Epiphany January 5 2025
’A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
An evocative description by TS Eliot, not of your journey here this morning but the journey travelled by the magi, most likely Persian holy men, who followed the star to Bethlehem.
A journey of some 900 miles, across the mighty Tigris and Euphrates, then the Jordan river, in the winter, to a final destination…. not where they expected, but on the edge….where they bore witness to the most remarkable revelation…..the Incarnation, the Word made flesh
In a myriad of nativity plays a matter of weeks ago we saw a mash up of the stories from Matthew and Luke
Luke has the shepherds and the angels
Matthew has the star and the wise men
All arriving within minutes of each other
And of course accompanied by various animals and sea creatures never mentioned in the gospel ………….
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of the Word made flesh, not to kings or rulers, but to witnesses at either end of the spectrum of society, and by implication, to the whole world.
What we celebrate today is that deepest mystery – God’s revelation to the world in Jesus Christ, born as a humble, vulnerable child in an out of the way place.
In Luke’s Gospel the Christ child is visited by shepherds. They would have had only come a couple of miles, but in another way, it was a long journey for them too. Shepherds were poor and were looked down upon as outsiders
Matthew brings us the magi, also outsiders. We don’t know how many, he doesn’t say, but tradition has aligned their number with the number of gifts. Medieval tradition even made them kings
Magus from Greek means powerful one, one of authority, and there is good evidence to suggest that they were high caste priests from Persia. There was strong links between the Jews and the Persians. After the exile in Babylon not all Jews returned home…many stayed put and settled in what was then the Parthian empire, a rival to the Roman empire and as such an ally to the Jews…
Parthia, Persia, was a seat of scholarship and learning, of the Zoroastrian religion, pre-Islam. The Zoroastrians were monotheistic and had similar messianic expectations to the Jews, even involving a virgin birth
They were great astronomers and astrologers who were waiting for a sign much as were the Jews, for the arrival of a new spiritual King.
This pagan elite was in a way in alignment with the prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures, as we heard in the words of Isaiah
Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your light has come.
These were words spoken to a nation in exile, of hope
And we see that message echoed in the arrival from the east.
Mary Oliver wrote a poem called Sometimes which may help to shape our reflections about this feast of the Epiphany. She writes:
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Epiphany …revelation…. being astonished – an unexpected moment or experience that makes you see and understand things in a completely new way…… a touchstone moment that will guide and shape your life from that moment on.
In Matthew’s gospel this revelation is witnessed first by strangers from far away, Gentile Magi who come seeking the new ‘King of the Jews’. And when they find him they worship him. They find him not in a palace, in the expected place, but in the unexpected place…..Immanuel…God with us
The Epiphany story is about how God is found not at the centre of power but at the margins, not in the certainty of cultural and religious safety and conformity, but beyond the boundaries where new relationships and discoveries are made, where the elite bow down and kneel before a small child, and where a new familye move will soon need to flee for their lives.
The Magi pay attention, are astonished and tell about what they see in their responses and actions. They point the way fordo the same as we too encounter this revelation of ‘God with us’ and allow the beauty and mystery of that revelation to guide and direct our lives so that we also can reveal God’s presence and light to the world too.
The Magi pay attention: they are faithful enquirers using all means at their disposal to follow the guiding of a star seeking this new king.
They are astonished. Their first response on seeing the child is to fall to their knees and to worship him. They allow the truth of what they see to transform and delight them. These seekers and enquirers on pilgrimage have become worshippers. …gifts that affirm the identity of the one they have found; gold for a king, incense for Jesus’s divinity, and myrrh for his sacrificial offering of love for the world. This truly is the king they have been seeking.
These wise men defy Herod’s instruction. They do not tell Herod about what they see, but by their actions they tell the world where true power lies, here in this out of the way place, in this tiny child. See, this is where God is to be found, they say. They leave for their own country, not by the expected way but by another road.
God invites us to pay attention to be where the light is, to follow faithfully.
Our response can only be to be astonished and amazed and to bow our knee and worship too.
Transformed by that encounter and revelation, we cannot help ourselves from telling others about it, both by our actions and words. As we respond to his light we become witnesses to his revelation too, signposts of his love for others, the star that points his way.
How might you pay attention? Be faithful in your following, in your seeking after the light and goodness of Christ. Be open to looking beyond the boundaries of your life, your experience and your expectations – your expectations of yourself, of others and of God.
Seek encounters with those who seem to be other to you because it is with them you will come to find and know God. Pay attention to the marginal places and the people you find there. Because that is where you will find God.
How are you astonished? Be open to the wonder, beauty and mystery of God in all that you encounter and allow yourself to be transformed.
How are you going to tell about it? You tell of God’s love and revelation to you by how you give your gifts. What do you have that only you can share with the world? Be generous in the giving of the gift of yourself. And show the world your love for God by the paths you chose to follow.
Allow this Epiphany story to change you so that you also go a different way. See your life as touched by the light of God and allow yourself to be that light, a gift for our world.
Amen
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