Rector's Sermon - Sunday, January 12, 2003

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Isaiah 60:1-6	72:1-7, 10-14	Ephesians 3:1-12	Matthew 2:1-12

     One of my favorite stories from the archives of St. John's begins at creation when God made the hot-blooded thoroughbred for racing and the stocky draft horse for plowing, and the donkey, the first mini van for the average person, for hauling both people and goods. However God knew that sometime in the future an animal would be needed to carry the news of Jesus birth to all the people of the earth. The animal would need to travel in all sorts of weather and terrain, and so God gave to a committee of angels the task of creating a special horse for this purpose.

     The committee took their assignment very seriously. Some insisted the horse needed to carry its food supply on its back so it could travel long distances through barren lands. Others demanded the animal have a long neck to look over sand dunes and be able to discern a path ahead. Still others wanted the animal to have a keen sense of smell to detect dangers in the wind. Some wanted a tough, strong willed horse who would not be discouraged by adversity and challenges. Some wanted a thick hairy coat to protect them from extreme weather.

     As the committee debated and argued over these points, the angels grew quarrelsome and hissed at each other, and somehow that quality also got down on newsprint and inadvertently was entered into the animal's characteristics. Finally, way past their deadline and over budget, they completed their task and as you probably have guessed by now, the special horse like creature designed by the committee became known as the camel.

     Christmas has been a time of strong sentimental attachments. We are often prisoners of memories, even if those memories are idealized more than we care to admit. Yet people of faith need to be on their guard against letting sentiment gloss over the meaning of the season. Jesus was sent not to audit a semester's course in human life, but to fully enter it and take it all in. That is why I always like it when the camels finally get to the stable. For the camel is a symbol of our complicated and often incongruous lives. Like a camel we are not always sleek and swift, not always easy to steer and at times we tend to be downright stubborn. The gospel will not permit us to sanitize Jesus. Jesus does not flee from the mess we have made, but comes to stay among a world of perplexity, depression, and wrong turns. God's love isn't cloying, but it is tenacious and genuine.

     Epiphany and the story of the magi still hold more good news for us. In one sense the camel is also a symbol of the surprise and unexpectedness when God enters the picture. Who knew at the beginning what kind of animal the committee of angels would make.

     There is a rumor that a new dean appointed to the Johnson Graduate School of Management, at the end of his first day was standing by the paper shredder with a piece of paper in his hand. A teaching assistant went by and the dean said, "This is an important confidential document, can you make this thing work?" "Sure", said the TA, and he turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button. "Great," said the new dean, I just need one copy.

     Well when God enters the world, we find that things don't operate quite the same anymore. That is what the season of Epiphany is about. .Joseph and Mary discovered they had to contend with a lot more than a malleable little infant, for when the Son of God comes upon any of us, it doesn't work the way we would wish or control. Strange new animals like camels, visitors from foreign lands speaking different languages all portend new situations where relationships are transformed. Epiphany is about babies who develop into adults and communities that develop and in their rough and arduous journeys discover the presence of God.

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