Today is Epiphany Sunday. The celebration of the coming of the wise men from the east. Or, as I like to call it “Great Commission Day” – the celebration of all people in all nations coming to worship the King.
First of all, let’s dispel some of the myths we believe about this event:
- 3 kings – no, 3 gifts. Unknown number of people – and…
- Not kings – these were “wise men,” which you hope all your kings and rulers are, but… They were astrologers really. So yes, not people we generally think of as true worshippers. In fact, people “true worshippers” generally avoid. And the ancient Hebrews were supposed to avoid them as well. Also, while they may have been wise in some ways, they weren’t very wise in the ways of power. Otherwise, they would never have gone to the ruling tyrant to ask where his replacement was being born…
- From the Orient – nope again. Some hymn-writers faux pax. These guys were “from the east.” That could be anywhere east of Israel. Iraq maybe…? Iran??
- From three different countries – doesn’t seem so. After their visit and their dream about not returning to Herod, the Bible tells us they “departed to their own country”- singular. Plus, they seemed to have been studying this star event together – not emailing each other across nations about their findings.
So, despite the assault on our nativity sets, we have a few misunderstandings about these guys and their visit. So, rather than focusing on the event itself, we should really spend Epiphany focusing on the meaning of their visit. Why wealthy wise astrologers from somewhere east of Israel?
I love how intentional and completely bizarre God was in the way He staged this incarnational event! There are SO MANY completely unlikely events that we generally just take for granted, having heard the story over and over since our birth. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Mary – the Son of God, coming into the world through an unwed young woman. No man involved. While God has ALWAYS integrated women into His redemption story in inextricable ways, this is the crowning event of His statement on the worth and value of women. He determined that His ultimate redemptive event would be through a woman, and a woman alone. That’s not to discredit Joseph, because that guy was a keeper. And ultimately, Mary needed his loyalty, quick actions, and protection to continue to nurture the Savior. But in a script-flipping manner, God made the man a supporting actor to the heroine, not the other way around. That is really an astonishing action when you think about history and women.
- Shepherds – the announcement of the greatest event in all time came through poor, smelly, dirty, side-lined people in society. Who does that?? If you are going to announce salvation has come – wouldn’t you want the priests declaring that in the temple? Nope. Because the good news is proclaimed to the poor – through the poor. Incredible!
- Wise Men – so much to unpack here..! The wealthy – visiting the poor. The wealthy, respected sages worshiping a poor, foreign, unknown baby. The wealthy – resourcing the ones who were given the task of bringing salvation to all people. Israel, who thought they had a corner on the Messiah, being invaded by foreign, star-gazing Gentiles, who turned their entire world upside down through their blundering worship, bringing massacre, grief, and destruction.
- The attentiveness of all the parties to the voice of God and His messengers – this is really an incredible thread to pursue if you want an Advent/Christmas study for next year. Just look at each time an angel of the Lord appears in this story, and study the responses of the parties to whom they spoke. Mind you, this is after 400 years of silence on God’s part. No prophets, no spokesmen, no revelations, no miracles, no signs. Just silence, in the midst of abusive, tyrannical, foreign occupation by Rome.
So, that brings us back to the Epiphany. An epiphany is “a moment of sudden and great revelation or realization.” The revealing of something amazing. And what God did for us (figuring most of the people who are reading this are Gentiles) was made sure that His message was clear to the world – salvation is for ALL people.
The irony is that American Christians (mostly Gentiles) have somehow adopted a similar mindset about salvation and Christianity – that it is ours, and we have some kind of corner on the market of Christianity. But we don’t. While we are blessed to have the freedom to worship freely, we are not the end-game. The good news of salvation is for ALL people! And we need to do whatever He asks to proclaim that good news. There is no one exempt from the message of His love and hope.
Psalm 67:1-2 says, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” He HAS been gracious to us and blessed us and His face has shone upon us. But there is only ONE REASON for that – that out of that blessing, others – from every nation – will know His ways and His saving power. This is our day, Church. Epiphany. A call to declare His salvation to all nations. Not to do so is to deny His redemption story and the role He expects us to play in it. This means nations we don’t like, nations we don’t understand, nations we don’t even know exist. Those are not excuses. Join the clarion call of Epiphany.
Iran, anyone…?
