Delivered by Amy Higgins on January 7, 2024

Scripture: Isaiah 60:1-6 & Matthew 2: 1-12

It should be no surprise that for days now I have had the song “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” stuck in my head.

Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem
Shining afar through shadows dim
Giving the light for those who long have gone
Guiding the wise men on their way
Unto the place where Jesus lay
Oh Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on.

R. Fisher Boyce. 1940. Vaughan Publishing.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and God’s glory rises upon you.” Isaiah, sharing the words of Jehovah, says God’s glory rises upon you. Upon. Not above, not over. God’s glory is on you. It is not hovering over or hanging somewhere above, it is touching. Isaiah tells us, in this prophesy of the magi, that even though the world is dark, God’s glory is upon us. And we are to look and see the world around us and radiate His glory. And Matthew shows us, in the telling of the magi’s story, that this light, this glory is the light of Christ – the guiding star of Bethlehem.

In Isaiah’s words to arise and shine is a call to action, to move. And the wise me did just that. But why? They perceived something was different and as men of study, constantly learning and ever curious, they needed to see what had changed. And so, we have what we call Epiphany. Merriam Webster defines epiphany as: “1) January 6 observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church a commemoration of the baptism of Christ; 2) an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being; 3) a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something; and 4) a revealing scene or moment”.

If we go back through the translations related to the word magi, we will come to the particular caste these Persian magi who were not kings, but priests and astronomers who studied the stars. They “came from the east”. They were from somewhere else. They were outsiders. But still they went. We call them wise men because they were learned men who never stopped learning, never stopped seeking to know more. And in them we have the Epiphany – thinking differently and bringing things together.

Neither Isaiah nor Matthew actually say how many magi there were. Isaiah prophesies they will bring gold and incense. Gold because the child is a king and incense that he will be a priest. Matthew includes the addition of myrrh, used in preparing bodies for burial, to tell of the death to come. And we say there were three magi because there were three gifts. And as the joke goes, if it had been wise women instead of wise men, the gifts would have been diapers and casseroles. But we have the gold, frankincense, and myrrh and as such, we have three wise men or three kings. But, as they hymn says, “WE three kings of orient are…”. WE, as in us. Those who seek the star of Bethlehem, the seekers of the Christ child are innumerable, immeasurable. The search is timeless, from age to age, from that generation to this and beyond.

But once we meet the Christ child, the journey is not over. It is all still a mystery. We only get a glimpse of the true and full glory of the Lord. We think the epiphanies of life and faith are supposed to be these great, overwhelming experiences of being overcome by emotions but, the aha’s of life, and even faith, are not always big and exciting. And when we tell ourselves and others that what brings us closer to God are the big revelations, what we have defined as an epiphany, then we miss the little things, the whispers, the beauty in the smallness and the stillness. What Rev. Robert Jennings called, “the Godness of it all”. God must come to us in the smallness. His glory is so great, we could not handle it all at one time. We must receive it gradually over time. That is the journey. That is life.

Even though we journey to Bethlehem and meet the Christ child, we must go back to our lives. We cannot stay in Bethlehem. But neither can we go back to Jerusalem, back to the way things were or to who we used to be. Once we meet the Christ child, we must change course because we are changed. As American theologian, Walter Brueggeman said, “We point to Bethlehem, not back to Jerusalem; to life as it should be, not as it was.” So how should it be? We should not only arise and follow the star that the glory of God may be revealed to us but, we are also to shine that the glory of the Lord may be revealed in us.

The blessing of God’s glory is not for us alone, it is for us to share. Whatever we receive, we are to give back to God, doing so by sharing His glory with all we meet. And we reveal His light not to show how good we are but, to show how good He is. We are the means the light is shared. If we get in the way, we cast a shadow; much like when someone is cold and stands in front of a fireplace and blocks the heat from warming others in the room. We cannot lose the light but, we can dim it and effect what others see. The light we radiate is not to illuminate our own path but, the path for others. Author Christine Sine wrote:

The Christmas star has not faded

It has been implanted in us.

The light of the world is not dimmed.

It shines in you, in me, 

and in all creation,

And the darkness cannot extinguish is.

Let us be God’s revelation,

God’s path of transformation,

Shining like stars in the heavens,

To give light to every weary pilgrim, 

Every wanderer,

every lost and rejected one.

Let us go forth,

Carrying God’s light

into our needy world. 

Isaiah gave a message of hope. A hope the wise men show us we can find. A hope that must be shared. The glory of God is upon you. How are you revealing the mystery?