A - HA !

 

January 5, 2014

Christmas 2 - Epiphany Sunday

Isaiah 60:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

(prayer)

There are a lot of historical variations, but the dominant version since ~1909 says that today is the day your true love sent to you: twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping ... a bunch of other things ... and a partridge in a pair tree.  January 5th is the 12th day of Christmas.  Tomorrow (January 6th) is the Day of Epiphany - it is the time when the church celebrates the guiding light of God by remembering the story of the Magi from the gospel of Matthew.  When the day of Epiphany falls during the week, the Sunday before January 6th is when we usually read from Matthew, chapter two.

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JRR Tolkien's 1937 novel, The Hobbit, is in the process of being made into a trilogy of movies by Peter Jackson.  You may have read the book or have seen one or both of the first two films.

The title character is a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins of the Shire in Middle-Earth.  Bilbo lives in a very comfortable underground home called Bag End in Hobbiton.  The subtitle of the book is There and Back Again and describes an adventurous journey that Biblo takes with the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves seeking to reclaim a vast dwarfish treasure from a dragon who now lived in the abandoned dwarf caverns under the Lonely Mountain. 

Hobbits are not, by nature, very adventurous creatures.  So, it was a risky endeavour for Bilbo to take part in this quest.  Over the course of the story, he matures… and he gains confidence that he never imagined he might have.  He finds respect and knowledge along the way.  There are many epiphanies for Bilbo on his journey there and back again.

All this... because, Bilbo (reluctantly) agreed to move beyond his comfort zone: to leave the Shire and all his assumptions about the potential of his life, behind.

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The central image in the story of the magi/wisemen is also a 'journey of discovery'.  All of the people in the biblical narrative are faced with something unknown and uncertain.  The choices they make in the face of that mystery is what moves the story along.

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The word "epiphany" has greek roots and means "shown" or "manifest".  An epiphany is something that has been made conspicuously obvious.  We use the word epiphany to describe that moment when we figure something out.  A-ha!

An epiphany is a 'light bulb above the head' moment.

The light has shone and showed us a hint of certainty within the mystery.

Epiphany.

I get it.

A-ha.

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Sometimes, we experience an epiphany out of nowhere: it is a sudden realization.  When I was in my first year university, I took a required computer science course.  We were learning a mathematical programming language, APL.  I had never used a computer and certainly had never tried to write even the simplest of computer programs.  I was pretty good at math in high school, but this computer course intimidated me.  I sat in that lecture hall for weeks and paid close attention to the lecturer, but I really struggled.  The course material was going over my head.

Then one day, I must have sat a few rows back and... bang: it hit me and it all made sense.  My experience was very different after that epiphany moment.

Yes, sometimes the A-ha comes to us with little warning.

But it can also be the result of deep, intense, focused study and experimentation.  That is how most scientific and medical breakthroughs occur.  In these cases, the A-ha comes as things begin to make sense: the pieces finally fall together.  An epiphany sometimes can only be experienced when we are willing to work toward it.  The path to an epiphany often takes us in to new directions - beyond what is known and comfortable.

That brings us back to the journey theme of Epiphany Sunday.

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There are a lot of post-biblical traditions about the wisemen/magi from Matthew's gospel: including how many magi there were, where they were from, how old they were, what there names were, whether they were kings or astrologers or scientists or none of the above, and even stories about what happened to them after they the visited Jesus.  But the oldest words we have about these magi were all contained in our reading today of verses 1-12 (well, almost: the magi are mentioned again in verse 16 as Herod realizes that they are not coming back to him).

The story of the magi is one of a journey.  The magi study the night sky and discerned that a particular star in a particular part of the sky signalled the birth of a king of the Jews.  We can probably infer that since the magi went first to the palace of Herod the Great, that their assumption was that the child's birth was known among to nobility of Judea

But this expected, comfortable assumption was not true.  The magi's plans needed to change.  And, from what we read, they bravely chose to take that journey in a new direction.

We might ask: why was Herod so afraid, so greedy, so cruel, so insecure?  If Herod's advisers were so certain that Bethlehem was the location (having studied the book of Micah), wouldn't it make sense that  some of them might want to accompany the magi?  This was their chance to see 'scriptures fulfilled'.  What held them back? 

The visit of the magi with Jesus is a lesson in the rewards of leaving one's comfort zone, as we watch the wise ones from the east risk life, reputation, money and time on searching for a new divine child. (source: "Seasons of the Spirit", ACE2013/14, page 98)

The magi's intense study and willingness to venture into the unknown, led to a unique experience of the holy.

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The flipping of the calendar from one year to another often coincides with people thinking about who they hope to be and become in the time to come.

In the light of the story of the magi, are we willing to move beyond our comfort zones and move into the mystery where hope can be found and faith can be grown?

A-ha, epiphany experiences are momentous: ‘A light comes on’ in our minds and something in the world changes: a new idea, a new understanding, a new experience – an epiphany is a reminder that not everything is known yet – a moment of humility. Having an epiphany about our place in God’s world and God’s place in our lives is a reminder that mystery will always exist and that we cannot expect that what we know now is the sum total of all that we will be and become.

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So, the real question on this last Sunday of Christmas, this first Sunday of 2014 becomes: what now?

Christ is in the world and the world is changed.  Do we move out in to this new world or do we retreat back into what is comfortable? The biblical story is a collection of various reactions to that question. Does an insight into the divine excite us or frighten us; it is a wonder or a worry?

This is not the same church or congregation that I was called to thirteen years ago.  Yes, there have been ‘physical’ changes, but I have also been witness to (and part of) spiritual development as well.

The word ‘faith’ implies a level of trust within uncertainty.  Even as aspects of what we believe become more clear to us, we are called to live on the edge of God’s mysterious love.  We ask: where is God’s love not full known?  Where are we as a people of the world, not shining the light of God’s compassion so that others know that they have deep value and are loved by the source of all that is?

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So, as we come together for common worship, and share a common meal, we also disburse and fill the world, carrying the light of God’s love with us.  Realizing that is an important epiphany - to see ourselves as responsible for showing and sharing the warmth of the light of Christ.

It may not always be comfortable.  But it is always faithful.

Let us pray:

Guiding God, your light beams into our lives, offering us what we cannot do without: hope. Help us hear your hope, and draw nearer to you and your truth as we live in this world today. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. (source: "Seasons of the Spirit", ACE2013/14, page 98)

***offering***