Epiphany 0106/07 Text: matthew 2:1-12 Title: Aha!
Epiphany
01/06/07
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Title: Aha
Today is the day the Christian church officially celebrates Epiphany. I usually reserve this special sermon for those who attend the evening service on Epiphany, but because it falls on a Sunday this year, and we are only going to have the burning of the greens, after our chili cook-off, we are going to celebrate Epiphany in our Sunday morning service.
My dictionary defines an epiphany as an "unexpected manifestation." I prefer to think of an epiphany as a great discovery ––an "Aha!" experience. Cartoonists picture an epiphany with a light bulb above a cartoon figure's head. That says it pretty well. An epiphany is a light suddenly switching on in our head.
When I was in high school, I heard an unusual epiphany story in a science class. It had to do with Archimedes, an ancient Greek scientist. Archimedes had his epiphany –– his Aha experience –– when he lowered himself into a bathtub and noticed how the water rose higher in the tub. He raised himself from the water and saw how the water got lower in the tub. It suddenly dawned on him that there was a scientific principle at work –– a principle that he could use to predict the buoyancy of a ship. It is said that Archimedes got so excited that he ran out into the street shouting, "Eureka! Eureka!" Unfortunately he did so without any clothes on. It is said he caused quite a stir.
I would wager that most Christians do not know what Epiphany is all about, other than it has to something to do with the wise men finding Jesus. Three wise men follow a star until they find the baby Jesus, and as the manager scenes show us they kneel alongside the shepherds and worship the baby Jesus.
It is a great story. Unfortunately fact has gotten all mixed up with fiction and in doing so has drawn us away from the real reason Saint Matthew wrote the account we are looking at today. The wise men or the three kings which by the way we really don’t know how many there were, as our hymn tells us were not really wise men or kings.
The Greek word magi has more of a sense of astrologers. They read the stars and told the future or the meaning of special events. Being astrologers they might well have also been some sort of priests in their country. We do know that they were educated and that they studied Hebrew Scriptures.
They studied the stars, because just as it is for those people today who do astrology, they believed that certain events in the heavens meant something special had taken place or was going to take place. In this case it meant, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, that a king had been born.
So they took off on this trip from the eastern parts of the world to find this king. When you want to find a king, you go to the capital city of the country, thus they went to Jerusalem. We don’t know what animals they rode or if they even did. And they certainly did not worship Jesus as we worship him, for the Greek word means to pay homage toward. And they certainly did not worship Jesus at the manager, for by the time they had arrived at Jerusalem and then Bethlehem Jesus was close to two years of age.
I am telling you all this not to destroy all these wonderful traditions we have about the wise men, but to shift your focus away from them to Jesus. Remember last Sunday I told you that Saint Matthew wrote what we call the Gospel of Matthew to the Jewish people. He was a Jew writing to the Jews, so that they would see that Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies that had been written about the Messiah.
Saint Matthew wrote this account so that the Jewish people would see that the coming of the wise men to worship Jesus was one more prophecy that had come true. He wanted to show them that this baby Jesus, now toddler Jesus, drew people to himself. He wanted to show them an Epiphany, an Aha experience.
Did you ever have an Aha experience? Most of us have. My Aha experiences usually come after I have been working on working on something, and I'll bump up against problem after problem. Finally, I just give up and go to bed. Then sometime in the middle of the night I'll wake up with the solution. The solution just comes to me. It is an epiphany an Aha experience.
The Epiphany that we are observing today has to do with the story of the Wise Men as told in the Gospel of Matthew. It was an Aha experience for them as they followed a star to the baby Jesus. It was an Aha experience to follow a star that nobody but God could have put in the sky. It was an Aha experience to see the star stop over the house where Jesus was. It was an Aha experience to see the baby.
I don't know to what extent they understood this, but their encounter with Jesus was God's way of telling them that salvation was for them too, not just for the Jews. If they understood that, if they "got it" that was their best Aha experience.
Matthew, remember he was a Jew writing to Jews wanted them to have an Aha experience too. He wanted them to know that not only was Jesus the promised Messiah, but that he was not just the Messiah of the Jews. He was the Messiah of the Gentiles also. He was telling his fellow Jews that the Gentiles have a stake in Jesus' birth too. The good news of God's love isn't limited to Jews, but is available to Gentiles too. To the Jews reading Matthew, remember that for the most part by this time they though that this Messiah was only for them, this was quite an Aha experience.
You see Matthew not only wanted them to know Jesus was the Messiah, but he wanted them to know that Israel included all those who came to faith in Jesus. And why should it not be, for when God chose these people they had no name. Then the farther of the people, Abraham was called Israel which became their name and now through Jesus there is the spiritual Israel of which all true believers are a part.
We see that in Romans 9:6-8 ¶ For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
So what I am telling you is that all through his Gospel, written for Jews, Matthew is emphasizing that God has brought Gentiles inside the tent. He is saying that Jesus came to save Gentiles just as he came to save Jews. He is saying that Jesus is for all of us. And if we can ever get that through our heads, that Jesus is for all of us, then we will have a real Aha experience.
It isn't easy, you see, to always believe that Jesus came to save us. Oh, it's easy enough to believe that Jesus came to save the WORLD, but it is much more difficult to believe that Jesus came to save ME. For we, too many times have a tendency to either think that deserve God’s forgiveness. I try hard to keep his commandments and worship him correctly. Others think that I'm not good enough. I would like to be a good Christian, but I still do bad things. Is it possible that Jesus really came to serve me? Maybe he tried, but it doesn’t appear by my life that he succeeded.
Maybe you have felt that way. Maybe you have wondered whether or not this Jesus stuff applies to you. Maybe you put on a good show, but you know how you are on the inside. Maybe you think, “I am not worth it.”
In one of his books (Six Hours One Friday), Max Lucado relates a story told originally by a teacher of underprivileged children. The teacher told of a nine-year-old girl whose name was Barbara. Barbara was always quiet. She never spoke. When the other children sang, Barbara was silent. When the other children laughed, Barbara sat quietly. The teacher could see that Barbara was listening, but she couldn't get her to talk. Barbara never spoke a word.
Then one day the teacher told the children about heaven–– what a wonderful place it is, how God prepared heaven for those who love him. Much to the teacher's surprise, Barbara raised her hand. It was one of those precious moments that teachers pray for. The teacher acknowledged Barbara and waited to hear what she would say. This is what Barbara said. She asked, "Is heaven for girls like me?" Wow.
Have you ever felt like that? "Is heaven for girls like me?" "Is heaven for boys like me?" "Is heaven for men like me?" "Is heaven for women like me?" Epiphany's answer is yes, heaven is for people like you. Heaven is not only for people like, but heaven is for you. God created heaven for you.
Yes, I understand that you are not good enough. Yes, I know that you to continue to struggle with your faith at times. But hear this, “If you weren't a sinner, you wouldn't need Jesus. Jesus didn't die on the cross the save people who didn't need him. Jesus died on the cross to save you!”
The great Evangelist Billy Graham said it the best one day. "Jesus stopped dying on the cross long enough to answer the prayer of a thief. He stopped in a big crowd one day because someone touched the hem of His garment; and He'll stop to touch your life and change you, and forgive you."
That is the hardest thing for us to understand. It is the hardest thing to believe. But if we will allow ourselves to believe it, it is the most wonderful Aha experience imaginable. It lifts a terrible burden from our shoulders. We can become truly joyful when we finally believe that God loves us, when we finally believe that God loves me.
Now that is quite an Aha experience, but there is one more in this Epiphany story. God loves the rest of the people too, including that neighbor whose dog wakes you up at night. He loves that scumbag who you can’t stand. He loves every person that you would prefer God not to love. Those people we consider evil, those we consider to be our enemies, those who hate us and wish to do us harm he loves them with the same love that he loves us.
I honestly do not see how you can truly know the love of God, the power of God in your own life until you come to grips with and rejoice in the fact that God died for all people, including the scoundrels and wicked of life.
So let us begin this new year by truly believing that God loves us and our neighbors and our enemy. And then let us respond to that love by loving ourselves, and our neighbor, and our enemy. Amen.
01/06/07
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Title: Aha
Today is the day the Christian church officially celebrates Epiphany. I usually reserve this special sermon for those who attend the evening service on Epiphany, but because it falls on a Sunday this year, and we are only going to have the burning of the greens, after our chili cook-off, we are going to celebrate Epiphany in our Sunday morning service.
My dictionary defines an epiphany as an "unexpected manifestation." I prefer to think of an epiphany as a great discovery ––an "Aha!" experience. Cartoonists picture an epiphany with a light bulb above a cartoon figure's head. That says it pretty well. An epiphany is a light suddenly switching on in our head.
When I was in high school, I heard an unusual epiphany story in a science class. It had to do with Archimedes, an ancient Greek scientist. Archimedes had his epiphany –– his Aha experience –– when he lowered himself into a bathtub and noticed how the water rose higher in the tub. He raised himself from the water and saw how the water got lower in the tub. It suddenly dawned on him that there was a scientific principle at work –– a principle that he could use to predict the buoyancy of a ship. It is said that Archimedes got so excited that he ran out into the street shouting, "Eureka! Eureka!" Unfortunately he did so without any clothes on. It is said he caused quite a stir.
I would wager that most Christians do not know what Epiphany is all about, other than it has to something to do with the wise men finding Jesus. Three wise men follow a star until they find the baby Jesus, and as the manager scenes show us they kneel alongside the shepherds and worship the baby Jesus.
It is a great story. Unfortunately fact has gotten all mixed up with fiction and in doing so has drawn us away from the real reason Saint Matthew wrote the account we are looking at today. The wise men or the three kings which by the way we really don’t know how many there were, as our hymn tells us were not really wise men or kings.
The Greek word magi has more of a sense of astrologers. They read the stars and told the future or the meaning of special events. Being astrologers they might well have also been some sort of priests in their country. We do know that they were educated and that they studied Hebrew Scriptures.
They studied the stars, because just as it is for those people today who do astrology, they believed that certain events in the heavens meant something special had taken place or was going to take place. In this case it meant, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, that a king had been born.
So they took off on this trip from the eastern parts of the world to find this king. When you want to find a king, you go to the capital city of the country, thus they went to Jerusalem. We don’t know what animals they rode or if they even did. And they certainly did not worship Jesus as we worship him, for the Greek word means to pay homage toward. And they certainly did not worship Jesus at the manager, for by the time they had arrived at Jerusalem and then Bethlehem Jesus was close to two years of age.
I am telling you all this not to destroy all these wonderful traditions we have about the wise men, but to shift your focus away from them to Jesus. Remember last Sunday I told you that Saint Matthew wrote what we call the Gospel of Matthew to the Jewish people. He was a Jew writing to the Jews, so that they would see that Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies that had been written about the Messiah.
Saint Matthew wrote this account so that the Jewish people would see that the coming of the wise men to worship Jesus was one more prophecy that had come true. He wanted to show them that this baby Jesus, now toddler Jesus, drew people to himself. He wanted to show them an Epiphany, an Aha experience.
Did you ever have an Aha experience? Most of us have. My Aha experiences usually come after I have been working on working on something, and I'll bump up against problem after problem. Finally, I just give up and go to bed. Then sometime in the middle of the night I'll wake up with the solution. The solution just comes to me. It is an epiphany an Aha experience.
The Epiphany that we are observing today has to do with the story of the Wise Men as told in the Gospel of Matthew. It was an Aha experience for them as they followed a star to the baby Jesus. It was an Aha experience to follow a star that nobody but God could have put in the sky. It was an Aha experience to see the star stop over the house where Jesus was. It was an Aha experience to see the baby.
I don't know to what extent they understood this, but their encounter with Jesus was God's way of telling them that salvation was for them too, not just for the Jews. If they understood that, if they "got it" that was their best Aha experience.
Matthew, remember he was a Jew writing to Jews wanted them to have an Aha experience too. He wanted them to know that not only was Jesus the promised Messiah, but that he was not just the Messiah of the Jews. He was the Messiah of the Gentiles also. He was telling his fellow Jews that the Gentiles have a stake in Jesus' birth too. The good news of God's love isn't limited to Jews, but is available to Gentiles too. To the Jews reading Matthew, remember that for the most part by this time they though that this Messiah was only for them, this was quite an Aha experience.
You see Matthew not only wanted them to know Jesus was the Messiah, but he wanted them to know that Israel included all those who came to faith in Jesus. And why should it not be, for when God chose these people they had no name. Then the farther of the people, Abraham was called Israel which became their name and now through Jesus there is the spiritual Israel of which all true believers are a part.
We see that in Romans 9:6-8 ¶ For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
So what I am telling you is that all through his Gospel, written for Jews, Matthew is emphasizing that God has brought Gentiles inside the tent. He is saying that Jesus came to save Gentiles just as he came to save Jews. He is saying that Jesus is for all of us. And if we can ever get that through our heads, that Jesus is for all of us, then we will have a real Aha experience.
It isn't easy, you see, to always believe that Jesus came to save us. Oh, it's easy enough to believe that Jesus came to save the WORLD, but it is much more difficult to believe that Jesus came to save ME. For we, too many times have a tendency to either think that deserve God’s forgiveness. I try hard to keep his commandments and worship him correctly. Others think that I'm not good enough. I would like to be a good Christian, but I still do bad things. Is it possible that Jesus really came to serve me? Maybe he tried, but it doesn’t appear by my life that he succeeded.
Maybe you have felt that way. Maybe you have wondered whether or not this Jesus stuff applies to you. Maybe you put on a good show, but you know how you are on the inside. Maybe you think, “I am not worth it.”
In one of his books (Six Hours One Friday), Max Lucado relates a story told originally by a teacher of underprivileged children. The teacher told of a nine-year-old girl whose name was Barbara. Barbara was always quiet. She never spoke. When the other children sang, Barbara was silent. When the other children laughed, Barbara sat quietly. The teacher could see that Barbara was listening, but she couldn't get her to talk. Barbara never spoke a word.
Then one day the teacher told the children about heaven–– what a wonderful place it is, how God prepared heaven for those who love him. Much to the teacher's surprise, Barbara raised her hand. It was one of those precious moments that teachers pray for. The teacher acknowledged Barbara and waited to hear what she would say. This is what Barbara said. She asked, "Is heaven for girls like me?" Wow.
Have you ever felt like that? "Is heaven for girls like me?" "Is heaven for boys like me?" "Is heaven for men like me?" "Is heaven for women like me?" Epiphany's answer is yes, heaven is for people like you. Heaven is not only for people like, but heaven is for you. God created heaven for you.
Yes, I understand that you are not good enough. Yes, I know that you to continue to struggle with your faith at times. But hear this, “If you weren't a sinner, you wouldn't need Jesus. Jesus didn't die on the cross the save people who didn't need him. Jesus died on the cross to save you!”
The great Evangelist Billy Graham said it the best one day. "Jesus stopped dying on the cross long enough to answer the prayer of a thief. He stopped in a big crowd one day because someone touched the hem of His garment; and He'll stop to touch your life and change you, and forgive you."
That is the hardest thing for us to understand. It is the hardest thing to believe. But if we will allow ourselves to believe it, it is the most wonderful Aha experience imaginable. It lifts a terrible burden from our shoulders. We can become truly joyful when we finally believe that God loves us, when we finally believe that God loves me.
Now that is quite an Aha experience, but there is one more in this Epiphany story. God loves the rest of the people too, including that neighbor whose dog wakes you up at night. He loves that scumbag who you can’t stand. He loves every person that you would prefer God not to love. Those people we consider evil, those we consider to be our enemies, those who hate us and wish to do us harm he loves them with the same love that he loves us.
I honestly do not see how you can truly know the love of God, the power of God in your own life until you come to grips with and rejoice in the fact that God died for all people, including the scoundrels and wicked of life.
So let us begin this new year by truly believing that God loves us and our neighbors and our enemy. And then let us respond to that love by loving ourselves, and our neighbor, and our enemy. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 7:56 PM
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