Sermon for Epiphany of Our Lord Year B 2015 Looking for a Star

Transcription

1 Sermon for Epiphany of Our Lord Year B 2015 Looking for a Star There is nothing more inspiring than stargazing on a lovely night. This is especially amazing when you find yourself far from the competition of millions of city lights. Several summers ago, Joe and I and our daughter Katie joined another family for a vacation in Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gourda. The beach, the ocean and the sunshine were gorgeous. And yet, for me, the most spectacular and memorable sights from that vacation was the night sky. Before this visit to the Virgin Islands, I had never seen a shooting or falling star. At night, Joe and I would go out onto the balcony and lift our eyes to the night sky which was full of stars. What made my nightly stargazing so amazing was that each night, after seeing my first shooting star, I saw handfuls of streaks of lights. Having never seen any shooting stars before one night I counted as many as 20. I have since found out that I was watching a meteor shower. We were witnessing a phenomenon that happens when the earth passes through the trail of debris left by a comet as it orbits the sun. But it didn t matter to me and it still doesn t matter what the cause was, watching and counting the shooting stars in the night sky called forth awe from me. And those stars inspired some pondering and meditations of other night sky watchers. I thought of Abraham and Sarah who were invited by God to count the stars when they were promised a child and heirs as countless as the stars. And, of course, I thought of the astrologers known to us as the magi from the East. No wonder the prophet Isaiah tells us to lift up our eyes and look around. Who were these exotic travelers? What nations did they travel from? Persia? Ethiopia? Armenia? We actually know very little about these sages from Matthew s account, though tradition names them Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar (circa an 8th-century treatise by the Venerable Bede). However, contrary to popular perception and the traditional carol we will sing in just a few moments Matthew does not speak of three magi, nor does he refer to them as kings. Actually, the number three is more implied rather than stated. 1

2 It is likely drawn from the number of gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh (or if you were my three-year-old niece you would say gold, Frankenstein, and myrrh) One early tradition put the number as twelve (i.e., the twelve days of Christmas). Current biblical scholars suggest that rather than picturing them as three royal riders outlined against the desert sky, it would be more accurate to think of a larger caravan including magi, servants, and supplies complete with camels and donkeys, all who have apparently been traveling for weeks if not months. These wise ones are astrologers stargazers who read the sky for clues about events on earth and they have seen a special star. Here s one thing we do know about them: they came seeking, lifting up their eyes and looking around. In fact, when the magi inquire of Herod and his court where? it is the first human voice we hear in the gospel of Matthew. We've come to love the Christmas star so much. Even in the weeks before Christmas, you start seeing it everywhere. It's on bulletin covers and Christmas cards. A large bright star may even be a feature of secular Christmas decorations Certainly we ve seen many stars as Christmas tree toppers. But have you ever noticed that the starlight pictured on most of our Christmas cards is in the shape of the cross. A quiet reminder of what is to come the other silent night that seems to be the end of the story. So, along with the wonder and awe of the star, if you think about it, there can be something ominous or foreboding about the Christmas star. Matthew's gospel seems to agree. Notice what Matthew says: "In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, '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.'" Then Matthew continues with these words: "When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him." Now I can't help but wonder if King Herod, who, of course, gets so much so very wrong, actually gets at least part of this news strangely right. Because, at least, he understands that this rising star is big news. 2

3 And he also recognizes that at least on one, temporal level it is not good news for him. But Matthew is quick to note that this goes beyond what some have seen as Herod's chronic "it s all about me-ism though, let s face it, his selfish ambition for power and narcissism are fueling is fear and jealousy. Matthew wants us to know that the rising of this star and what it means is also somehow beyond Herod's brutal collusion with the forces of empire, with its reflexive use of violence to promote its particular interests. Because, as Matthew notes, Herod isn't the only one who looks at that star and sees something ominous or troubling hanging there. All Jerusalem agrees with him. Perhaps we never knew or we forget that for most of human history many people would have agreed. The ancient historian Josephus noted that a star stood over the city of Jerusalem just before its fall in 70 AD. And there were many who thought that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD had been caused by a comet. Likewise, the appearance of a star in the sky over England in 1066, just before the Battle of Hastings, was seen as a dark omen of what was to come. And in 1835, some people even blamed a star for the fall of the Alamo. So when we hear that Herod was frightened, "and all Jerusalem with him," it makes sense. Because, hey, when the heavens themselves begin to defy prediction, there is no telling what might happen. Who knows what other constellations might collapse constellations of power, constellations of privilege, constellations of the possible and the impossible, of what we can imagine and what we've come to expect? If all that collapses, where will that leave us? Who among us can say for sure that it will be better? If everything changes, how will we know what to do? These are troubling thoughts indeed. All this goes for us Christians, too. We Christians have always talked a good game about praying and working for the new. "For behold," it says in scripture, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth..." "Behold, I am doing a new thing..." "And he that sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" "Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." Perhaps you may have noticed that the theme for the ELCA s 25th anniversary in 2013 was Always Making Things New. 3

4 So much of our spiritual and religious talk points to the renovating power of God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. But is that really the star that we're seeking? Sometimes when we speak of the new, I wonder if what you and I mostly mean is something more along the lines, not of "new," but more like "improved." So often, it seems as if we pray only for a vaguely optimized version of the here and now. The fact is, much of the time, even faithful people can't imagine a world that is much different from the one that we already have. But of course that's the point: we can't! Well, you and I can't. But God can. And God is longing to show us that vision, which is a vision for us, and for those we love, and for all people, and all creation, and all time. God is longing to make us part of something that goes far beyond our shallow invocations of our hope in the new. It seems important to name this as we begin another year, and we are thick in the season of New Year's resolutions. Now, it s tempting to be cynical about such things. I certainly can succomb to cynicism. Yet, there is something good, even holy, about naming our hopes for our lives, even when they are small hopes. Whatever your resolutions are, these are all brave and holy acts, in their way. Fundamentally, what makes them holy is that each one is not an end in itself, but rather, a new beginning. These steps toward a different future may be small, they may be incremental, but they are not paltry or they are not shallow, because they are the first steps toward the new the first steps toward a future that the dreamer can't quite see, but which the dreamer faithfully pursues, just the same. Let's also not forget that they require tremendous trust Trust (or faith) that the strength to see them through is there to be found; trust and faith that it may get easier or that we will be given the patience to endure; trust and faith that setbacks aren't the end of all our good intentions if we don't let them be. 4

5 Learning that kind of trust can mean nothing short of learning to see the world in a whole new way and to see ourselves in a whole new way. Sometimes, it's nothing short of learning to live in the light of a new star. In a very different context, the business writer Rosabeth Moss Kanter has written, "Success and failure are not events. They are trajectories." That's true of resolutions, too. More deeply, it's true of God's engagement with us and with all creation. It's not just an event; it is a trajectory like the path of a shooting star if you will. And that's what Herod and Jerusalem began to see as they looked out in the night sky and saw a new star blazing just above them. That star was on a trajectory so broad that it was on none of their maps. And it showed them, to their horror, that God's vision for Creation is on a trajectory so broad that what we think we know and what we think we understand about how things work is just the beginning of what's out there. There is so much more in store for us. And thank God there is. When Herod saw that star, all he could manage to see was bad news. But the point is that the cross-light is good news. Truth be told, it's the greatest news there is. So, as a new year begins, as we move from a season of taking stock and move into a season of taking action, we are invited you and I to push beyond all the old rules and all the expectations of what can and can't be, what should and should not be and this is as true for us as a congregation as it is individually. We are invited to acknowledge our fears; and indeed, it's important that we do but we're invited even more urgently to push past them and to imagine what it might mean to live in the light of that new star. Whatever our fears may be, Epiphany reminds us that we can live our lives in a new light. Epiphany reminds us that Jesus, the light of the world, has arrived in all his rule-breaking, table-turning glory, helping us to see all things, and even ourselves, in new ways. 5

6 In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew reports Jesus saying, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. At the end of their journey, as we know, the magi discover a truth that transcends all others their seeking is both honored and rewarded. And their encounter with God s grace incarnate, calls forth awe and they worship. The story of their seeking and questioning gives hope that any seeker can find his or her way to the manger. The story of the magi from afar reminds us that everyone is invited to the Christ-mass, even those who have been traveling very different paths on their search for their true home. The story of the stargazing magi offers all who ponder God s mysteries one important hint about life for those who have met Christ, the Light of the world and invites us to worship. Nothing is ever the same. We don t take the old road any longer. Or as James Taylor put it in a folksong: Maybe you and I can be wise guys too and go home by another way. We can make it another way. The magi, the kings, the wise-guys help us to understand, too, that the search for grace is prompted and sustained by grace. We become wise men and women, not when we find the baby Jesus, but when we realize the crucified Jesus has found us. In the coming weeks we call the Time after Epiphany, we take the first steps from the manger to the cross, wondering wanderers who are also worshipers and witnesses to the light coming into the world. So arise, beloved stargazers, for your Light has come! Lift up your eyes and look around you shall see and be radiant! 6