely everything that’s inside - all the ingredients, all the vitamins & minerals, all the preservatives, how many calories are included, how much fat, and even what kinds of fat are in the food. We’re scientific people and we want all the details. If there’s one thing that we HATE it’s not knowing all the facts.
But then the unthinkable happens, a tsunami or a hurricane comes and washes away all of the facades of safety and security we’ve built up around us, or an earthquake hits and suddenly the very ground underneath our feet gives way rolling and shaking, or a heart attack, cancer or stroke strikes without warning changing people’s lives overnight, or the large log mill that has been an economic backbone of a community is suddenly closed just before Christmas because somewhere an accountant’s spreadsheet showed that the company could claim a 2005 deduction against this year’s profits and reduce their taxes. Suddenly we come face to face with the real human condition that we constantly try to deny, the condition that says “we just don’t know” all the answers. And we come face to face with the God’s solution to this dilemma, God’s gift that allows us to live within a world of uncertainty where we don’t get to know all the answers. That gift is faith.
And that is what the Magi had. Just like Abraham and Sarah so many years before, as they set out on their journey, these Magi didn’t know where their journey would take them. But they saw the star, God’s light that would lead them, and they set out in faith. They didn’t know how long of a journey they were in for as they set off following that star. And they didn’t know what was in store for them, or even how they’d be received in the country where they would eventually find themselves. They didn’t know what this new born king would look like, and they didn’t even know when or if they would ever return home again. All they did know for sure was that God shined a light into their lives and invited them on a journey of discovery – and out of faith, they chose to follow.
And we find ourselves in that same situation today. God doesn’t show up in our lives with a detailed contract spelling out and promising in detail exactly what will happen in every step our lives if we’ll just sign on the dotted line. That’s not how God has created us and that’s not the human condition. Remember when the disciples pressed Jesus for details concerning the end times, exactly when these things would take place he told them “about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Even Jesus didn’t know all the details, for Jesus was not only fully divine but also fully human and the human condition is “we just don’t know” all the answers. God doesn’t show up with a contract spelling out all the details - instead God shows up with a light, a promise, and a choice.
God’s light is the light we celebrate today on Epiphany Sunday. It’s the light brought into the world by Jesus. A light of faith, of hope and of love that shone out into the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it.
God’s promise is the promise of Easter, the promise of resurrection and new birth. And the promise that God will be with us and journey with us through even the hardest and darkest times of our lives. Even in the times that for all the world look like darkness and despair, even when our path looks like it leads only to the cross and to death, God holds out God’s promise of resurrection and new life for all who believe.
And choice, God provides the faith that we need to sustain us, and God allows us to choose at every step of the journey.
This Epiphany Sunday, God stands before us not with all the answers but with a light, a promise and a choice. And God invites all of us to follow the star on the journey of a lifetime that leads to new birth and new life. We don’t get to know all of the answers, that’s not the human condition, but just like the Magi long ago, we too are invited to bring our gifts and journey together toward a new life – a life filled with faith, hope and love.
May God grant each of us the eyes to see God’s star and the courage to step out in faith and follow.
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