Rector's Sermon - Sunday, January 6, 2002

First Reading	Epistle	Gospel
Isaiah 60:1-6	Ephesians 3:1-12	Matthew 2:1-12

                
      In the Gospel of Luke, the Holy Family journeys to Bethlehem and the shepherds out in the surrounding fields come to visit at the stable behind an inn. In Matthew the Holy Family apparently is already living in Bethlehem; there are no shepherds mentioned, but sometime after Jesus' birth, there are magi who make the journey to Bethlehem. According to Luke, shortly after Jesus was born, the family went to Jerusalem to offer thanksgiving in the Temple, and then returned to Nazareth, with no hint of anxiousness from the political rulers. In Matthew, rumors of Jesus' birth cause a stir at the palace and the threats of Herod forced the family to seek refuge in a Jewish community in Egypt. Some years afterwards, the family returned, taking up residence in Nazareth where the political situation appeared safer.

      Matthew seems to offer the story of the magi as a separate chapter from Jesus' birth. All of this is to say that we probably never will be able to neatly harmonize the stories of Christmas. Maybe Epiphany provides the occasion to emphasize that the Gospel writers knew that the details of the stories were like individual tiles of a large mosaic. The details are only the medium through which the meaning of Jesus' birth is discovered. Like a mosaic, distance increases its clarity.

      What impresses me, as we begin to take down the decorations, crush the boxes for recycling, and finish our thank you notes, is that we are not still standing in awe right before the stable. We have already continued on our own journey. Like the magi we too have left, but we also have been offered a gift that has potential to change our outlook and guide the direction of our journey on different routes than before.

      In a traditional Epiphany pageant the three kings with crowns of gold and presents, sometimes followed by three pairs of children in camel costumes often process to the crèche. Yet the problem isn't simply that the magi were likely astrologers than rulers or that the magi are reported going to Jesus' house not the stable. Rather, the character of Herod is usually left out of the pageant. Herod rarely appears scowling from behind the curtain or in back of the organ. Yes, I understand why, yet it is Herod who is the key player to the story. It is Herod who opens, closes and is never absent from the whole scene. The magi come to Bethlehem knowing that there is tension afoot. Both the magi and the Holy family sense the danger in a larger world, and have to leave Bethlehem by another route.

      If over these past few weeks you have never broken a bulb nor been late sending some cards; have never felt rushed nor experienced a pang of regret or feeling of foreboding, there is probably something seriously amiss how you celebrated the season. Herod symbolizes the distractions, the pressures, the stuff that threaten to frustrate or derail our journey. Herod is real, as real as the magi. Take a look at this crèche one last time. Christmas is not about perfection and having everything in place. This is not a carefree happy-ever-after story.

      If your Christmas or the start of the new year has not turned out as you had wished; if you feel you're in a rut or have not moved as fast and as far as you had hoped, accept the gift of the magi. Epiphany becomes the sign that God is present among those who are stuck, like Mary and Joseph, in places they would prefer not to be. Epiphany is the star that shines among us when from time to time we are threatened by numerous and various types of Herods, and flee along unfamiliar or lonely roads.

      We will take down the crèche tomorrow, and pack away all the figures lovingly made by a member of this parish decades ago. The gift of the magi, however, continues the gift of God's presence, over moor and mountain by day, upon refuge in an inn, tent, or stall by night. As people of faith like many of those people in the large mosaic of the Christmas stores, we all continue on some sort of journey. Hence we can never be sure exactly where we will be in the future or who will be with us. Yet it is the Good News of Epiphany, not the threats of Herod that have the last word. The lasting gift of the magi, before they disappear from our sight forever, is the sign of God's presence taken to the ends of the earth.      

      And I offer this to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen