“A Visit From The Wise Guys 2024”

Feast of the Epiphany (trans.) – January 7, 2024: Arise, shine! For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Amen.

Today we celebrate Epiphany. The feast of the Epiphany is Janurary 6^th, so we are celebrating it today. And it is this feast day that ends our Christmastide – our twelve days of Christmas. So, you may now take down your Christmas tree…unless of course, you are a purist, and leave it up until Candlemas – but, only if the tree is artificial, I hope.

Every year we tell the story of the Magi who travel from the East to bring gifts to the Christ child, and it is good to remember where we got this story of the three wise guys. 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. So, I like to sometimes call them by other names…how about Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

It took them awhile to get there too, but most folks have these sages in their mangers. Perhaps they made a few stops for a mocha caramel latte or a smoke break.

Well, even if they were a bit late, and brought really weird gifts to a young child, each year we like to tell the story of their visit…

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 fire blanket, and a scroll.

Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –

“As we journeyed in our quest to follow the star to the Christ child, we encountered King Herod. He had a great deal of earthly power, and pretended to be a person of faith, wanting to worship Christ. Yet what he truly wanted was to snuff out the light that had come into the world.

The truth is – Fire blankets, like those with great power, can be used to snuff out what provides warmth and hope to the world. Yet they can also be protectors of the vulnerable, putting out the dangerous fires ignited in our midst. Use your power as children of God to be the latter. That is why Jesus was born to you, and to us, and his fire will never be put out.”

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 tea diffuser, and a scroll.

Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –

“Tea is good, and hot tea on cold nights can warm the soul. Yet there are parts of the tea leaf that need to be filtered out. We had a long journey, and there were times when by fatigue, uncertainty, or fear of Herod, might have allowed our darker side to seep out. What we discovered is that if we followed His light, we would always find our way.

The truth is – There is darkness and light in each of us. No matter how difficult or dark the journey we are on may seem, if we stay focused on His light, he will shine through the cracks of our human nature, and from us, others will see only love, truth, and a reflection of God’s grace.”

Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and says,

“…thank you great sage for this rather practical gift.”

Ceremonial Music Plays As King Approaches

King 3 presents Mother Diana with gift.

Mother Diana opens the box, inside is a racing baton, and a scroll.

Mother Diana reads the scroll aloud –

“Yes, we brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh – symbols of who Christ is: King, God, and Sacrifice. Perhaps they weren’t practical gifts, but hey…it’s the thought that counts, right?

These were gifts that were just symbols, but God’s gift in Christ Jesus was one that continues to be given not only at Christmas, but every moment of every day – by you.

The truth is – We have received this greatest of gifts from God, and it too is meant to be shared – to be passed from one to another – until all the world shines with the light of His great love.”

Mother Diana rolls up the scroll and continues the sermon…

A fire blanket, a tea diffuser, and a racers baton…these Magi have given us something to really think about, haven’t they? And perhaps, they know that we are entering into a difficult year. 2024, a presidential election year, which will exacerbate the steep divides in our country.

January 6^th sadly has become known, not for the Feast of the Epiphany, but for terrible violence, death, white nationalism, and threats to harm public officials. There will likely be more of the same.

There has already been 5 mass shootings this year, one of them again in a school with children.

We have a migrant crisis here – people fleeing persecution as did our Holy Family from the wrath of King Herod.

Wars continue in Ukraine and the Middle East.

And yet, it was not into a world of light that Christ came, but to a people who walked in darkness. Those sages followed his star, encountering the evil of Herod along the way. The Christ child was laid in a feeding trough for animals, not a soft cradle in the warmth of a palace.

This fire blanket reminds us to always be wise about how we act in the world. Fire provide warmth and light, but can also destroy. We are called to be a safe refuge from that which harms, to – to protect the vulnerable, to put out the fires of hatred, bitterness, deceit, and violence, and to comfort the afflicted. We are also called to offer the warmth of God’s love and grace to those who sit in the cold of darkness and despair. And, despite those who would act otherwise, attempting to put out the fire of life in children of God, we know too that the Holy Spirit burns within each of us, and no earthly ruler can ever snuff it out.

This tea infuser reminds us that we are not perfect people. We have our good and our bad within. But like the water that flows through it, the light of Christ will shine through our brokenness, through our imperfections, allowing us to seep goodness, love, and grace into the world.

The baton reminds us that the gift we receive at Christmas isn’t meant to be stored away in boxes like our ornaments. It is meant to be passed on to others. As St. Paul once noted, we are meant to run the race that is set before us. We are meant to be the agents of Christ’s transformative love throughout the world.

The wise folks brought Jesus symbols of who he was – gold for a king, incense for a deity, myrrh for a sacrifice. Today they bring symbols of who we are as followers of that Christ child. And just as that night so long ago changed everything, letting all the world know that God’s love is stronger than hate, that light will always over come darkness, and that death is forever defeated by life – by our lives lived in Him the angels continue to rejoice in heaven as he is reborn in each of us at Christmas, and every day we open our hearts to Him.

So, with all that in mind, as I do each year I offer this quote by Michael Dougherty. “When the carols have been stilled, when the star-topped tree is taken down, when family and friends are gone home, when we are back to our schedules, the work of Christmas begins…to welcome the refugee, to heal a broken planet, to feed the hungry, to build bridges of trust, not walls of fear, to share our gifts, to seek justice and peace for all people, to bring Christ’s light to the world.”

May we, like the magi, be willing to follow where God leads us, trusting that there is always another path to take that will lead us out of darkness into light – His light. May we know that we need no star, only an open heart, to see the God who yearns to love us – wants so much to be in relationship with us. And most especially, that once we receive the gift of Christmas, the Christ child, in our hearts, that we do the work of Christmas and share that light with the world. Because it is we, not the magi, who are now meant to reveal Christ to a world who hungers for God’s love.

Christmas isn’t over…it’s only just begun.

Amen.