Rev. Eric Dillenbeck
1-5-14
Isaiah 60:1-6 & Matthew 2:1-12
“Lift Up Your Eyes”
Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and The glory of the Lord will appear over you.
3Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
4Lift 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.
5Then 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. 6A 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.
Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “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.”
3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘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.’”
7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then 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.”
9When 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.
10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On 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.
12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
“Lift Up Your Eyes”
Pigeons, everywhere you go, you will find pigeons. Usually they, along with seagulls, are the cause of much consternation to those perfectly coifed pedestrians who must walk from place to place. But really, pigeons are pretty amazing.
Pigeons have this amazing ability. They always know where they are and where they are going, no matter where you bring them. Pigeons have saved lives because of this ability.
In 1943, a pigeon named GI Joe saved the lives of thousands of British soldiers. The British had just liberated a small Italian village from the Germans in the 2nd World War.
Thinking the Germans were still in control of the village the Americans were scheduled to bomb the town.
The base where the American’s were located was 20 miles away and the British didn’t have a way to let them know of the turn of the events.
It all depended on GI Joe, the pigeon. The amazing part, the pigeon, was in a box for the whole journey. But the British tied a life-saving note to his feet and let him fly.
Over mountains and through valleys he had never seen GI Joe flew. He went right to his home on that base just in time to call off the arial assault of that small Italian village.
Researchers are still not sure how pigeons find their way home, but I am guessing the Wise Men would have really enjoyed having a pigeon from Bethlehem with them on their travels so long ago.
These Wise Men were probably not kings as we often see the story told, but rather priestly sages from Persia. These priests were important people in Persia who, judging from the gifts they bring, obviously had access to immense wealth.
They were trained in astrology and spent much of their time studying the stars and interpreting their findings for those who would come to learn from them.
I imagine at some point one of them noticed something new in their skies. He sought out the others, and when they confirmed the arrival of this new star they sat together to divine it’s purpose.
Somehow they seemed to know that this star signified the birth of the new King of Jews. We aren’t privy to how they came to this discovery, but we do know that the news called them to leave the comfort of their homes to travel to the place where the light shined brightest. They needed to pay homage with gifts fit for a king.
I bet following a star in the sky is not easy work. I bet they would have really enjoyed a nice pigeon to lead their way through the deserts.
I imagine they are road weary as they approached Jerusalem, working hard to keep their eyes on the light of the star. But Bethlehem is so close to Jerusalem it must have been easy to confuse the destination.
Plus, Jerusalem is the seat of power, the natural place to find a kingly child.
As I read it, they enter the Holy City with no thought about the sitting king. The text tells us they come to the city during the time of King Herod, not that they seek him out first, which makes sense because they were not kings.
Kings would immediately seek out kings, but wise sages would go to other wise men, they would go to other priests, they would go to the faithful who gathered for worship.
It is to these that the Wise Men present themselves asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?”
For an Occupied people living in perilous times those words must have been a mixed blessing. They all yearned for the King of the Jews, for the Messiah to come and bring about redemption and freedom from Rome.
But at the same time, these words would have filled them with fear because they knew the current King, Herod, who was appointed by Rome, would not like the news.
When he hears the murmurs of the wise men he pulls together his “Think Tank” which included the Chief Priests and scribes of the people, the ones who would know of the Prophecies concerning the Messiah. The words from the poem in Isaiah would surely have been hanging in their ears.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”
The poem describes the moment when the people of God will be caught off guard, when all of a sudden God’s light will shine upon them and the wealth of the nations will stream to Israel in recognition.
But it is to the Prophet Micah that these Biblical scholars point, saying “‘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.’”
Once Herod knows the answer, he calls for the Magi. He doesn’t want everyone to remember the prophecy so he calls for them secretly.
He tells them what he knows but only after they tell him how long they have been traveling and then he sends them off to Bethlehem.
I imagine the relatively short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem was eye opening. Once they got outside the glow of self importance cast by Jerusalem they encountered once more the Bright Light of God’s star beckoning them to lift up their eyes to what was always right in front of them, to look and see how God’s light was leading them forward.
As they journeyed by camel down that road, leaving the fear and pretension of Jerusalem behind they come upon the humbleness of Bethlehem and they wonder, how can a king be born here? How can God’s Messiah come from a place like this?
But they follow the light and encounter at its resting place the Joy of the world. They see in Mary and the Christ Child, the future God has in store for all people and they paid him homage, offering him gifts, granted they were not child-friendly gifts; they were gifts fit for a king.
In this moment Isaiah’s words were never more true. “Arise, Shine; for your light has come, and the Glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”
That light shines so brightly in them that the Magi see new roads that lead to different lives lived in joy.
But not everyone sees that same light when they hear the good news of this birth. In the text that follows we see the powers of Herod have not waned; we see how his fear and insecurity block the light and end up chasing Jesus and his family from Israel into Egypt.
That same kind of fear and insecurity lives and breathes in us today.
Our minds might be living in Jerusalem as we worry about our jobs, about our homes, about our communities, about how we will get everything done.
Our hearts might be living in the darkness of fear because those we love are ill
or in the shadows of grief because our loves ones or friends have died.
We yearn to follow the Magi out into the world, to search out God’s Gift for our lives but in this world of Google we yearn for more information, for more certainty, for a better idea of what’s in store for us.
There are many things in our lives that keep us from feeling and seeing this Light but Isaiah speaks to us saying, “Lift up your eyes and look around.”
The story of Jesus’ life tells us that fear and insecurity do not win;
Jesus’ life and light beckon us to follow,
beckon us to leave our comfortable places in order that we might find new and joy-filled pathways to God’s peace.
Lift up your eyes and look around…the Glory of God is upon us.
May it fill our hearts and change our lives so that we may be God’s light for others this day.
CHARGE AND BLESSING:
Lift up your eyes and look around…The light of God’s love is already leading us toward the gift of joy. May we be bold enough to follow.
may the grace of JC, the Love of G and the communion of the HS surround you on your journey this day and everyday.
