By Scott Herr
Although most of the world has moved on to headlines about Venezuela, ICE shootings, the latest economic indicators, or football championships, in the church we still are savoring the last chapter of the Christmas story, the part known as the Epiphany, celebrated on the 6th of January. As the Rev. Marek Zabriskie from Greenwich noted in his fine article last week, Epiphany is known as the “Feast of the Magi,” and we Christians name each Sunday (this year for 6 weeks) the “1st Sunday after the Epiphany,” “the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany,” etc. until the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, which this year fall on February 18th and begins the season of Lent.
I invite you to continue to reflect on why Epiphany is important and given so many weeks for reflection in the ecclesiastical calendar? Who were the “Wise Men, anyway? Scholars uniformly believe they were Zoroastrian priests from Persia (Iran), astrologers, students of the stars. They were men of the science of their day and followed evidence in pursuit of truth.
And what did they find? According to the story found in Matthew 2:1-18, the wise men did not discover a new theory of the universe. They did not discover a new philosophy or political movement. They did not even discover a new religion. There as the star stopped over Bethlehem they were overwhelmed with joy, because they found a young baby. And when they found the infant Jesus, they “knelt down and paid him homage.” They worshipped Jesus by offering themselves and their gifts.
There are three things that strike me about these distant journeyers that might be worth our consideration today. The first is the fact that they were seekers. Many Christmas cards feature a bright star hovering over the holy family, but only the Magi noticed the star among the thousands of others visible stars on a clear night. The local political leaders of the time looked to these visitors to lead them to the newborn king. Matthew’s theme here, perhaps, is the hiddenness of the Christ, the small and often unnoticed ways God enters our lives in epiphanies large and small. This hiddenness is a kind of divine signature. And so it is the Magi, as Seekers, are those who find, because they are looking, they are searching.
After they found the child, Matthew writes “they went home by another road.” You can never go the same road home after you’ve had an encounter with God… But even by another road, they had to go back home to their people. Which is the second thing that strikes me about the Magi. They are foreigners, intruders on the manger scene. They are Gentiles, non-Jews, people outside of the ancient covenants of Israel; men with no apparent claim upon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but people for whom God cared for deeply and guided in a way they understood to discover the Christ.
The third thing that strikes me about these Magi is they are not Kings. In churches around the country every holiday season, we sing incorrectly every year, “We three Kings of Orient Are.” Early Christian thinkers, such as Origen (c. 185–253 AD) and St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407 AD), began interpreting the Magi as kings to align with prophecies of kings worshipping the Messiah. But, in fact, there are only two kings mentioned in the gospel narrative: King Herod and King Jesus. The Magi are caught between the two and must choose who they will honor.
Consider in your own spiritual journey: that being a “seeker” is the only way you will find; that to pursue questions, doubts, and curiosity is an essential component of healthy spirituality. Consider that it is often the “foreigner,” the stranger, the outsider, who shows us a new way. We would do well as a society to reflect more thoughtfully on the importance of the stranger in our midst, and the divine imperative to protect and care for them, “for you were once foreigners in Egypt.” And finally, as we move through these weeks of Epiphany beginning a new calendar year, consider that like the Magi, you have a choice about what “king” you will serve. To what kind of power and authority will you bend the knee? Choose wisely! And may we be transformed and find ourselves taking another way home, following the star of God’s glorious light and love for all people.
The Rev. Dr. Scott Herr is one of the pastors serving the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan (fpcnc.org)
