The Rev’d Kenneth H. Saunders III
RCL Year C (the Feast of Epiphany) – January 6, 2010
Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Psalm 72:1-7,10-14
Today has many names…
The western Church calls it Epiphany (the Greek word that means an intuitive leap of understanding), The eastern Church calls it Theophany (or the appearance of God in visible form) or it could simply be called the Manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
Regardless of what we call it… it means one thing to us… We know who God is a little better, because God revealed God’s self to us in the person of Jesus Christ… An he did it for ALL People!
This is a feast day that has been celebrated as a major feast in Christendom since before the year 354. At one time it was bigger than Christmas – because it included the birth of Jesus and the visit of the magi in one fail swoop.
It is a season of Light, filled with images of identity and journey, of understanding and a coming to know…
The story of the Magi (or Kings) that bring gifts to the Christ Child are familiar… They are as familiar as their lore – the lore that has become ingrained into the stories of the Christian faith…
The mysterious astrologers (the magi) or Persian priest, definitely non-Jewish (or Gentiles) from another place and another culture… They somehow see the need to honor and worship the new born “king of the Jews”
We don’t know how many there were, the scripture just calls them magi (have you ever wondered where the word magic comes from). Early traditions of the church asserted that there must have been three, because that’s how many gifts that were given… And the church even named them - Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar
The gifts are important, because they weren’t just any gifts that someone would give a newborn… These gifts tell stories within the story… about the identity of this miraculously born Jesus.
They become revelations of who the new born is and is to become…
Gold – a symbol of kingship and dominion on Earth… and Jesus will be referred to as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Frankincense – a fragrant incense burned in the
Myrrh – the combination of spices used to anoint the dead and Jesus will suffer and die a human death for us on the cross.
God chose to reveal to astronomers the Good news of a miraculous birth that took place in a manger in Bethlehem of Judea. And these astronomers followed a great star over a mighty distance to worship a child revealed to them as “the King of the Jews.”
The scripture tells us that when the star stopped over the place where the child was that the magi were filled with joy and coming into the house they knelt down and paid him homage - they worshipped him…
This is the first revelation to the Non-Jews (or Gentile people) that God came into the world for the WHOLE WORLD not just the Jews…
Jesus walked on this earth and lived and died as one of us for everybody… so that everyone might come within reach of God. The God that created us, redeems us (or re-creates us), and continues to sustain our lives... the God that loves us so much that he became one of us…
The question to us is… how will we respond to that… Will we continue to be complacent and uninvolved, and live life for ourselves?
Or will we decide to follow the light of Christ? Do we make the difficult journey with the magi and cross the hard obstacles along the way? Will we follow the light of Christ that will eventually lead us to the cross?
The light of God has come into the world… so that we might see and experience God face to face…
After worshipping Jesus at the manger, the Magi carried the light of Christ out into the world with them, as they returned to their homes. So we, too, are called to rise from our worship here… leave the manger and move into the world, bearing the light of Christ – To take it to the places we live work, the places we work, the places we study, and the places we play.
And we are to remember that we are always called to welcome ALL who come to share in that light – The light of Christ!
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