Broadway Christian Church ·Columbia, Missouri
Morning Worship ·January 6, 2008
Epiphany of the Lord
Prayer of the Day
Gracious and Loving God, today and every day, we give you thanks for the birth of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we enter the New Year, help us find ways to seek your presence, share your love with others, and follow in the footsteps of Christ. Through Christ, we pray together. Amen.
Scripture
Matthew 2:1-12
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared, and he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search carefully for the young child, and when you have found him bring back word to me, that I may come and worship him also.”
When they heard the king they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
Message
A New Kingdom
Jacob Thorne
I want to begin this morning by asking each of us a basic, fundamental question: To whom do we belong? As Jim Wallis, the chief-editor of Sojourner’s magazine notes, “To whom we belong is really a question of worship, of baptism, and a fundamental Christian identity. It’s a critical question, because other identities – competing senses of belonging – are always tugging at Christians. Are we Christians first, as most believers in principle agree that we should be, or are we first American, or middle-class, or white, or any other racial, economic, or national identity that would compete with our Christian identity?”
Questions such as these are not new. Approximately 1,900 years ago, when the gospels were first written, Matthew and Luke, the two gospel writers who tell the Christmas story, had the same fundamental questions. In attempting to answer such questions, Matthew and Luke were concerned we might miss out on some key stories and characters of the gospel that help form our Christian identity and sense of belonging.
So, I think it’s no surprise that we hear the story of King Herod (the lectionary reading for today) and see his role in the Christmas story, both before and after the birth of Jesus. Matthew repeatedly turns to King Herod, because he does not want us to miss some of the key points of the Christmas story. It’s almost as if Matthews says to us, “Look. Look. Do not miss this point.”
Actually, when we read the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke and really start to pay attention to the text, we start to see that a lot of what we take for granted doesn’t appear. For example, in almost every Christmas play I’ve ever attended, I’ve always seen three wise men, but Matthew and Luke never say how many magi came to visit Jesus. We assume the shepherds were present for the birth of Jesus, but the Bible never says they were there. We assume that no room was available at the inn, but the Christmas stories never mention an innkeeper.
Some of these observations may be a bit of a surprise, but Matthew must have assumed that time might change the ways in which the Christmas story was known. So, Matthew repeats himself often, because Matthew assumed that when we read the Christmas story, we might not immediately comprehend what parts of the text were the main points. For Matthew, one of the main parts of the text – a main point of the Christmas story – is an observation that we easily overlook: the presence of King Herod.
In order to understand the significance that King Herod played in the Christmas story, we need to back up just a little and think about the ancient world during the time of the birth of Jesus. During this time, in the known world, from England to India, Caesar Augustus ruled the world. Eventually, Caesar Augustus was treated as a god and even believed himself to be a god. You may also remember that Caesar Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. Just as Julius Caesar was a brutal ruler, so was Caesar Augustus. When the Romans conquered a nation, in order to prove that they were number one, they would crucify anyone who opposed them. Caesar was known to crucify as many as 3,000 people at a time.
Caesar, not only crucified anyone who opposed him, he levied huge taxes on the citizens of Rome. Ordinary people – people like you and me – were forced to pay more and more taxes when Caesar was in control. Eventually, families ran out of money and, out of desperation, had to sell the family land – land that had been in the family for generations and generations. Families had to pick up and move and go where there was work. This is the setting out of which the Christmas story is born.
The main agenda of the Roman world was the notion: Caesar is lord.
But for us, for Matthew, for the Jewish people who followed Jesus, Jesus is the Lord. Matthew assumes that when you hear the Christmas story for the first time, you will instantly ask yourself, “Who is your Lord? Caesar or Jesus?”
Eventually, Caesar declared Herod to be king of Israel. Now, Herod was known to be fierce. When Herod went to battle, no one was left alive. Herod did not believe in taking prisoners. Herod slaughtered thousands and thousands of Jews. At the same that he was engaged in warfare, Herod traveled all over Israel building statues of Caesar with the inscriptions: “Caesar is lord.” In a Jewish land, the land of Israel, to put up statues of a false god would have been a significant insult, but Herod did not care. Herod did whatever he wanted.
While 99 per cent of the population was living in utter poverty, Herod lived a life of luxury. He built a palace at Masada, a mountaintop located at the western edge of the Dead Seashore. His palace at Masada was incredible. Everything was made of marble. There were hot and cold baths, Italian frescos, and a pool on the roof. But if Masada is located in the middle of a desert, where did Herod get all of the water? Herod, as a show of his strength and power, rebuilt the desert and valleys. He redirected water from Jerusalem that was 17 miles away. It was water that ordinary people – people like you and me – would have needed to survive.
Everything that Herod did, he did big. He built a Greek city along the coastline and named it Caesarea, after – you guessed it – Caesar. He built the largest harbor in the world, 500 acres. The harbor even had an underground sewage system that was designed to drain with the tides. He had an auditorium built that was designed to seat 500,000 people at a time. It was more than 1.3 miles in circumference. He built an entire city that was covered in marble.
Herod had 11 wives and 43 children. He was suspicious that two of his sons were planning to overthrow his empire, so he called them into his palace. He asked them if they were, indeed, plotting to overthrow him. Of course, they said, “No, no, we’re not planning to overthrow your empire.”
But he didn’t believe them, so he had both of his sons killed. He was suspicious of one of his wives, so he had her executed.
Most history books say that Herod was, at best, unstable and insane. That’s an understatement. He was paranoid. If Herod had the slightest concern that you were challenging him, or not respecting him, he would instantly have you killed.
The theologian, Rob Bell, whom I gained some of this information from, states that Herod, at one point, filled a stadium with Jewish scholars, locked the doors, and said to his guards, “When I die, kill these people, so there will be weeping and mourning when I am no longer alive.”
Are you starting to get a feel for the person King Herod was?
Herod actually built a mountain, Herodium. He used 2.3 million large stones to create it. Think about the teachings of Jesus when Jesus says, “If you have enough faith, you can throw this mountain into the sea.” It’s very likely, very likely, that when Jesus uttered his words, he was staring at the mountain that Herod had created.
Finally… In just a moment it’s all going to come together here. It’s significant to note that Herod lived in the city of Jerusalem, surrounded by a tight group of elites and tried to control both politics and religion. He killed the Jewish high priests if they did not agree with him. He destroyed temples if they went against his teachings. He was known to dress as a peasant and walk the streets of Jerusalem and listen to what people were saying. Then, if he heard you talking badly about him, he would go back to his palace, have a conversation with his guards, and you would be executed later that day.
Now that we know a little more about Herod, let me read from Matthew once again. Matthew says:
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 of Jerusalem with him… 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.”
Herod obviously did not want to go and pay homage to Jesus. He wanted to find the baby and kill him.
The text says that Herod, and all of Jerusalem, were frightened. The city of Jerusalem was frightened because it was composed of Herod’s elites. Herod made the majority of Israel, the peasants, live outside of the city walls.
Herod and his elite were frightened, because they knew if the true king was born, they would no longer rule. Herod and his elite were frightened because this birth threatened their entire system. Herod wanted all of the babies killed in an attempt to retain his kingdom.
So, do you see now why Matthew begins the first Christmas story by mentioning Herod twice? Herod is king, but the real king is born. Who is your king? Who do you worship?
The Christmas story tells us that a new king is on the scene. A new king is going to disrupt the lives of the wealthy and of those living in comfort. It’s time for a revolution. During the reign of Herod, the rich kept getting richer, and the poor kept getting poorer. Sound familiar?
If you were to place yourself in the first Christmas story, how would you respond? That’s the question Matthew is asking us this morning: “How would you respond? If your family members had been murdered by Herod, how would you feel?”
When the birth of Jesus was announced, the people under the reign of Herod were called out of darkness. They recognized that the Herod of their world, and the Herods of this world, will eventually die, but the Kingdom of God keeps going.
The Christmas story is not about getting more. It’s not about getting the perfect present. It’s about being called out to preach the good news, to give hope to the hopeless, to reach out to those in need. The message of the Christmas story is that Herod does not get the last word.
As we think about the birth of Jesus, I’m reminded of some of our favorite Christmas hymns. I do not think it is a coincidence that so many of our favorite hymns refer to light.
“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.”
“Oh holy night, the stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.”
“O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie.
Beneath thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet, in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.”
The message of the Christmas story is that the birth of Jesus calls us out of darkness and into the light of a new world and a new way of thinking.
In their book, The First Christmas, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan note that Christmas may be seen on two different levels. On a personal level, Christmas is about light coming into the darkness of our individual lives, about our return from exile, about inner peace – the birth of Christ within us.
On a political level, we need to question whether we are living in an empire. Empires use their military, political, and economic powers to get what they want. Are we like the magi who follow the light and refuse to listen to King Herod? Or do we use whatever means necessary to calm our fears?
Do we hear the story of Jesus and fail to respond? Or do we take action and seek divine transformation?
When King Herod ruled, the Jewish people must have asked, “How long will it be like this? Will things always be the same?”
The answer to such questions: “A baby is born.”
This week, if you’ve been watching, the television’s political analysts have reached a new state of frenzy. In just a few days, there will be new candidates who will receive their parties’ nominations to run for president. I’m not, by any means, endorsing one candidate or another. But as we enter a new year – a new year in which we’ll have a new president-elect – I ask you, once again, “To whom do you belong?”
It is time for the American churches to find their voice for Jesus’ way of peacemaking, and to demonstrate – in matters of war, peace, and conflict resolution – just whom we belong to.
As I prepared for this sermon, I was continually reminded of my friend Mary Bryant. I can only attribute such reminders as a gentle prodding from God. Mary and I entered seminary the first year together – the same year. I was always struck by Mary’s uniqueness. She thought of life in different ways than others. She questioned, and critiqued, and laughed about everything. She spent a summer at Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi, working in the heat to serve others. Then she came back home to seminary for the second year. One evening, on the way to a church concert, she was killed by a teenager driving a stolen car. On a downtown street in St. Louis, Missouri, a teenager, in a stolen car, slammed into my friend Mary at 80 miles per hour.
When I think of what happened that night, I feel my blood pressure start to rise. I wonder what she felt? I wonder how scared she was? I get tense. I ask God, “Why did it happen? Why was someone as faithful as Mary killed?”
And then, I’m reminded that a baby is born. A baby is born who brings light into the world. A baby is born who says that we do not need to embrace a sense of fatalism. A baby is born by an ordinary person, Mary, surrounded by ordinary people.
The Christmas story is not over. At Mary’s memorial service, we reminded ourselves that the last word of the Bible is not “The End” but “Amen.” When I think of the words “The End,” I think of the story as being over. But, to me, the word “Amen” means the story is still alive and transforming: full of energy and grace. That, my friends, is the message of Christmas. God is still at work and rescues us from darkness.
Today is the day of Epiphany. It is the day in the Church calendar when we recognize that Christ has been revealed to us. It is the day in which we are filled with new hope, new joy, and new life.
So, when it seems that life is too hard to endure, remember: “A baby is born.”
When there is divorce, remember: “A baby is born.”
When there is cancer, remember: “A baby is born.”
When there is death, remember: “A baby is born.”
When there is war, remember: “A baby is born.”
And when you give thanks to God, remember that once the light of God has arrived, it will never be put out.
Through Christ we pray together… “Amen.”
Benediction
Savior Jesus, you bring us tidings of comfort and joy. Let us rest in the peace of our surety, that in the midst of that which is despairing, confusing, and discomforting, you are here. God with us, Emmanuel, a Baby is born! Amen.
