I've just had an Epiphany!

Common English Bible Chapter 2

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.”

3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. 4 He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

6 You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

by no means are you least

among the rulers of Judah,

because from you will come

one who governs,

who will shepherd my people Israel.”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.” 9 When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. 11 They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

Introduction- Hook

There was no way I am going to preach this without one of my abosolutely favorite clips from a movie.

This is from Hook, the story of a grown up Peter Pan that came out in the 90s.

And I think about this line every single time we come around to Epiphany Sunday in the church calendar.

<Play Clip>

So early 90s Disney movie references aside, what is this holiday of Epiphany, and why is it that we celebrate it?

What is epiphany?

Greek:

Eerdmans Bible Dictionary REVELATION

epipháneia

Eerdmans Bible Dictionary REVELATION

God’s deliberate disclosure to mankind of true knowledge of himself and his purposes and actions on behalf of mankind.

It’s sort of kind of like when you have a new statue being unveiled, and the presenter takes the blanket off and reveals the work.

You might sort of be able to guess what’s under that blanket.

You get an idea of the size and shape of the thing.

You might have even read a rumor about what the statue looks like under there.

But the revelation, the Epiphany, brings everything in to clear focus.

You get a fuller picture of what’s going on.

In a story like this, what’s being revealed?

To the Magi?

Clearing up some myths:

There were likely many more than just three magi or wisemen.

The only reason we have three in our hymns and songs is because there were three gifts that they brought.

But if you read really carefully, the text never says there were three of them.

And actually, a bigger crowd makes more sense, because they somehow got the attention of Herod.

Astrologers

To say that they were magi from the east was to make a few claims about these folks that might be easy to lose sight of:

They were astrologers.

Not like, Neal Degrasse Tyson star-gazer types.

These guys had a religion based on reading the future from the stars.

So think, Miss Cleo.

They were foreigners.

And yes, ancient Israel had just as much distrust and disdain for foreigners and immigrants in their land as we do today.

So to say that they wouldn’t be normally welcomed is an understatement.

And they were NOT Jewish.

These guys are, from the vantage point of this sermon, on the outside looking in.

They wouldn’t be looking for more clarification on the statue.

They wouldn’t know there was a statue at all.

And yet...

They’re curious!

What’s revealed about Jesus?

They know a few things about Jesus:

He’s the King of the Jews.

He’s got a star

He’s worthy of being honored.

I wonder what they would have thought to themselves when they walk in to wherever Jesus was

A King!

Who gets his own signs in the heavens!

Who is worthy of being honored!

Is…a baby!

And yet, they fall on their knees and they worship Jesus, because I think they found a few things in that room:

That what the world considers power isn’t everything.

That God can show up in the most unexpected places and the most unexpected ways.

And that God has in fact shown up to us, right here, right now, in the person of Jesus.

What’s revealed about Herod?

But the revelation to the wisemen isn’t over yet.

On their way home, they get kind of like a post credits scene in a movie.

Herod, the guy you’ve been working with this whole time to figure this out?

Don’t trust him.

There is something of a comparison here between the power of God and the power of the rulers of the world.

Speaking of which...

To King Herod?

His power can be threatened

Herod really doesn’t have much power, he’s more of a puppet leader in Jerusalem.

The real power is in Rome.

But all the same, when you have even just a little bit of power, you do all you can to protect it and hold on to it.

The word “King” on the mouths of the Magi must have been what set him off.

If there is a King of the Jews, it means that it isn’t Herod.

And back in those days, it’s not like your term expires and you rush off to the beach when they swear in the next guy.

A King only stops being a king when he stops breathing.

The knowledge of his advisors isn’t the same thing as wisdom.

So Herod calls together all the chief priests and legal experts.

These are essentially the religious leaders of the day.

These are guys who have spent their whole lives studying the scriptures, and trying to make sense of them.

So Herod does what seems like the smart thing, he gets them all together and asks them what’s going on.

And to be fair, they have knowledge!

They know that Bethlehem is the place where this new king is coming.

They would have aced their Bible trivia night!

But that knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom.

They know some stuff about the Messiah, but they don’t know the Messiah.

For as much as Herod asks for help, I think he gets this revelation that knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing.

His play for control is no match for God

So Herod does the purely political thing: He comes up with a plan to keep his power.

He sends the magi away, but wants them to come back and report in.

We can assume from what he does later that the plan from there would have been to kill Jesus right on the spot.

Again, if there’s a threat to his power, he wants to deal with it.

And yet, God steps in and keeps the Magi away.

One of the things that is revealed to corrupt rulers time and again is that whatever plans they come up with, they’re really no match for who God is and what God is up to.

To the Religious Leaders of the day?

Religion alone can’t make room for the action of God.

There’s a saying going around quite a bit in our day.

“I’m spiritual, but not religious.”

What’s interesting is the way that some of my colleagues in pastoral work hear that line as a threat, kind of like Herod did.

But I also think it’s not the biggest thing we have to fear.

I’m not worried about people being spiritual but not religious.

I’m worried about people being religious but not spiritual.

Take the leaders of Herod’s time.

They have dedicated their lives to doing the right things.

Performing the right rituals.

Making sure that the temple is properly set up and running.

Getting to their worship services on time every week.

They have spent a whole bunch of time knowing the right things.

They know where the Christ Child is going to be born.

They know where to find that in the Bible.

And yet, for all the religion they celebrate, there’s no spiritual awakening in them.

They do a lot for their faith, but they don’t seem to be letting their faith do a lot in them.

They know a lot about the Christ Child, but they don’t know the Christ Child.

They don’t know what they don’t know.

And you know what, I don’t think that these religious leaders ever get that kind of revelation.

The wisemen don’t ever come back and report to them.

I don’t know if these are the same people who are interacting with Jesus later in the Gospels, but the age difference would tell me they are not.

I’m guessing here, but I’m guessing they just run back to their religious practices, blissfully unaware of how much they’re missing just beneath the surface.

To you and me?

I think you and I are capable of receiving a revelation, an Epiphany, from God at every moment of our days.

I wonder what kinds of things he might be revealing to us in a story like this:

Application

Worshippers come from unexpected places.

Matthew has been making a point in the first two chapters of his gospel.

The first chapter is what some folks would think of as a boring genealogy.

But! Matthew goes out of his way to make a point with it:

He lists Tamar, who has a terribly sad story in the scriptures of being raped.

He lists Rahab, the prostitute.

He goes out of his way to mention that Solomon was born to “the wife of Uriah,” who David cheated on and then had her husband killed.

Matthew’s genealogy warms us up to the idea that Jesus story is going to contain a lot of scandal in it.

But then to have the first worshipers of Jesus be Magi from the East?

Further scandal.

And maybe the biggest scandal is Matthew’s insistence that this Jesus movement is open and available to everyone.

The people who love God most might come from unexpected places.

As we continue our story here at Laboratory, I wonder what kind of unexpected places we might see folks come from to worship the King?

Maybe some folks are going to come to our church who don’t behave like us.

Maybe some folks are going to come to our church who don’t look like us.

Maybe some folks are going to come to our church who don’t share our political beliefs.

Maybe some folks are going to come to our church and think they know everything, and be wrong.

Maybe some folks are going to come to our church and readily admit they know nothing.

Worshipers can come from very unexpected places.

But much like Mary and Joesph, it’s our job to throw open the door and welcome them in.

You know, when my boys were born, the hospital essentially had them lo-jacked so that no one could take them out.

Parents tend to be (rightly) concerned about safety when their first children are born.

But boy, it doesn’t seem like Mary and Joe are, does it?

They’ll throw open the door to anyone who shows up,

Dirty shepherds in the dead of night telling stories about angels.

Or undocumented immigrants from the east who have odd and smelly gifts.

Mary and Joe know the magnitude of what’s going on in their lives through this Christ Child, and so the doors are open to everyone.

I hope our doors will be every bit as open as theirs.

Consensus is not the same thing as wisdom.

In 2011, Harold Camping predicted that the world was going to end and that the rapture was going to occur on Saturday, May 21.

Camping was a televangelist with a pretty large audience and following.

And that following had read the scriptures right along with him.

They had become absolutely convinced that the rapture was coming on May 21, 2011.

One of Camping’s followers even spent $140,000 of his own money to put up billboards in his hometown.

The billboard said “The Bible Guarantees it!”

And then…Sunday May 22nd came around.

The followers of Camping were devistated, one even called it “bewildered.”

Camping stopped showing up for his regular weekly show.

And in one of my favorite pieces of theological trolling, someone put this billboard up instead...

All of this points to two truths:

Consensus is not the same thing as wisdom.

Just because all the religious leaders of Harrod’s day were on the same page doesn’t mean they were right.

They were in fact, all wrong together.

Just like Camping’s followers, they had a group concensus, but in fact that consensus blinded them to some of what they were missing.

And that leads us to warning two:

Be careful of echo chambers.

The way our society has set itself up, we value concensus almost more than we value truth.

You are able to choose your own news network.

You are able to choose your own social media diet.

You are able to craft a reality you agree with, irregardless of whether or not it’s true or wise.

We as Christians should seek wisdom, not concensus.

We should welcome the chance to be challenged the the truth of the situation, rather that retreat to our comfort zones.

We should explore the truth beyond the comfort of our own echo chambers.

We should always be on the lookout for whatever lies underneath that star in the sky, even if it doesn’t meet our expectations.

Jesus is God’s ultimate revelation.

One thing I have heard from time to time from people who don’t believe in God is an argument like this:

If God wants us all to believe in him, why doesn’t he show up and just show himself?

And that’s such a good question, because that’s exactly what God did.

The Magi have an Epiphany at the end of that star chase.

They meet with God.

God in human flesh.

God in a feeding trough.

God as a baby named Jesus.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

God is patient.

God is kind.

God is welcoming to everyone.

God is more than happy to spend time with sinners and riff raff.

God is so in love with us that he willingly gives himself up for us.

So today, I hope you have an apostraphe. I mean Epiphany.

I hope you come to see that God welcomes worshippers from everywhere.

I hope you come to see that our journey is toward wisdom, and not concensus.

I hope that you come to know that God loves you, just as you are, through the person of Jesus Christ.