|
Contemporary Sermons 
Contemporary Service
Epiphany Sunday
Ah Ha Moments
Sunday, January 6, 2007
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Sermon: Ah Ha Moments
I love Epiphany. I know I'm a church geek, but those persistent wise men and the impractical gifts they bring… Not exactly what a young family would need, but gifts fit for a king. Here’s a bit of trivia for you. How many wise men were there? Tradition tells us there were three because there were three gifts, but we really don’t know how many there were, do we? The Scriptures don’t tell us.
The other reason I like Epiphany is because of everything the word means. In church-speak, an epiphany is an appearance of the divine. It comes from a Greek word meaning manifestation. We celebrate Epiphany Sunday because it was at the coming of the wise men, the magi, that Christ was revealed to the whole world. This story tells us that Christ didn’t come to save only the Jews, but even those folks from far away places. Even you and me.
According to my Miriam-Webster, in its secular sense an epiphany is an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking. All of a sudden, for no apparent reason, everything becomes clear. You hear a song or have a dream and from then on you look at the world in a different way. It is the experience of having the light bulb go on, so to speak. An Ah Ha moment when you suddenly understand something that didn’t make much sense. The wise men were looking for a king. What they found was a poor baby from a peasant family. They brought him gold, and frankincense and myrrh and it all made perfect sense.
But this story has a shadow side, too, doesn’t it? In their journey the wise men have a run in with Herod. Now we know Herod was a bad guy, right? Especially after reading the Gospel story from last week. But the wise men didn’t have the benefit of our knowledge ahead of time. When these camel-riding-guys arrive in Jerusalem, Herod calls for a secret meeting and tries to pull one over on them. He even helps them find what they are looking for and asks them to report back, to tell him where this child is so he can go and worship him too.
Now it’s not everyday Herod the Great asks you for a favor. So, after they found the Christ child, the wise men had a decision to make. To go back to Herod and risk the safety of the new born king or go different way and risk their own safety. James Taylor sings about this decision in his song Home by Another Way. We’ll hear just a bit of this song now….
They visited with Jesus
They sure enjoyed their stay
Then warned in a dream of King Herod’s scheme
They went home by another way.
The wise men had a moment of clarity, some might even say an epiphany, that came to them through a dream and made them decide not to return to Herod, but to take another route.
Have you ever had an experience like that? A moment of clarity? An experience of feeling compelled to do something without really knowing why? Maybe as a result of a dream or a prayer or just a feeling? Sometimes we may experience these as ‘detours’ in our life. We thought we would go this way, but instead we are led in this direction. Let’s take a few minutes and talk to each other about this….
Walter Brueggemann has this to say about ‘Epiphany Experiences,’ “We can choose a ‘return to normalcy’…or we can choose an alternative that comes in innocence and a hope that confounds our usual pretensions.” He suggests that in order to be open to these experiences we have to make ourselves vulnerable… open ourselves to what is ultimately beyond our control… like the wise men, heading off in a difference direction than they had originally planned.
This made a lot of sense to me, and it made me think of what our Contemporary Service has been going through the past several months. I can’t speak for the rest of the Worship and Visioning Team, but for me there was a moment ~ an Epiphany, an Ah Ha experience ~ when I realized that no matter how much I love what we do here in this service, something was going to have to change. Of course I could point to concrete things like declining attendance, less members of Spark, fewer people to do all the work that needs to be done. But it was something more than that as well.
The Worship and Visioning Team seemed to come to the same kind of understanding and those of you who were at our Pizza lunch a few weeks ago know that we’ve given a lot of thought to how to change things so we can grow… not just in numbers, but also in spirit. But in order to do this, we first need to become vulnerable… to look seriously at what we do well and not so well.
That’s not to say that everything is going to change… I’m committed (and I know the Visioning Team is too) to keeping the best of what we have. But you’ve probably noticed a few changes already. For one thing, we’ve made everyone sit together! It may seem like a small thing, but it is asking you to step out of your comfort zone and be vulnerable as well. Another thing we are starting today is weekly communion…. joining as a community around the Lord’s table. I’m excited about this. We are also going to open up our joys and concerns time for gift sharing and testimonies as well as prayers. We want you to feel comfortable expressing how you have experienced God this week….if you wish, to share a story or just something you read during the week that touched you. I’m excited about this too. We are in a time of transition that is both exhilarating and a little bit scary. Is there anything the Visioning Team (or anyone else) would like to add that I’ve left out?
Essentially what I am inviting you to do… us to do… is to go home by another way. We are going to continue to talk about it, gather, and listen to each other during this process. Through this, my prayer is that we can pay attention to those Ah Ha moments and make ourselves vulnerable to the leading of the spirit. To quote Brueggemann again, “The way beyond is not about security and prosperity, but about vulnerability.” I thank God that the wise men listened to their dreams and stepped out in faith. And I’m excited to see how we can do the same… Let us pray.
|
||
|
|||
