January 6, 2008

Epiphany A 2008

"Home By Another Way"

Christmas this year for my family and me was simple and cozy. The far-flung found their way home, togetherness felt good, and there was just enough stardust to ignite the imagination.

On Christmas Day, as the snow fell softly outside, piling up against the windows and doors, the six of us hung out in our jammies, watching football and our new DVDs: "Planet Earth," and "The Honeymooners."

As late afternoon shadows started to fall, we decided it was time to get dressed and head on over to Ron and Mares' for dinner. I slipped the cranberry bread from Trader Joe's in a handle bag, Gene grabbed a couple of bottles of wine, Luke and Em packed their I-Pods, and we trundled off in the good car, over the river and through the woods to the Teeces in Woodbury.

The weather outside was frightful and the driving far less than delightful: I found myself wishing we were pioneers on the wild Minnesota frontier... At least we'd have hot stones wrapped up in the sleigh blankets to keep our toes from freezing.

But when the front door opened and we were ushered in to the warmth of the Teece family room, it was like opening another Christmas present. The room was filled with people in sweaters, laughing easily and watching with eager anticipation as Ron carved the turkey and the ham.

We had heard there would be visitors from the Far East in the crowd of relations, neighbors, and in-laws. And there they were, standing shyly in a knot at the kitchen island: three starry-eyed international graduate students - Louis and Iris from Taiwan and June from China, enjoying an all-American Christmas with their host family, the Langefels. Though they were dressed in sweaters and stocking-feet like the rest of us, I noticed something different about Louis, Iris, and June right away: they had a certain glow about them.

Maybe it was just that they were standing under a recessed light that was pulsing and about to pop. But I think it was something more.

These three were so far from home without much experience of Christmas, but they came eager, curious, open-hearted, ready to receive their hosts' goodwill. And, in the spirit of the day, they too came bearing gifts - their smiles, their questions, and exotic sweets in cellophane bags with foreign writing. They were wise, these three... and smart. Louis and Iris study business at Metro State on the MBA track, and June is a law student at the U of M.

They are preparing themselves to be players in a world that is becoming more complex and interdependent by the hour. They have come to the West to pick up some of the training they will need, but they have much to give in return. Louis, Iris, and June are travelers with duffle bags filled with stories of their own to tell.

Through the centuries of its telling, there is a lot of lore that has been attached to Matthew's story about the magi who come from far off lands to worship a little Jewish boy who would be king. There's a heap of tradition that has accumulated around an incident we know very little about.

As he wrote about the exotic visitors to backwater Bethlehem kneeling in a cow shed with their treasure chests, Matthew himself was humming lyrics of his favorite holiday music by the Prophets Isaiah and Micah and playing scenes from old campfire stories about Moses in his head. And in the time since Matthew, all kinds of sequined details have crept into our collective memory of the story we call the Epiphany of our Lord.

We picture three givers, but that's only because three distinct gifts are mentioned in the Bible. We call them wisemen, but the text doesn't mention their gender. But they had to men, right? As the old joke goes (you've hear it before but just let me tell it again), if the wise ones had been women they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought useful gifts!

Did they ride camels? They aren't mentioned by Matthew, but camels certainly add texture and color to the scene. Sometimes the visitors from the east are portrayed as kings with crowns and rich robes, like those in our nativity set here. But Matthew doesn't comment on their royal identity; we've gotten that mpression from the other Scripture texts from in this season.

We don't really know who the magi were, but the best guess scholars can make is that they were probably Zoroastrian priests from ancient Persia -- that is, modern-day Iran - who were proficient in two of the recognized sciences of the day, astrology and astronomy. Just what it was in the night sky that led them to the Holy Family and when it was that they showed up with their gifts is unclear; the known facts of history and astronomy don't line up as neatly as we'd like them to.

Often we get stuck on some real or imagined details of the story and completely miss others. We usually skip right over the quite interesting detail that though the wise guys were presumably following divine road directions, they got lost: they were off by nine miles, landing in Jerusalem rather than Bethlehem, where they were headed. Stopping in at King Herod's palace to get their bearings, they unintentionally tip the king off as to the whereabouts of his rival. His paranoia explodes... and as a direct result of the magis' innocent question, the toddler boys of Bethlehem are massacred.

In some ways, the story of the wise ones is as star-crossed as it is star-blessed.

But in the closing scene of their drama, star-crossed as it seems, the magi do something rather daring, even brave: having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they defy the king's command to report on the infant Jesus' whereabouts, do a u-turn, giving the immigration authorities the slip. Matthew says, "they leave for their own country by another road." The star has disappeared or stalled out. The authorities will be after them soon. So they find an alternate eastbound route, a detour that gets them back home by another way.

The story of the Magi is a story for the ages, a story for every tribe. A story for us, here, today.

Many Chinese Christians believe that one of the magi came from China. In Spanish-speaking parts of the world, the Three Kings receive wish letters from children and magically bring them gifts on Twelfth Night, traveling house to house on camels, much like the Northern European Santa Claus with his reindeer. There's Babushka in Russia and Strega Nona in Italy, who follow the trail of cinnamon and caravan bells across the globe throughout the ages, trusting that the wise men will lead them to the Holy Child.

And what about our own travels in this new year? What stars are we following, and where in the world will the camels we're riding take us for work and play? Do we know the way? Will we be wise? Do we have eyes to see and ears to hear the wisdom in those we meet? What roads will we choose to make our way home?

I myself am leaving on a journey tomorrow, a journey of three weeks in Central America that will include language study, mission interpretation, field ministry, and a bit of R and R.. So these questions are very real to me right now.

Maybe you are traveling soon, too. In a moment we'll have a chance to pray for one another. But first, something completely different.

James Taylor wrote a lilting tune called "Home By Another Way" that will serve as a gathering place for our thoughts now - about the wise guys, about the roads we travel and the people we meet, about stars and gifts and camels.

Those magic men the Magi Some people call them wise Or Oriental, even kings Well anyway, those guys They visited with Jesus They sure enjoyed their stay Then warned in a dream of King Herod's scheme They went home by another way Yes they went home by another way Home by another way Maybe me and you can be wise guys too And go home by another way We can make it another way Safe home as they used to say Keep a weather eye to the chart on high And go home another way

Steer clear of royal welcomes Avoid a big to-do A king who would slaughter the innocents Will not cut a deal for you He really, really wants those presents He'll comb your camel's fur Until his boys announce they've found trace amounts Of your frankincense, gold and myrrh

Time to go home by another way Home by another way You have to figure that God's saying play the odds And go home by another way We can make it another way Safe home as they used to say Keep a weather eye to the chart on high And go home another way

Home is where they want you now You can more or less assume that you'll be welcome in the end Mustn't let King Herod haunt you so Or fantasize his features when you're looking at a friend

Well it pleasures me to be here And to sing this song tonight They tell me that life is a miracle And I figured that they're right But Herod's always out there He's got our cards on file It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch Old Herod likes to take a mile

It's best to go home by another way Home by another way We got this far to a lucky star But tomorrow is another day We can make it another way Safe home as they used to say Keep a weather eye to the chart on high And go home another way

We thank you, God of heaven and earth, of stars and stables, for revealing your love in the gift of a child. Stir our hopes. Prepare us for journeys that can change us. Ready us for dreams that may send us on new roads. Ground us in your wisdom and help us follow your call.

In the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Kristie Hennig
Chanhassen, Minnesota