Jesus speaks to you today saying:
“And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and
they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered
him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
Today, we must begin to truly see the Lord’s Epiphany and
begin to move away from calling these men, however many there may be, “wise”.
First of all, the word Jesus uses to describe them is not “wise”, but “magi”,
as in “magicians”.
Secondly, these fellows don’t have much wisdom for three
reasons: first, they’re following a star. I mean what is this, Pinocchio? Two,
they end up in the wrong place, and three, they need to be told in a dream that
it’s a bad idea to go back to the murderous Herod.
So, we call them Magi and in doing so, we find other men in
the Bible with the same description. In the 13th and 2nd
chapter of Acts, the Apostles encounter magi and both times they are misleading
the people and both times the Apostles must use apostolic power to subdue them.
Not a very good picture of magi.
In the 2nd and 5th chapters of Daniel,
there are also magicians and they too are presented in a negative way. The
kings of Babylon
So when we get to our Magi of today, they have an uphill battle
to fight in the ears of St. Matthew’s hearers. However, the point is not to
despise these men. Far from it. They came to reject their science and art in
response of the Word of God. What we should take away from our Lord’s Epiphany
to the Magi are three things: 1) they don’t belong there, 2) they are
foreigners, and 3) they were pious.
They didn’t belong in front of God made man because
heretofore they have lived as if He didn’t matter, forsaking Temple and divine
Service in their far-off country, and as if they mattered most. The Lord’s Name
they have not honored, therefore their worship and prayers have faltered and
gone to other gods. Israel
We also find them pious in the sense that they do not ignore
facts right in front of them. It is strange that this star is here and even
stranger that it is only these magi that decide to do something about it,
suggesting that everyone else, even the chosen people of Israel, ignored it,
like us running through a red light by accident or anything else right in front
of us that seemingly has nothing to do with us.
Repent. Our Lord did not refuse or reject the worship and
gifts of these foreign, magi, gentiles. Though gentiles are excluded from God’s
covenant as a rule, this new radical, presentation of God in the flesh now
includes a warm welcome for those who do not belong.
You are gentiles. You have also not let God’s love rule over
your life and so your love for others has failed. You have hurt others, failed
to help others, and your thoughts and desires have been filled with sin. With
that track record, the Lord’s presence in the last place you would want to be
found, or found out.
Madeline in our teacher this morning, to understand this
radical message of Epiphany. Indeed, she is our magi who we, along with the
rest of the world, would declare her out-of-place here. What are the sights,
smells, and deep thoughts of the Church to an infant? Or to our political and
social opponents, for that matter?
We exclude. Jesus includes. He includes the entire world by
His Word of forgiveness. Herod and the Israeli leaders heard the same Word the
magi did, yet it was those who were unwelcomed that became welcomed. Children
are the most persecuted and oppressed class of people in the world, yet no
matter how small, they are welcomed as well.
And this is significant, because you heard Jesus say that
unless you receive the Kingdom as a little child, you will never enter it.
Today, Madeline gets to shine again and teach and show us just how such a
miracle can take place: baptism.
The same Jesus that accepts the worship of the outsider
magi, accepts our worship for the same reason. The Son has chosen to reveal
Himself to all people in water and Word and in doing so, has shown us the
Father and cleansed us from all unrighteousness.
Even Joseph, Jesus’ father, had to be scolded in a dream.
There is no escaping sin, but there is a death and resurrection that does away
with the guilt of sin. And since you, and now Madeline, have received this
washing of regeneration and rebirth, you are welcomed. You have been transformed
from unwanted, to wanted. From excluded, to included.
By the will of the Creator Who sent His Son to die for you,
there is no more Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, only saved and
forgiven. This is the Epiphany of Jesus, where He reveals His plan of salvation
for the whole world. Not in remaining a child, but in growing up, suffering and
dying for you.
Jesus opens His arms to receive the unlikely, the
unwelcomed, and the outsider. His wide embrace upon the cross encloses
everyone, even those who reject Him. There is no place where the forgiveness of
sins cannot get to and there is no ear that remains deaf when that Word is
declared to them.
In the visit of the Magi on this, the Epiphany of our Lord,
we receive hope. Hope that, just like the magi, we might be included. We might
find joy. We might find a welcome at God’s table for us and in turn welcome
others that we may deem as unworthy.
The magi and we do not have to be wise or kings or
acceptable to be made a part of the Kingdom Jesus is bringing to completion
within Himself. We do not even need a fancy star to prove to us that something
different is happening to the world that no one else realizes.
We need exactly what the Magi, the shepherds, Joseph, and
Herod needed: the Word. But not just any word: the Word made flesh Who dwells
among us. That Word will accomplish our salvation and include us in His plans
to redeem the world, one drop of water at a time.
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