"His star"-Sermon for 2nd Sunday of Christmas (Visit of the Magi), 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.’” These are the words used by the Evangelist Matthew as he begins his telling of the Visit of the Magi…the wise ones…that come from some distant land in the Far East to find and worship the new born king…not just the king of the People of Israel…but the King of all Creation…the Lord of Lord’s and King of King’s. And the story tells us that what began their long journey west was a light…a star…that arose in the night’s sky…a light that foretold to those wise, star-gazers, reading portents and omens in the heaven’s, of something new and wonderous that has come into the world. Something of such great import…such world-shaking implications…that to go…to follow the light of the star and find that to which it points was the only response possible…leaving kin and comfort behind…to mount a great and long journey to, again, find and worship the one to whom the light points.
Similarly, in our Gospel reading last week on the First Sunday after Christmas, the Evangelist John describes the birth of Jesus using the sign and symbol of light as well. He writes, “What has come into being in him [in Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” And, now, long after both Evangelists first penned their Gospels, light remains a powerful sign and symbol of God’s point and purpose of coming to live among us as Emmanuel, God with us, in the birth of Jesus. For, Jesus is the light of the world that, indeed, came among us in flesh and bone at the very first Christmas…and where that light shines…there cannot be darkness. For, darkness literally has no power over light. If you think about it, the only way to make…say…a room lit up with light…dark…is to turn the light off…you must somehow extinguish the light…you can’t simply turn on more darkness…you can’t pour in more darkness that somehow then overcomes the light. For darkness is no thing…it is only known in the absence of light. Darkness literally has no power…no existence…in the presence of light.
And, just as light literally reveals the truth of what is going on around us…what might harm us…or trip us up…or frighten us…or should not be happening but is under the cover of darkness…the light of God’s love poured into our world at Christmas accomplishes this very same thing. The light of God’s love allows us to see and revel in what is good and beautiful and lovely…name it…and then rebuke what is not…to really see and rebuke what in our world is bad or hateful or mean. The light of God’s love reveals to us our own tendencies to trip over ourselves, as we choose self over other…as we choose bad habits over good. The light of God’s love provides courage to face and fight that which seeks to oppress or demonize or frighten the people of God and to, instead, give light to the world to really see what should not be happening…and provide a light-filled vision for what should.
And now, and this is so important, and now the light of Christmas continues to burn brightly in us. For God’s light is the source and fuel of the light that lives within each of us. God’s own light set aflame at Christmas continues to shine forth as it is birthed and incarnated in our lives…those who are…who get to be…Jesus’ bright Christmas light in our own day and time. Jesus is the light of the world…and as Jesus’ body alive and active on earth…we, the church, are now that living light for the world. So, this little light of mine…I’m going to let it shine. The Christmas light that has, I sincerely hope, set our hearts on fire in this holy season is to burn bright throughout the year…for the very life of the world…just beginning with those closest to us and most especially for those who most need us.
My wife recently shared with me a light filled poem by Howard Thurman titled “I will Light Candles this Christmas”. And, the poem reads:
I will light candles this Christmas;
Candles of joy despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all the year long.
Howard Thurman also wrote a poem titled, “Now the Work of Christmas Begins” and, though I encourage you to look it up and give it a read and some contemplation, I think he well describes the work of Christmas that must begin now in his candle poem I just read, which is to find joy in sadness, hope in despair, courage in the face of fear, peace in the midst of the storm, grace when the load is heavy, love to inspire each day…and all burning within us and shining forth from us throughout this year and each to follow. And it must be said…not only for ourselves must such light, God’s own Christmas light, fill up our lives…but, again, for the life of the world. We must be willing to step into the darkness that enshrouds the lives of others. For, when we do, the darkness, as I described, cannot stand…it is no thing…it has no power to push back against the light…it cannot turn the light of God’s love off…light wins.
And, this takes me back to the story of the Magi with which we began. For there is something very instructive we find in their choice to follow the light of the star at great cost and over much time. I’ll never forget a Christmas Card I got many years ago. It was a cartoon drawing, something like a Farside comic, of the three magi in procession on camel back…the two magi in the lead were looking back at the third with looks of exasperation on their faces…and the caption below read, “No, we are not going back for your toothbrush!”. The Magi didn’t just make a jaunt across town to worship the God of light and love birthed into our world. They followed the light on a journey that was far and long enough, in a time in human history, that made their healthy and successful return to home and loved ones back east an open question. They sacrificed at great length to seek the light.
You see, and I speak from experience, it is easy to pack up the incomprehensible light of God’s love at Christmas with the decorations that get boxed up and placed back in the attic till about a year from now. But, Christmas is intended to light a bright candle in us, with God’s own light, that, as Thurman suggest, burns all the year long. And I think the way we keep the candle within ourselves aflame all the year long is by continuously seeking after the light. Like the magi to be on a constant journey, even when it feels long and hard, to find God’s Christmas light aflame in our world and in the lives of the people we meet as we journey through every day of life…to seek the light of Christ’s love being birthed in not just the extraordinary but the everyday and the ordinary too. For it burns. The darkness cannot and will not overcome it…and in those moments of discovery and connection…when we find and follow the bright star that still burns with God’s love in this world and people around us till it leads us to Jesus…then we will find our lights reignited and strengthened…till we catch flame entirely with the love of God…and Christmas happens then…in hot July…or the cold days of February…or the busyness of the autumn. We come alive with the bright light of God’s love…breaking in and birthed again and again in us…and not for ourselves alone…but for the life of the world…just beginning with those closest to us…and most especially for those who need us most…those who most need God’s eternal light to dispel their own darkness. Amen.