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Sunday 1st January 2012 The Epiphany

Sentence
Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1

Collect
Lord God of the nations, we have seen the star of Your glory rising in splendour; may the brightness of Your incarnate Word pierce the night that covers the earth, signal the dawn of justice and peace, and beckon all nations to walk as one in Your light. We ask this through Your Son Jesus Christ, Your Word made flesh, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever Amen

Old Testament Lesson Isaiah 60: 1 – 6

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

Psalm 72: 1 – 7 & 10 – 14

Give the king Your judgement, O God: and Your righteousness to the son of a king
That he may judge Your people rightly: and the poor of the land with equity:
Let the mountains be laden with peace because of his righteousness: and the hills also with prosperity for his people
May he give justice to the poor among the people: and rescue the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor
May he live while the sun endures: and while the moon gives light, throughout all generations
May he come down like rain upon the new-mown fields: and as showers that water the earth
In his time shall righteousness flourish: and abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more

The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts.
All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.
For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.

Epistle Ephesians 3: 1 – 12

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles-- for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.
In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

GOSPEL 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.

© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved

NOTES ON THE READINGS ....

Old Testament
One is left suspecting that when many people read today’s passage, they assume either that the prophet has taken leave of his senses and gone off with the fairies, or that this is simply the way that the people of God talk and write and carry on. Neither of such views gives any cognisance of that to which the prophet was pointing.

Several times in recent weeks, these notes have pointed readers to a rather more immediate point and purpose of Gospel and Faith; insofar as the Biblical Faith has always pointed to a means of resolution of the human condition of strife, hatred and destructiveness. Always, from Genesis 3 on. Somehow we manage to translate and limit the Faith to the business of what we call salvation, seen in terms of life after this. The Biblical Faith has always been more immediate and relevant, and for some reason both Church and Christians have turned their eyes away and headed for ‘religion.’ Small wonder people out there ignore the Faith!

Mind you, when the Faith is seen for what it is, there will remain most people who will turn their backs. But that does not limit the point, power and purpose of the Biblical Faith. It has the potential to reduce human conflict without cost and with singular immediacy. No wonder Isaiah was excited – do you see!

Psalm
Now please read that Psalm once more with feeling. Look and see where the almost constant emphasis lies. Righteousness (justice actually, do you see?) equity, peace, and on it goes. In a world back then hardly noted for such significant issues, even the old psalmist knew which way was up, and what was important. Please begin to realize how utterly revolutionary was this Faith way back then.
Force was how kings governed, and even Israel was not exempt from that attitude. Other cultures were fierce and very bloody. And you know that peace will never emerge unless and until justice reigns. Justice is NOT revenge. Justice is the exercise and response to the total truth in any situation. Integrity and truth are vital and irremovable cohorts.

Epistle
It may help to mention that whenever the New Testament talks about ‘mystery’ it is not referring to something dark and unfathomable at all. It is talking about something once secret (or at least not generally known) that has now been revealed. Oddly enough it has to be said that Paul’s ‘mystery’ about the inclusion of the Gentiles in the affection and interest of God, was not new by any means. Even a cursory reading of the OT prophets will show that those ancient worthies always tended to see that the Faith they represented was spread, and intended to be spread world-wide and not focussed narrowly as ancient Jewry seemed to demand. In other words, this Faith was not designed to be offered to a select few, but was something that was of vital interest and concern to all of humanity. It really does escape me how anyone over the intervening millennia failed to catch sight of this: it is as plain as the nose on your face. We humans have a remarkable and foolish capacity to turn something to life-giving and beneficial into something narrow and bigotted as a religion that divides. What fools we mortals be!
In several different epistles, Paul expresses his conviction is several different ways, that Jesus is the meaning of life, the focal point of history to give it meaning and purpose, and that everything in life and human history will be ‘brought to a head’ in Christ. What is the meaning of life? Jesus. Not 42!

Gospel
It should come as no surprise that the story of the Magi figures as the Gospel focus on Epiphany - it is a moving and salutary tale, whether it actually occurred or not. (Some recent commentators seem convinced that the story is not historically true, but lots of Biblical writers never let the truth get in the way of a good parable or significant illustration.)
Actually, the story would have been absolutely shocking to a contemporary Jew, or most of them. It should be just as much a shock to Christian purists, for the tale relates how occultic searchers came to find the Christ Child, convinced by the data of their own horoscope that an event of enormous significance was / had taken place. Magi = magicians = occultists for heaven’s sake; and by the gifts they presented, they showed a far greater awareness of the coming Christ than did the People of Israel themselves.
These men represent the rest of the world people of other cultures and life-views, and would have represented quite something of an abomination to people of Pharisaic persuasion. Let that gell a moment or two .....

NOTES FOR A SERMON

I grew up in a world where people of different Christian persuasion were, more often than not, considered to be totally beyond the pale as far as the rest of us Anglicans were concerned. It was not just a matter of (Roman) Catholics being beyond redemption, but so were many of the people of other sects and hangers on. When it came to those of other faiths, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Callithumpians, well, forget it. They knew nothing of Jesus, so they were consigned to the then popular eternal hell. (Actually, this burning fiery furnace view stems not so much from Scripture as from Dante and his Inferno. Many people do not seem to know that!)

So the atmospherics of those days of yore so long ago were terribly snobbish and isolationist. I guess, in those days, Australia was really very isolated geographically anyhow, and the White Australia Policy was hardly ever challenged, until World War II. So everyone was tucked up snugly and safely in the cocoon of their particular ‘theology,’ and later people were to wonder what the Church had done to have so few respond to the Gospel.

Denominations were isolated and isolating by their Eucharistic theology, and one was expected to fit the respective ‘sausage skins’ and look down the nose at others’ skins, so to speak. As recently as the 1960s, there was no way the Anglican sisters at Coober Pedy Hospital could share in the Easter Communion at the Lutheran Church there, unless they first became Lutheran. I kid you not! So the very Sacrament of Unity was used as a tool for division and even revulsion. How stupid could we have got?

From the very call of Abraham, the move in this then-new Faith was designed for the entire world into which it was introduced. Look at the call of Abram and the precise and expansive wording of it. He was to be a blessing to all the world. At Horeb, that same sort of breadth of vision was expressed, and of course the Old Testament prophets punched the wide drum again and again and again. The tragedy of Israel’s blindness to that breadth of vision was echoed for another two millennia in the Christian world.

And here, at the Incarnation, the Biblical writers ensured that the message was heard even over the voices of people’s bigotry. It is rather interesting and quite something of a profound challenge how the Scriptures, written and revised over thousands of years, really, so often show evidence of various writers who have challenged the status quo and popular view of some subjects. Perhaps it is too gentle a way to move for change and yet that seems to be the process Biblical, all along. Didn’t it take 1,800 years for English Christians to move to abolish slavery; 1950 years for Christians to see the Biblical imperative about being green, and a little longer to espy the need to embrace the equality of the sexes. All that may well have been because of the time it took for most of the population to be educated and inquisitive, but even so the story of the Church’s rejection of Galileo and his explanation of the Earth revolving around the sun was a shocking indictment of the power of conservatism against truth. It would seem that people look to the Faith for security instead of finding in it the strength to follow wherever truth leads.

There, it strikes me, is the present challenge for us all that Epiphany brings.