After Christmas
First Congregational Church of Evanston
January 7, 2007, Epiphany Sunday
Matthew 2:1-12
Rev. Dr James E. Roghair, Interim Minister
Why January 2 Is a Relief
Perhaps you saw the “60-SECOND ESSAY : Why Jan. 2 is such a relief, ” in the Chicago Tribune this week. Patrick T. Reardon, Tribune staff reporter caught something that I can certainly identify with (January 2, 2007 Tempo Section).
He makes the point that instead of being one of the most depressing times, as we might expect it to be, January 2, that day so many people go back to work, is really a relief. People like the parties, the days off, the movies they go to, the tv football games, etc. “But, if you look around this Jan. 2,” Reardon wrote, “I don't think you're going to notice a horde of bitter, depressed people filing back into their workplaces. It's never that way, and I've got some theories why.
“First, we're tired. All that funmaking takes a lot out of us. The crowds, the hangovers, the overeating – it gets to be a drain after a while.
“Second, as much as we like having an open calendar, there's something about the routine of work that's reassuring. We don't have to figure out how to fill up our time. Our bosses give us assignments. We have customers to take care of.
“Third, and most important, I think that, for all our grousing, we like to work. Let me clarify: I know there are jobs from hell that no one should have to do, and I know there are employers who exploit their workers.
“But, generally, we like to work because it means we're doing our small part in keeping the world spinning. As much as we like our free time, we like feeling we contribute to life, that our own existence has meaning.
“So maybe Jan. 2 is really one of the happier days of the year (January 2, 2007 Tempo Section).”
Isn’t Epiphany, also, Relief?
I was thinking that the way Epiphany relates to Christmas is a lot like that. I wonder if we might consider Epiphany – or better yet, the message of Epiphany – one of the happier encounters of our spiritual journey. Even though we aren’t careful to observe the actual date of January 6, we do take this opportunity to read the Epiphany passage found in Matthew. And to read it apart from the Christmas Angels and Shepherds story in Luke.
If we think about the strangeness in God’s choice of Shepherds to bear the first gospel story, what about these Magi? They are totally out of the box! But the Epiphany story is about how the strangeness of Christmas is translated into life.
The Magi
The Magi – whoever they were – probably not kings. Maybe magicians, astrologers, or philosophers. Whoever they were, they were “other.” They were not Hebrews. They didn’t worship God as the Jews did. But through the Epiphany or revelation of God to the Magi, God shows that God is not exclusively a for the right people. In fact, God is God of the wrong people! Those Gentile, other people.
When the Magi came to Jerusalem to try to find the newborn King, surely they didn’t know who or what they were looking for. But their questions made the political establishment very nervous. A traveling group of Iranians looking for anyone in Jerusalem might – even today – make the political establishment in Jerusalem nervous – i.e. if they could get across the border!
Anxiety in Jerusalem – God is out of the Box
But the story as Matthew tells it, says that all of Jerusalem was frightened along with Herod. I guess that if you have a ruler like Herod, whatever makes him anxious will make you anxious, as well! But there was more to it. A caravan of people following a star doesn’t just show up very often looking for a royal baby.
Matthew remembers this unlikely tale because it relates a truth that the early church had come to recognize: God will not stay in the boxes of human expectations. When God reveals Godself in epiphany, it can cause consternation and even violence. People prefer to try to control God. But we find it hard to handle the God-on-the-prowl – always doing something unexpected – always being revealed to and through the strangers and outsiders.
Of course we Gentiles represent the strangers and outsiders of the early church. But we have became the insiders of the Christian Church. And now we have our own strangers and outsiders. Not only are there the obvious ones – the Muslims, the Jews, the Bahia’s – but many of us find it hard to recognize the strength of the Christian church which is predominantly in what is known as the Third World – growing rapidly in Africa and Latin America and even Asia. But it is hard for us to take leadership from Africa, as hard as it was for first century Jerusalem to learn to worship from an Iranian caravan!
God is revealed to the world whenever and however God wills.
God Reveals Self to Baptized
Today in faith we baptize baby Brock. We trust that God will reveal Godself to Brock and to his generation. We don’t know whether the way that Brock and those his age see God revealed will be the way we are comfortable with. Perhaps Brock will they see God’s revelation be in a whole new way. But Brock may, also, encounter new strangers, that we can’t even imagine, who will be reflecting the good news of God’s presence in the world.
Worshiping in Epiphany
In our celebration of Epiphany, today, we celebrate both Christian sacraments. In communion we are reminded that Jesus is the bread of life and that his spiritual body and blood are our sustenance.
In baptism we are reminded that we pass on and nurture the gifts of Christ to our children. We help them grow up in the tradition of faith.
God is known to us and to the whole world – that is the message of Epiphany. Let us worship God, bringing our homage to the one who is revealed even to the strangers. And may this Epiphany celebration, and what it represents for us throughout the year, be one of the happier parts of our journey.
Amen.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008