I. Let me start this sermon at the end. AMEN. Well, maybe we should start a little before that.

Transcription

1 Real Magic Matthew 2:1-12 January 8, 2017 Epiphany I. Let me start this sermon at the end. AMEN. Well, maybe we should start a little before that. A. Jesus is the savior of all the world and God s gift of love to all of God s creation. That s the profound part. B. That is where we will end up, but the journey to our destination is the fun part. II. Tradition would have us believe that there were these three wise men and every nativity scene in the world has these three wise guys showing up to see Jesus in the Bethlehem manger WRONG. That s so wrong. I know that these days facts are just an inconvenience and not really important. But, let s not commit that sin here.

2 A. If you follow the scripture, the Magi show up, maybe up to two years later and encounter not a baby, but a child; and in a house where they live in Bethlehem. B. In Matthew s story, they don t travel to Bethlehem for some registration; they live there. C. And their visitors are not necessarily three wise men. 1. There s no number given. Could be two, could be twenty. 2. There s no reference to men, some could have been women. 3. And I have no idea why the New Revised Standard Version edition of the Bible editors decided to go with wise men, when that totally hides the identity of these visitors and thus the meaning of the story. Even the early church fathers, such as St. Justin, Origen, St. Augustine and St. Jerome translated the original Greek word magi ; as "magician." 2 2

3 4. Yes these were magicians. D. By just calling them wise men we miss the richness of who they really were and the real significance of these visitors who were known as magicians, astrologers, alchemists, and purveyors of mystical knowledge and power. 1. Magi, were religious followers of Zoroastrianism, which was the religion of Persia and so much of what became Christian belief also came from this religion and not from the ancient Hebrew faith. 2. You see, when the Judean political and religious leadership was exiled into Babylon they were exposed to Zoroastrianism and they brought back with them many Zoroastrian beliefs when they were released and returned to Jerusalem. 3. Major features of Zoroastrianism, that were brought into the Jewish faith, and then assumed into Christianity, were such things as: a) the idea of a messiah, b) heaven and hell, 3 3

4 c) that the cosmos was dualistic like the Force with a light side and a dark side, with an accompanying good God who would in the end overpower the evil dark side of the force. 4. They also brought back with them the idea of the Kingdom of God that was to be created here on earth and was a mainstay in Jesus preaching. In Zoroastrianism, one s purpose in life is to "be among those who renew the world...to make the world progress towards perfection". [Wikipedia] E. Do you see all that is lost when you just call them wise men? III. A great deal of what was foundational to Jesus teaching originally came from Zoroastrianism, but that is just a small part in why Matthew thought it was important to include this story in his gospel. What is happening, and is explained in the word epiphany, was the revealing of God s love, not just to the Jews, but to all the world. 4 4

5 A. God s love was not just for the Jews and those who historically worshipped the god called Yahweh, but for all people; even for those who worshipped God by other names. B. That of course is a theme returned to by Luke in the story of Pentecost when the gospel was preached to people from all over the world and when Jesus heals Syrophoenicians, Samaritans and Romans. C. Oh, but forget them for the moment, it also means that God s love is for us. 1. Yeah, don t forget. We ain t Jews. 2. For most of us our religious ancestry is as Celtic or Asatru and Odinism, or Germanic paganism and worshippers of Woden; or again it might have been the Zoroastrian worship of Mazda, or one of the many variations of African religion, or Buddhism or Hinduism. 5 5

6 3. The point of much of the Apostle Paul s teaching was that it doesn t matter what regional or ethnic faith you adhere to, the love of God as manifested in Jesus is also for you. That s why he took the gospel to the pagans of Rome and Greece and Turkey. 4. That was Matthew s point that he made by including this story of the magicians who, though of a different religion, came to honor the Christ child. D. In this congregation, in the years that I have been here, we have been composed of folks who are Jewish and Buddhist and Pagan, and Wiccan and Presbyterian, and Methodist and Lutheran and Catholic and Episcopalian, and Baptist and Anabaptist and agnostic and out right atheist. Now I don t know that we ve had any Muslims or Hindus but maybe; but you know what? God loves them all and all God really wants of us is to do the same. 6 6

7 E. In the book that the Advent Study group read David Korten says we need to ask of every policy proposal: Does it serve life or money? F. But I think the question we need to ask is simpler and goes deeper. Namely, Are our actions loving? That is do they enhance the value of God s creation? IV. Just as the Judeans taken into exile learned from Zoroastrianism, we too can learn from other faiths; but this can only be done if we learn to love others and not hate them. V. This means that the Epiphany, the revelation of God s love to all people must involve a bit of magic. A. Yes, back to magic. B. We must understand that the magicians of Persia, like the ones who visited Jesus were not like the magicians of today. 7 7

8 C. They were not like Penn and Teller or Copperfield or Henning who do slight of hand or illusions tricks. D. The magicians who visited Jesus were believed to have access the spiritual. They could manipulate the spiritual world in a way that if would affect this world. We came to call these people priests. E. Just a little side note, that magical term hocus pocus may actually come from the Latin Mass when the bread is transubstantiated into the body of Christ. It is what the people heard when the priest, with his back turned to people, said, Hoc est corpus meum; or This is my body. F. But back to my point, the magicians were people with a connection to the spiritual, to the Holy, and the magic involved is to recognize that in order to change the world we see we must first change the spirit. G. It is a change in our spirits that will change us. 8 8

9 H. The philosopher Hegel spoke of a Spirit of the World, the Zeitgeist, and showed how any change in the world originated in and was in turn reflected in the zeitgeist. VI. So, as we approach the end of this sermon let me point out that what we need is a little real magic. We really need to change the Spirit of the World, as well as, our own spirits, if the world is to see that Jesus is the savior of all the world and God s gift of love to all of God s creation. AMEN. 9 9