The Light Still Shines

 

Text: Matthew 2:1-12

Focus: Epiphany

Function: to remind us to keep our light shining

2:¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶‘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.’ ”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then 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.” ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On 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. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas celebrations. It is too bad that we couldn’t get together and celebrate together, but our safety took precedence over the holiday traveling.

Today we celebrate Epiphany, it marks the day that the Magi came from the Eastern Culture to worship Jesus.

We sing: “Led by the light of the star serenely shining, here come the wise men from the Orient land.”

They were led by the light of God and the light of God is still shining calling the world to the simple life of faith and trust that Jesus, Joseph and Mary experienced.

I would like for us to see the light still and understand that we too can shine the light of hope and peace and justice in a land full of hatred, fighting and division.

For some reason this year, as I have been pondering the Christmas story, the star has been on the forefront of my imagination.

I wonder about the sign of the star and how the text says that the sign, or the star, moved to a place and then stopped where Jesus lay.

That is a phenomena that has no other historical reference. One would think that if a star suddenly stopped, historians would have recorded the event.

I am not saying that I am doubting it. I just don’t understand the dynamics. Of course, it is difficult, or impossible to understand the dynamics of a miracle if indeed a supernatural event occurred.

I tend to believe the story and I think of what it means for the world entire. The sign was for the world entire, not just one race of people.

People are tribal. Just go to a football game and see the excitement when “our side” wins over the other side.

Psychologist believe that we evolved a feeling, a dopamine rush, when we are united together in community. And as I said, football games bring it out in us.

War brings it out more. We want to win and we defend our side with our lives and we evolved a sense where we feel good, or right, when that emotion has kicked in.

Psychologists believe we evolved this fear emotion toward people different from us to protect us since we were safer in groups instead of alone. That community feeling kept us safer.

Even the bible picks up on the theme when it tells us that two are better than one because they keep each other warm, and help each other when one stumbles and then it says that three are even better. Community is what it is talking about and our need for it is a strong driving force in our lives.

I believe that this church is a safe and healthy community where we can thrive together.

And my hope and prayer is that you all thrive in the coming year.

What does that got to do with Epiphany? You may wonder.

The Fertile Crescent, where all of this took place in the early stages of humanity was very tribal and warlike and hateful and aggressive.

They set boundaries and would not let others inside. They had their own Deities, practices and customs which were oftentimes abhorrent to others.

Prejudice is not a new phenomena of humanity.

Again, in one sense we evolved it in order to protect us from people who are different and therefore could be a threat.

Out of that warlike culture can three scholars who uncovered a prophecy in their own scriptures that lead them to Jesus.

And the Jews, like the rest of us, think/thought that nothing from any other religion could be valued.

Now remember, I have spent most of the message so far talking about how easy it is for us to live in fear, be tribal, to proclaim our own borders as inviolate, and to care ONLY about our own people and our own safety.

Jesus has called us to be the light of the world sharing His love and mercy everywhere.

And this Epiphany event shows us just how far God has gone to call the entire world to rest in God’s salvation and mercy.

Tribes and nations were just as territorial as they are today. National religion and pride caused as much warfare and harm then as it does now.

And in the middle of all of that, God reaches through the completely different religion of the Magi and shows them the savior of the world.

I don’t know how ancient the prophecy about Jesus in another culture’s religion was, but it was there and it pointed to Jesus.

Because God broke down the barriers between the races, religions, tribe, nations, peoples or whatever way we define ourselves through a witness in a different religion all together, we can no longer call them pagans.

God loved their enemies. It’s like in the book of Jonah. The prophet did not want to preach to the Ninevites because they were the enemy of Israel and a real threat to their existence.

He knew if they repented, they would be forgiven and then God would not take them away as a threat.

Jonah expressed this tribal dynamic of fear of people different than us. The literature was not about a guy getting swallowed by a whale, but was a story about God’s mercy toward people that we might consider enemies.

The Magi were natural enemies to the Jews, and yet, God called them to Jesus.

God is still calling the world to the Christ, the idea that we do not have to take revenge for ourselves, but we can rest in the love and mercy of God.

How is God calling the world to the Christ? Through us, the church.

Heaven is reported to be a wonderful place and because of that, we are willing to live sacrificially, in faith, here on earth for that heavenly reward.

God left the Church here to continue to shine the light through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Let your light still shine this year.