Wise Men, Lost Boys and Jesus

Epiphany 1 2014

Matthew 2:1-10

Today, in the church calendar, we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. Epiphany is a word that means “Showing forth” “to reveal” “to appear” or “to shine”.  In the Scripture we just read, it was the ‘showing forth’ of the baby Jesus to the wise men who came from the East.

Jesus was a born into the house of Israel, and all people of Israel were waiting for the Messiah prophesized about in Scripture. Just as we, today, wait for our Messiah’s second coming.

So, the story of the wise men help us see clearly that the ‘showing forth’ of Jesus into the world was not only for the people of Israel but for all people of the world equally. Jesus came to fulfill the law and prophets but not only for the people of Israel, for all of God’s creation. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. To use the words of Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, or rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God revealed himself to the world through Jesus Christ.

And in the reading this morning we see people who are unexpectedly brought into a story, the story of history, the macro-story of history. And God uses three wise men and a star to point to something that is both quite ordinary – the birth of a baby, a poor baby – and the extraordinary – that baby is the son of God. God’s very self, fully disclosed.

The star is a symbol of direction and knowledge; the light for the journey; a sign of hope and vision for all humanity. Reminds me of Ps 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet…”

A small town, Bethlehem, becomes a focal point, for something totally new. The star, the focal point of the journey leads to Jesus Christ.

Have you heard of the Lost Boys of Sudan? The war is ongoing again in Sudan. I have met with a couple Sudanese this week. Their hearts are broken. Jesus weeps for the hurt and pain we cause one another.

Lost boys:

-          26,000 boys taken from their homes under the guise of education.

-          Walked for months without food and water to Ethiopia (communist uprising forced them to leave Ethiopia and walk back to another region of Sudan. From there to refugee camps in Kenya and Uganda.) The had to confront everything from war, disease and crocodiles). They were as young as six! 

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-          What was their star?

-          They arrived in refugee camps in Kenya and Uganda. I spoke with a couple nuns who work at a refugee camp in Uganda a couple weeks ago. These women have long since followed the star that leads to Jesus. They are solely motivated by humble service to their Lord.

What were these young boys fleeing?

Herod under a different name.

Same power struggle – oil, resources, control, preservation of the empire. Innocent children caught in the middle.

Herod works on the logic of fear. You see Herod was so afraid of this child he had heard about that he called together the “Chief priests and scribes” and asked them about what Scripture had to say about this. They confirmed that yes indeed the prophets spoke of the Messiah of Israel coming out of Bethlehem.

What happened?

Herod acted on fear and wanted to kill the child. In fact, he was so threatened by the child he ordered the killing of every child under two. He wanted to protect himself and his hold on power.

The Wise Men followed the star, the continued on their God-given mission, in spite of knowing that Herod was up to something. They even took a different way home because they knew that they might be killed too. But in spite of fear, the kept going. They got on with their 'mission.'

What did the Chief Priests and Scribes do… they consulted Scripture, spoke truth and did nothing about it. They did not follow the star. They did not join the wise men. They buried their heads in Scripture but did not look up but did not put it into practice. Jesus went on to call these people hypocrites.

Who are you following?

Herod – protecting your own power. Putting a priority on the logic of fear and ambition. He is ambitious because he wants to remain king in spite of the rumour of another king. He is afraid that someone has come who could upset his rule.

Chief Priests and Scribes – Who know Scripture but do nothing about it. Remained comfortably protected by Herod.

Wise Men – Who in spite of the fear of people like Herod keep going. Who get knowledge from Scripture. And who put that knowledge into reality in the world.

The world has many Herods.

The world has many hypocrites.

The world needs more wise men and women.

Be like the wise men – Go to the manger; worship Jesus. Life in its fullness is revealed.

And as Jesus said, “Fear not, for I am with thee.” He is calling you out of your shell, into the vulnerable reality of life in Christ.

Fear Not...Trust Him.