Matthew 2:1-12
Tradition and liturgy are very powerful. By the time we get to the Gospel in this service, we are primed to know what it’s all about. We see the wise men set up here in the Rock Chapel; our opening collect celebrates the star that led them; we began the service singing “We three kings of Orient are.” But if we could somehow separate this passage from the Feast of the Epiphany which we observe today, we might be shocked to realize that the main character in the story is not the baby Jesus or the wise men. From beginning to end, the primary actor in the story is Herod. These events, Matthew tells us, take place in the time of Herod’s reign. It is Herod who is frightened by the rumors of a newborn king; it is Herod who makes the religious leaders declare where the Messiah must be born; it is Herod who directs the wise men to Bethlehem and tells them to report back to him; it is Herod whom those wise men are warned to avoid on their return home. And it is Herod who will then send in the troops to massacre all the children in Bethlehem who are two years old or younger.
And we know from a variety of historical sources that Herod was indeed a scary man and a terrifying ruler. Living in decadent opulence, he oppressed his people and was largely despised by them. A client king of the hated Romans, he was perpetually surrounded by a bodyguard of brutal mercenaries. Paranoid and narcissistic, he executed his own wife and murdered three of his own sons because he feared they might rival him or dethrone him. His great and singular desire was to hold on to power at all cost.
And really, this story is all about power, and the different ways that power is expressed. Herod’s way of power we know all too well: it is based on domination and violence, and it seeks to serve only itself. By contrast, God’s way of exercising power is fundamentally different. God comes among us as a child, a child who quickly becomes a refugee when his parents flee Bethlehem for the safety of Egypt. From the beginning, Jesus is humanly weak and vulnerable. And yet, from the beginning he is perceived as a threat. The forces of violence and domination did not know what to make of a God who comes in love and weakness. And they still don’t.
Like all of you, I am dismayed by the recent events in Washington. Regardless of our political affiliation, what we have watched unfold is terrible and upsetting. And we would be remiss if we did not ask ourselves what our witness as followers of Jesus Christ should be in such a time. Obviously we should pray fervently for our nation and for our government, that our Constitution be honored and our democratic values be upheld. And of course we should advocate for justice and ask that any administration in office work for the good of all.
But beyond that, the Epiphany story calls us to bear witness to a power that supersedes and transcends all political power, and that is the power of God revealed in Jesus Christ our Savior. Too many people, in this country and around the world, have adopted a Herodian view of power. They see power as self-serving; they seek to amass power through intimidation or outright violence in an effort to dominate others and get their own way. It’s a story as old as humanity. But Jesus tells a very different story. Power as he demonstrates it is about self-giving. There is no place for coercion: instead Jesus models sacrificial love. Not love as mushy sentimentality, but agape, the willingness to give of ourselves for the good of others regardless of how we feel.
If we want to be faithful to Christ, then we will embrace his view of power. We must decry any politician, Republican or Democrat, who tries to hold on to power unjustly and or to use power for self-aggrandizement and not for the common good. And we must denounce any mob violence, whether from the Left or the Right, that tries to seize power through brute force and terror.
But above all, we are called to live in the Spirit of Christ and be Christ in this world. And that means using our personal power the way Jesus does. And we all have power, we all have the ability to give of ourselves for the good of others in our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, our communities, our workplaces, our world. It will not further the cause of Christ if we are horrified by what we see on TV but don't at least try to live differently. We can, for example, be less violent and abusive in our language. Words are powerful and they can hurt. We can choose not to return insult for insult; we can pray for the people who have offended us or annoyed us. There are countless ways we can use power like Jesus does. And like Jesus, we may pay a price for doing so. But remember why we are here. Our happiness and fulfillment will ultimately come from being in Christ and like Christ. We are not on this earth to amass power for ourselves. We are here to give ourselves away in love. And that is true for every one of us. We can kneel in wonder before the Christ child like those wise men did because we can see in that infant God pouring God’s self out for us, not with terror and might, but in weakness and in love — which, Jesus shows us, is the greatest power of all.
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