Sermon for 1/5/2014 from Pr. Mark T. Peterson at Christ the King Lutheran Church, Holliston, MA.
Epiphany-Greek for “manifestation” or “appearance.
The season of Epiphany begins on January 6th, the actual day of Epiphany. On this day, we celebrate the wise men visiting Jesus. This is significant, because the wise men were from the Eastt, and not Jewish. Thus, Epiphany is the time when the knowledge of who God is became known to all the world, and not just the Jewish nation, through the manifestation, or appearance, of Jesus Christ.
The story of the Epiphany is found in Matthew 2:1-12. Notice that the verses never say how many wise men there were.
Gospel: Matthew 2:1–12
In 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.
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ,
This last week, James Avery died. For those of you not
familiar with James Avery, he played Uncle Phil, on the sitcom “The Fresh
Prince of Bel Air.”
For those of you
still not sure what on earth I’m talking about, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”
was a comedy also starring the popular actor Will Smith, and it centered
around…
Well, it centered around a teenager born and raised in
West Philadelphia. One day, while shooting some bball outside of the school, this
teen got into one little fight, his mom got scared, so he moved in with his
auntie and uncle in a town called Bel Air.
In other words, the show centers around a young man from
the urban “hood” suddenly thrust into the lifestyles of his rich family.
And, the heart of the show, was the relationship between
Uncle Phil, the recently deceased James Avery, and his nephew Will.
Now, the death of James Avery this past week, caused me
to think about this show I used to regularly watch, and I thought that it can
be a lot like the church, and the Epiphany situation we have.
What I mean, is that at first thought, this whole
situation that the Fresh Prince of Bel Air was based on, a young man who goes
from being poor to living with his rich family overnight, seems so romantic. It
seems so easy. It seems like if all the people involved can be joyful and
loving, everyone should just get along great.
This is pretty much how we can view the church, and our
faith as well. If everyone just loves each other enough, we can be a great big
family without any problems. Today, as we celebrate the Epiphany, as we
celebrate the Wisemen coming from long distances, as we rejoice over the fact
that God’s love and favor is for all people, it can be easy for us to breeze
past the difficulties crop up when more people are brought into the mix that is
our faith.
But sticking with the Fresh Prince for a moment, though
Uncle Phil’s family had the means and space to support Will without a lot of
hardship, the attention that Will garnered from the family changed the dynamic
of how they all interacted with each other. Uncle Phil’s family had their own
way of doing things, and their own values.
In addition to Uncle Phil’s family, Will, had his own
history that he brought into the mix. He had his own values and things that were
important to him, including a pride about where he came from, that his new
family had trouble relating to. Thankfully, there were plenty of laughs to help
smooth the way, and each problem was dealt with in 30 minutes.
Sitcoms from the 90’s aside, as we think about the
situation of the Epiphany, it’s really not about people coming together to be
happy, join hands, and sing Kumbaya. As God is revealed to those wisemen from
the East, in this baby named Jesus, the whole dynamic of our own human
identity, throughout time and place is thrown off. When the wisemen followed
the star, the Gentiles, were suddenly brought into the family that God had created
starting with the Jewish people. The promises, the love, the will of God that
had first been revealed to the people descended from Abraham, have now,
suddenly, been shared with the all people. In this Epiphany of Jesus Christ,
the appearance of God to all human beings, the whole human dynamic has been
thrown off, dramatically, and that is a good thing.
As we’ve discussed, and I do feel a little funny going on
about a sitcom, in the “Fresh Prince”, Will’s mother sends him to live with his
wealthy relatives, because the future in store for him in West Philadelphia is
not hopeful.
And, though it shook-up the lives of all humans, God sent
Jesus into this world, because our lives living in sin were even bleaker than
West Philly. It is hard to learn to live together, especially with people who
come from different cultures, or backgrounds than our own. It’s hard to be
empathetic and sensitive to those who we might think have a weird way of
understanding something. It’s hard when someone else takes that which gives you
pride, for granted, and things get really hard when we have to share or
sacrifice for the sake of others. If we were stuck to our own devices, if we
were mired in our own sin and selfishness, there would be no hope.
Now, over time, Uncle Phil and his nephew, Will, became
closer and closer, and their relationship became like that of a father and son.
Through much more time, the Church, the family of God,
the body of Christ, has struggled to live together and love each other, yet
today we share in relationships that stretch farther beyond cultures and
distance than they ever have. And even though we are still not united, we are
learning to be a family with the Jewish people from whom our Epiphany, Jesus
Christ came.
Most of all, we are learning to be a family with each
other, and to make room for more and more people to find love and hope in this
family at CtK. As we rejoice in this life together, we remember that it isn’t a
romantic notion of harmony, or the power of positive thinking that keeps us
together. Rather, it is this Epiphany named Jesus, that has called us and kept
us in the unending love of God. It is Jesus who makes room for us by opening
his arms on the cross to all people, and it is Jesus who maintains us with that
love by pouring it out again and again for us in our meal of Holy Communion.
Today, we aren’t perfect, we aren’t always happy, and we
can’t handle each issue in a half hour; but we are loved, and we will continue
to be loved, and we will continue to be called to share that love, to share
that life which is our Epiphany, the eternal life of Jesus Christ, with all
people.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Amen
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