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.
Father God, bless the reading of Your Holy Word and the teaching thereof. Lord, let this Word ring in the hearts of all who read this message today. And let the peace of God come on them and overtake them in this new year. In Jesus Name we pray and ask it in faith believing and expecting. Let all of God's people say, "Amen".
Tradition says there were three of these wise men; the Bible doesn’t say how many. In the Middle Ages they were given names: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar; but they are nameless in the Bible. The Magi became identified as kings, probably reflecting our Isaiah passage for today.
Isaiah 60:1-6, "Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. “Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. The multitude of camels shall cover your land, The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord."
The story in Matthew is about kings and wise men, but these are people in addition to the Magi. The kings are: Herod, a ruthless tyrant who stops at nothing to achieve his goals; and Jesus, a vulnerable and helpless baby, who becomes known as the King of kings, a baby who grows up to be a ruler whose power is hidden in humility. The wise men are the chief priests and scribes, well-versed in the scriptures, who are called in by Herod to tell him where this so-called king of the Jews was to be born.
The Magi from the East are inquisitive, adventurous, obedient to their calling, and seek no honor for themselves. They humble themselves before the Christ Child and offer sacrificial gifts of great value. In short, they fit the image of servants more than royalty or those with superior wisdom, and thus, are exemplary role models for us today. But it’s what they do at the end of the story that is of particular interest this morning. Matthew says they are warned in a dream not to return to Herod. In the Bible, dreams are an important conduit for God to communicate with people. And I believe He is still doing that to this day. I'm here to tell you God is STILL speaking!
The Magi, after they have offered their gifts, realize the danger in returning to Herod, and leave “for their own country by another road.” They don’t hang around to bask in the beauty of the Child. They don’t stay where it’s comfortable and secure. They set out from there by another road, a new road, a different road than the one they’d been traveling on. They move on in their journey in life, and so must we. For us, the manger is only one stopping place on our journey of faith. And while the tranquility of the manger may move us deeply, it should never transfix us. The rest of Christ’s journey, and our journey, remains to be traveled.
As we embark on this new year, embodied so well in the spirit of Epiphany and the reality of life moving on, a fair question for us to ask is, “how can we move on?” The answer may be found in the refrain from an old church camp song I’ll bet many of you remember: “Rise and Shine.” Isaiah tells the people of Israel to “Arise, shine; for your light has come…” They no longer have to live in darkness, and neither do we. Rise and shine, get up, begin again, there is more to come! There are new roads to travel on in this new year. But there are also powerful forces working against this directive. Apathy, lack of confidence, our physical or mental state, extreme caution or timidity, all these tend to hold us back. Worse than any of these is fear –disabling, crippling, immobilizing fear.
Sometime in the early part of the nineteenth century, one dark winter night, a weary traveler came to the banks of the mighty Mississippi for the first time. There was no bridge in sight and ice covered the water as far as you could see. Would he dare cross over? Would the ice bear his weight? It was urgent he reach the other side, so finally, after much hesitation, and with fear and trembling, he began cautiously creeping on his hands and knees across the surface of the ice. By distributing his weight in this way, he hoped to prevent the ice from cracking beneath him. About halfway across he heard a noise behind him, and he turned and looked to see a man driving a horse-drawn sleigh filled with coal, starting to cross the river. And here was the traveler on his hands and knees. The man, his horse, and his sleigh-full of coal dashed past him and out of sight, across the same river of ice on which he was creeping like a sloth!
You and I are sometimes like that traveler, aren’t we? Fear, by whatever name we call it, can prevent us from doing so much. Cautiously, timidly, tremblingly, we venture forth on God’s promises, as though the lightness of our step might make the promises more secure, yet at the same time, we doubt that they are true. God has promised to be with us – believe this promise!
God has promised to uphold us no matter what – believe this promise! God has promised to grant us victory over all our spiritual enemies – believe this promise! God has promised to grant us full and free forgiveness of our sins through and because of Jesus Christ, our newborn Savior – believe this promise! Do not creep on these promises as though they were too fragile to hold you up. Stand on them, bold and confident that God is as good as His Word, and that our living, loving Lord will deliver them as promised! Maybe you’ve heard the expression: “even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there!” That's very true! So, in this new year, let’s get up and get going. Let's rise and shine, knowing that it is God’s light that empowers the light within us.
This sounds like a great New Year’s resolution, doesn’t it? But it won’t be complete until we finish the old camp song’s refrain, and “give God the glory.” We do this by living thankful lives, thanking God for the blessings we’ve received, and by sharing the Good News with others. We do this individually and together as the church. The mission of the church, as Paul implies to the Ephesians, is to reflect the light of Christ, to point to Christ’s work in the world, to declare Christ’s redemption, to reveal the mystery, to make known God’s wisdom, but perhaps most important, to mirror and imitate Christ’s love and deeds of mercy. And this is our individual mission as well. As we sing in that famous hymn, we need to “go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, that Jesus Christ is born” – and that we have been born into and embraced by the light of Christ ourselves.
Rose Crawford was blind the first fifty years of her life, until one day she found out that there was an operation that could restore her sight. So, she had the operation. You can imagine her awe and joy at seeing light and colors, images of people, and the beauties of nature, none of which she had ever seen before. Sadly, Rose could have had the surgery twenty years earlier. She was unnecessarily blind for twenty years, because she didn’t know about the operation and assumed she was doomed to live in darkness. Nobody told her about the sight-restoring surgery. Nobody told her she no longer had to live in darkness. Millions of people today live in spiritual darkness because nobody has told them they no longer have to live there anymore. Part of giving God the glory is sharing the light of Christ’s glory with others.
A few years ago, I was out picking up a few groceries. I had noticed a bell ringer outside the store when I entered, and decided I’d make a little contribution on the way out. I did so, and the young woman who was ringing the bell nodded her head and smiled a “thank you.” I’m guessing she may have been unable to speak, because she then showed me a computer tablet upon which were written some words. Now, we all know that Salvation Army folks tend to be more evangelical than many of us “frozen chosen” mainline Protestants – right? Well, true to form, this ringer was out there spreading the gospel. On the tablet were these words, “Do you know how much Jesus loves you?” I smiled and replied, “Yes, I do! Thank you, and Merry Christmas!” As I walked back to my car, I thought, “Wow! That was neat!” Talk about sharing the light of Christ’s glory with others. She was doing it very effectively.
Each of us has a new road ahead of us in the new year. It’s another road, a different road than any we’ve traveled on before. As we step down on that road, not knowing what we may find, not knowing exactly where we’re going, we can be comforted in knowing that for sure, the light goes with us, leading us, guiding us, showing us the way. God will be with us on our journeys down that new road ahead. Even now God is calling to each of us, whoever we are, whatever our circumstance, calling us to get up off our hands and knees, to stop creeping, and rise and shine, and continue on the journey, giving God our praise, and sharing the Good News with others along the way.
Some of us may be thinking, “Well that’s fine for the younger folks, but I’m too old to be thinking about starting off on any new roads. Tony Robinson in a recent “Still Speaking Devotional” responds with this reassurance: "There is grace here not just for the young, but for the old, or older, as well. It’s not hard, is it, to see the possibility of new life and new beginnings, when we are young or in the lives of the young? It may be more difficult to imagine such grace and newness when we are well beyond that time of life, when the future is no longer so open or full of promise as it once seemed. All the more reason then to receive the gift of this part of the story, the promise of grace and new life, not only for the young, but for no-longer-young [as well]. Grace happens, surprise and new life can come, no matter what our age. Look today for the surprise of God’s grace in your life, no matter what age you are.
Praise the Lord for the new year! And walk boldly into this new year with the faith that YOUR God shall supply ALL your needs according to HIS riches in Glory through Christ the Lord!!!
