My friends, today in a somewhat “official” way we remember the coming of astrologers from the East—those men purported to have studied the stars—the heavens, and in that profession discovered a star so different, so amazing really, that they were willing to follow its light wherever it led.  The thinking at that time was that a “new light” in the heavens correlated with an equivalent happening on earth.  The actual day on the Church calendar for this feast is January 6^th, the 12^th day of Christmastide, but in order to celebrate this “manifestation” well, which is what “epiphany” means, the feast usually falls on the first Sunday in the New Year unless that happens to be January 1, then other feasts take precedence, Marian feasts and days of peace.

In faith, in relation to the words of prophets of old that a messiah would come, would be born of a virgin, would be One who would change the course of everything; we believe that Jesus, our brother is this One who fulfilled the prophecies of old.  Not only that, but he tied the heavens above to the earth below in a way so wonderful that indeed those who studied those same heavens would travel for weeks to discover what magnificent event on earth was so clear a response to this great light in the sky.

The coming of the Magi is only recorded in the gospel of Matthew and we can’t be sure of its truth, especially in detail, like whether for instance, there were three kings—astrologers—or more.  The number three seems to have come from the fact of the three  gifts named, gold, frankincense and myrrh—one gift in the hands of each king.

We might wonder why these gifts were given—what was their significance.   Because there seems to have been a correlation between a great “showing” in the heavens and a likewise great “showing” on earth, as mentioned earlier, it is clear that these men who were of some import themselves, saw the birth of Jesus as the birth of a king and the gifts given signified that.  These gifts were valuable; gold as a precious metal, then and now, frankincense as a perfume or incense and myrrh as an anointing oil.  We are told that these same three items were apparently among the gifts that ancient kings offered to the god, Apollo.

In this story, as in much that we read in the pages of the Bible; we realize that the stories aren’t meant to be taken literally, that almost always, something greater, is afoot. In this case, as mentioned already, “epiphany” means “manifestation”—a showing forth.  The coming of those interested, the Magi, of those encouraged to “go and see,” the shepherds, this wonderful event that had taken place in Bethlehem does not need to be word-for-word, correct—the greater message that we need to take away is that people did, come to see, were encouraged “to go and see” and for each, there was no doubt, a bit different manifestation. God works in each of our lives in different ways. Our God looks at who we are, where we are in our life’s journey, what has happened along that journey, and then speaks to us in ways that we can understand. Our God also challenges us to get beyond our own experiences to see the experiences of others.

In the case of the Magi, possible kings and those who had studied; they came seeking a “king,” and no doubt were troubled in finding “one who would be king” in fact, born in a stable.  They may have needed to come to a deeper understanding of purposes in the larger world that were greater than what meets the eye—not in glory, but in poverty. We get the sense from all the extended writings about these astrologers, that they were used by God to instruct the new parents, Mary and Joseph, about coming dangers.

The Scriptures don’t tell us much about the “Three Kings” other than what Matthew, the evangelist has left us—they evidently showed up at the first Christmas, went back home and were never heard from again.  Those who have done more study on these matters tell us that the Magi went home, shared the story of Jesus, wherever home was, and that they were later baptized by the apostle Thomas who was a missionary to India.

So my friends, what does all this mean for us today? Why celebrate a day that remembers the coming of well-to-do strangers?  Much as our brother Jesus did in his earthly life among us, telling us, showing us manifestations of a God bigger than what we could see at face value; the coming of these wise ones from the East then, and now (think refugees) are ways that our God can show us more.

The Magi found something, Someone in Bethlehem different than they thought they would find. The real manifestation for them was that God came to earth in the form of the poorest among us so that our eyes would be opened to go into our world and find God too in the poorest to the richest, but never to forget the poorest.  Not in glory, but in poverty. It is good to remember who it was who was told of the baby in Bethlehem—the shepherds—the poor, not King Herod or the powers-that-be in Bethlehem.

My friends, the message we must take away from this feast, and the end of the 12 days of Christmas on January 6^th is that the message of love which is Christmas is for all days, for all people, not just the twelve we set aside to officially celebrate this winter-time-here, season of joy. This is Paul’s message to us today in his letter to the Ephesians.

Christmas is about the miracle born in a stable over 2,000 years ago.  Jesus is sign and symbol of the miracle that each person born is and he called attention to that in choosing to be one-of-us, not in glory, but in poverty to raise each of us to the greatness that we are called to be.  Christmas time has only worked its magic on us if we in fact allow the love of that first manifestation of love to be manifested each day through our lives. Teilhard de Chardin said it this way: “A universal love is not only psychologically possible; it is the only complete and final way in which we are able to love.”

So, you see, it doesn’t really matter, how many kings came, whether in fact they came at all—what matters, as always, is the greater message—love was manifested in Jesus of Nazareth as a poor baby in a stable and we then must manifest that same love as we meet our world, each and every day of our lives!

So today, as we begin a new year in our world and Church, even though there is much that still needs our care, and we can all name the issues, let us carry away two pieces of wisdom—first from Meister Eckhart:

“Only [the one] to whom God is present in everything and who employs reason in the highest degree and has enjoyment in it knows anything of true peace…” –this bit to challenge us in this new year and finally, to give us hope, words from the Desiderata:

“You are a child of the Universe, no less than the trees and the stars…whether or not it’s clear to you…the Universe is unfolding as it should…it still is a beautiful world.” Amen? Amen!

Friends, this is the last time the homily will go out by email–going forward it will be on the website and you will need to sign on to allareonechurch.org to get it going forward. Thanks so much! –Pastor Kathy

My friends, each year the feast day of the Holy Family comes on the first Sunday after Christmas and it seems well-placed in our church year.  We have just remembered the birth of our brother Jesus in Bethlehem—a poor, backwater town, known for little else except as the birthplace of King David, who also began life in an insignificant way as a shepherd.

Our God makes it clear from the beginning that this graced life of Jesus will not be about position and power, but about time, place and action. We get the message through his lowly birth and the circumstances of him and his holy family living as refugees in his first years, literally running for their lives, of just who he will be coming to serve.  And for all the Christmas cards and greetings that proclaim this a season of peace, love and joy—we know that our brother Jesus will struggle his entire adult life in ministry to help his followers understand that it wasn’t an earthly kingdom that he came to establish—one that would overthrow the powers-that-be, but a kin-dom of love, care, mercy, justice and equality for all.

Our faith teaches us that Jesus was fully human and fully divine and when we look for guidance from him; we must look at both aspects completely so as to truly understand who it is that we say we follow so as to emulate him in our lives of loving-action.

The humanity of Jesus and the life into which he was born is only too obvious from the Christmas Scriptures shared this week.  This was a poor family—[they] “laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.”  Scriptures don’t tell us this, but the human heart knows that Mary and Joseph were a couple in love—that, is a given, because they couldn’t have raised the man that Jesus came to be had they not been a couple who loved deeply.  To separate the human Jesus from the Jesus who was divine and the experience of each element would be to make null and void the miracle of Christmas—Emmanuel-God-with-us.

Marjorie Holmes, who writes so beautifully of that first Christmas in TWO FROM GALILEE  says that God chose Mary and Joseph to be Jesus’ earthly parents primarily because they already loved each other. Love goes a long way to get people through the bumps in the road of life.  The outdated theology that depicts Joseph as a caretaker husband and father and wants to put such emphasis on Jesus’ parents living a celibate, married life is simply silly and not of God.  To have the goodness, the comfort, the physical closeness of a partner for the journey is part and parcel of what made Jesus’ earthly family, holy.

It was through his humanity and his earthly experience in the home that Mary and Joseph provided, complete with daily examples of love-in-action that Jesus was then able to show us, his earthly brothers and sisters on a larger scale, how we are to love as the God of us all intended.

My friends, this is all so simple, yet in its simplicity, profound. Loving well is the hardest thing any of us will do in our lifetime. Now that may sound strange when we have just come through a time of being with family and friends and hopefully physical expressions of love. And while we may still be basking in the goodness of warm times and moments with loved ones; we all know that true love isn’t always easy.

I am thinking of the “tough love” that our daughter Eryn and son-in-law, Adam have had to give this last while getting our grandson, Elliot to go to bed and sleep enough to meet his needs to grow “in wisdom and grace” and their need for rest as well. If they didn’t love him in the best sense, and each other; they wouldn’t have the stamina to give him the tough love that he needs now.

Several of you in our community have lost life partners this past year—talk about “tough love.” Common sense would tell us to never love another enough to be hurt by the ultimate loss of them, but the trade-off is to have missed all the love that relationship provided along the way—making us into the people we are as a result. For those who have lost life partners this year, may the good memories surround you now and the sadness be less and less.

Jesus’ life calls us to reflect on his humanity on this Holy Family Sunday, but it likewise calls us to reflect on his divinity and how the two came together to make him the one we say we follow.  I believe the miracle of the two, humanity and divinity existing together so perfectly in Jesus of Nazareth is the model we are each called to. How that ultimately happens, I don’t know, but perhaps when we live as Paul instructs us today in his letter to the Colossians, that we:

[Clothe ourselves with heartfelt compassion, with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  That we bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances we have against one another—forgive as God has forgiven us and above all else, we put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect], then perhaps we unite the human with the divine.

The Holy Family calls each of us in our families to live as they did, keeping our eyes on what is most important—simply put—the love.  Will it always be easy—no, it won’t, but it will always be rich because we can only measure the result by how much we have loved.  If we have loved well, selflessly for the most part, then even if all doesn’t turn out as we had hoped, we know that we chose the best in the end.

Friends, may each of you find love, joy and peace within family—however you find it in this blessed season. Amen? Amen!