An Epiphany of Light

This is the final day of the 12 days of Christmas.  It is the eve of a new season of Epiphany, a time during which we observe the Wise Men coming from the East to search for and see the child who has been born king of the Jews.  They asked, "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."

The Rev. Herbert O'Driscoll, wrote about the Wise Men in the Christian Century Magazine several years ago.  “Because we know almost nothing about the wise men, our imaginations take wing.  If we were brought up in the Christian faith, these characters have ridden across our minds and hearts ever since we were taken to our first Sunday school pageant.  Even the most sophisticated children secretly envy those who have been selected to play the wise men.  Parents will ransack attics for pieces of fabric -- the more brilliant and exotic the better -- and someone in the family will create a costume that will be linked to no particular age or time or culture but will somehow speak of far-off places, distant shores, desert sands and starry skies -- all at the same time.”

Think about the Christmas pageant we enjoyed on Christmas Eve.  The costumes were amazing, the children moved about adorned with the clothing of their character.  Narrators told the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, and we all sang carols in both English and Spanish.  It was a remarkable and wonderful event.

Herbert O’Driscoll tells us, “the Magi represent forever and for all of us the wisdom that recognizes human life to be a journey taken in search of One who calls us beyond ourselves into faithful service -- One before whom we are prepared to kneel, and to whom we offer the best of our gifts, flawed and unworthy though they be.”

“We watch these visitors to Bethlehem, as they kneel with supreme grace and dignity before what is to them simplicity, vulnerability and poverty.  They are prepared to kneel, for in their wisdom -- and this is the heart of what makes them truly wise -- they discern the glory that is hidden in this place and in this child.  And so we too, daily engaged in our own all too human journey, searching for that which would have us be so much more than we are, and bearing our unworthy gifts, kneel on the stable floor beside these royal ones, worshiping with them the child who is most royal.”

This coming season of Epiphany is a time to celebrate God’s gift of new life for all the world.  Jesus, the Son of God, was born as a poor baby and laid in a manger full of hay and straw.  Then, somehow, a star in the East captured the curiosity of some Magi and they followed it.  When they saw the child Jesus they were overwhelmed and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The presentation of gifts, however, is not the end of the story.  There is a more troubling part to it.   King Herod heard about the birth of Jesus and, upon hearing it. “was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him.”  So he called together the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them about where the Messiah was to be born.  He was terrified and motivated because of his fear.  Herod felt threatened and was moved to respond defensively.  The authorities told him what had been foretold by the prophet, "In 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.'"

King Herod, a ruler overseeing Jerusalem and all of Judah on behalf of the Roman Empire, being told that a new ruler was born to lead the people.  It was a threat to his ruling power.  However, what gave wisdom to the Magi was a shared dream.  “They were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they left for their own country by another road.”

Nancy Rockwell, a writer and teacher of Christianity and literature who lives in New Hampshire, said that Herod, “devoid of talent, ignorant of his own traditions, and without God’s anointing… uses dark arts to keep his throne: terror; savagery and secrets; the murder of children, for which he is remembered still. This birth story is grisly, shocking.

“Matthew does not shrink from telling us that the coming as well as the going of God from this world are shrouded in violence, intrigue and destruction, and require our courage, risk, and following of small and unexpected lights to guide our way.”

What is the meaning of the story of the Wise Men?  Nancy Rockwell applies it to a present-day situation. “A colleague two towns away has written that the little girl who was the Star in her church pageant, who led the Wise Men down the aisle, whose mother then lifted her up so she could shine above the manger, has been deported by the INS (the Immigration and Naturalization Service).  Herod is still sending centurions to trample through small towns in the name of the public good.  The sleeping populace yawns in unconcern, buys dark weapons for itself in epic numbers and delusions of similar proportion, and goes to church on Christmas Eve, believing this story is safe for children, a comfort on a starry winter night.”

“The story, though, has the true power of sacred tales: it is Eternal.  It is, and always will be happening now.  And the children who live it, who live through it, who are lifted up within it and see its light, are the ones whose lives are anointed by it, who will become its light.  When grown, it is they who will speak to us about God and Herod, they who will know whose throne is real and whose is to be torn down, they who have heard what the Wise Men knew and what they really gave, and where in the world they went, after Bethlehem.”

What all this suggests to me is how important it is for us to provide the quality of education and spiritual formation our children need so they can truly gain the wisdom to see the light.  It is the light of our human relationships that separates the rays of hope for equality and opportunity from the darkness of injustice and discrimination.  Amen.