The Epiphany of our Lord, Cycle C

January 4, 2004

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:    Isaiah 60:1-6;  Ephesians 3:1-12;  St. Matthew 2:1-12

     Most of us don't know the first thing about having a Lord and Savior.  You may not have ever thought of it in just those terms, but--isn't that part of the problem.  We don't know the first thing about having a Lord and Savior--yet, we think very little about it. When was the last time you really thought about, and prayed about--what it means for you, for your life, that you say Jesus is your Lord and your Savior?  For many Christians, those are just words.  I am an American.  I am a Republican or a Democrat.  I am a Christian.  These words can mean a lot, or they can mean very little.  To say you are an American, but to be unwilling to defend our country--suggests it really doesn't mean much to you, to be an American.  To say you are a Christian, but then, to live just like everyone else lives in the world, implies your Christianity is simply a name,  to you, being a Christian is like being a member of a club or an organization.  At some time, you decided to be a member, but as time passes, maybe you lost interest, maybe you got busier at work,  or volunteering at school, so you became an inactive, or less active member.  For some, being a Christian is not unlike being a member of the PTA, or the Lion's Club, or the Country Club.  For some of us, being a Christian means little or nothing.  It means you show up for club meetings when it's convenient;  pay your dues if you have the money;  participate as you have the time, the energy, the desire.  And if one of the officers of the club asks for more than that, you get offended, put off by the fact that this club thinks they deserve more of you than the other clubs you're in.  This attitude, is reflected in the sorry shape of affairs in much of Christianity today.  It's reflected in the fact that only 30% of Christians actually worship each Sunday.  It's reflected in the fact that Christians only give an average of 2.3% of their income to Christ and His Church.  It's reflected in the scandalous clergy sexual abuse and misconduct--in the rampant alcoholism, divorce, and sexual impropriety among Christians-- in the fighting and divisions within denominations, and congregations.  On the one hand, you could chalk it up to the reality of sin in the world, the fact that Christians are simultaneously saints and sinner, that we continue to live broken, disobedient lives.  And that would be true.  On the other hand, however, we are called to be "in the world, but not of the world".  We are called to be different;  to be salt, and light in the world.  We are called to be a holy people--to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.  So, given that--why is it we, Christians, are so, worldly, so impure, so much the same, as those who are not Christians?  You could come up with any number of reasons--but it comes down to--we don't have the slightest understanding, of what it means to have a Lord and Savior!  We don't understand, that having a Lord and Savior, is not like having a Lion's Club CEO, in an office in Dallas.  We don't understand that this, Church, this Body of Christ, that Jesus formed, instituted, and constituted with the gift of the Holy Spirit, is not just one organization among many--is not one religion among many equally valid religions--is not one club, among many valid, worthwhile clubs.  And similarly, we just don't grasp, that becoming a member of this body of Christ, is not like becoming a member of the Society of Professional Engineers.  To join, to participate in any of these other, groups, is to voluntarily commit oneself to participate, as one chooses.  At any time, you can show up, or not show up;  pay your dues, or not pay your dues;  remain a member, or resign your membership, as fits your time, your schedule, your desires.  These other groups can lay a claim upon you, only in so far as you are willing to allow them to.  They have no ultimate hold over you, you can come and go as you please, and participate as you please.   Being a part of the Body of Christ, however;  committing yourself to Jesus Christ, as your Lord and Savior, however--is something totally different.  When you become a Christian, you yield yourself, and your will, and your life, to someone else--to a Lord and Savior.  You give up your claims to yourself, your time, and your possessions, and turn those claims over to Jesus, to be your Lord and Savior.  When you become a Christian, you die to yourself, you die, literally and figuratively, with Jesus, in Baptism, to rise to new life in Him--so that once Baptized, you are no longer your own, you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God the Father--so that, in Baptism, you are born again, into God's eternal family;  you are born again, into the body of Christ, the Church;  the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church--created, as St. Paul writes in our second lesson--so that through the Church, the wisdom of God might now be known to the world.  To be a part of this Church, is to be part of Christ's body--and to be part of Christ's body, is to have Jesus Christ, as our head, as our cornerstone--indeed, it is to have Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior!  All of us who have been baptized into Christ, submit to Him as our Lord and Savior.  We just don't seem to grasp what that really means.  We certainly live, as if we don't understand what that means.  And that brings us, to this Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord.  That brings us to the experience, and the example, of the Wise Men, who were the first Gentiles, the first non-Jews, to submit themselves to Jesus, as Lord and Savior.

     For all the story and tradition and regalia surrounding the Magi and their visit to the Christ child, it really boils down to something quite simple.  The baby Jesus, was not born, only for the Jews.  He was to be, as Isaiah prophesied, a light for all people--nations would come to His light, and kings, to the brightness of His dawning.  The mystery of God's plan, from the beginning, as Saint Paul points out, was for Gentiles to become fellow heirs, members of the same body of Christ, with Jewish Christians--so that together, we could carry out God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Yes, Jesus was born into a Jewish family, in a Jewish town, to fulfill Jewish prophecy--but immediately, God set a star in the sky, to guide wise men from the east--Gentiles, to the baby of Bethlehem--so that from the start, the world would know that God's plan, was for Jesus to be Lord and Savior, of all people--Jews and Gentiles, alike.  And we see, in these wise men, what it means, truly, to have Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We see that it means, to follow God's leading;  we see that it means that we are to follow God's will;  we see that it means we are to search for Jesus diligently, and faithfully;  it means we are to pay him homage--to kneel down and worship Him;  it means we are to give to Him, our richest, most valued gifts.  For all that has surrounded the visit of the Magi, through art, and music, and tale-telling, it really boils down to this--they exemplify, for us Gentiles--what it means for us to have a Lord and Savior;  how we are to live our lives, now that Christ the Savior is born.  So, let's put it as plainly as we can.  Following the example of the Wise Men, how are we to live our lives?  First, we are to be ever watching for the star.  Oh, we might say we've never seen the star.  We might say, "God has never really provided me with signs, showing me which way He wants me to go."  Does God not provide us with a star, or are we so focused on earthly things, worldly troubles, our own pursuits and interests, that we never look up to see, we never quiet down to listen, we never stop and ask God for directions?  In my own life, with big decisions and life-changes, God has always, always provided a star;  a bright, shining, unmistakable sign, that showed me precisely where He wanted me to go.  He led me into the ministry, He led me to Gettysburg Seminary, He led me to Hobbs, New Mexico, and He led me to Saint Luke's--with signs as clear and definitive as if there had been a star in the sky, leading the way, then stopping, right where He wanted me to be.  At first, I didn't think I wanted to be in the ministry;  at first, I didn't think I wanted to go to Hobbs, New Mexico.  After a time, I thought I was so happy in Hobbs, I would never consider coming to Colorado Springs.  I could have ignored the star, and gone somewhere else.  I could have immersed myself in my present, and completely missed the future God had planned for me.  But, being a Christian means watching for God's star--and then, being willing to follow, trusting that God always, always leads us, to Christ.  Second, the example of the Wise Men shows us that once God has led us to Christ, we are to kneel down and pay Him homage.  This is actually a new translation, this description of the Magi "paying the Christ Child homage".  In most other translations, is says the desire of the Wise Men was to worship the Christ.  One way or the other, the message is clear:  we are to give a public acknowledgement of our allegiance to our newborn King;  we are to show our respect, our reverence, our honor;  yes, we are to worship, Christ, our Lord and Savior.  The Wise Men, these men respected, themselves, for their wisdom, their noble positions, their education, naturally, and without hesitation, kneel down, and revere this holy child--they refuse to stand in His presence--indeed, they consider themselves unworthy to stand in His presence.  Luther once said, if one will not kneel in Christ's presence during the Lord's Supper, Satan himself will take a club and knock you to your knees!  I fail to understand churches and able-bodied Christians, who will not kneel before their Lord and Savior! Scripture calls us to bow down, and kneel before our Lord;  the Wise Men, who surely knelt before no man, knelt before God become flesh, in the baby Jesus.  And maybe that's the point--maybe that's why they were wise men, and we, at times, are not.  Because we will not kneel down and worship Christ.  Because we are not wise enough, to give Him the homage, the reverence, the worship due Him.  If the Magi show us anything, it is that we ought to be humbling ourselves before the Christ, kneeling down as often are we are able, to show Christ Jesus, our honor and respect, truly, to worship Him with all that we have and are.  Which brings us to the third thing we learn from the Wise Men--as part of our homage, our worship, we are to give our greatest gifts.  The Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Gold, because gold is the gift for kings;  incense, because, like it or not, God's divinity is honored and recognized, by the burning of incense;  and myrrh, because myrrh was used to prepare a body for burial.  In the gifts of the Magi, they were recognizing Jesus as King, and God, and Savior.  And we, too, are called to bring Him gifts--gifts that reflect that He is our King, God, Savior.  The Epiphany hymn says, "As they offered gifts most rare, at they cradle rude and bare, so may we with holy joy, pure and free from sin's alloy, all our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to thee, our heavenly King."  What would be, our costliest treasures?  Oh, how we value our money, our wealth, our savings!  But just as valuable today--is our time!  It seems we are more and more stingy with our time--because there seems to be so little of it these days.  It seems harder and harder for us to make time, to come worship the Christ child, on Sunday.  It seems harder and harder for us to find people willing to give a bit of their time, to teach Sunday School, to lead Children's Church, to serve as acolyte, usher, nursery attendant.  It gets harder and harder for us to give an hour, for worship, for service, for Christ and His ministry.  "So may we with holy joy, pure and free from sin's alloy, all our costliest treasures bring, Christ to thee, our heavenly King."

     This is the simple message of the Epiphany--and the witness of the Wise Men, that Christ, the Light, has come, not just to Jews, not just to those in Israel--but to all of us, even to those of us who live far away from Bethlehem.  That this Christ is, our Lord and our Savior--that we are to live our lives, as if that is so--following God's star wherever it leads;  trusting that God will lead us, always, and only to Christ;  seeking Christ and searching for Christ in all things;  kneeling down before Him, worshiping Him, revering Him, honoring Him;  offering Him our costliest treasures, our greatest gifts, as our King, and God, and Savior.  May we, too, be wise men and women and children, as we follow the example of the Magi--and seek to pay homage, to Christ, the newborn King! 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.