January 6, 2008
Rev. Patricia L. Liberty
Finding Our Way
People send me stuff. My computer joke file, titled Humorous/Inspirational has bumper stickers sayings, bulletin bloopers, puns too terrible to tell, snippets from U-tube videos, stupid jokes, you name it.
Some of it will never be part of a sermon, some if it is worth sharing. Hence, the top ten things overheard on the Wise Men’s journey to Bethlehem:
David Letterman, eat your heart out.
#10. I hope we get to an oasis soon, I am really getting thirsty.
#9.If they can send a man to Damascus, how come they can’t make a saddle that doesn’t chafe?
#8.Did you ever eat camel? I hear it tastes like chicken.
#7.What kind of name is Balthazar anyhow?
#6.If you think the road to Bethlehem is rough you should try the road to Galilee
#5. Speaking of Bethlehem, I used to go to school with a girl named Beth Lehem.
#4. How come myrrh is spelled with a “y” instead of a “u”?
#3. Okay, whose camel just spit?
#2. Do you think we should have brought extra swaddling clothes and a casserole instead?
And the number one thing the Wise Men said on their way to Bethlehem.
Nah, we’re not lost, no need to stop for directions.
The fact that the Wise Men are no longer escaping the clutches of humor may be sign that this little recognized holiday of epiphany is finally coming into its own. Christmas usually comes in with a bang and goes out with a whimper, and Epiphany is hardly even noticed.
Matthew is the only Gospel writer who records the visitation of the Magi. Whether the other Gospel writers did not have access to the story or didn’t consider it significant is something we will never know. What is apparent though, it is that it fits with Matthew’s overall theological framework, connecting the historical Jesus to the political and economic transformation as a touchstone of God’s coming realm. I’ll say more about that in a moment.
Some scholars suggest the wise men were probably Babylonian astrologers following a star that appeared in the sky as long as two years before they actually arrived in Bethlehem.
Ancient astrological records note the presence of aberrant lights in the night sky, including what we now know to be Haley’s comet, at times that roughly correspond to the journey of these travelers. Looked at in this way, it may be that these shadowy three are the earliest disciples, leaving home and country for an unknown place on an uncertain time line, bearing gifts of great value for one in whom they believed even though they had not seen.
But what is most hopeful about these mercurial characters showing up in our Scripture is that they suggest there is room at the manger for those who come by a different path, whose journey is out of the norm, those who show up late, look different and bring strange gifts. If there is room for them, maybe there is room for the rest of us too.
The Wise Men remind me that being and becoming a Christian is different for everyone, that everyone finds their way to the manger in their own way and their own time. Go to any church anywhere, this one included and you will find all kinds of people. There are cradle Christians. Those who are born and raised in church going families and never leave the church’s embrace, stay for their whole life. There are those who were raised with no church affiliation and show up for God only knows what reason and come to faith that changes their lives. There are still others who leave for a time and return in their own Prodigal time. And still others find their way to the embrace of the living giving God and a faith community in the midst of the complexities of their life journey. And I’m sure I left out a few folks here and there along the way….
The point is that faithfulness is a journey and its unfolding is as unique as each individual life. And in that small manger there is room for us all.
It may be that one of the things that makes these men wise is that they honored the unfolding of their journey. While it’s fun to make jokes about their showing up late and bringing impractical gifts, they were who they were, made no apologies and offered no explanations. They showed up and offered their gifts. Their search and their yearning were genuine.
Biblical scholars wax eloquent about the significance of gold, frankincense and myrrh, suggesting that they foretold events of his life and death. Myrrh was used as an embalming ointment, gold was the gift of royalty and frankincense was used in temple worship.
But in looking for deep symbolism the obvious can slip right by. Their gifts were honest, the best they had and their value was found not in how much they cost, but in the spirit in which they were given.
What one of us doesn’t know the joy of the simplest of gifts given from the heart? The beauty of gifts made with love and care? Gifts that are carefully chosen especially for that special person? How many of us have received the hand made gifts of children and count them among our most prized possessions? In looking only at the monetary value we have missed the significance of their gifts as the honest offerings of honest seekers whose journey is fulfilled.
Finally, the story of the Wise men is a testimony to transformation in the midst of uncertainty. Remember that the Wise Men’s first conversation about the King were with Herod, who though he was called King was, in fact, a puppet of the imperial Roman authorities occupying Judea. Herod, for all his power was man whose every move was grounded in fear.
Kathleen Norris writes, “To me, Herod symbolizes the terrible destruction that fearful people can leave in their wake if their fear is unacknowledged, if they have power but can only use it in furtive, pathetic and futile attempts at self preservation. Herod’s fear is like a mighty wind; it can’t be seen, but its effects dominate the landscape.
And the Wise Men, being men of power, go to Herod for their information. It can be compared to a foreign dignitary coming to the United States, he or she would not go to the seven eleven to get information, but would seek out or be met by people in parallel positions of power. And, initially, they were co-opted into Herod’s plan.
What makes them finally different form Herod, though, is their willingness to change. After meeting the living incarnate Christ they are changed and they go home another way.
It is a simple yet profound sentence. Being warned in a dream they go returned home by another way. Knowledge bows to truth. Power ceases to collude with power. Privilege and position give way to humility. It is perhaps the most hopeful part of the story.
True power is not about one’s place in society though few of us who are white and live in a highly industrialized society recognize the privilege that affords.
Meeting the living Christ and finding a different way home means we come to understand that true wealth is not about what we have but what we share, that this human journey is not about how far we can get ahead of someone else but how well we learn to walk beside them, that wisdom is measured not by how much we know but how well we attend to the mysteries of life that are within and around us.
That is what meeting the living Christ is all about. And it may be that the wise men were wise simply because they got that message and it changed them. And they went home a different way. Herod’s fear did not consume them.
Going home by another way means not being afraid in this world and this life, though God knows there is much to fear. Meeting the living Christ changed them and it will change us. Going home by another way means we live into the true meaning of Christmas, best expressed perhaps in the old poem by Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home
When the shepherds are back with their flock the work of Christmas begins;
To find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoners, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among people to make music in the heart.
Amen.