New Year, New Road

A new year always brings a sense of hope, doesn’t it? The previous year with all its tragedies, problems, disappointments, failures, and sadness is now behind us, and a clean slate lies ahead.

This is symbolized on New Year’s Eve by the old man with the sickle and the newborn baby. The old has passed away; the new has come. With whistles, horns, parties, and probably more to eat and drink than we should have, we ushered in the new year. Yet, beneath the gaiety and laughter, there’s a gnawing feeling – it’s all still the same; nothing’s really changed. If anything, passing from the season of lights, glitter and carols to the season of a dark, cold, bleak midwinter, only makes the emptiness worse and the depression deeper.

Certainly, there has been plenty in the news to make anyone depressed. As one commentator recently wrote in a local newspaper: “Reality seems to crush hope at every turn: the Covid Pandemic, the ruthless terror of the Islamic State, crushing economic disparities in this country, the pernicious scourge of racism, the increase of global warming, homelessness in our own backyard and the plague of illicit drugs, rampant gun violence, etc., etc.

And many of us are feeling personal pains or anxieties this new year. Some of us are wrestling with important decisions regarding a primary relationship or a task to be done; some know firsthand the powerful effects of a disabling disease or worry about health issues in the upcoming months. Some have had to deal recently with a major loss; some wonder if we can make it in the coming year without the presence of one who meant so much. Some of us are feeling very lonely, in spite of people all around us; some of us fear growing older, or fear what the future may hold; some wonder if dreams will ever be realized, or whether the new year will be even more frustrating and filled with feelings of futility than the last. Many of us are feeling pain or anxiety this new year. What is this pain or anxiety like for you?

When we feel this way, the temptation is to stay with the familiar and the comfortable, to crawl back into bed and pull up the covers, or to sneak into the manger with Jesus, where it’s warm, safe, and secure. The temptation is to stay where we are, in the dark crevices of depression or defeat, of fear or foreboding, in the deep ruts of sameness, boredom, or lethargy.

But Epiphany with its emphasis on a light shining in the darkness, reminds us that life goes on, that revelation, growth and new beginnings loom on the horizon, that new roads appear up ahead, new roads that will take us, if we choose to let them, into new adventures, new challenges, new opportunities to be the people God wants us to be. Epiphany reminds us that life goes on, even as one year ends and another begins, “one season following another,” as they sing in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

The Magi, also called the Wise Men or the Three Kings, who bring their gifts to the Christ Child, illustrate this movement. But first, let's talk about who these Magi were. They probably were astrologers from the East, perhaps from Persia or Babylon, present day Iran and Iraq. I've even heard people say that they were from China. No one really knows because the Bible never specified exactly where they were from. They believed that human destiny was written in the stars, and though they were learned men of their day, we would consider many of their notions superstitious today. But I’ll bet if I asked right now, which I won’t, how many of you know your own astrological sign, over 90% of you would raise your hand. Nonetheless, the wise men agreed upon one thing, as many of us do also, they believed that human events were influenced by a power beyond this world.

Let's read Matthew 2:1-12. "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” "When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.