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January
4, 2004 (Jimmie Johnson) Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 60:1-6 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gospel Lesson Matthew 2:1-12 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." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The earliest Christians for two or three centuries did not celebrate Christmas. They weren’t being theological Scrooges. They simply didn’t see any need to think of Christ’s origins. The world was about to end in his glorious return. They were on the edge of celebrating the impending end of the world. It was the future of Christ’s New Order that fascinated them, not the origins of Jesus. Easter was their only holy day. They celebrated Easter not only yearly but on the first day of every week, on the Lord’s Day, just as we assemble here. But by the time of the 4th century after the Roman Emperor had declared Christianity the official religion and it had become obvious the end wasn’t as near as they had thought, someone said, “Uh, maybe we need a plan.” So, the Christian church, through its diverse patterns of worship, theological thinking and even forms of church order, decided there was a need to tell stories which would convey the great mysterious start of the Risen Lord--His origin and His birth. Therefore, we have these beautiful, sophisticated, thought-provoking birth stories of Jesus in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, the Christmas Gospels. Now since these Christians by the 4th century had achieved some cultural standing, they adopted the strategy of choosing the Roman pagan holiday called Winter Solstice, which is the day following the longest night, and designating that pagan day as the day of Christ’s birth. The choice of this day signified that the light began to shine right when the darkness was at its greatest and deepest and yet unable to overcome the Light. In the heart of darkness is precisely the place where the miracle of the Light begins to shine. And what’s even more astounding is that it is outsiders who would be the first to see. Shepherds, poor, socially marginal Jews, looked down upon by the culturally successful Jews, and Magi, these Gentile pagans, were the first. What an ingenious belief! Whether it is the darkness of death’s tomb or the darkness of the world in winter’s cold grip where the light of day seems to be losing to darkness of night, or where confusion and fear in the world or in our very own personal lives seem to be overcoming faith, hope and love, it is precisely in the heart of any darkness where the miracle of the Light occurs. And this morning, the Epiphany of the Lord Sunday, is the great celebration of the Light shining so brightly that even strangers, outsiders, the non-orthodox, the non-believers, the barbarians in the sense of correct religious faith—all who shouldn’t see the light according to the small minded and smaller hearted--these non-qualified and thus beyond our control are able to see the Light. The Magi follow the star shining in the dark sky and discover the Christ Child who is meant for all the world, not just one religious tribe. Of course, ever sense, small-minded and smaller-hearted believers keep trying their best to reduce the largeness of God’s love for all people to a more manageable and controllable love that is their exclusive possession and the arrogant possession of the narrow-thinking religious tribes they establish to be mirror images of themselves. Yet, these birth stories, by introducing first the shepherds and now the Magi are resistance texts which refuse to surrender to the exclusivist interpretations of Christianity even if many of its Bible Belt interpreters do their best to make God small and only Christian as fundamentalist Christianity interprets the faith. The story of the Magi bravely says, “Look for Christ now where anyone tells us Christ cannot be present such as in the darkness and in the Light that attracts the wrong kind of seekers.” Christ, indeed, is the only life, only truth, the only way capable of being so inclusive! The Light shines even in the darkness, and any and all can be mysteriously led to see its brightness. The brightness cannot be controlled. God is too outrageous. God is too tricky. God is too creative to be outfoxed by small-minded preachers and small-hearted believers. At First Presbyterian in this New Year, we will believe in the Light of Christ and its freedom to shine as God chooses. We will believe the story of the Magi is important. We will be inspired by the story of the Magi to believe our faith connects us up with others whether they are Christian or not. The story of the Magi dispels the belief in a two-tiered humanity of the lost and the saved. We will believe in the Light that shines in the darkness and pray this belief uncomfortably pushes us to connect up with others and discover that what we have in common is more important than what separates us. I am telling you these Magi shouldn’t be in the Christmas story. They should not be “manger characters.” The shepherds are socially risqué enough. The presence of the Magi is over the top. But, open-minded and open-hearted believers understood the brilliance of their inclusion, and so the Magi made the final cut, the final edit, of the Christmas story. God claims all. By doing so, God scandalizes all small, self-serving faiths. God loves the world. At least that’s the meaning of the Baby Jesus’ birth and the bright star which lights up the night sky for the Magi. Also, the birth of the baby Jesus and the strangers attracted to the Light of his Star continue to provoke us who wish to think in our believing and believe in our thinking. The story of the Magi continues to guide us to see Christ present where small minds and small hearts insist Christ cannot be found! “Hootie, hootie, hootie on the mean minded and the judgmental hearted,” says the story of the Magi. God attracts whom God chooses. The Light shines. This may indeed make us angry because, of course, it means God is not seeking our approval nor letting us control the Light. But in the end such an inclusive interpretation of God’s light will save our souls. I will tell you why I believe this. Live long enough, and you will rejoice that God is so outlandish as even to include the darkness as the sphere of God’s love and the place of God’s shining. If you life long enough and tell yourself the truth of who you are rather than who you pretend you are, you sooner or later know about your own heart of darkness. When we are at the utter bottom of despair, when we who have been destroyed and seem to be in hell itself choose to look, there it is every time: the miracle of the Light, the guiding Star of God’s love. That’s what I believe the phrase in the Creed about Christ descending into hell means: even in the darkness the Light will shine and they are wrong to say, “All you who enter here abandon hope. Such despair is a lie. Do not fear the darkness more than you love the Light. The darkness does not mean God detests you nor has abandoned you to your own heart’s darkness. Rather, look and you will see the miracle of the Light of God’s love shining. Jesus is the Living Proof. That’s what all of us Magi believe, all of us who at one point or another have been outsiders to the very truth of our own lives and barbarians in the face of God’s pure love. You are in my friends. If they ask you if you are saved, smile and say, “Yes.” But don’t ever let such good news of your being in lead you to conclude others are out, not if the Guiding Star of Christmas and the Magi have anything to say to you. |
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