This sermon is available in audio form through Mixcloud below. For a transcript (not word perfect, I never read direct from my notes) see below. It's based on: Matthew 2.1-12, Ephesians 3.1-12 and Isaiah 60.1-6.
Today we celebrate Epiphany, although it will take us the next few weeks to fully unpack what that means as we move through the Epiphany season. Epiphany and the season of Epiphany is about Jesus being revealed, those first signs of who He is and what this might mean for us.
Traditionally today marks the visit of the Magi to Jesus, Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana and Jesus’ Baptism by John and according to that tradition they all happened on the same day (not the same year though, that would have been a busy day). The latter two we have to look forward to in the coming weeks but today we celebrate the visit of the Magi to Jesus. You’ve probably heard how the gifts of the Magi represent aspects of who Jesus is; Gold for a King, Frankincense for God and Myrrh for burial and sacrifice. But I wonder if you’ve ever taken a closer look at the figures of the Magi in a traditional nativity scene. You usually get one from Africa, one from Europe and one from Asia. That’s not to suggest they actually came from these places but rather to point to something bigger. The shepherds visit to the manger is God revealing Himself to His own people, the very least of His people at that. The Magi are where God reveals Himself to the Gentiles, to those outside of His chosen nation. The three Magi in the nativity set represent the three continents (they didn’t know about Oceania, Antarctica or North and South America yet) and so represent the whole world. In this moment, God is revealed to the whole world. The words of Isaiah echo as the world comes to worship. You may be wondering what Magi are. The Magi were astrologers, a priestly caste who looked for sings in the stars often called upon to give advice to rulers, they pop up sometimes in the Old Testament. How far had they come? They came from the East, possibly from Babylon or Persia. But we don’t know this for certain. Matthew’s focus isn’t there, it’s not what He’s concerned with, frustrating though that may be for some of us, myself included, he is simply not interested in documenting these things. But these thoughts raise an interesting question: how did these men know that this star meant that the King of the Jews had been born and that this event was so important that they had to travel for a long time (Jesus is around 2 by the time they reach Him) to witness it for themselves. There is no angelic messenger like most of the events around Christmas. Depending on where they are from depends on how they know. If they are from Babylon then you may recall how Daniel and his companions were taken there in captivity and became rulers there. They brought with them their faith and the hope of a future Messiah. A number of the prophecies about Jesus are found in the book of Daniel. So if they came from that region then they know of this future King who will change things from Daniel and his writings. But what if they came from Persia? At this point in history the Jews are scattered, they’re not confined to their homeland anymore. Wars and invasions and exiles have left them dispersed throughout the Middle East, and wherever they go they bring their faith with them, they set up synagogues to meet in and learn from their Scriptures and so those around them would have come across their faith, their hopes for a future King who will restore their former glory. None of these places were good news for the Jews who found themselves there, Daniel and his companions did not want to be in Babylon, the Jews scattered across the region would much rather have been living in a restored and free Israel. But that’s not where they found themselves, that wasn’t the reality. But they stayed faithful, they didn’t sit there and wait for better conditions before being faithful, they lived out their faith there and then they held fast to their hope. And because they did that, because others saw that hope and that faith and wondered what it might mean, a group of Astrologers came from the East to see for themselves the hope of the world. I wonder where you are at today? Whether for you conditions are less than ideal, whether things are difficult. Hold fast to God because He will go into it with you, but also because God can do work even in the worst circumstances, God can use you right now, exactly as you are, with everything that’s going on, God has something for you to do. And you may never see the results, those whose influence led to the Magi making that journey probably never knew about it, but God was at work. Paul’s ministry was marked by shipwrecks and imprisonments and beatings and a lot of running from angry mobs. But Paul takes it all and stays faithful because, as he says in Ephesians, he has been given a task by God, to share the good news with the Gentiles, to share the news that was hidden for so long, that the whole world can become one with Christ, that the whole world can become fellow heirs of God with Christ. That this good news is good news for everyone, not just the Jews, which is certainly good news for us today as I’d imagine most if not all of us are gentiles. And so he went as far as he could, even planning to go to Spain, almost at the edge of the known world, to share the Gospel there. How far will you go? It won’t be easy. A few years ago my sister decided that she wanted to raise money for a charity that helps victims of human trafficking. She wanted to do the South Wales 3 peaks challenge and myself and Katy volunteered to go with her to support her and help raise more money. The Gold route of this challenge centres around Abergavenny and some of the surrounding villages. It’s around 30Km (that’s over 18 miles) long and takes in 3 mountains and the difference between the lowest and highest points is about 550m. Did you know that? Because myself and Katy certainly didn’t. My sister trained, not much but she trained. Katy and I certainly didn’t. And then the day arrived (we didn’t do it on the actual day that the proper challenge happens as we weren’t free then) when we were dropped off by my dad at the bottom of the first mountain at about 8 in the morning. About halfway up we got lost, my map reading wasn’t perfect and we ended up starting to circle the mountain rather than go up it. So we eventually just clambered straight up to re-find the route at the top. I went back and looked at the photo’s, we look pretty happy at the top. We came down the side and into one of the villages and promptly got lost again only realising we were going the wrong way when someone else asked us for directions. Eventually we found ourselves at one of the pubs where we had arranged for my dad to meet us to refill our water and top us up on snacks before we headed to the next mountain. The rise on the Sugarloaf was nice and gentle and I knew the mountain pretty well, the photo from the top of this one has us looking a little worse for wear but not too bad. Down the other side we went and to the next pub where water and snacks were again refilled. Across a load of fields to the final mountain where quite frankly I wanted a word with the route designer. The final mountain was the Skirrid, I don’t know if you know it. It sits with a nice gentle rise on one edge and a steep over 45* slope on the other. And which side were we taking? The steep one. Katy suggested we abandon her at the bottom and go on without her, we didn’t. I found myself scrambling more than walking and found a branch to use as a stick. The first photo from the top we look ok, the second we are collapsed on the ground have a well earned lie down and trying to catch our breath. And then, quite quickly as the sun was now setting, we had to descend the mountain on the other side where my dad picked us up. We could barely walk for a week. If you ever think of doing something like this, please train, not training is a bad idea. But we’d done it. The journey wasn’t easy, it was quite frankly exhausting, but we knew why we were doing it, we knew the goal, we knew it was worth it. The Magi had that same perseverance as they travelled West not knowing exactly what they would find, they knew it would be worth it, they knew the end made the journey worthwhile. They even found themselves in the wrong place at one point and had to ask for directions, but they made it. How far will you go for God this year? Figuratively and literally. Will you make it out of the safety of home base? Will you venture out into the wilderness to follow where God is leading you? Will you endure shipwrecks and going the wrong way for about a mile because you know that the end goal, that God is worth it? And what is the end goal? We read it in the Prophecy of Isaiah today; that the world would come and worship, that the whole world would bring whatever they can and set it before God and worship. That’s the real focus of Matthews account of the visit of the Magi, it’s not their origins or names or number ‘we have come to worship Him’, ‘they were filled with joy…and they bowed down and worshipped Him’. God can use us, whatever state we are in, whatever we are going through, God can use us right now as we are, our circumstances don’t limit God. I wonder if you've made any New Years Resolutions? May I add one more for you all? Make this year the year you say yes to God, the year you see just how far you will go for Him. To go to the very ends of the earth (figuratively or literally) if that is what he asks of us, that the Gospel may be shared, that Christ may be revealed to the whole world. That the very ends of the earth will come to God, bringing with them whatever they can offer, and bow down and worship Him. How far will you go? Amen.
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AuthorAn Anglican Curate in my 20's I was raised in an Anglican Church, went to a Youth Club run by an Evangelical Church, attended a Baptist Church while at Uni and was a member of a New Monastic Community after graduating. As such my faith has been influenced by these experiences and traditions into what I hope is a more rounded viewpoint. Archives
September 2022
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