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The Witness of Martin and the Magi Pastor
Peg's Epiphany Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 |
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The Witness of Martin and the Magi Pastor
Peg's Epiphany Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12 |
This year, with Christmas
and New Year’s days falling on Sundays, the opportunity to reflect on other
stories of this season was altered. So
Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend seemed a good time to turn back to the
church’s celebration of the three kings, the Magi who come to worship Jesus. As
we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream that justice and peace would
break across barriers, let us listen also to the story of the Magi who are
guided across barriers by a star, by the scriptures and by a dream of their own.
One of the cards we
received this Christmas was a Far Side comic of the Three Kings.
It shows the kings arriving at a home with a star overhead. The
caption reads, “Unbeknownst to most theologians, there were really four kings,
but one was sent away for bringing fruitcake.”
Now I like fruitcake so this inspired me to buy one and give that
rejected king some support.
But what really are we to
make of these Magi, or kings or wise men? First
of all, they are not kings. The word
translated as wise men is the Greek word “magi” from which we get the words
magic or magician. Rather than
kings, they are early astronomers and astrologers, stargazers trained in the
ancient science of the stars. There
were early teachings that a star would arise when someone important was born.
The brighter the star, the more powerful the person! These Magi
interpreted this most brilliant star to mean a most powerful king was born.
The Magi were educated
and wealthy, but they were not educated in the scriptures that reveal that
God’s power is different than what we expect and that the Messiah would come
among us humbly, born, not in the center of power, Jerusalem as they expected,
but in the humble outskirt town of Bethlehem. They
didn’t know the scriptures, but they saw the star and the star led them to
where they could hear the scriptures.
The star was something
they could see, like the church sign outside our building is something people
can see. Our sign doesn’t tell the
story of Jesus, but it tells people when and where they can hear the story.
The Magi saw something that came into their experience, their world of
daily living as stargazers, and got their attention.
This is one of the first
steps in Evangelism – to first of all get people’s attention – thus our
ads in the newspaper and phonebook and on the radio and TV and on our lawn. These
are like the star attracting attention. The
star didn’t tell the story, but it alerted the Magi to find out more.
And they took a logical step to find out more.
Assuming a person
important enough for such a bright star would be born in a place of power, they
went to the big city, to
And the Magi didn’t
argue. They had to go further than
they had planned, and had to go to a less prestigious place than they had
expected, but they didn’t complain. They were caught by the brilliance of the
star and wanted to see for themselves this child who was to be such an important
king. So they went to
These Magi were
outsiders; foreigners; people from different nations and of different
traditions. But they recognized in
the Christ Child a promise that transcended national differences.
They were so blessed by his presence that they found courage to defy the
King’s instructions to return to him in
Like the Magi, we too
have come to find the Christ Child. He
is present in the Word of Holy Scripture and the bread and wine of Christ’s
body given for us. He is present in our fellowship even across all kinds of
would–be barriers. By our
encounter with him, we too are given courage to turn from paths of destruction
to new and often uncharted roads.
It has been said that
this story in Matthew 2 of the Magi’s search for the Christ Child is the whole
Gospel in miniature. We come to the
Good News of God with us and rejoice and go back into life changed.
This story is also a most brilliant evangelism guide.
Put out a bright and accessible star that points people to where the
Christ Child comes. And here he is,
in bread and wine, in water and word, in the fellowship of the community.
And as the Magi story
tells us, it is a global community. You
may have heard of Garrison Kielor poking fun of Lutherans and what we come by
naturally. Lutherans are such
natural coffee drinkers, Kielor says, that they call coffee the third sacrament;
and it might be even more accurate to say “strong” coffee!
Garrison also teases about when Lutherans bring food there’s always
tuna salad. Some would correct him
and say Jello!
Well I would add to what
Lutherans do naturally is we recognize that the Gospel is a global Gospel –
that it is not enough to be focused only the local church in our local community
but that we are a part of a global church where Christians in El Salvador,
Ethiopia, China, Rwanda and elsewhere are as intimately “us” as those in our
own congregation. The Table we
gather around is a global Table. And
the Magi are Matthew’s embodiment of this.
The Lutheran church
started in
All of the Synods of the
ELCA have partner synods in other parts of the world.
We know that kind of partnering most clearly through our own synod, the
Sierra Pacific Synod, and our partnership with the Lutheran Church of Rwanda.
We, as a congregation started an active relationship with our
The Magi point us to
these global understandings of the church. They
came from the East to share in something that transcended their expected
boundaries. It took courage to break
through barriers and to not get pulled into fear driven plans. But their
yearning to find the Child was greater than the fears around them.
May we too not be
sidelined by fears or lose patience with the length of the journey or get off
course by demands of those afraid of God’s all inclusive love.
May we instead, like the Magi, keep our eyes open for epiphanies, for
stars, for revelations of God’s presence among us.
And may we keep our ears open to the Holy Scripture as the cradle in
which the Christ is laid.
As we celebrate Martin
Luther King, Jr. weekend and the Epiphany of our Lord, may we pay extra
attention to the dreams God is stirring in our hearts.
How might God be calling us to new pathways in this New Year?
A good place to begin is to boldly pray: “Lord
of all nations, grant me grace to love all people, every race, and in each
person may I see my kindred loved, redeemed by thee.” (Lutheran Book of
Worship # 419)
Ours is a Gospel
inclusive of all, exclusive of none! May
we take Martin’s and the Magi’s inclusive witness to heart and joyfully let
it shape our ministry and our lives!
Amen.
+Pastor Peg Schultz-Akerson,
to the glory of God
Faith