John Henry Hopkins lyrics to “We Three
Kings” have set the stage in our imaginations for centuries about these three
visitors from the East who followed a star to find the Christ child in
Bethlehem.
Hopkins hymn has told us they were
kings…and in the stanzas…he’s given each of them back stories.
And tradition has assigned them names
based upon the gifts they brought...the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
We assume there are three of them
because there are three gifts.
But maybe there were two….or could there
have been more?
Nah…that wouldn’t work.
That would totally mess up the manger
scenes.
But then…our traditional manger scenes
have already gone off track from the Gospel story.
There is no crib of hay in Matthew’s
story.
In fact…these foreign magi enter a
“house” to find Mary and “the child.”
And…given the account that happens a few
verses later in this chapter of Herod’s jealous rage that leads to the deaths
of Jewish boys in Bethlehem who are two years old…we get the idea that these
magi have been following that star for a while.
These “magi”…or as we have translated it…these
“wise men” are “from the East.”
They may have been Zoroastrians…an
Eastern religion of the Persian Empire…a monotheistic belief system that
teaches ethical living and a constant struggle between good and evil.
They may have been either astrologers or
magicians.
And they are on a journey… a euphemism
often used when one is talking about seeking God.
They’re following a star…chasing after
this sign in the sky…hoping to find a child born King of the Jews…so that they
might pay him homage.
In his book “Brightest and Best: A
Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts”…Episcopal chaplain Sam Portaro
suggests that if these magi were magicians…they may have been something like
traveling entertainers.
Portaro wonders how wise they might have
been…since they went to Herod to ask where to find this child called “King of
the Jews”…a title that Herod proudly had accepted for himself when the Roman
Emperor Augustus conferred it on him.
Any wise person would have known better
than to tell Herod about this child king given his reputation for killing his
rivals.
Maybe they hadn’t fully discerned the
politics of the region.
Maybe they were so fixated on following
the star that they hadn’t paid attention to the way Herod shifted uneasily when
they mentioned they were looking for another king of the Jews.
And Herod…regaining his composure…and in
a manner we might see in a classic Disney villain…requests that these wise men
serve as envoys for him…
“Oh…please do come back and tell me
where I might find this child in Bethlehem so that I…too…may pay homage to
him.”
It’s interesting that “paying homage”
gets repeated here.
To “pay homage” suggests something more
than a simple nod of the head and a “greetings and salutations.”
“Paying homage” is to prostrate
oneself…kneel or lay down before an authority.
Herod said he wanted to pay homage to
the Christ child…and he should have wanted to do that.
It’s what we say in our prayers of the
people…that we look for leaders who will turn away from greed and a lust for
power…and to govern from a place of justice and compassion.
To be like the king as described in
Psalm 72…
“That he may rule your people
righteously…and the poor with justice.” (72:2)
But…of course…he wasn’t sincere.
After all…he is not on a journey.
So when the wise men arrive…we hear that
they were overwhelmed with joy.
And when they entered the house…and saw
the child with Mary…they paid him homage.
These Zoroastrian strangers immediately
see what the shepherds from Luke’s Gospel had seen earlier.
And like those shepherds…they too were
amazed…and filled with wonder and joy.
And it brought them to their knees…lying
face down on the floor.
Only then…did they remember to break out
the gold…the frankincense…and the myrrh.
It seems the most important gift they
offered was not the valuable “things” that they brought along in their treasure
chest.
The primary gift was themselves….their
bodies…and their desire to seek and find what this wonderous star was beckoning
them to discover an incarnation of God’s Love into the world.
This was their epiphany…that moment of
“a-ha”….that brought them to Bethlehem.
They have met God…the God that they
recognize…the Holy One of Justice and Mercy.
They have found God in this Jewish
child.
And God has shattered barriers between
cultures.
God has demonstrated that Divine Love is
able to reach past all borders…all religions…all labels…and differences to
touch us so deeply as to overwhelm us with joy.
If these men weren’t wise before their
journey…they are leaving greatly changed.
No wonder their dream told them to
travel back a different way.
They are no longer able to go back
toward the way of Herod…that world of domination and fear…and the need to have
power over others.
They’ve been changed.
The same can be true for us too.
We…too…can travel a different road.
God’s desire for us is not about
wealth…or titles…or our precious metals…or other expensive gifts.
The only thing God has ever needed from
us is our willingness to open our hearts to God…and allow Love to transform us.
God’s intent is to set us on a road away
from the self-centered path that seeks to control others and assert our
dominance over other people.
The thing we must do is bring
ourselves…our wise and foolish…our perfectly imperfect selves…to God…and be
willing to be wowed and changed.
In the name of our One Holy and
Undivided Trinity.
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