When we tell the Nativity Story in church, we often tell it in three parts – the birth of Jesus,
the arrival of the shepherds, and the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi. This third part of the
story is today, the feast of the Epiphany.
The season from Christmas to Candlemas is all about revelation: things being revealed to us
about God through the person of Jesus Christ.
Christmas, being the festival of the Incarnation, is about God revealing himself to the world,
the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God-with-us.
Candlemas tells the story of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple, and Simeon
proclaiming Jesus to be the light to enlighten the nations. God reveals himself as the light
that shines in the darkness of our world.
The Epiphany holds a different revelation. This is the first time that God, in Jesus, is
revealed to peoples beyond Israel. In today’s part of the Christmas story, Jesus is revealed to
the Magi, the Wise Men, by the guiding light of a star in the night sky.
The Gospel tells us that after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, ‘wise men from the east’ came to
King Herod to ask about the baby. They ask Herod ‘Where is the child who has been born
king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.’
They come from lands afar, watching for the signs of great things to come, and when they see
that sign, they come to pay homage to this child, born to be a king.
God called to them, by a sign they would recognise, and they responded.
By this sign, God also reveals himself to King Herod, and in complete contrast to the Wise
Men who come to worship the child, Herod is afraid. Herod is threatened by God’s revelation
of himself.
This shouldn’t be a surprise: when God speaks to the world, he is often rebuking humankind
for turning from the ways of justice, mercy and peace. He challenges the status quo, raises up
the lowly, and casts the mighty from their thrones.
It’s no wonder that Herod is afraid of God’s revelation, for God is a threat to all those who
thrive on injustice, oppression, misery and violence.
While Herod sits on his throne fearing this King of the Jews, the Wise Men continue on their
journey. They find Jesus, kneel before him and pay him homage. They present to him gifts:
gold for Jesus’ royalty, incense for his divinity, and myrrh foretelling his death.
Notice the way these people respond to God’s revelation of his love, power and presence.
Herod responds with fear, and we know from the Gospels that he also responds with violence
– ordering the death of the Holy Innocents in case one of them might be the king foretold.
The Wise Men respond with worship and the offering of precious gifts. Might we too respond
like them, with worship and with our own precious gifts?
Think of those beautiful words from the Christmas carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ –
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
Our precious gift is ourselves. We give our hearts and our lives, all that we are and all that we
have, in the service of God. God responds to that gift by transforming our lives with his love,
and like the Magi, making us a sign and instrument by which others can hear the Good News
for themselves.
Yet before all of this, we must bring the gift of our worship. The Wise Men came and knelt
before the child Jesus; so too we must come before God with our prayers and our praises, our
thanksgiving and our love. We do not come to worship for worship’s sake. We are not simply
‘going through the motions.’ We come to worship because we love God, who loved the world
so much that he gave us his only Son, that we might have eternal life.
At the beginning of each new year, we traditionally make ‘New Year’s Resolutions.’ Today,
might we make a resolution for God? To listen to God’s call and respond, bearing only the
precious gift of ourselves, given in worship and service of God and his kingdom.
Amen.