Based upon a concept by the Rev. Phillip Dana Wilson – Used with permission
January 3, 2016: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
This will fortunately for all of you, be the last year I can do this…[singing] “On the 10th day of Christmas my TV gave to me…the premier of Downton Abbey!” Season 6 – that is. Yes, this is still Christmas, and yes, I still can’t sing…but today, on this 10th day of Christmas, we celebrate Christmas some more. And it is at this time that “we tell the story of the Magi who travel from the East to bring gifts to the Christ Child. […]
Today we celebrate Epiphany. The feast of the Epiphany is Janurary 6th, so we are celebrating it today. And it is this feast day that ends our Christmastide – our twelve days of Christmas. Every year we tell the story of the Magi who travel from the East to bring gifts to the Christ child.
Matthew, the only gospel account of this story, never tells us how many there were. But since Matthew mentions three gifts, later Christian tradition came to identify three kings (even though there is no mention of them being royalty either); and in the late sixth century Armenian Infancy Gospel, the Magi are even given names-Melkon or Melchior, Balthasar, and Gaspar. But just as we don’t really know the names of the people who wrote the gospels, we also don’t know the names of these folks. I think I’d just call them Larry, Moe, and Curly.
It took them awhile to get there too, but most folks have these sages in their mangers. Yet, as we hear today, Jesus was not a baby anymore, but a child, and living in a house. And while we don’t know if it is only men in this traveling band of astrologers, I think if women were in it, then it would have gone down a bit more like this towel I got for Christmas that says “Three Wise Women would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped to deliver the baby, cleaned the stables, made a casserole, brought practical gifts, and there would be Peace on Earth.”
But, whether or not these were wise men or not, that is the story we have, and this visit is all about…
Loud Knock Heard From The Back
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 1 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a pair of 3D glasses, and a scroll.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“Look around you – do you see Christ’s star? Now, place these glasses on. What do you see? [Mother Diana puts on the glasses, which make all light look like the star of Bethlehem]
One of your great Western poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote:
‘Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware.’
The truth is – the divine light, the star you are to follow, is there for you to always see – you need only look through the right lens.”
Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and says,
“…what an interesting gift, thank you great sage! Now, as I was saying…”
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 2 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a thumb labyrinth, and a scroll.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“A labyrinth is the very symbol of a journey. There is no star at the center, but then again, the center is not the destination. There is not one true destination in a labyrinth – the journey is the thing. It always was – even for us.
The truth is – the moment we arrive at the star, we have only just begun.”
Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and says,
“…thank you great sage for this most insightful gift.”
Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches
King 2 presents Mother Diana with gift.
Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a dove ornament, and a scroll.
Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –
“The winged dove, a symbol of beauty and freedom, is a symbol for all who have been on this journey to the Christ child. Once we have had our hearts opened to the divine light all around us, and have come to know the love God has for us, the dove reminds us we must move on.
The truth is – our journey is not a journey for ourselves alone.”
Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and continues the sermon…
A pair of glasses that help to see the star of Christ that is everywhere, a labyrinth – a tool for embarking on a spiritual journey, and a dove– the symbol of peace always on the move. These are wonderful gifts, and together they are the gifts we all really receive at Christmas, aren’t they.
Jesus opens our eyes to who we are, and what we are to do – to the presence of the divine walking among us and in all of creation. That is what Epiphany really is – an awakening to something right in front of us that we couldn’t see? In a sense, Jesus is like those glasses the sage gave me – allowing me to look at the world differently. Remember the burning bush Moses encountered in the Hebrew scriptures? Now that was one heck of a light burning, quite literally, brightly – right? A rabbi once said about that story “the important thing […] is not that the bush is burning but that Moses notices, because every bush is burning, every bush is on fire with the divine presence, everything in the universe shines because God is at the heart of it. So it is in our epiphany story. It is a story that invites us to open our eyes to the light that is everywhere.”[1] And so Christ opens our eyes to what is already here.
But, the path to God doesn’t end with the birth of Jesus, or even start there – as our Hebrew scriptures remind us, it has been a continually evolving journey of twists and turns, stars and sages, births and belonging. In other words, the moment we find the center of the labyrinth, what we may have thought our destination was, we are off on a new journey out of that same labyrinth.
We seem to embrace that here at Christ Church, having our own labyrinth right as you walk into our beautiful church nave. And we place at the center of it the baptismal font – the very symbol of our relationship with God in Christ – not because that is the destination, but because the font is a reminder that the center of our lives as the body of Christ, our baptism, is both a spiritual inward journey we take, and one that calls us out of that very place. We leave the center and continue the journey – to grow and evolve in our faith.
And as we journey, we walk as Christ walked – as symbols of peace on the move – just like the dove. Because to do otherwise, to walk in any other way, is to desecrate the very sacred space that is all of creation. If we truly believe that the divine light is in everything and everyone, then how we treat any part of that created world – the people, the animals, the earth itself – is how we treat God.
Christmas leads us to Epiphany – the birth of Christ leads us to understand something about God, and about ourselves – who we are, and the purpose for our lives. Ours is a faith of movement, message, and more movement. A never-ending journey of love and light, growth and discovery – for ourselves, and for all the world. It truly is the journey of a lifetime – or perhaps, more like a lifetime of journeys. Either way, for it all to happen, we, like those sages of long ago, must say “Yes” to going.
There are stars shining everywhere, and a camel waiting with your name on it…what will you do?
Amen.
For the audio of the sermon from the 10:30am service, click here:
[1] The Rev. Dr. John Philip Newell, http://day1.org/4403-the_light_within_all_lifeRev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
January 3, 2016
Christmas II
1st Reading – Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 84:1-
2nd Reading – Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a
Gospel – Matthew 2:1-12
