Celebration of Epiphany

Readings – Isaiah 60: 1-6; Psalm 72: 1-7,10-14; Ephesians 3: 1-12; Matthew 2: 1-12

This morning let’s learn from the magi, the kings, the wise men. First, they looked up. Second, they knelt down. Third, they shared gifts. Fourth, they were radiant. And while they did all four actions, the darkness exacted a cost.

First, these men, the assumption is that there were three due to the three named gifts, these men of the Orient, these men of the East, saw the star and followed it to Jerusalem. Sometimes it is too easy to get trapped looking down, into looking at the ground, focused on the tasks of day-to-day existence which can be grinding. These men spent time watching the heavens. I wonder how often we miss the brilliance of sun rise, the majesty of clouds, the colors at sunset, or beauty on a clear night with starry heavens? Do we look up and marvel at the creation above?

Second, having followed the star to the place where the Christ-child was, they were “overwhelmed with joy”. What did they do? In the presence of the Holy Gift of God for the People of God, they got down on their knees, the ancient posture of acknowledgment that there is indeed a greater power They physically expressed humility. I sometimes wonder if we are missing that element of life as we age and our knees no longer allow us to join the ancients in kneeling. We kneel, as we are able, to confess that God is greater than ourselves, and to confess that we do not always live up to God’s expectations in thought, in word, and in deed. They knelt with joy, knowing that God looks with favor upon the fullness of creation. They knelt with joy in that one moment in Bethlehem. They were graced with God’s presence, and were humbled.

Eyes lifted, knees bent, they were moved to generosity. They shared their gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were extravagant gifts, given out of their abundance. I don’t know about you, but gold, frankincense and myrrh are a bit out of my capacity. Yet as St. Paul wrote the Ephesians, we are to be generous according to the gifts God has given us. As we focus on the gifts given to us, rather than on the gifts we wish we had, we, too, can give out of the abundance we have received.

Looking up; living humility; sharing abundance, and now the fourth point. As Holy Scripture tells us, the magi, the kings, the wise men, returned home, though by a different route so to avoid King Herod. Let’s pick up the theme of our reading from the prophet Isaiah.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and
the glory of the Lord God has risen upon you…
you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice.

In Exodus the face of Moses glowed following his encounters with God. So, the faces of the travelers from the Orient must have glowed. They searched, they knelt, they offered gifts, and they returned home glowing with joy. They were radiant.

So too, we, my friends, look heavenward, know humility, offer gifts, and radiate joy. There are to be no gloomy Guses (like the Old Maid Cards). We are to be people of the half-full glass, not the half-empty glass.

Following the star, kneeling at the manger, and offering gifts transforms us by the love of God into people of radiance, people who greet each new year, and each new day, with a smile, as an opportunity to shine.

While we star gaze, while we kneel, while we offer gifts, and are radiant, the darkness of the world does not disappear. King Herod did not kneel at the manger. In fact, Holy Scripture records that he ordered the murder of the Holy Innocents, the murder of the youngest children in the vicinity of Bethlehem, once he realized that the visitors from the Orient had returned home.

As St. John’s Good News states,