Isaiah 60.1-6, Matthew 2.1-12
Just a very short sermon today, because of the temperature of the church, [the heating has broken down, again] but I just wanted briefly to focus on one little, and to me, intriguing detail of Matthew’s story of the visit of the wise men to Jesus, something that niggles at me and makes me wonder.
A group of foreigners arrive at the court of King Herod, claiming that they have seen a new star, which they believe is a sign that the long-awaited Jewish Messiah has been born, the one promised in the Jewish scriptures who would save and deliver his people, the one people have been praying for, looking for, for centuries – the passage we heard from the prophet Isaiah looks forward to this time, a joyful time of peace and prosperity.
The chief priests and scribes are summoned by Herod to give their expert opinion on where these men should look for the Messiah. And then the wise men are sent on their way.
And yet no one goes with them – that’s the thing that puzzles me. Not one of those religious professionals, the priests and scribes, not one of those who have spent their lives scouring the scriptures and praying for God to save and help their nation, not one of them goes along with the wise men to check out their story, even if only to disprove it. Bethlehem is only about 6 miles from Jerusalem – a couple of hours walk. They could be back in time for tea. But they don’t go.
I can understand why Herod acts as he does. He is a paranoid megalomaniac and any talk of a new king is bound to send him into a frenzy of fear and jealousy. But these priests and scribes…don’t you think they’d at least be a little bit curious? And yet they aren’t willing even to take that short journey to Bethlehem to find out whether there is anything in the wise men’s story.
In telling this story, Matthew paints a picture at the start of his Gospel of a political and religious system which doesn’t consider for a moment that anyone outside their favoured circle might have anything to give them that’s worth having, which doesn’t consider that God could ever be at work beyond the limits of their own horizon.
Their refusal to be curious, their apparent apathy, is rooted in prejudice, but their prejudice, like all prejudice, is rooted in fear. They are just as afraid, in different ways, as Herod, afraid of what it might mean for them if the wise men’s mysterious story might turn out to be true. Better the devil you know than the devil – or even the God – you don’t.
Epiphany means “revelation”. This season of Epiphany, which begins today, challenges us to open our eyes and minds and hearts to God’s revelation to us, to the things God might be trying to say to us and show us - the healing and hope and life and joy and peace he wants for us. But it also challenges us to open our eyes and hearts and minds to the things in us that might make it hard to hear and receive from God.
Like those religious insiders, we can easily be hindered by our prejudices. We may have already made our minds up about other people, so we miss God speaking to us through them. And we may have made our minds up about ourselves too. “There’s no way God could be calling me to do this – I am too old, too young, too inexperienced, too much of a mess”.
But our prejudices, like those of the priests and scribes in the story, are usually also rooted in fear. “What if I said yes to God? What if I dared to believe that God cares about me? What if I went to Bethlehem, to the place where God is born in me? What if I took God’s call on my life seriously? Where would that lead me? Would I find myself, like the wise men, being led out on “another road”, a journey I didn’t expect to take?
I don’t know what the answer to those questions might be for each of us, but I do pray that we will have the courage to be curious, the courage to ask where Christ might be born for us and in us, the courage to set out on the journey to meet him. “Arise, shine for your light has come”.
Amen
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