'In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.'
--Matthew 2: 1-12
What if I told you that we have been doing this Christmas thing all wrong? What if I told you that for the vast majority of the history of Christianity, it was Epiphany, not Christmas that was the big day of celebration? In fact, Epiphany was, for the bulk of two millennia, considered the second most important day in the faith – after Easter – and the only other day on which baptisms took place. And while it is still important enough that it can be transferred to the next available Sunday, as we my parish did this year, it’s lost some of its luster, and hardly anyone in the secular world recognizes it at all. So what happened?
A lot of things: Charles Dickens, Hallmark, Coca-Cola, capitalism. What was once a fortnight long celebration that started on Christmas Day and culminated in gift-giving and partying on the 12th Night to coincide with the Magi bringing their own gifts to baby Jesus, turned into a month-long corporate cash grab that ended on Christmas Day. Does Epiphany have any relevance in our modern world? I’d say absolutely, and for many reasons besides the gift-giving.
The story of the Epiphany is one only found in Matthew’s gospel. The text tells us that wise people from the East learned of the birth of Jesus, of a supposed king, and came to pay homage to him at his home in Bethlehem - and yes, I say home because according to Matthew not only was Jesus born in a house instead of a stable, but the holy family lived in Bethlehem until their time as refugees in Egypt, only settling in Nazareth afterwards. The figures who come to see the child are called wise men in our translation, but we have a whole song about them called We Three Kings, plus they’re given the title of Magi by church tradition. So who (or what) are they? The term Magi comes from the Greek word used to describe them—magous—which was used for priests from Persia who dabbled in astrology and enchantment; after all, they follow a star to get to where the child is. In other words, they are sorcerers from Iran, folks who were clearly not Jewish—most likely Zoroastrian, which is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion. They come from the East, from the place of darkness, the place from which two different empires had previously come and conquered the people of Israel. They dress in a flamboyant manner and offer gifts that are quite strange: gold, frankincense, and myrrh, which foreshadow Jesus’ kingship, divinity, and humanity.
Their coming to Jesus is the moment that the Gospel – the Good News of God in Christ - is opened up to the whole world. No longer is the narrative that the grace and mercy of the Most High God, the God of Israel, reserved for a single people alone. Here you have individuals of a different religion, who likely did not suddenly convert to a new faith but returned to their own homes, to their own faith traditions and shared the good news that light and love and peace had come into the world. They remind us of Jesus’ own words spoken in the Gospel of Mark: “Those who are not against us are for us
The Magi’s strange ways, their garish dress, their extravagant gifts that they give to Jesus, invite us to open our own hearts to accept new traditions and customs, the same way the baby Jesus and his family did. We have a tendency to fear that which is different, that which is outrageous, simply because we don’t understand it. A colleague of mine, who is a gay man and an Episcopal priest, wrote an excellent blog post a few years back in which he noted how he and other queer people are so often met with the same kinds of fear, especially when they too express themselves with garish dress and extravagance, and he even made the connection between such culture and our own Episcopal ways of worship. How many Baptists or Presbyterians come into our churches and are put off by our flamboyance, our fancy clothes, our chanting, our incense? The Magi were pretty strange, pretty queer, even, when compared to those whom they visited, yet they were welcomed with open arms and gratitude. We can learn from this story how we too can welcome and be grateful for that which is different, strange, garish, and holy.
And the Magi remind us that no matter how many times individuals try to snuff out the light of God’s grace and goodness—whether they be kings, governors, or common folk—they will never succeed. Herod tried to use the Magi for his own ends, but their civil disobedience caused his plans to end in failure. Even after he resorted to the horrific act of having little children murdered, his plans to snuff out the light of the world failed. That is good news for us even now, who live in a world where those in power try so hard and resort to horrific acts to stem the tide of God’s justice and love, and like the Magi we are sometimes called to do our part in sending the message to such persons that they cannot and will not ever win, for the light has come into the world, and no darkness will ever overtake him.
We could very well say that the entire Gospel of Jesus Christ is wrapped up in this one story, a story that reminds us that the Gospel doesn’t belong to us alone – to Episcopalians or even to Christians – but that it is open and available to the whole world. A cruel tyrant tries to stop it, but he can’t. This day reminds us that no power or principality will ever conquer God’s Good News, no matter how hard it tries. This day invites us to welcome the stranger, to welcome that which may be different, and to be grateful for what such persons bring into our lives. It really is a special day, and it kinda makes you wish we still gave all our gifts and partied on Epiphany, doesn’t it?
May the legacy of the Magi be ours, and may the light that led them to Jesus be that which guides all of us every day of our lives.
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