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•••••••••• Matthew 2:1-12
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The Gospel for this Feast is one that we know well. And whenever we know a passage well, the challenge for us is to get past the familiar and get into the heart of the Gospel.
So what do we know about this Gospel? We know that in this Gospel certain persons from a distant land were drawn to the Christ child. We know that they have come some distance. The key to knowing this is to remember that after they trick Herod by avoiding him when they set out to return home, the response of this threatened ruler is to kill all the male children in and around Bethlehem who are 2 years old and under. This is not a random age. It matches the timeline of the story of these travelers who were drawn to Christ by a star. So if they traveled for the greater portion of 2 years, certainly they came from some distance.
How far that distance was is unknown. But we can safely say that whatever distance this was, these were certainly Gentiles and not Jews. The Gospel for Christmas shows Jesus being revealed as the glory of Israel. This Gospel shows Jesus as the light that enlightens the nations; the Gentiles.
The challenge of this Gospel, then, is to lay aside the actual story about the Wise Men and their gifts and focus with Mary on the child who is God clothed in our humanity. Even now, even here when Jesus is roughly 2 years old, we find the Gospel truth that Jesus is for all peoples and nations, drawing the whole world to God.
This is a theme that will come back up to the surface of the Gospel. More importantly, it is a theme that will eventually be embraced by the apostles in the early days and years of the Church following the Day of Pentecost. And what I find amazing, even shocking, in the days that follow the first Day of Pentecost, is that the community of the faithful are shocked at the fact that Jesus is for all peoples and races and nations. The point at which this shock reaches it's climax is at the First Council of Jerusalem when Peter is forced to explain why he proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus to the House of a Roman Centurian by the name of Cornelius and why he baptized them. Peter shares with the apostles and the faithful how the Holy Spirit fell upon these Gentiles. And the Church in shock admits then "that God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to eternal life."
How on earth were these early believers shocked at this gracefulness of God? How if they remebered the Story of the Magi who traveled so far and long could they be shocked? I simply don't get it. And when I don't get it, I am tempted to be critical of the early believers whose shock has been recorded for us in the sequal to the Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles.
And yet, friends, I know that I should not be too critical of these early believers. I say that because the Holy Spirit continues to shock us by showing us who has been drawn to an awareness and a love of God that causes persons to offer worship to God.
We may no longer speak of "Jews and Gentiles." And yet there are moments in which I think we as Christians are guilty of dividing the Kingdom of God into "us and them." And in that realm of "us versus them," there are persons with whom we are shocked when they exhibit signs of faith that show that they have been drawn to God. Tonight, as we keep the Feast of the Epiphany, the Revelation of God, the Manifestation of Christ as God for all peoples, it is good for us to be shocked to the same degree that those among the Jews were shocked by the Magi and years later by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon even the Gentiles.
In the awareness of that shock and awe brought on by God, I invite you tonight to ponder who these ones are in our day and generation who are the last ones that we believe are worthy of Christ and the least likely to embrace God. And hopefully, once we have identified such persons, the joy of the Gospel will be the driving force that encourages us to be faithful witnesses to the Light that shines in the world even today and draws all people to God.
We can be such faithful witnesses. Perhaps we are better equipped for doing so than that early community of believers that we find in the Acts of the Apostles. I say that because they only knew what it was like to belong to those who by birthright were considered worthy of being drawn to God by God. But in terms of that earliest division of those who heard the Gospel and were drawn to faith, "Jews and Gentiles," remember who we are. We, gathered here in this Sacred House, are all Gentiles. Our earliest brothers and sisters in Christ would be shocked that the Holy Spirit has been poured out even upon us. And even today, there are still persons of faith who embrace Jesus and the Gospel and who are shocked to find the Gospel among us and the faith in us. And if we remember that, how much more can we be bold in sharing Christ with others who have not yet encountered the Gospel or who have lost their faith.
The great reformer of the Church, Martin Luther, on his death bed said: "we are all beggers trying to tell other beggers where to find bread." Jesus is our bread and light, our life and salvation. More importantly, he is bread for all and light for all, loving all and desiring to draw everyone to himself. In the light of Epiphany, let us share this Gospel everywhere, expecting to be shocked with joy whenever we see Christ our Lord and God bestowing life even where we think there is no chance that life and faith will burst forth for the salvation of the world.
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Father Timothy Alleman
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