Jan 6, 2013 Epiphany Of Our Lord

Matthew 2:1-12

 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

   6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.]”

   7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route

 “Following A Star”

It was no simple thing for the Magi to follow that star.  It would have been easy for them to philosophize about it, to debate its significance, but to follow it was something quite extraordinary.
They are an example of the quest of faith.  To discover God we too have to dare follow some stars, risk leaving the comfortable contemplation of heavenly things and move out into new and different surroundings.

God is not found in a book isolated from people.  God is discovered in the venture of faith, in very human ways.  God entered this imperfect world in human form and that is where God is still discovered.

"He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake side, He came to those men who knew Him not.  He speaks to us the same word: "Follow thou me!"  and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time.  He commands.  And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is."
Albert Schweitzer- "The Quest for the Historical Jesus"


 “Worshipped By Outsiders”

The Magi were outsiders who demonstrated a lot of faith, acting on such flimsy evidence.  They didn’t know what we know; they just knew of a word of prophecy and a strange star.  It was full of mystery and they were full of a searching faith.

“Our three Epiphany lessons unite, you see, to say that God does not despise the religions of outsiders, and neither may we.  This is not to say that one religion is as good as another, but that the hunger for God is a common human trait and deserves respect wherever it is found.”  Proclamation 2 A, pp.12,13

Outsiders:  Bob would be one; not much of a church goer yet a man of deep insight.   “Let us have a church that dares imitate the heroism of Jesus; seek inspiration as he sought it;  judge the past as he; act on the present like him; pray as he prayed; work as he wrought; live as he lived.”  (Bob Folk - letter to editor)

Gandhi would be one: “Find a Muslim boy and adopt him as your son (pause)
and raise him as a Muslim.”  Words spoken in Movie to a Hindu seeking peace in his heart for killing a Muslim child.

Henri Nowen:  “Saintliness ( or discipleship) means living without division between word and action.”

Christ belongs to all and all belong to Christ!  That’s the secret of the Magi!