Lift up your eyes! Observing the Feast of the Epiphany, Year A

Isaiah 60: 1- 6

Matthew 2:1-12

It is the 12^th day of Christmas!! If you listen very closely, maybe you hear the drummers drumming. Yes, it is still Christmas, although almost NOT still Christmas.

Today at Faith we are jumping ahead and celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany, typically January 6 (right after the 12 days) – the place where the Christmas season ends and a new season, the season of Epiphany, begins.

It is one of those in between times, sometimes referred to as liminal space, the space between what was and what is next.  That space – liminal space - can be desolate or it can be rich, it can be defined or it can be mysterious. If we are not careful, sometimes that liminal space can go completely unnoticed by us.  We won’t even know we’ve been there.

We tend to think about Epiphany as a celebration of the arrival of the Magi – or the Kings. But really, it’s about something much broader than that – it’s about the revelation of Jesus as God’s son. In scripture, that happens in dribs and drabs based on which Gospel you are reading. Next week, we’ll talk about what happened at Jesus’ baptism and that was definitely one of those moments of revelation. A few weeks from now, we’ll talk about what happens at the transfiguration as Peter and John witness Jesus right alongside Moses and Elijah.

Epiphany is really about what is revealed to us if we are paying attention. It’s about what happens if we lift up our eyes – if we look beyond ourselves at what God is doing in our midst.

In the Matthew text for today, there is something being revealed as the Kings arrive, a revelation that catches Herod quite off guard.

These “kings,” these “magi,” these learned people (because it turns out there were probably more than THREE and the entourage probably included women) have travelled from afar, and they have navigated by signs in the heavens. But their navigation couldn’t have initially been too exact – because they arrived in country and showed up at the palace in Jerusalem.  Their question, “where is this child who is born king of the Jews?” 

...I suppose if you are looking for a King, you typically begin the search in a royal spot, the palace, the seat of power.

Their inquiry gave Herod pause…as far as Herod is concerned, he’s the king, the man in power, the guy in charge.  What’s all of this about a new king?

So…that’s one nature of this revelation…The traveling visitors announce a new king, but they don’t really know exactly who he is or exactly where he is, and they probably aren’t super-clear on the political environment they’ve stumbled into...because it is not their stomping grounds if you will.

The text says Herod was frightened – and all of Jerusalem with him.

 

I can only imagine that suggestions of regime change or power struggles were unsettling to a lot of folks, not just the guy in charge.  And so Herod calls together all his experts – and the texts says specifically he called the chief priests and scribes – the religious authorities – the experts in the law and ancient texts.  Because he wants to figure out what these Kings are talking about, what might this mean.

So armed with the knowledge that the prophet Micah had spoken of a ruler who would come from Bethlehem (the City of David), Herod’s spidey sense is that something grave is going on. Something threatening – specifically threatening to him.

Herod meets with those visiting wise people once again, shares what his religious experts have said and sends the wise folk on to Bethlehem with instructions to return and let him know what they find.

Which they don’t. Because they are warned in a dream not to do so.

But when they find the boy born in Bethlehem, they pay homage.  To pay homage is to publicly show respect.  I would imagine that having a bunch of exotic strangers arrive in humble Bethlehem created a bit of a spectacle.

I wonder what the neighbors thought.

I wonder what Mary thought? I wonder what Joseph thought?

I wonder what Jesus thought – because he was likely no longer an infant when this visit took place.

I wonder if those folks, like Herod, had some misgivings or some questions about what was going on?

I wonder if those kings knew that following the star would be risky? Would endanger a generation of children in Bethlehem? Would unnerve Herod so?

These are epiphany questions.  We wonder about the story and we wonder about what it means. We lift up our eyes with wonder.

Epiphany, in the life of the church, isn’t a day.  It’s a season. Much like Christmas, it is more than just a passing moment…we’re invited to steep in something. We are invited to steep in things that the scripture reveals.

This week, our scriptures reveal a story about faithful following.  About wise people who discern a call and follow a path.

In light of that story this week, let’s focus on discernment.

To discern is to perceive or recognize something, or to distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty by sight or with the other senses. To discern is to look beyond ourselves…to lift up our eyes.

Discernment is a word I use a lot when I talk about our work as the church. One of the things that Methodists received from John Wesley is a keen understanding that we are shaped by scripture and tradition, reason and experience.  We have to be paying attention to what is happening around us to discern what God is doing in order to understand how we might be changed God’s action.

Discernment is work.

And it is work for all of us.

In particular, we discern our Call – the way God is calling on us uniquely in the world  And by us – I mean you and I individually, but also us – all of us as the body of Christ.  As people and as a community, God is calling us toward something that brings about the kingdom of God.  A piece of our life’s work is to discern that call, to discern how it changes over time and to discern how best to follow.

I hear some of your inner thoughts right now – call – that is something reserved for people who are going to work for the church.  That is something pastors or specific leaders have. It’s not something I have. Is it?

Nope. We’re all called.

The Kings were called to go pay homage to the new King.  Herod was called to find out more.  The religious experts were called to offer up what they knew.  The kings were then called NOT to listen to Herod’s request that they return to report what they’d found.

There is a whole lot of discerning that goes on in this story. A whole lot of watching for the revelation of something new and vital.

Like the wise people or even Herod,

Sometimes we call in experts.

Sometimes we set out looking for clues.

Sometimes we sit with an idea and wait.

Today, we are in a season of mystery…watching, waiting, showing up for what God is doing in our midst. And we won’t see what is revealed if we are not watching and waiting and looking and then discerning.

Mysteries require us to pay attention, look for clues, watch closely for what is happening, what is meant, what might come next.

Mysteries, require us to discern.

Maybe something about oneself, or the times in which one lives,

or about the direction of a community. 

In our lives, we might be discerning how best to use our gifts, whether to seek a new job, what we are supposed to be growing toward in this season, how we are supposed to handle that tricky relationship. 

We are, as the community of Faith, discerning how we will engage in mission work in the year to come. How we will offer welcome to those seeking to grow in relationship to God. How we will navigate the tricky waters of being in the world and not of the world. 

We are, individually and as a community, faced by a lot of discernment in this season.

Today, we celebrate communion – another liminal space between what was and what will be. The meal that Jesus calls us to while we wait to feast at his heavenly banquet.

During our communion time today, you will have the opportunity to take a star cutout from a basket. That star has a word on it.

That word has found you this year, and I invite you to spend some time pondering – discerning -  what this word might mean.  Is it a star to follow? A star by which to navigate?

For the past several years, a growing number of congregations have been receiving star words as part of their Epiphany celebration. Last year, I got the word “tenderness.” I wanted to crumple it up and make it go away.  I wanted to receive “boldness” or “dependability.”  But I got “tenderness.”  And I needed that throughout the year.  I discerned that tenderness was part of how I had to navigate my family and my church and my disengaging from years of full time work at the seminary.  I needed to carry tenderness with me right alongside bravery and power and wisdom and commitment.  I kept coming back to that star that I didn’t want. Praying with it.  Living into it. Watching for the places it mattered. Discerning why tenderness mattered.

I’ve heard so many stories this past year of the stars folks received LAST year.  There was the member whose word was “learning.” The member whose word was “grace.” The member whose word was “servanthood.”  And they just kept coming to me in wonder.  I’ve prayed over this community since I arrived and I’ve prayed over the issues we face together. I’ve prayed for the ways we will discern a path forward in the year to come and I’ve prayed over these stars you will receive today.

So today, as you feast together, you will also find a word to ponder on your heart.  To pray with. To watch over. To discern with.

The prophet Isaiah says…

Arise, shine for your light has come.

Lift up your eyes and look around.

But your light has come only if you have seen it. Only if you observe it. Only if you are paying attention can that light do what it is intended to do

…that is the work of discerning.

It is work for us today.

May it be so.

Amen.