Sermon of the Month

ZION=S HILL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Wilton, CT 06897

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

February 5, 2012

 

Mark 1: 29-39

 “Demons, Mother-in-Laws and Healing”

O Lord may these words and our deeds be acceptable in your sight.

Illness, disease, medical treatment and mortality have been in the thoughts of quite a few of us. They have been on my mind and if I may say it, in my heart as well. When I was five years old in 1953 my mother died. When we spoke of what caused her death, which from the time I learned she had died, was described as a “bleeding ulcer.” In reality she had succumbed to cancer; the “C” word that was seldom spoken above a whisper. I had no idea what either of them were.  What I discovered was that I would never see her again. I have no idea whether cancer was more or less prevalent fifty-nine years ago in 1953, but it seems we now hear about it and speak about it routinely. Without being oncologists we have gained knowledge of the diversity of its forms. Since 1953 medical science has discovered a great deal of technique in treating cancer. In 1953 what we knew about cancer was that it was basically incurable. No doubt the reason the word was only murmured--especially in family circles—was because someone had been diagnosed.  I don’t know if we are better off now or not.

 Yesterday was world cancer day. I received an email from friends from Chile asking that I forward it to others. The message was a graphic of colored ribbons each naming one of fifteen varieties of cancer, the sixteenth representing “all cancers.” I have heard of another variety in recent weeks. I won’t list them as I think it would be unnecessarily maudlin.

There is also a picture of a lit candle with the following prayer:

Dear God, I pray for a cure for cancer. Amen.

One of our members also reminded me that yesterday was World Cancer Day. Hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear of someone being newly diagnosed. A friend wrote to say a dear friend had just been diagnosed.  Their friend has two young children and her husband died from cancer three years ago. Their prayer was heartfelt, too.

“Makes me sick.  Why does this happen?  I just don't understand.  I just keep reminding myself that God will not give someone more than they can handle but REALLY????”

The prayer ends with four question marks. I have the same ones.

In the verses preceding today’s lesson Jesus heals a man in the synagogue by driving an unclean spirit out of him. Mark writes,

Everyone there was incredulous, buzzing with curiosity. "What's going on here? A new teaching that does what it says? He shuts up defiling, demonic spirits and sends them packing!" News of this traveled fast and was soon all over Galilee.                              Mark 1:27-28, the Message

We then read:

^29-31Directly on leaving the meeting place, they came to Simon and Andrew's house, accompanied by James and John. Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed, burning up with fever. They told Jesus. He went to her, took her hand, and raised her up. No sooner had the fever left than she was up fixing dinner for them.  ^32-34That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to him, the whole city lined up at his door! He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew his true identity, he didn't let them say a word.  ^35-37While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with him went looking for him. They found him and said, "Everybody's looking for you."  ^38-39Jesus said, "Let's go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I've come." He went to their meeting places all through Galilee, preaching and throwing out the demons.                                                                                 Mark 1:29-39 the Message

They asked, “What is going on here?”  It feels to me like a prayer. What is going on here?

I want to make a few observations and if they aren’t well argued, try and forgive me.

1.    According to Saint Mark Jesus did two things during his ministry. He preached good news and he healed and loved persons in need, which may be the same thing. Of the two, preaching was the most important because of what he preached: the good news of the coming Kingdom or Reign of God. Some people like those in the synagogue were astonished by the healings-not necessarily by what he was preaching. That’s why in Luke’s telling of the same episode it concludes with: “They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”

Healing is one matter. Serving is another.

2.    Some got it. Those closest to him, aka the disciples--didn’t. Those who did were transformed and embraced service to God. Peter’s mother-in-law got it. She was the first deacon or deaconess in the Jesus movement. Simon Peter didn’t get it until the end. Maybe he later made up for lost time.

3.    What we get or don’t get will determine if we receive the healing spirit of God; or whether we are disappointed, angry, unbelieving, without hope and despairing, cynical, lost in grief, without compassion, uncaring and self-absorbed, to mention just some of the responses that don’t get it. Healing isn’t simply or maybe even primarily curing illness.

A prayer of question marks from the heart for a suffering friend is wholly appropriate. Honesty about what we feel is a step toward true service. Is our  prayer “What is going on here?” Or is it what is God doing or not doing?

Here’s what I think or believe or want to believe or think I know.

1. I believe Jesus was a healer. In saying this, I don’t really think I understand what it means. Did he or didn’t he heal people? What if any was their cure? What about all those who weren’t cured or healed? Does it matter whether he did or didn’t, since it occurred two thousand years ago? Did it matter to those healed?

The procedures that medical science has made available to me, because I have the un-merited good fortune to have enough salary and insurance for health benefits make me very, very thankful. You who are here this morning are responsible for my good fortune. I am very well cared for. I am thankful for dental implants, for pins and screws in my ankle, for a bovine aortic valve replacement and a pacemaker and defibrillator. But I believe healing is something altogether different. Healing is what you do with all those new parts and I haven’t completely embraced healing.  A healing change in our lives has to do with our heart, our mind, our soul and spirit-not just our bodies. Jesus preached about healing. A change in our lives that we must claim for ourselves when Jesus touches us, literally or figuratively. For us it isn’t about curing, nor about prolonging life, nor about avoiding pain, suffering, loss either ours or someone else’s. It is about how we serve, care and love others, both far and near in their need. It is about what we do to prepare ourselves to do so. I still have some of my own demons that need healing and need loving; or loving to find healing. I don’t think I am unique.

2. The second matter is the context, the spiritual where of our need for healing. Most of us live as if healing happens to us as individuals. We want it to be private and personal. Jesus did his healings in the midst of crowds, families, followers. He expected us to be in community, in church, in relationship with others. I am surprised by how we treat our physical, spiritual, and emotional needs as private. Are we embarrassed to be human? Why do we fear being vulnerable? Is it that difficult to believe God cares and we know it when we do as well?

Mark soon records another healing episode:

And when they could not bring him to Jesus [for healing] because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. (2:4) It takes a village, not a super-person.

A passage from the letter to James is revealing. It is written for a church community:

13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. ¹⁴Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

Salvation means healing.

We are not meant to be alone! Not in the Kingdom of God.

Does this sound strange and foreign to our ears? I wish it didn’t. Where does it say that suffering alone is a blessing? Isn’t it the good news that at our best we trust and reach out to others and carry each other’s burdens? That is a sure sign of membership in the Reign of God.

My friend who is distraught by the suffering that has come to a friend and is ready to help carry their burden is doing exactly what Jesus would have us do. He needs us to be that kind of healer. Not bringing a palliative or a cure, but something much closer to God. We can help lift the isolation in suffering of whatever kind and release someone from those terrible demons. “Deliver us from evil” is what we say together every week. Maybe what we should say is “God together we will stand against evil or suffering or illness,” when it grips all and any of us in this life we’ve been given. That is darn good news, isn’t it?

3. The last thing I want to say is that some of us get seduced by the dramatic. Have you ever been to services where an aficionado of healing, maybe a priest or a minister, puts on an emotional exhibition where people, who knows what their maladies may be, God knows we all have them, are seeking immediate and magical restoration. The set up usually leads to a decent into self-pity or self-absorption or just plain feeling badly. I’ve been there. It’s a variation of I’m happy when I’m sad.

I know what it is to be caught up in the immediacy of such spiritually powerful displays.  I have usually gone away feeling like there is something wrong with me when I don’t accept or experience whatever we think we’re supposed to. If I refuse to go along with the program I descend into the self-indulgent poor-me’s. What happens is we get lost even more deeply in our isolation from each other. It is the opposite of what Jesus traveled around Galilee preaching and teaching while engaging people for service to God.

All of us can be healers for one another. That doesn’t mean a puffed-up belief that because I am enthusiastic and believe I have great faith, I can visit your bedside, lay hands on you, and declare you are healed. Well meaning folks do this. A friend from Poughkeepsie told me last week about her friend who was suffering with cancer. Those well meaning folks showed up and laid hands on her and insisted she was healed. It made her feel even worse. Finally her caregiver had to bar them from visiting his wife. Their actions were self aggrandizing, not self-giving. It would be more healing to listen to the other, and try to hear what is on their heart and mind. If appropriate hold someone’s hand and pray honestly even with question marks. God knows we can be human enough to be good news in our vulnerability. We don’t work cures. God may or may not, but God loves us and we are not alone-now or ever. So Jesus preached and I believe him. Amen.

 

 

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ZION=S HILL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Wilton, CT 06897

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

January 29, 2012

 

 “Flashlights, Apps, and Love”

I Corinthians 8: 1-13

 

          Although I am a bit slow I am trying hard to get into the groove of 2012. Pam got me a “Word-a-Day” calendar for a Christmas present. One of the first words for this year is troglodyte. For those who aren’t familiar with the word it is defined as:

1. A member of any of various peoples (as in antiquity) who lived or were reputed to live chiefly in caves;

2. A person characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes.

More and more I have begun to think of myself as a subset of troglodytes, the variety that lives in a parsonage instead of a cave.

          I say this not to disparage myself. I am beginning to open myself to the new age in which I find myself. Caves are damp and dark so I am examining how to come out into the light. My son Jeremiah who visited with us last Sunday is very patient and is trying to teach me the new ways. He gave me some lessons on how to use my new “Smart Phone,” and taught me about some of what are called apps.

[Use flashlight]

It has been a big help in my dark cave. I’m on my way!

          On Tuesday at our lectionary bible study one of our younger clergy, Tisha Jermin, the pastor of Norwalk United Methodist Church explained how she is able to relate to the generation between 20 something and thirty. She does it by maintaining communication and relationship with them through texting on her phone. When some of us, her older colleagues, expressed our concern that such impersonal communication is one of the things wrong with our social interactions today; one reason the church is suffering. I thought all this texting is a way to avoid real intimacy; that face to face relationships suffer by this new age of casual texting instead of conversation.

          Troglodyte that I am Tisha made good sense. When she had begun in ministry in Manhattan she served as a youth minister in one of the Harlem churches. There were twenty or so senior highs and young adults to whom she grew quite close. They called her “Mom” and she calls them her children. It is usual for young ministers to become significant adults for young people in the church. I once had the same experience and still occasionally hear from some of those who were in the youth group when I served in Poughkeepsie. It is one of those gifts that clergy and others receive during our troglodyte years!

          Tisha’s children are city kids and face many of the challenges that are daily fare for young people growing up in the inner city. Some of them maintain contact with Tisha seeking her counsel with their life decisions and difficulties by texting her. Some of you have met Tisha. She is a charismatic woman. Her responses usually are twofold. One she challenges them to choose what will be good for them, to avoid decisions that will hurt them or others. She always signs off reminding them that God loves them.

          Tisha was explaining to us, or at least explaining to me that we need to use all of the tools available to us to be in ministry. She told us how two of her children had died because of bad decisions involving drugs. That has saddened her. She however uses such realities straightforwardly and lovingly and without mincing words---or text—to challenge them to choose life; and always reminds them that God loves them.

          I carried her message and example with me this week. It has had my spirit churning. Might it be that those of us, who lament the loss of some of the more traditional ways, need to consider changing some of what we take for granted in our religious lives or in our lives in general? Last year’s confirmation class told me with their youthful candor that they find our worship services short on meaning. Our worship doesn’t engage them. The hymns we sing and the prayers we utter don’t address them. What we would call traditional is old-fashioned and it eludes them. I have avoided saying boring, but that too. I would bet that this is true for others of you as well.

It seems not so long ago that I was in constant disagreement with my former father-in-law, Rev. Harold Jones, about our Methodist hymnody. That was before we had our current hymnal which is now almost twenty-five years old. The Faith We Sing is already twelve years old and some of us resist its more contemporary language and music. My on-going conversation with my father-in-law was because we didn’t sing any contemporary music. For me that meant the folk songs of the sixties. When I was involved with camping in the late seventies we used songbooks that incorporated some of the folk music which was “meaningful” and expressed my faith more readily than much of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century fare that was the foundation of our hymnals. I’m not advocating for new hymnals. We are disappointed, or at least I am, that the younger generation may have written us off. It isn’t a unique reality.

The scripture reflect the struggle to see and do things differently from what was then the established way. The rather turgid language of our lesson from

I Corinthians is an example of the struggle in the early church. Paul was a pioneer and at times showed an avant-garde spirit when in writing to the young congregations. In the case of Corinth it was a divided one. The issue seems antiquated and irrelevant. Is eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols sanctioned for Christians? Jewish-Christians were opposed. Gentile Christians found it acceptable and a non-issue. The leadership in the annual conference, excuse me, the Jerusalem Council, led by Peter had considered the matter and sent out an official letter to the mission churches.  Paul was able to get the council to change its rulings about circumcision which allowed gentile Christians to be baptized and included in the fellowship; that only after much deliberation and controversy. Jewish-Christians were still calling the shots and Paul was clear that the mission had to embrace gentiles as well. The good news of Jesus was not about the old ways. The council however had a bottom-line.

We read in the Book of Acts,

They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, with the following letter: ‘The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia [a city on the coast of modern Turkey], greetings. Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication (presumably that relates to women?) If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’ (Acts 15:22-29)

As with, I suppose, all church proclamations it was only partially helpful to Paul and those in the trenches. Paul saw things differently from the brothers in Jerusalem. 

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. (8:1)

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ (8:4)

Paul is agreeing that the idols to which meat has been sacrificed don’t exist or are not efficacious. It ought not to be an issue. Meat is meat. It is not an offense. After a ritual of sacrifice the meat was distributed, or the persons who had supplied it brought it home, or in some cases it may have been sold in the super market. Those who were eating meat regularly belonged to a higher rung in the social ladder. They didn’t want to offend their pagan colleagues with whom they shared social position and so attended such ritual services.

Those Paul calls the weak, are apparently of a less prosperous class.  Meat was probably a rarity in their homes. The “puffed up” folks knew meat or food was not an issue as they held “right” beliefs and eating at an idol’s alter wasn’t a difficulty. The weak perhaps weren’t so certain about what right Christian behavior was. Seeing the more educated or more prosperous members of the church ignoring food prohibitions created confusion and division in the congregation. They were still sorting out what was right. Were the knowledgeable self-righteous? Did they look down on those not of their standing? Was their example one of superiority? It is hard to know.

I have heard ZH folks sounding self-consciousness because they suppose they aren’t well informed about the faith. They haven’t studied or participated in Christian formation experiences as some others have. I remember when at times the Tres Dias movement created an-us-them kind of mentality. I’ve got it and you don’t. It is easy for veterans to even unintentionally express personal pride and cause others to be silenced because of their sense of inadequacy. I’m sure I am guilty of this. This is what Paul is warning the Corinthians against. Paul wanted to guard against this kind of greater/lesser dynamic. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. Listening to the other of whatever presumed level of discipleship-if there are levels-and caring for their welfare is what true knowledge is for. Not being better or right but loving as Christ loves us. Paul calls for empowerment in Corinth not condescension. Real knowledge is when we know how little we know. It is of greater spiritual significance for the Christian life that God knows us, not what we think we know about God. Such is wisdom, Christian and otherwise. If anything prohibits, inhibits or harms another is unforgivable.

Paul ends his argument with these words:

But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. (Vss. 12-13)

 

The way I hear it is that not only is great care needed to incorporate others into the church, but just maybe we have to accept some things that our personal history and inclinations might make us uncomfortable. Yesterday I asked the Men’s Group what changes would be unacceptable in our worship services. The responses went from changing nothing to having more discussion of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender issues, to soliciting direct political action from the pulpit. At the possibility I am overstating it the church is not the place for conversations about sexuality issues in our society or for espousing partisan political issues. There wasn’t a consensus, but it I think it was heartfelt by my brothers.

I am not wholly of the same mind, if I heard correctly. I remember many years ago when our Episcopal leadership was on their soapboxes about growing the church, beating the drum for greater emphasis on evangelism in the UMC.

Some of you know that Pam has been ordained as an interfaith minister. It is different from denominational practice and understanding. Maybe prophetically her seminary’s name was the New Seminary. It was interfaith, intercultural and admitted all sexual orientations to its courses for ministry and ordination. Occasionally the president of the seminary, Rabbi Gelberman, would ask me to teach a class. I was honored. I also recall how uncomfortable I would feel at some of their official celebrations. Not because they were inclusive but because they were so foreign to my own experience. It was good for me-I had become so institutional in my outlook.

Shortly before I had been at the Evangelism meeting with the Bishops, I had attended the birthday celebration of a gay seminary classmate of Pam’s. His name was Mark. It was in a restaurant on the west side of Manhattan. His partner had recently died, if I recall correctly, from AIDS. It was the early 1990’s when that scourge was still ascendant in our country. Both sets of parents and Mark’s brother were there for the occasion. Both sets of parents offered witness to their deep love for Mark in a deeply expressed and moving manner; then Mark’s brother spoke. He identified himself as a redneck truck driver from Michigan. I don’t recall his actual words, but his struggle to overcome the discomfort and judgment he carried about homosexuality was at the heart of what he said. He had overcome both his negative judgment and his discomfort because of the deep loving relationship he had with his brother. It was clear how deep from the feelings he expressed. It was a costly odyssey for this man. There was little doubt that it had been an epiphany for him. A spiritual break-through. After his brother finished speaking Mark addressed the rest of us. He wanted to tell all those who had come for his birthday how important it was to him. Individually he named each person and told them why he loved them and was thankful for them as part of his life. I can say in all honesty that it was one of the most spiritual and religious occasions I was ever present for. It was an extraordinary privilege. Sadly a few years later I went to Mark’s funeral because of my deep respect for this man.

When I listened to our Bishops some time after that it was shortly after another General Conference where the majority of delegates voted to continue strengthening the church’s stand of excluding homosexuals and lesbians from the ministry; and make no mistake, even though the church declares that we embrace all persons, the negative vibes and attitudes tied to our stand leaves little doubt that we aren’t only speaking about ordination.

When Bishop Roy Sano, a bishop I deeply respect, one who had spent a number of years in one of the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II and who knows what it means to be an outsider, told us that we needed to grow the denomination, I was deeply aware of our church’s hypocrisy. I still am. We have turned away generations of people from inclusion in our church because of their differences from me and you.  Maybe our current outsiders are those who eat meat sacrificed to idols-who know? Maybe there are closet Corinthians still out there? What I do know is that to hear Paul correctly is to abide by his words

yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Could it be that to follow this God in Christ we may need to revise some of our long-held attitudes? Will we need to reluctantly get out of our comfort zones and buy into some new “apps” so that like my colleague Tisha, we learn how to reach out to others? Or are we doomed to be Christian troglodytes hiding in the dark in what we believe to be our safe caves. I hope not.

Let me close with a short poem by Czeslaw Milosz, If There Is No God.

 

So be it. Amen.

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ZION=S HILL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Wilton, CT 06897

January 8, 2012 

Epiphany Sunday

ABright Light, Old Sinners and Perfect Gifts@ 

Matthew 2:1-11

 

          It may begin to feel like the goal of my ministry is to have everyone with whom I come in contact during the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season to become familiar with W.H. Auden’s Christmas Oratorio, For the Time Being. I was a little late on Tuesday for my lectionary bible study meeting with my clergy colleagues. I had my post-op appointment to make sure my bionic heart is beating. The multiple pages of graph paper that Dr. Pittaro printed out seemed to indicate the affirmative. At least he doesn’t want to check me again for three months. At $50.00 a visit I am gladdened to be contributing to his five children’s Christmas morning festivities.

I came in toward the end of their conversation at the Bible study which was focused on the Magi. I asked them if they knew Auden’s Oratorio. None seemed to have been aware of it. I am considering applying to his estate for royalties or at least for advertising fees!

            Friday was Epiphany; the Twelfth and final day of Christmas-remember Christmas? It is also called Twelfth Night if you are counting from Christmas Eve. Twelfth Night always falls on the evening of January 5. At our Rotary luncheon Friday, Matt was interested to learn why the carol Twelve days of Christmas was twelve days? His two children had asked and Matt confessed he hadn’t a clue. I suppose the idea that there were 12 days of Christmas appealed to his children.

It ought also to be noted that Epiphany is a more significant holy day than Christmas for the Orthodox churches. Why is that you may ask?

The date of January 6 was calculated on the basis of Luke 3:23, [which notes Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work—I’m not sure how the figuring was done?] It was a feast in the early church, even if it fell on weekly days of fasting. The feast was felt to be more important than the day of Christ’s birth, since it represents the manifestation [or “appearance”] of Christ as savior to the whole world. All of the readings for Epiphany refer to the Gentiles [that is the non-Jewish world] coming to see the glory of God.[i]

My apologies to those of you who worshipped last week and heard Dr. Nussle’s excellent sermon about the meaning of Epiphany-the coming of the light. The word “glory” as in the “the glory of God” may also be translated as the “light of God.” Dr. Nuessle predicted to the congregation that I might return to the same theme.

It is through the Gentile Magi that the epiphany, the appearance or manifestation of Jesus was made to the non-Jewish world opening the world wide mission of Christianity. You will recall that Matthew concludes his gospel with the words:

And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (Mt. 28:18-20)

 

The story of the Magi has always represented the Gentiles who would come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. There are layers of meaning and imaginative speculation in this story. The traditions that surround it are manifold. One commentator notes that,

Since the story in Matthew presumes that the new star appears when Jesus is born, some of the early Christian writers wondered how the Magi could have made the journey from Babylon, Persia, or Arabia so quickly. Some thought they must have had a particularly swift breed of camel.[ii]

 

Not to show off by belaboring the lack of agreement in the tradition surrounding the story, I expect some of you have noted that Matthew, the only gospel that mentions the Magi, doesn’t say how many there were. What Matthew wrote, you can look in the pew bible, was:

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem (2:1)

 

The link was made between three gifts therefore three Magi. Ancient conjectures posited that there were from six to twelve to more than twenty. The tradition also provided names for them which have become so familiar that we usually overlook that the names too, are not mentioned in the scriptures. But I bet you can name at least two of the three names: Gaspar, Balthazar and Melchior.

          In the 1960’s when there was much creative ferment in the Roman Catholic Church, a Cardinal and priest, who was a leading biblical scholar, found themselves seated next to each other at a formal dinner. The cardinal grasping the opportunity unloaded his grievance regarding recent biblical scholarship.

          “You know Father, there are some scholars who are saying we don’t know how many Magi there were!”

          He replied, “I am not one of them.”

          Heartened the Cardinal went on, “I am glad to hear it . . .”

          Before he could finish the priest went on. “There were six”

          “Six,” blustered the Cardinal, “How do you figure six?”

“Well, in the reliquary at Cologne there are the heads of three wise men and in the reliquary at Milan there are the heads of three wise men. Three plus three equals six.”[iii] (A reliquary is a container or shrine in which sacred objects are kept.)

To put all of this to rest, yesterday in our Men’s group we concurred that the importance of the story of the Magi is not in the layers of tradition that have coalesced around the story, but what the story has to say. Stories contain truth, not necessarily history as we post-enlightenment folks have come to expect. John Shea a consummate storyteller says,

If the Magi reduce historical reason to silence, they thrill the artistic imagination to song. Where the historian legitimately equivocates, the poet and storyteller expound… “I think I will make them magicians frustrated by their own magic, searching for the one person for whom words and gestures are not tricks. No wait, they have come to find a king. Then kings they too must be. Kings acknowledging the King. Surely, that is the meaning of it all.”[iv] To that I say Amen.

On Wednesday a repair man came to fix our water system. It has not been using the salt to soften the water. I always like to chat with repair technicians in case I can learn something. After the preliminaries and discussing the problem he asked how 17 Friendlee Lane could be a church. I explained I was the preacher for Zion’s Hill. He is a Roman Catholic so we were on to a theological discussion about the differences between Catholicism and Methodism. Of course I was far too inflated with my analysis. What he really wanted to know was how I felt about the Pope. I spoke about Methodist Bishops etc. etc., but he quickly got to the heart of his interest. Would I bow down to the Pope? Standing in a long line of Protestants, i.e. protesters I told him I wouldn’t. Apparently he didn’t think much of the Pope noting he had been a member of Hitler youth, he then asked, “If Jesus came today would I bow down to him?” Interesting question. He explained that he would and would ask for forgiveness so he would be assured of getting into Heaven. He went on to describe how his priest growing up had a brother who was a drill-sergeant in the army. Sure enough when he served in the army, the priest’s brother was his sergeant and his parish priest wrote to his brother to let him know that the repairman/soldier was his parishioner. This cooked his goose and he was a marked Catholic!  I got the feeling this was sort of a good news-bad news situation for him.

Would you bow down to the Pope? If Jesus showed up in Wilton what would be your response if you met him? The repairman was saying this would jack-up his faith and obedience. My response was that we already know Jesus and what he asks of us. Would it make any difference to us if he showed up on River Road? Would we recognize him? My hunch is that since we don’t seem to recognize him and his teachings with our faith we would probably still not recognize him.

          Light and epiphany. The point of the observance of our recent celebrations. Recognizing the new King, this special infant and presenting him with precious gifts. Here’s another turn to consider; the rest of the story.

“In today’s text the magi deliver the good news to the central corridors of power in Jerusalem. King Herod who is threatened by the birth of a potential rival, and all the chief priests and scribes, [read ministers and bible scholars] whose knowledge of scripture leads them to Bethlehem of Judea, will not be able to acknowledge Jesus as the messiah. Instead these Gentiles who have traveled from afar seeking signs from the sky are the ones who are able to first discern what God is doing.”[v]

 

Murderous King Herod has his own agenda when the Magi show up at his door. He doesn’t display aany Christmas spirit. He is devious and threateningly saccharine as well as being threatened. Imagine a King afraid of a baby? Babies are born every day.

Webster defines epiphany as “a sudden, intuitive perception or insight into reality or the essential meaning of something, often initiated by some simple, commonplace occurrence" (Webster's Dictionary). Bob Walker the pastor of MUMC writes,

This latter meaning of epiphany is intriguing. Haven't all of us had sudden insights into the essential meaning of something? These are rare occurrences, but can be life changing. I am fascinated by the idea that these epiphanies can be initiated by a "simple, commonplace occurrence." Such epiphanies can happen at any time and in any place. The key is our openness and receptivity to them. Perhaps epiphanies would happen more often if we looked and listened for the sacred and holy in everyday life.[vi]

My Christmas had two epiphanies. After the early service I delivered one of the Christmas gift baskets that our church prepared for Wilton Social Services. Debi Forsyth had given it to me as she couldn’t get to it. Because I was down with that crummy cold all that week, I hadn’t managed to get it done. I called ahead and to warn the woman and find out if it would be convenient on Christmas Eve to come by. She expressed delight-probably thinking we had forgotten her. When I gave it to her she was beaming and invited me in. Given my lingering cold I demurred, but not before she expressed her gratitude with much good will.

“A sudden, intuitive perception or insight into reality or the essential meaning of something, often initiated by some simple, commonplace occurrence." The light of Christ shown into my heart from hers. A thought, a gift every bit as precious as gold or frankincense or myrrh.

My second epiphany came when I arrived back here a bit early for the ten o’clock service. Pam and Aimee, her partner Rob, Ian and Derek were following me over a bit later. Nice to have one’s family present for Christmas Eve service; a gift for which I am grateful but it was not unexpected.

I parked on the side of the church and it was mostly dark. There was just enough light to see a large man walking across the parking lot toward me. My immediate thought was, “here comes an indigent looking for a handout on Christmas Eve. Have I enough cash to give him and send him on his way?” But as the bearded hulk drew closer I recognized that it was my son Jacob. He had driven all the way up from Delaware so that he could be with me on Christmas Eve. I was blown away. Commonplace. Not for me. His love manifested the light of that baby into my heart. He went home, back to Delaware, probably by the same road he came on, not a different one, but none the less his visit had all the magic and love that the Magi delivered to Jesus.

The author Barry Lopez whose birthday it was the other day wrote, "Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion."

I received a Christmas card yesterday from an old missionary friend, Margaret Stockwell. Consider what she wrote in her card:

Dear Steve,

If you look for me at Christmas,

You won’t need a special star--

I’m no longer just in Bethlehem,

I’m right there where you are.

You may not be aware of Me

Amidst the celebrations,

You’ll have to look beyond

The stores and all the decorations.

But if you take a moment

From your list of things to do

And listen to your heart,

You’ll find I’m waiting there for you.

You’re the one I want to be with,

You’re the reason I came.

And you’ll find me in the stillness

As I’m whispering your name.

Love, Jesus