Date: January 6, 2013
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
Hushpuppy decides that she needs to find her mother. In the movie, “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” we see Hushpuppy being raised by her father because she has no mother. But her father is sick and dying. The water is rising on their rural bayou community because of global warming. Their homes and lives are threatened. Things have gotten desperate so desperate measures must be taken. Young Hushpuppy decides to find her mother. What does she have to go on? She’s been told that when she was born, her mother’s heart burst with love, and then her mother swam away. So Hushpuppy and a few of her friends head to the beach. As she scans the horizon, she sees a bright light. A beacon. The children head into the water and swim toward the light far off the shore. They risk their lives in search of love. They are picked up by a kindly man in a cabin cruiser. He takes the children to a restaurant/bar/brothel on the water up the bayou. There the women take the children in with their own style of affection, love, and care. The light has led Hushpuppy and her friends to motherly love. Then the children are taken back to their community and Hushpuppy has the strength and courage to face her father’s death and the peril of the rising water.
For Hushpuppy, the flashing light of a distant buoy was the star to be followed that led to the love she needed to ground her life and go on. This morning we heard the familiar story of the wise men, the magi, following the star with led them to Jesus. Our familiarity with this quaint tale may obscure some of its meanings. Where were these magi from? Scholars speculate that perhaps they were from modern day Iraq, Iran, or even western Russia. Their journey may have been 1000’s of miles and could easily have taken many months. All that time away from home, family, familiarity. Facing the unknown, sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile. Remember the story of Herod? At great personal as well as financial expense they went on their trek. In this epic journey, we are meant to see the extreme gleigel or their devotion, commitment, investment, and risk. The magi undertake their long, arduous, perilous, and I’m sure some thought hare-brained, trek and for what? They are following a star leading them to the birth place of a leader of a small, foreign, oppressed tribe. Who are the Jews? When this story is told they are an insignificant ethnic minority in the vast Roman Empire. Their trip really does seem like a wild goose chase.
But in Celtic spirituality, the wild goose represents the Holy Spirit! So, the wise men are on a wild goose chase, of sorts. Their story shows us that following the spirit doesn’t necessarily look rational or reasonable. And it isn’t necessarily safe and secure. It can be risky business at great personal cost. Well, look at what it cost Jesus.
In this story we are told that following the light of God transcends culture, geography, nationality, and even religion. The Messiah is born as the Savior of the Jews. And the Jews, living faithfully according to God’s justice, are to be a light to the nations. And here are the magi, foreigners, even historic enemies of the Jews, following the star to find Jesus. That’s as it should be. The unconditional, expansive love of God transcends any one religion or culture. It is truly universal. The whole cosmos is imbued with the divine. The compassion, peace, and love of God cannot be confined by culture, language, geography, or even religion.
The story of the magi confronts the exclusivist attitudes of first century Jews – some of whom believe, “He’s our Messiah; sent to liberate us, the Jews, not the whole world. We’re God’s favored people. We’re the chosen ones.” This story shows the attraction of divine love for all peoples, all nations, and all religions. The story also confronts first century Jews with the faithfulness and devotion of their historic enemies and oppressors. It is also interesting to us as twenty-first century Americans that the magi come from the distant lands of our enemies – Iraq, Iran, and Russia. Not only our political enemies, but lands largely Muslim today. So for us, the magi represent those who many see as enemies not only of the United States but also of Christianity. Yet the magi are lifted up in this story as paragons of extreme faithfulness, discernment, devotion, and generosity. Even if they are playing for the wrong team!
We also want to note that the universal nature of divine love is not limited to the human family, but is evident in all of creation. In scripture, particularly in the Psalms and the prophets, God’s love and faithfulness are conveyed throughout nature. We heard many examples in the scripture readings of Advent:
portents in the sun, the moon, the stars and the earth. . . the roaring of the sea [Luke 21:25]
every valley filled and every mountain and hill made low [Luke 3:5]
In other passages we are told the desert shall blossom, dried streams surge with water, the crops thrive, and the animals flourish. Divine love infuses all of creation and nature. God’s love is expressed to us through the natural world. And the magi give gifts of the land to the Messiah; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These are not human inventions, but gifts of creation. Creation itself honors Jesus through the agency of the magi.
So this story invites us to consider God’s faithfulness in creation and our response. How do we show our commitment, our devotion, our love for God by honoring creation? How do we help the natural world to fulfill God’s intents and desires that creation flourish and thrive?
The magi show us a journey over vast distances through unfamiliar places facing political controversy at great personal risk and sacrifice. In our journey to renew creation, we, too, must be bold and courageous. We must make vast strides in new sources of energy. We must face the perils of reversing the effects of pollution and abuse of the environment. We must engage the challenges of new modes of transportation. Camels, anyone? We must be open to new patterns of consumption of energy, material goods, and food. We, too, must be willing to confront new circumstances and ways of doing things that heal the earth. We must be shrewd and clever in navigating the political perils of this journey. And given our present habits and situation, this will seem like strange, exotic territory. It is a journey through unknown terrain, and yet it is a trek we must make if we want to pay homage to divine love, to honor God’s self-giving, to celebrate the wonders of the universe, and to find our deepest joy, our highest good, our healing and wholeness.
On this holy day of Epiphany we ask ourselves where are we on our journey to care for creation? Are we following the star of sustainability? What are our guideposts for restoring the earth and promoting the flourishing of all species as well as the land itself?
After worshipping the Messiah, Jesus, we are told that the magi return home by a new way. They are changed by their journey and by their encounter. They are no longer the same. To give ourselves over to divine love is to risk being changed. We cannot stay the same. We must be open to changing, learning, and growing if we follow the star. But isn’t the greater risk to stay home, to stagnate, to die?
Epiphany is a celebration of the light of God coming into the world in Jesus revealing the light that is at the heart of all of creation: all peoples, all places, all cultures, and all religions as well as the actual land, flora, and fauna of the earth and the cosmos. Epiphany is about God’s love made manifest in all of creation with its profusion, expanse, and diversity. In the story from Matthew the magi see this. They are following a star – an enormous explosion of hydrogen gas burning by fusion into helium gas, likely over 50 trillion miles away. Maybe it’s a super nova, a star in its death throes, beaming even by day. The magi are not following a parochial, anthropocentric, exclusivist, myopic map, but a star, a light of infinite energy shining across eons in the cosmic universe. That’s how big our vision should be. Worthy of our complete devotion, commitment, and sacrifice. Source of pure joy and awe. Oblivious to the risk, to the effort, to the fear of the unknown, the light beckons.
Look to the horizon of this New Year. Search for the light. Look for the glimmer. Be dazzled by the blaze. And head off.
Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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