It’s January!  I mention that only because it’s only the eighth day of the new year, and already I feel behind.  I’m not really ready to be done with Christmas yet, and here we are, the second Sunday in a new year.  I feel very much “in transition”, part of me still trying to wrap my head around all that took place in 2022, while also trying to get my wits about me for the year ahead.  Do you know what I mean?

I suspect it’s a pretty common feeling this time of year, at least it must have been on someone’s mind, or they would not have named this month January.  According to Wikepedia, it is very likely that the name January comes from the ancient Roman god “Janus”, who was thought to be the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, doorways, passages and endings.  He is usually depicted as having two faces, one side looking to the past, and the other side looking to the future.

That’s a good summary of what we are trying to accomplish in worship today, when we’re a little bit Christmas, a little bit Epiphany, and a little bit ordinary time.  Technically, the 12 Days of Christmas ended on Thursday, December 5, and Friday was Epiphany, which starts a whole new season in the church.  We could have celebrated Epiphany Sunday last week, but it was New Year’s Day, and there’s just a lot going on!  So today, we wrap up Christmas 2022 and set our sights on what 2023 might bring.

One thing we know 2023 will bring here at Lima Church is a focus on the New Testament.  I have often preached on one book of the New Testament at a time, doing series on the book of James, the gospel of Mark, the book of Acts, and epistles like 1 Corinthians.  There’s a lot we can learn by taking a deep dive into a single book, learning about the context and the author and the unique perspective and teaching of each individually written book in the New Testament.

But there’s also something to be said for taking the opposite approach, and getting more of a birds’ eye view.  It turns out that, if you read five chapters a week, we can read the entire New Testament in one year.  Can you picture yourself doing that?  Our hope is that by setting this goal, we will find ourselves reading scripture more often, experiencing more unity because we’re all reading together, and getting a better sense of the grand themes of the New Testament.  What ideas are repeated over and over?  What questions seem to come up again and again?  By reading the New Testament together this year, we hope that God will speak to us, and help us as a congregation hear what issues and questions God needs us to work on most.

Five chapters a week, starting with Matthew, and by the end of December, we’ll have read the whole New Testament.  Each Sunday in worship, the sermon will be focused on one of the passages within the five chapters assigned for the week.  This week, many of us read Matthew chapters one to five, which lines up perfectly with what the church normally focuses on this Epiphany week.  (That won’t always be the case—come December, we’ll be reading Revelation!)  But let’s get started in Matthew.  Matthew is the only one of the four gospels to record the visit of the Magi.  Matthew includes this story in his gospel to be sure everyone would know that from the very beginning, it was God’s intention that Jesus be worshipped as King, not just by the Jews, but by people from all over the world.  Although we do not know for certain all there is to know about the magi, what we do know is that they were pagans.  They were Gentiles.  They were not Jewish!  Yet they travelled a great distance to find the One who was worthy of worship.

From the very start, we see that Jesus did not come just for a select few.  Jesus did not come only for certain types of people.  It is from Luke that we see how the good news of Jesus’ birth was proclaimed to women of low economic status like Mary, and shepherds, who were often considered as “outsiders” in the Jewish faith because they weren’t able to participate easily in religious life.  But from Matthew we learn that the good news of Jesus’ birth was proclaimed even to Gentiles.  To people even more on the outside than the outsider shepherds!

We will see this theme repeated in the coming weeks.  As you read the gospel of Matthew, I encourage you to pay attention to all the times it says things like, “Jesus crossed over to the other side.”  On the western side of the Sea of Galilee are Jewish towns.  But on the eastern side?  Those are all Gentile towns!  Every time Jesus “crossed over to the other side”, Jesus was teaching and healing and ministering amongst non-Jewish people.

Jesus’ birth was meant to bring joy to the world—the whole world!  Apparently though, not everyone rejoices at such good news.  During Jesus’ ministry, he was sometimes criticized for including non-Jewish people in his teaching.  But long before that, Herod thought the news of Jesus’ birth was terrible news, and he responded in a terrible way.  He issued an edict that all the children in and around Bethlehem aged two and under be killed.  What was good news for the world was terrible news for the twenty or thirty families in Bethlehem.  It is hard to wrap our heads around the wave of darkness that followed the arrival of such pure light.

But why did Herod even have to find out about Jesus’ birth?  I have to tell you, as many times as I have read the first two chapters of Matthew, I never noticed this problem before.  If the Magi were following the star, why didn’t they just keep following it to Bethlehem?  They had gotten pretty far just by following the star.  Did it disappear for a time?  Why did they have to pull over, so to speak, and ask for directions in Jerusalem?  Were they following some diplomatic protocol, checking in with Herod before finding the baby?  Or had they lost their way?  Why didn’t they just keep following the star to baby Jesus without having to tip off Herod???

We don’t know the answer to these questions, but this is exactly the kind of thing I am hoping to us frequently this year as we read the New Testament together.  Many of the passages we will be reading will be familiar.  We have heard most of these Bible stories and read most of these New Testament teachings before.  But hopefully Epiphany for us won’t just be one day, but will be something of a theme for 2023.  What new discoveries await us!  What new glimpses of truth—and even better, what new applications of truth in our lives—will be ours for having studied scripture together this year?  It is exciting to think about!

New applications of truth in our lives.  There’s really no point in studying scripture if we’re not open to letting it change us for the better.  When the truth comes—will we let it in?  Isn’t that the point of Epiphany?

This week I was looking through our United Methodist hymnal because, other than “We Three Kings”, there aren’t many well-known Epiphany hymns.  I got to thinking about an old song I remember a bit of from growing up, “March of the Kings.”

 

Three great kings I met at early morn

With all their retinue were slowly marching

Three great kings I met at early morn

Were on their way to meet the newly born

 

I wonder what it was like for Mary, the day the wise men arrived with their retinue.  That word retinue, I had to look it up.  It means entourage—people retained to provide assistance to dignitaries.  Mary grew up in a small village.  She may have never had any personal contact with foreigners in her life, except the Romans who had taken over Israel.  She was probably taught to be very suspicious of strangers.  She may have felt the need to protect herself and her baby.  And here come, not just three wise men, but a whole cadre of people! A retinue!  An entourage! She had to take a big risk in welcoming these foreigners, didn’t she?  But by welcoming them, she and Joseph received valuable gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I like how Matthew says the wise men opened their treasure chests and pulled out their gifts.  The Greek word translated as treasure chest is thesaurus.  Isn’t that amazing?  If you’re writing a paper and need help finding the right word, you can consult a thesaurus–literally a treasure chest of words.  The gifts of the magi probably overwhelmed Mary and Joseph.  They may have never seen such riches.  I wonder how long it took them to understand, though, that the real treasure came not from the magi’s treasure chest, but from the thesaurus of God:  the gift of Jesus, the Word made flesh.  God’s revelation to ALL humanity, the demonstration of God’s desire to bring salvation–a new way of living–to the whole world.

That’s why you’ll find a paper star inside your bulletin this week, so you can make epiphany an everyday pursuit.  Over the last fifteen years or so, many churches have adopted the tradition of “star words”, asking every person to either choose their own special word for the year, or to receive a star word from their pastor.  I have decided for this year my star word is going to be “longevity”.  This word was chosen for me by someone else, but I think it’s perfect.  What do I need to do to live a long, healthy life?  And what do I need to do to be productive and happy for the long-haul in my vocational calling as a pastor?  As I make decisions this year, I will do so with my star word in mind.

Receiving a star word is a little like Mary, deciding to welcome the magi and receive their gifts.  A star word is like a gift from the wise men’s treasure chests, their thesaurus. Be open to hearing from God, in scripture, in conversation, in your reading.  Choose a word that grabs your attention.  Choose a word that will bring you life.  Then write it on your paper star, and remind yourself of it frequently.  Let it be a guiding light for you in the year ahead.

Here’s a handful of ideas, words you might consider for your star:

 

Renewal

Presence

Acceptance

Wonderment

Tranquility

Consistency

Novelty

Truth

Curiosity

Prayer

 

Choose a word to guide you this year, as you walk with God.  Maybe you can use your star word as your bookmark in your Bible, to help you stay on track as you read five chapters of the New Testament each week.

If choosing a star word isn’t your thing, no problem!  It’s just one tool that can help us stay open to the light.  That’s the real task, isn’t it?  Staying open to the light.  Being receptive to the treasures God has for us.  Keeping our spirits attuned and our wills willing to hear and obey God.  The magi followed the star to find baby Jesus, bringing their gifts. We are also seeking Jesus, trusting God uses many signs (or stars) to guide us closer to the Divine presence.  May 2023 be a year of everyday epiphanies, for us, and for the glory of God.  Amen.