I take the ploy that I saw in a cartoon once. A little girl was getting ready to read a passage to her Sunday school teacher and class. As she was about to read she prefaced her reading by saying: “The names have been changed to protect the innocent . . . me!”
I am notorious for killing names, especially biblical names. Which puts me in a bind as a pastor as we enter into the season of Epiphany. I always get asked what the names were of the three wise men who show up in the Christmas story. My pat answer, jokingly said, has always been, “Larry, Curly, and Moe!”
The Three Stooges.
Which, in a way, makes sense. There are tons of cartoons making fun of the three wise men. There are lots of jokes. Probably one of the most popular asks the question about what would have happened if it had been three “wise women” instead of three “wise men”? Of course the answer is:
They would have asked directions, arrived on time, help deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts like diapers, formula, and baby powder--not frankincense, gold, and myrrh. So, maybe Larry, Curly, and Moe is not so far-fetched.
The actual names of the three wise men, according to tradition, are Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar. They were from Arabia, Persia, and India. They were Gentiles . . . non-Jews . . . who came to worship the baby, the “king of the Jews”. At least that is what they told King Herod when they inquired about the whereabouts of this child.
This inquiry caught Herod off-guard . . . or as our scripture reading tells us . . . “he was disturbed”. Truth of the matter is, Herod was more than concerned as he was the king of the Jews, and the news of this child announced a challenge to his power. So, after consulting with his chief priests and teachers, he sends the three wise men to go and find the child in the town of Bethlehem. Feigning curiosity and a desire to also pay homage to the child, he tells them to: “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” Of course Herod has no intentions of worshipping the child . . . no, the child is a threat . . . he plans on killing the child.
And, so, off they go. They follow a star that leads them to the place where the child is. They bow down in worship to the child . . . they fawn over the child . . . and, they present those wonderful gifts--gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Not the most practical gifts, but symbolic, nonetheless--a topic for another sermon at another time. Then they hightail it out of there going home by a different route to avoid Herod. Which rounds out the Christmas story as we know it.
And, yet, the three wise men, actually kick off the third season of the church’s liturgical year . . . the season of Epiphany. The wise men arrive on the twelfth day day of Christmas--January 6th. Epiphany means “a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being” . . . and, in the eyes of the western church, it is the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. In other words, the gift of the Messiah--the gift of Christ--is revealed not only to the Jews, but also to the rest of the world. The intention of this epiphany is that the scope of God’s work goes beyond a specific group to encompass all of God’s children in the world. It is a gift to everyone.
Now, we need to understand that Epiphany occurs on one day--January 6th, then we enter into the season which follows that holy revelation. This season we typically call Epiphany and it will last until Ash Wednesday when we kick off the season of Lent. The church, or the followers of Jesus, has only one focus during this season . . . to share the Good News of Jesus to all corners of the world.
The Christmas story tells us . . . no, shows us . . . that this gift from God was meant for all people . . . for all of God’s children. They are all there in the story . . . from the poorest to the richest . . . from the least educated to wisest . . . they are all there. The gift was meant for everyone. And, we, as the followers of Jesus are meant to embrace that gift and go forth to share it in the world in which we live.
When we stop to consider all of this, it is pretty awesome. It is pretty awesome that God throws wide and opens the door for anyone and everyone to come into relationship with God . . . that God not only throws open the door, but desires it with all that God is. And, we are the receptacles of this divine gift and action, challenged to go and share it with others. That is pretty awesome!
But, it comes with a warning. Not everyone is going to get as excited as we do . . . not everyone is going to be receptive to the message or gift. No, there will be those who feel threatened by it all. In our story that warning comes in the form of King Herod . . . King Herod who saw the child as a threat to his power . . . King Herod whose only desire is to kill the kid, remove the threat, and keep his power. Our story tells us this . . . and, if we were to read a little further beyond where we ended this morning, we would see that.
Herod, when realizing he had been duped, issues a decree . . . he orders that all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years and under be killed. Joseph is told by an angel to get out of Dodge . . . to hightail it to Egypt . . . because Herod is intent in finding the child and killing him.
There is a somber undertone to the story . . . a warning to us all; and, yet, it is still an awesome story. God, through Jesus, has come into the world to re-establish what was once broken . . . to reconnect with what once was lost . . . to rebuild the family . . . the Kingdom of God. That desire is expressed in the gift of Christmas, revealed to all in the gift of Epiphany. We as the followers of Jesus have been called to share that Good News of Jesus with all throughout the world. God is with us! It is up to us to share the gift. No matter what we call the three wise men, through them the gift has come to all the world. May we go forth like Larry, Curly, and Moe to share the Good News . . . to share the gift. Amen
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