Sermon by Stuart Pike

Photo Credit: Dr. He Qi of China

Sermon Text:

Today we hear the story of the end of a long journey. The three wise men finally were able to see the result of the prophecy of the star. The word, Epiphany means to display or to manifest. It alludes to a great truth shining through. It describes how it was that the Magi were able to travel a great distance to eventually find themselves at a humble village ‑ how, upon entering the humble home they would find a baby born in abject poverty ‑ and how, even in this unlikely setting, they were able to see God's presence there. God's love shone through in this unlikely scene, and the Magi were able to realize this. This was Epiphany for the wise men: the power of God shining through the seemingly mundane.

Matthew, the evangelist presents a very different story than the Christmas story that we get from Luke. In Luke, we have the simple story of Jesus being born in poverty and recognized and worshiped only by poor shepherds. The religious elites and the nobility of Israel are completely unaware of the great birth.

Here in Matthew we do have the nobility arrive to pay homage, but it’s not the nobility of Jesus’ own people! They are still caught unawares. These nobility that do arrive are the magi – from the east – with strange traditions and religion. They are outsiders. Probably from Persia, what is now Iran. They studied the stars – they were the scientists of their day. They were probably followers of the Zoroastrian religion. They are seekers after the truth, and they find their truth in the Christ child.

I might have been burned as a heretic at one time for saying it, but today we can celebrate that the truth of Christ is present in all of the great faith traditions as well as in science and in the experience of truth seekers of all kinds.

There are many lessons which we can learn from the story of the Magi. First of all is the fact that the religious leaders of Jesus’ own religion were closed to any new revelation about God. God’s revelation can come through outsiders. We religious people can easily become far too smug in our faith. The false belief that “my religion has the monopoly on truth” has resulted throughout history in some of the greatest violence the world has seen.

Revelations of God’s truth usually seem to come in ways that defy our cultural norms or expectations. God surprises us with truth from the farthest margins.

The Magi are guided on their journey by a star. God can reach us through the natural world as well as through human beings. God can speak through our own experience of nature, if we are aware and looking for the signs of God. Science as well as religion can reveal God’s truth. Some of the newest scientific discoveries have shown how the whole universe is so interconnected and in rhythm.

The Magi are also guided in their journey through a dream. God can be revealed not only in the conscious mind, but also in the unconscious. God communicates through dreams four times in the first two chapters of Matthew’s gospel.

At the end of the Gospel lesson, the Magi return home by another road after having been warned in a dream. We too need to be open to other ways. Many people find themselves not where they expected to be at this point in their lives. Often God is revealed to us not when we are on the familiar, expected path.

In his Christmas message in 1939, just as England had entered into world war 2, King George VI quoted a Poem entitled “God Knows” written by Minnie Louise Haskins. He quoted:

‘And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand i