Matthew 2:1-12

Today we come to the close of the Christmas season! The celebration of Jesus' birth gives way to the season of Epiphany which means "manifestation" or "illumination". It is the season of the power of light, and we Christians enter this time with a great sense of wanting to share the light of Christ with everyone! Epiphany is our call to go and tell the world about Jesus!

Now, a number of people in recent times have had an epiphany about the Epiphany!

In considering the fact that the wise men probably did not show up in Bethlehem until about two years after the birth of Jesus, and the further fact that they brought him birthday gifts that were totally unsuitable for a two-year old child, these people claim to have had a revelation about how different things would have been if the wise men had not been men, but women! They say that if the magi were women instead of men, they would have asked for directions, gotten there on time, and - instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh - brought a casserole, baby oil, and disposable diapers.

And I suppose that's true. Women are so much more practical than men. They would have supported Mary and her baby in ways that really helped. In ways that made some sense!

Men, on the other hand, are kind of irrational about these pediatric things. We think a good gift for a baby is a football helmet! We think paying attention to our kids is asking them to go get us a beer during a TV commercial. We think providing a child with guidance for life means teaching them how to hit a curve ball!

Women can take a situation like the birth of a baby in a manger in a stable in a crummy little town like Bethlehem, and - with a little bit of organizing, a little bit of effort, and a little bit of a budget for an interior designer - turn that hopeless situation into a beautiful nursery fit for the child of a King. Women are good at making sense out of chaos. Men, on the other hand, make chaos out of sense. At least that's what my wife tells me!

And it just may be that this testosterone-induced condition of paternal senselessness from which we males suffer is the precise reason God decided the magi should be men and not women!

You see, women might have ruined Epiphany by organizing it and making sense out of it. It is, after all, a completely discombobulated event that seems to have little rhyme and even less reason! In fact, this visit of the wise men to Bethlehem makes the most sense when you understand that it doesn't make much sense at all. And its in these things that don't make sense that we encounter a surprisingly powerful and unpredictable God!

So, come with me into this story of the magi, and let's take a look at some of the things that just don't make sense. For these are the very things that show us what God is like and what we must become to be effective witnesses for Christ in our day.

First, a question. What in the world are magi doing in the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord?

The word magi in the Greek has nothing to do with being wise. I think early translators of the English New Testament rendered the term as "wise men" probably because they were embarrassed over the fact that the literal translation of magi is "magician". How can a Christian Gospel have eastern magicians showing up at the sacred birthplace of our Lord? And not only are these men adherents of magical religion, but their particular specialty is reading the stars. They are astrologers. Why, what a terrible insult to the Jewish community whose Scriptures deplore such things. Even King Saul was deposed from leading Israel because he entertained such people.

What in the world are pagan magicians doing in the middle of Christmas? Why are they allowed into the presence of the Son of God?

You know, one of the great tensions in the Christian life is wrestling with the question about God's attitude toward people who belong to other religions, or who don't believe at all. And our tendency in the church has been to set up walls between ourselves and these others. Believing in the supremacy of our faith, we are tempted to agree with people like Jerry Falwell who once declared that God does not hear the prayers of the Jewish people. Or with Paige Patterson, the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, who recently proclaimed that Hindus and Muslims are lost in inner darkness. Or with the first Christian settlers of our land whose Calvinist understanding of humanity held that people are utterly depraved and who found the native population convenient to be targeted and mistreated as such.

Now, on the surface, from a purely theological point of view, it may make a lot of sense to differentiate between ourselves and those outside our faith. It may make sense to divide the world into the faithful and the unfaithful. It may seem rational to think that there are some people within whom God is surely at work and others within whom God is not at work.

But Epiphany says, 'Don't be so sure about that."

You see, these strange pagan magi - the heroes of the Epiphany story - are a powerful testimony to the glorious unlimited love of God for all his creatures! They show us that God's love includes not only faithful Mary, and loyal Joseph. God's love extends not only to the angel-believing shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. God's love reaches out not only to pillars of faith like Simeon and Anna as they worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Why, God's amazing love stretches all the way from that very Jewish manger in Bethlehem to that most unlikely group of pagan astrologers hundreds of miles away in modern day Iran.

Now, it's important for you to know this, if you are going to be helpful to God. Many of us have people in our lives who are in desperate need of reconciliation to God. Spouses. Children. Neighbors. In some cases, they are people who've gained the whole world, but who have lost their souls in the process. And in other cases, they may be people who've lost in life, and their many tragic losses have formed such deep scar tissue over their souls that even sunny days look dark to them. And its such a sad thing to see, and you sense in your heart that only by coming to the manger and meeting Jesus can life be made right again for them.

So what is God's attitude toward these people we care about, but who are far away from God? Why, the magi show us that - no matter how far away from God people may seem, God is close to them! And God still loves them with all his heart!

Now, come a little bit deeper with me by considering another element of this story that seems to make no sense at all. Not only is it odd to find pagans stepping into the middle of Christmas, but its even stranger still to see how they get there. When the magi arrive in Jerusalem, the religious crowd there consults their scriptures to locate the Christ child. And yet, as it turns out, they do not find him. On the other hand, the pagan astrologers who do not know the Hebrew scriptures follow their star. And it leads them right to the house where Jesus is staying!

How can it be that Bible-believers lose out to pagan magicians? How can it be that those entrusted with the Word of God cannot find the Word Made Flesh? How can it be that the stars turn out to be a better guide than the Bible? What sense does this make?

In one of his books, T.H. White, the Indian-born English writer who devoted much of his career to writing about King Arthur, describes the older Guinevere, who - you remember - went and became a nun after the death of Arthur. He writes of Guinevere the nun as follows: "She became a wonderful theologian, but knew nothing about God."

And that about sums up the religious crowd in Jerusalem. They knew their Bible. They could quote it inside and out. They established their lives on its principles. They understood its intricate doctrines. But as good as they were at theology, they didn't have a clue as to how to find Jesus! Or how to help anyone else find him either!

You see, the magi show us that its not a matter of what's in your head! What really counts is the posture of your heart. And can't you see that what's in the heart of this bunch of pagan magicians who are willing to leave everything behind to go and find the one born King of the Jews is an unquenchable inner thirst for God?!

Do you know this about non-Christians? Do you know it about your spouse? Your child? Your neighbor? Do you know that, regardless of where it seems their head may be, their hearts are spiritually thirsty?

Human beings of all stripes have within them an inner restlessness that yearns for the presence of God! And you need to understand this if you're going to help God lead them to Christ.

So let's put these two senseless things together and learn from Epiphany. I think God is trying to show us how we can lead people to experience Christ! And God uses himself as the example to follow.

First, God is decisive about his own love. No one is beyond it. No one is excluded. No one is too lost. No one is too bad. No one is unreachable! Everyone is eligible! Everybody needs it! God pours his love into the world like a great torrential downpour! Everyone gets wet with the love of God for God's rain falls on the just and the unjust. Doesn't matter if you're a Presbyterian from New Jersey or a magician from Iran. Doesn't matter if you're an ordained minister or a confirmed atheist. God's love does not stop at any one particular house, any one particular neighborhood, any one particular community, any one particular church, any one particular religion, any one particular national border. God's love rolls on like the Alabama Crimson Tide - to use a poor example.

And its not until you commit yourself to this unlimited universality of God's love that you can really effectively guide people toward Christ, because only by accepting this unique love for others can your heart be changed in such a way that others will see Christ in you.

Do you think for a moment that you can guide a death row inmate to Christ while you advocate for his death? Do you think for a moment that you can make Christ real to people in the gay community by declaring that AIDS is the sign of God's hatred for them? Do you think for a moment that you can advocate for Jesus among the poor by living a life of personal economic accumulation without taking responsibility for the needs of others? Do you think you can truly reveal Christ's love to the waitress you mistreat like a servant, or to the local subcontractor you berate with demeaning names because of some flaw in his workmanship or work ethic?

You see, most of us have never really committed ourselves to the decisiveness of God's love for everyone. At least not to the extent that we are willing to embody that love in the very way we relate to prisoners, to folks on the fringes, to poor people, to waitresses, to the people who work on our homes, and so on and so on.

So I'm asking you today in this season of going to tell everyone about Jesus: Will you commit yourself to God's unlimited love? I know it doesn't seem to make sense! But, by golly, it works! Only by a commitment to radical, comprehensive, universal love can you become effective in leading people to the Lord!

A second lesson God teaches us about leading people to Christ: God appeals to the light in people, not to the darkness.

One of my favorite Bible stories is about Paul's visit to Athens. He was so distressed to see that the city was full of idols. He wanted to tell them about the truth of Christ. But he didn't do it by telling the people that God did not hear their prayers because they prayed to the wrong gods. He did not tell them they were filled with inner darkness. He did not practice the form of evangelism many of us have experienced in which the Good News is mainly about what an awful person you are, how wrong you are, and how certain it is that you're going to hell without ever passing go and collecting $200.

Nope. Here's how Paul did it. He engaged the roadside philosophers in a true dialogue. He listened to what they had to say. He learned about what they believed. And Paul saw something in them to which he could appeal! He said, "Gee! I can see that you are very religious people. Would you look at all these statues! Yee-haw! You're truly seeking God! You know, I noticed that you have a statue over there that's devoted to an unknown god. Let me share with you about who that God is!"

Paul appealed to the light within them, and not to the darkness. Paul spoke to their inner thirst. And they responded. Just like the magi did!

And that's how you'll lead people to Christ, too, whether they are members of your family or magicians from the east. When you commit yourself to the power of God's light. When you study people, and listen to them, and learn about them, and value them, and discern where God is already at work in their lives. When you appeal to their inner yearning for God, and encourage them to take it up and explore it further.

And I know it may not seem to make much sense! I know it probably feels pretty uncomfortable to affirm that Christians and Muslims, theists and atheists, people of every religious orientation hold in common one very important thing. We are all looking for God!

But here's the ultimate reality about what can happen when even pagan magicians are affirmed as being God-seekers. Why, Matthew tells us that when they came into the house and saw Mary and her child, they fell down and worshipped him. Imagine that!

So here we are at a very important junction! Christmas is over! Jesus has come! The time has come to go tell everyone!

Friends, may you lead someone to Christ this week!

May you learn to love with the love of God. May you trust in the power of the Light!