In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking,
“Where
is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his
star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”
When
King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he
inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him,
“In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
‘And
you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the
rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my
people Israel.’”
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time
when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
“Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”
When
they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went
the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the
place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they
were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child
with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then,
opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Isaiah 60.1 - 6
Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you, and the Lord’s glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
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I
don’t believe in a God of plans, but I believe in God of prophecy and
promise.
I don’t think our steps are set out before we take them, but I
believe in ever unfolding paths laid to traverse.
And let me tell you
about these paths:
For the people of Isaiah, they have walked in great darkness.
They have been oppressed in, and exiled from, their own land,
the rod of the oppressor has been strong over and against them,
and
yet Isaiah can see the path amidst the darkness, his eyes have adjusted
to what God is unfolding.
Arise, shine, for your light has come!
They have woken in the night and begun to walk
and the dawn is creeping in making the way quick, bright, and beautiful
To they who felt forgotten and alone the Lord has arisen upon them, and like the heat of the midday sun it appears over them.
The Nation to which they return has been redeemed, and the exiles walk toward their homeland.
Kings honor the brightness of this new dawn.
Isaiah tells those that have remained under the oppressor
“Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
and I imagine them peering out the window at this new down
and seeing on the horizon bands of lost relatives returning home.
Isaiah tells them,
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”
They are returned the wealth that is family,
and the goods which were once stolen from them.
Isaiah extorts,
“A
multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and
Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. and They shall bring gold and
frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.
And for a people who have seen deep darkness, and been given light and abundance,
their wealth is but to be retuned as offering to God who returned them.
This is the path Isaiah foretold,
the people may walk in it’s bounty and grace.
This path is a prophesy, and a promise,
and the people long ago chose to walk in it’s light.
The wise men too have walked a path.
they walked along, those three years between the year of our Lord and the moment they came to the place where the child lay.
Three years following star,
three years with their camels and their gifts.
Three years leaving everything they had in search of a mystery, in search of a true king,
and when they found that the star had stopped, after three long years, they were overwhelmed with joy.
On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother;
and they knelt down and paid him homage.
After walking so long, they came to kneel
Then,
opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh,
which they had carried miles and miles under
the star.
They too followed a prophesy, and a promise, and an ever unfolding path.
We too are given paths, promises and prophesy,
and if we look and pay attention, like Isaiah we can see God’s abundance laid out before us to adorn our steps,
these paths shine
they are
Long-haul trucker’s hammered chrome doors reflecting headlights in the sunset,
they are powdered-sugar-snow dusting shortbread yellow grass,
they are brooding expenses of watercolor winter sky,
they are hearths of burgundy willow spiring in creek-beds,
They are the Dutch Fork roofs of red barns and their copula steeples,
they are cold black streams bordered by glazes of white ice,
they are the resilient erect posture of thistle
and the luminescence of the waning full moon still turning the snow under gray skies blue.
And in the distance, the end of an inversion, a horizon line of its own, still lighter blue fading to emerald and golden.
These are our paths,
So too are the paths of feeling known,
the
first real question an old friend asks on a trip home that makes miles
and time disappear into the space between face-to-face words,
these
paths are listening to the delicate dance of aging and remaining
youthful shared over tuna sandwiches (and sauerkraut salad),
these
paths are the sharp clicking gravel that gets caught in the grooves of
my sneaker as if the rock forced into pavement wanted to announce its
opinion about the discussed relationship when what really but needs
attention is the nail in her sacrificial wrist,
these paths are two women singing together in two chairs with a acoustic guitar
these paths also are the quiet company we keep in cards and visits and little comical e-mails as a presents to the grieving,
these paths are the perfection of a child singing, Silent Night once the candles are lit,
these
paths are the old-home-week that happens for families in the sanctuary
aisle afterward and the solidarity of singles in the Advent prior, and
the peace of it being over with New Year’s coming to declare it not stay
too long and Epiphany finally closing the season’s door with the
reminder to kneel down, pay homage and offer our gifts.
We are given paths, which God lays out, paths of prophesy and promise,
paths that may seem too dark to traverse
but if trust in the prophet, if we follow the star,
we will find our way to a radiant dawn,
we will find our way home,
and welcome loves ones back,
and we will find the child, who is king.
So may we,
Arise, shine; for your light has come,
Lift up your eyes and look around;
