I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give
me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.
Familiar
words, I’m sure,- enshrined in our national consciousness after
George VI used them in his Christmas broadcast in 1939…words I
remember too from many a New Year assembly in my high school years.
For
the moment, I want you to forget how the verse continues and instead
to reflect with me on the journey into the unknown that each new year
represents. We may think we have a fair idea of how our lives will
develop over the next few months, we make plans and resolutions, we
may cherish hopes or shrink from fears – but actually, nothing is
absolutely certain.
If
there are important decisions ahead, I for one often wish that God
would make them for me…I say, only half jokingly, that I long for a
sign, some sky writing would be good, telling me exactly where I
should go and what I should be doing.
Of
course, Matthew’s wise men seem to have had exactly that privilege.
An Epiphany. Simply put, an epiphany is the moment when God is
revealed. It’s that moment of “Aha!” where we can say this
experience is nothing less than a real live encounter with God.
So-
for the wise men, perhaps their epiphany came with the rising of the
star…their very own sky-writing, telling them where to go, what to
seek. Certainly, they seem to start out on their journey confident
that they know where they are heading…all they have to do is to
follow their star.
Though
I'd guess that the Christmas card scenes that present it as obviously
the one and only REAL star in the sky may be distorting the truth
slightly...Step outside on a clear night and the sky tells a
different story...countless stars...but our
hese travellers
looked at the night sky and saw something that others didn’t.
What's more, they
chose to focus on one light, rather than the surrounding darkness and
so set the tone for their journey.
To
focus on light rather than darkness is always, in every circumstance,
an act of faith.
But
did that make it plain sailing? This journey of faith was not for the
fainthearted – it took courage and conviction to stay the distance
and wisdom to discern when the journey was really over. It seemed
quite reasonable to our travellers that the royal palace should be
their first port of call...
A star
presaging the birth of a king must surely lead them to a kingly place
– except that it doesn't.
They've
gone off course, followed their own assumptions and so encounter one
for whom the gospel is anything but good news. Herod responds with the
anger born of frightened self interest when the wise men ask to see
the one born “King of the Jews”.
You might remember that the next time Jesus is
hailed as “King of the Jews” is as he confronts worldly authority
once again, in the events leading up to the crucifixion, and the
shedding of innocent blood. It’s the same here, of course. God's
arrival in our world is quite unlike the sweet and gentle scenes of
our Christmas cards and carols. It ushers in mass murder and a young
family forced to flee for their lives. But for all the violence and
fear,nothing in all creation will be able to escape the touch of
God's mighty act of salvation. Not Herod, not Rome. Nothing.
Meanwhile,
though, our travellers have still not had their real epiphany.
They have seen a king but not THE king. Perhaps they'd made a mistake
in setting out? Wasted time, energy...Should they admit defeat?
But
these travellers were determined to go the distance and followed the
directions provided, directions that sent them away from the seat of
power, from splendid palaces to an obscure village – yet still not
least among the princes of Judah, perhaps.
As the
wise men left Herod’s presence, they saw the star. Aha!
Yet
again, this was not their epiphany, but still the star-light led them
on to a very ordinary house – where all their expectations were
subverted in the face of their true epiphany.
God a
toddler, cuddled up in his mother’s arms…
Emmanuel.
God with us.
It
might have seemed an anticlimax.
No
angel choirs or fiery messengers, no earthquakes or thundering voice
but an everyday scene repeated in countless homes across the world.
Already,
in this epiphany, if they were truly wise, our travellers could
discern the signs of the times, could recognise the nature of the
kingdom.
It
was, and it is, a kingdom that included the little and the least, the
poor and the weak. It was a kingdom that would welcome those who were
searching, even those who had wandered in the wrong direction for a
little while. It would include insiders and people from beyond the
edges of society, Jews and Gentiles, those already at home and the
foreigners like the travellers themselves.
They
had come to worship a new king, and found themselves at home and
welcomed in his kingdom.
The
Franciscan writer Richard Rohr says this
An epiphany is an experience that transforms everything, and
before you can do anything with it, it does something to you. It’s
not something that can be controlled, and it always seems to demand a
change in people‘s lives.To live with a faith that makes room for Epiphany leaves us on our heels, ready to step out to wherever it is that God may be revealed
The
paradox, of course, is that we may not have to travel far at all.
We
don’t really need to go looking for God in rare and particular
places. Instead, in the child born in Bethlehem, God has sought us
out and come to dwell with us in the midst of all of our humanity.
Emmanuel.
God with us as we begin our journey into the year ahead.
We can
look for him in other places that carry the promise of epiphany - in
the company of those who are hungry and thirsty, the sick and the
imprisoned, the lonely and those stripped of their dignity;
-
among people who turn from the destructive powers in their life and
discover new strength from God, among those called to leave the
familiar behind and step out in new directions;
-
wherever people experiences healing and new life or moments of
forgiveness and new love.
Truth
is, as the Franciscan theologian Richard Rohr says, “if God can
be manifest in a baby [born] in a poor stable for the unwanted, then
we better be ready for God just about anywhere and in anybody.”
So, as
you go forward into this new year, be alert to celebrate epiphany
wherever you encounter God. It won't be just in this building, that's
for sure...nor simply at the the high moments of life In all times
and places and people, even the most ordinary, even in our own lives,
we may come to experience the glory of God through Jesus Christ
That
shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Since there's been a troll fol de rolling his way about the blog recently, I've had to introduce comment moderation for a while. Hope this doesn't deter genuine responses...