This Sunday will be Epiphany, one of my favorite Sundays as a child. My mother was always ready to take the Christmas tree down by New Year's day and pack away all the decorations, but my grandmother wanted to leave everything up at her house until Epiphany. I was happy to extend Christmas until Epiphany, and as I was grandma's designated helper, I spent many happy hours next door at her house, looking at the decorations and then carefully packing them away. I still have a few of her Great Depression era decorations and put one or two on my tree in her memory.
The goal of these lectionary blog posts will be to work on a two-weeks-in-advance fashion, but as I'm just getting started on that plan, I've got some catching up to do. Today's ruminations will be for Epiphany Sunday readings, which can be found on the Vanderbilt Divinity School lectionary site.
I plan to focus on the reading from Matthew this Sunday.
First impression is that the question of location is important, but for different reasons. The magi want to pay homage but Herod wants to crush the opposition. Both need to know where the new king of the Jews is located to do this. Jesus is not born in the seat of power but in a small town. In our day and time, we still pay more attention to big cities and seats of power than small towns. Yet in small towns across the United States (where I live) there are people who struggle to make a living wage and have enough for a safe, warm home with enough to eat on the table. This could be a preaching path, bringing in the excellent BBC World Service radio documentary on Louisville's struggle with the opioid epidemic.
Second impression is the Magi. According to the New Interpreter's Commentary, magi is a transliteration of the Greek word, which could also be translated as wise men or astrologers. We don't often welcome wise people or astrologers from other religions into our churches and acknowledge that they too may have received wisdom from the Spirit. What is most interesting is that the Magi represent Gentiles, outsiders to both the Roman authorities and to the Israelites. In Matthew's gospel, this functions as a bookend - Gentiles come seeking the Christ child here at the beginning of his life, and at the end of the gospel, Christ sends the disciples out to the Gentiles, to "all nations".
The third impression comes from a tweet I saw this morning: Dr. Serene Jones says that "civil disobedience lies at the heart of the Epiphany story: the magi receive an unjust order from a vindictive tyrant. Instead, they defy him. May we do likewise."
The magi have been given a revelation, and when they pay attention and follow the star, they find that they need help. So they seek additional information from authorities. Herod inquires of the chief priests and scribes, and then shares the information with the magi, who then continue their quest. They do not put their confidence in Herod, but in the One who gave them the revelation and who warns them in a dream to return home. Do we pay attention to the revelations we are given? Do we seek wisdom along the way? And do we pay attention to the One who reveals to us the Way we should go?
As usual, I've got more questions than answers at this point. May your sermon preparation be fruitful!
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