Sunday Sermon 22nd Nov 2020

 Matt 2:1-12

The Epiphany – CCM

I can remember a TV advertisement which the hardware store Bunnings showed after Christmas a few years ago. In fact I think it began on Boxing Day. It showed a little man sweeping away all the Christmas decorations and saying something like “Now that Christmas is over for another year…..”

The implication being that we should pack away both the decorations and all the good feelings which Christmas engenders, and immediately get back to our normal routines. If that is your thinking, then Christmas must seem like a great deal of effort just for 24 hours. And I believe that the hot cross buns are already in the shops in anticipation of Easter.

For Christians, the celebrations of Christmas go on, and today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the wise men, and the giving of the gifts to the baby Jesus.

We know very little about these men –perhaps they were kings. It’s possible that they were Zoroastrian astrologers, and it was common for astrologers to relate events in the sky to political events on the ground. For some people, these men didn’t really exist at all, but were invente to give the story of Jesus birth more credence.

Matthew uses their appearance to raise some questions for us to consider. By including them, it doesn’t mean that Jesus rule is limited to Jewish people.

In bringing in these foreigners, let’s call them wise men, Matthew wants us to understand that Jesus will bring peace and justice to the whole world, even to those considered outsiders.

We have no idea how they knew of Jesus birth. Perhaps they may have been astrologers who studied ancient texts, and knew that they birth of the Messiah was to come. Perhaps they received a vision from God directing them to go and find the Messiah.

Which leads me to wonder – how does God make himself known to us? Did you feel God calling you by name? I have always envied those people who have come from a family where God was known and worshipped, and who have never known anything but God.

I have also heard many stories of conversion over the years, and no two are exactly alike. But I do think that God calls us in ways in which we can understand, that’s how well God knows each of us.

The wise men would have understood about the star forecasting the birth of a king, so for them, it was easy. For Peter and John, Jesus didn’t tell them that they would be martyrs for the faith – rather he told them that they would fish for men

The second point which this story teaches us is that having heard God’s call, they were prepared to go looking for God. Those of you who did the Advent study on the poem by W H Auden will have thought about this. They didn’t wait at home for God to come and prove his existence to them.

Their mission was to do whatever it took to find the Messiah.

I have heard people say so often that if only God would prove himself to them, then they would believe. They want proof before they commit. But as I used to tell the children at school, faith in God cannot be proved by a chemical equation, and there is no mathematical theorem which can prove God exists. Rather, it’s a realization and an emotional response to the idea of God. I can only tell you what I know,

I cannot prove God to you. 

In setting out to look for Jesus they can have had no idea about the journey they were to undertake, what dangers they might face, or who they might meet along the way. The journey of faith is sometimes stumbling into the unknown.

And it can be the same for us. As I shared with you before Christmas, many years ago I decided that I wanted to know more about God, so embarked on some theology courses. Just for my own satisfaction and with no intention to ever share my knowledge.

But God obviously had other plans for me. There is no way I ever imagined I would become an Anglican priest, it simply wasn’t even on the radar. So I know first-hand that saying yes to God can take us to unexpected places. But sometimes just stepping out is the most difficult part of the journey.

The third thing we learn from their journey is that sometimes circumstances force us to make changes in our lives and find another direction. A direction in which we had no intention to travel.

Because after finding Jesus, they were warned by God not to go back to Herod, but to change their plans and go home another way.

And so it is with us; sometimes we must change our plans to accommodate changes in our lives. One thing I am certain of is that when we walk the journey of faith, we are in good company. We walk with God’s guidance, and we walk with others of faith with whom we share the easy steps and the difficult steps. Our brothers and sisters in faith are God’s gift to us. We are all on the journey together.

As this is the first Sunday of the new year, I would like to leave you with the words of a poem which have nothing to do with the wise men or the epiphany but are about faith. I am sure many of you know this poem.

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.

And he replied, Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God

Trod gladly into the night

He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone east.

May this coming year draw you closer to God, and may God’s love sustain you, guide you and give you joy

AMEN