Matthew 2:1-12

The Epiphany of Our Lord | 01/06/23 | Mt 2:1-12 | Ryan Mills |

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
 ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
  are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
 for from you shall come a ruler
  who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
 ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. 

(Matthew 2:1-12, NRSV).

 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

       Many of you are probably familiar with beautiful, elaborate Nativity sets, which are an important artistic and devotional tradition in much of the world. At the Blessed Father McGivney Pilgrimage Center here in New Haven they feature a massive nativity set, whose twin is in the Vatican. It’s hand-carved in Italy, with each of the huge figures exquisitely decorated, including their three kings—dressed in shimmering robes, shining crowns, laden with picture-perfect gifts. It’s beautiful as a means of devotion, but I imagine that if you really had come thousands of miles, over the course of years, you might be looking a little more rough around the edges, sort of like the three kings in our old nativity set here at church that some of you may remember: broken hands, cracked crowns, half-missing treasures.  The great poet T. S. Eliot wrote a poem about what it was like for the Three Kings, told from their perspective:

‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.‘
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,                                Lying down in the melting snow…
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it…[1]

       A hard time they had of it, but still they came, the light of the star drew them onwards, onwards to come and worship a newborn King.  And after all those miles, the first person they stopped and asked where they could find the newborn King was King Herod.

Everyone in those days knew that King Herod was a narcissist, even a sociopath, that his only care was for himself, and that people who crossed King Herod or who got in his way tended to not live very long. Herod is a great example of what’s become so common in our culture, of what you and I are constantly tempted to: of self-worship, the worship of the Unholy Trinity me, myself, and I, as one writer has called it: “Self-ism”, trapped in ourselves, having no regard for God or compassion for other people, it’s all about us, no matter the cost. So when the Wise Men waltz into town asking where the Newborn King is so they can worship him, the old King who worships himself isn’t too excited.  It’s like asking your insecure neurotic boss when his replacement is arriving, or your bad-mood spouse when their replacement will show up!  But Herod also knows how to use religion as a tool for himself, to make himself look good, so “Please tell me, wise men,” he says like the wolf dressed up like grandma, “please tell me when you find the newborn king, so I too can come and ‘worship him.’”  And we know that Herod has all the children 2 years and under in the Bethlehem region slaughtered, didn’t he?  Worship of the self, selfism, always leads to death. Who will you worship with your life this year, who will you live to bow down before?

       But then consider these Kings as they come to worship God.  They’re not really believers or church people, coming from so far away, they haven’t gone to Sunday School or done confirmation, they’re outside the faith in every way. The Bible’s words for the Kings, magi, means more like astrologers—the zodiac, crystals, all that kind of stuff.  But through truth, through beauty, through the shining of that heavenly star, they had to come, no matter how hard it was, no matter how different it was for them.  They knew enough to know the answer to their life was not themselves, so they got on those camels and went.  And they followed that light as far as it would go, to Jerusalem.  But Bethlehem is still 7 miles further past Jerusalem, and so they needed not just truth, not just beauty, not just light, but they also needed God’s own Word, his own self-revelation, his telling about himself in Scripture, they needed the prophet Micah to lead them the last few miles, “And you, O Bethlehem, are by no means the least city in Judah, for out of you will come a ruler to shepherd my people Israel.”  No matter who we are, we all stand equally in need before, God, we all need his Word to lead us safely to our final destination.

Finally the star stopped over the place where the child was, and the wise men rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  That’s what coming to know Christ, coming to see God’s light, coming to experience his love for us does, it gives not just happiness, not just feeling pleasant, but rejoicing in joy.  To find a love that loved us first.  To be found by a love that seeks us out and calls us by our name.  To find a love that lays down its life for us!  And on entering the house they fell down and worshipped him.  These kings, after all those years and miles are not too proud to bow down and worship a young mother and a newborn.  All their love, all their trust, all their hope, all their faith is now in the God made flesh in this little child!  This greatest gift, what St. Paul calls the boundless riches of Christ, these boundless riches lie in the manger for them and for you and for the whole world.  So all people—people of every race and tribe and language under heaven—even these kings, even you and me, all can share in the endless riches that exist in this little child.

And then they open their treasure chests.  Gold for a King.  Frankincense to be burned in a temple, in the presence of God.  And myrrh; an expensive combination of Chanel No. 5 and embalming fluid, myrrh for anointing a body, myrrh for one who will give of himself, sacrifice his life on the Cross so that you and I might not die, but live with him forever!

Some scholars say that their gifts may have been trophies of their former lives, they bring what they used to worship, what used to be important, and give it to the newborn King.  What would you bring, and leave?  Like the little drummer boy song, you don’t need a gift to bring, Jesus wants nothing except for you, but maybe you and I can bring and leave what used to be so important to us, what we’re tempted to worship, and give it to him, and bow down and worship him, your King lying in a manger trough.

Because like the Kings, when you come and worship Christ, you always leave with more than you brought.  No matter what you bring, you always leave richer. So you too, like the wise men of old, come this morning with whatever is important to you, and leave it at the altar.  As you kneel down, open your hands, to make an open treasure chest, to make a manger bed, and receive there the priceless gifts of his body and blood, that he freely gives to all who come to bow down and worship him.

And then, like the wise men of old, you’ll go home by another road.  Your life will be different, your way will be different this week, this year, for you worship the Newborn King, and he has given you the treasure of himself.

So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Blessed Epiphany!

And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills

New Haven, Connecticut

Pastor@TrinityLutheranNH.org                 

[1] T.S. Eliot, Journey of the Magi, (London: Faber & Gwyer, 1927).