WEBVTT 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:13.279 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:18.960 Let's pray together. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:24.559 Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.039 From you no secrets are hid. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:39.439 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:40.399 Amen. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:42.079 The Lord be with you. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:44.719 Let us pray. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:53.759 O God, by the leading of a star, you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:06.959 Lead us who know you now by faith to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:07.920 Amen. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:20.959 A reading from Isaiah. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:27.040 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.840 For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.719 But the Lord will rise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:41.519 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:44.079 Lift up your eyes and look around. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:47.120 They all gather together, they come to you. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:53.359 Your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:02:02.400 Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you. 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.359 The wealth of the nation shall come to you. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:07.840 A multitude of camels shall cover you. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:13.039 The young camels of Midian Epitaph, all those from Sheba shall come. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:17.120 They shall bring golden frankincense and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:19.680 Hear what the Spirit is saying to God, to people. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.879 The psalm appointed for today is Psalm 72. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:29.360 We will read responsively by half verse. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.400 Give the king your justice, O God. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:38.479 That he may rule your people righteously. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:44.000 That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.479 And the low people will bring righteousness. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.400 He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:58.879 From one generation to another. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.919 He shall come down like rain upon the moon fill. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:09.039 In this time, in his time shall the righteous flourish. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:18.080 The kings of Tarshus and of the isle shall pay tribute. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:24.719 All kings shall bow down before him. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:26.159 And all nations. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.199 For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:37.360 He shall have piety on the lowly and poor. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.680 He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:17.040 This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:35.600 For surely you have already heard of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:45.680 In former generations, this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:55.680 That is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:04.399 I have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by the working of his power. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:22.240 Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundary riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden of the ages in God who created all things. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:35.360 So that through the church, the wisdom of God, in its rich variety that might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:48.240 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that He has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:50.560 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:57.120 And calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:11.920 They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, and you, Bethlehem, and 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. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:18.079 Then Herod secretly called for the Magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:27.279 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child, and when you found him, bring me word, so that I may also go and pay him homage. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:36.879 When they'd 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. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.199 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:47.519 On entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:59.120 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. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.000 The gospel of the Lord. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:47.200 This uh feast day culminates when the magi show up, and according to most scholars, this doesn't happen uh when the child is just born, but Jesus might have been as old as two. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:49.200 Um, so so we don't know. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:51.039 They're late to arrive. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:52.559 That's important to hear. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:55.279 And uh this starts the season of Epiphany. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:08.960 So normally what happens is we have a high holy season like Christmas or Easter, in which we see the white light, the full light of God, and then we're invited to grow into that light during a green season. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:17.519 Epiphany is going to be green, so is Pentecost, and then we're gonna follow that up with a penitential season because we realize we've still got room to grow. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.000 That's what happens in Lent and in Advent. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:22.320 So that's sort of the church cycle, right? 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:34.000 Epiphany, uh, you know, we use this word a little bit more pedestrianly ever since James Joyce, who said an epiphany is just sort of like an aha moment, right? 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:44.080 But for a long, the longest time, Epiphany was when uh God became manifest in human experience, whether you were Greek or you were Jewish or you were Christian. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:46.960 This isn't like you discovered a new cleaning product. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:53.279 This is like you saw God, and then your life must change. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:10:16.480 We talk about light because the Magi followed this particular star, but I think it's probably helpful to differentiate, to do a little bit of just discussing what light looks like, you know, especially when we think about stars, and that matters a lot here in Houston, not just because of the space program, but also because of the Houston Astros, which after all means stars, right? 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:24.159 Uh we look at outer space and we normally think, oh, like the stars are the things that are light, and the rest of outer space is dark. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.320 And of course, that's completely wrong. 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:30.559 Outer space, what appears black to our eye, is full of light. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.600 It just happens to be invisible to our retina. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:35.840 Um read this book. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:48.799 It's a fine book if you have an all the light we do not see, that um sort of makes the science very palatable, that uh light occupies this much of a spectrum and our eyes can only perceive that much of it. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:58.720 So consider that microwaves are invisible to your eye, but that box in your kitchen is full of light even when the bulb's not on. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:14.879 So an epiphany, I would suggest to you, is not necessarily that the light has just shown up, it might be that we start to visualize what's always been there. 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.200 Just to say that again. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:29.840 It may not be the light bulb turned on, it may be that we discovered the light that was always there and we were able to visualize it. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:44.080 And of course, when you think about our trajectory as people of faith who are supposed to be disciples, part of discipleship is making visible the light of God in our lives that folks otherwise might not perceive. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:46.559 Epiphany is about this. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:53.919 These moments of, aha, aha, I've discovered light that was always there, and how can I make it visible? 00:11:54.080 --> 00:12:00.240 So I'm going to talk about these characters a little bit, and I also want to talk about their star, because you know we don't get to do this a lot. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:10.320 A lot of times when we think about what's happening in this particular story and these people following a star, we kind of imagine one that looks like this. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.519 And you can see this one up here that's on top of the angel. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.639 By the way, nothing wrong with this set, it's really lovely to behold. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:21.120 Um, this is the kind of star most of us like to draw because it's easy. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:30.159 And of course, most folks know that uh when you see a six-pointed star, that's got kind of a little bit of tragic history, right? 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:31.440 But this is the star of David. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.200 Now nobody knows exactly why. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.919 It's just been identified with David for a long time. 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:38.320 It's on the flag of the nation of Israel, right? 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:44.879 And of course, Jewish folks were made to wear this during pogroms, most recently during the Holocaust. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:54.799 Um, but not everybody realizes that there's an ancient tradition that the star looked nothing like the ones I've just shown you, but rather that the star the Magi followed looked like that. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.200 If you've been to Catholic Church, you've probably seen it. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:04.000 Of course, it's the combination of two Greek letters, the chi and the ro. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:09.200 Now, look, there's a popular bumper sticker out there called Keep Christ in Christmas. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:19.519 And I think this bumper sticker came about because people were writing Xmas, but I want you to hear this means Christ. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:21.279 So he didn't go anywhere. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:30.480 EXMUS is the same as Christmas because it's the Greek letter chi which makes the sound ha, and then you've got the ro which makes the ra sound. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.519 So these are the first two letters of Christ. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:36.240 You put them together and you get that. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:37.519 It's called the chi ro. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:49.840 If you know anything about your church history, this was the symbol that the Emperor Constantine saw in a vision before the Battle of the Milven Bridge in 312 that said, in this sign you will conquer. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.919 And on the eve of that battle, Constantine painted this symbol on the shields of all of his soldiers. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:56.639 What do you know? 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:05.279 They won the battle, and Constantine legalized the Christian religion in the Roman Empire, which prior to that battle had been illegal. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.919 It wasn't the official religion under Constantine, it was legalized. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:17.519 And Constantine produced uh the Nicene Creed, uh, not quite like we say it today, but he did that in 323. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:21.679 So this symbol goes back to the Magi. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:24.799 You've probably heard a bit about magi. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:34.000 Normally what we say is there's three kings, or we call them wise men, and uh if you've been to Cologne in Germany, you can visit their tombs. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:43.200 There's a kind of a whole story that gets built up around these guys called Melchiar, Caspar, and Belshazzar. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.639 And again, their bodies are in the Cologne Cathedral if you follow that strand. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:54.879 They were rich, they were rulers, they were wise men. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.000 But the text doesn't say that at all. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.080 And this is what's really important to hear. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.720 That could be true, and there's nothing wrong with it. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:07.679 It's just that there's room for some other ways of hearing the story. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:12.320 And uh you've heard many of this, much of this before, if you've been here before, and that's fine. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:14.320 So uh it's good to hear it again. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:22.399 Uh the text does not say wise men or kings, nor does it say that they're masculine, nor does it say uh that there's three of them. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:23.519 It says magi. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.960 By the way, this story doesn't show up in Mark, Luke, or John. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:28.559 It's just in Matthew. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:32.320 And the word magi, you might be thinking, oh, that's like magistrate. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.000 No, it's like magician. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:37.360 Don't think David Copperfield magician. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:43.039 Think astrology, think wizard, think hogwarts. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:47.120 Some wizards show up. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.120 Now, this is bizarre, isn't it? 00:15:49.360 --> 00:16:01.679 And it's helpful to know that Matthew, unlike the other gospelers, is writing to a predominantly Jewish congregation, a Jewish audience, and he writes that these wizards show up from a long way away. 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:02.720 Wizards. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:11.360 Most scholars would tell you these wizards are probably Zoroastrian priests who practice astrology, so they're following this star. 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:15.679 There could have been two, it's plural, right? 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:16.960 So there's at least two. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.720 We don't know how many there are. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.480 There could have been women. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:29.279 They might have worn curly-toed shoes and turbans and other things that our folks up here aren't wearing. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.200 I mean, let's just be clear about this. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.399 Uh, we don't know that they had any crowns. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:36.799 They show that bearing gifts. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:47.679 And by the way, why these folks are interested in making a thousand-plus mile journey to see the king of the Jews, we're not quite sure because there's no evidence that they converted. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.799 They went home and did whatever they did. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.360 That's apparently what happened. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:55.759 I just want to be really clear. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:09.039 Whatever wizardry they were practicing, whether that was Zoroastrianism or Hinduism, fill in the blank, they came and then they went back to where they'd come from. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.480 They bring these gifts that we've interpreted symbolically. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:15.039 Mr. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:20.319 is what you get buried with, and frankincense is what you use in incense. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:26.000 So this is proclaiming that Christ is a priest and that he's going to die, and then gold is a gift you give the king. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.759 You've probably heard this before. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:38.160 Nothing wrong with that interpretation, but he would like you to know what these things are and what they do, so you can have a different possibility. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:43.519 You know, we now carry cash, well, most of us don't even carry cash anymore, if we're honest, because you don't need it. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:47.359 You can use your charge card or you can even use PayPal at a terminal. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:51.200 So think about the good old days when we carried cash or we carried checks. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:58.640 And of course, you have to remember that gold coins were the equivalent of cash in the ancient world when they didn't use paper money. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:01.839 How much gold did they give the Christ child? 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.240 Not enough to pay for his burial. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.000 Joseph of Aerith Matthew had to give him a loan or two. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:14.559 So please don't think that the baby Jesus comes away with like gold bars in this encounter. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:18.720 When you hear they gave gold, it's possible they gave a great sum. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.359 It's also possible they gave him$20. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:27.119 When I was growing up, my aunt gave me$20 on my birthday. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:28.880 I don't know if that was normal for you. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:36.000 It was extravagant as a kid at the time, a$20 bill, because we just didn't get stuff like that. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:38.720 That would have been a small gold coin. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.000 Keep that in mind. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:47.839 But it's within the realm of possibility that they gave what was in their wallet, not some gold brick. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:51.119 Here's some myrrh. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:54.640 You know, myrrh and frankincense, they're both resins. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:59.359 That is, they're tree sap that has come outside and hardened up. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:02.960 Turns out myrrh is a little harder than frankincense. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.559 Like if you tried to chew this, it would be crunchy. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:14.799 It is true that myrrh has a little bit of a bitter smell and that folks do use it when they embalm bodies. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:22.880 But it's also true up until this day that myrrh is considered to be antimicrobial and antibacterial. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:37.599 And folks who live in places like Oman, Iran, Iraq, like where the magi would have come from, they take this and they put it in hot water and they make tea out of it and they drink it to up their immune system. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:38.640 It apparently works. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:42.720 By the way, do not try this with essential oil because it will make you terribly sick. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:44.079 It's way too strong. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:46.559 You've got to use like this stuff. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:20:05.680 I don't know if you've ever taught before, but having talked before, a lot of times you get the flu season, and we use this other thing called emergency or like zip fizz, which are like these little tablets of vitamin C and niacin and magnesium that you put in water, supposed to boost your immune system, and you drink that. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.720 By the way, people travel with stuff like that. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.839 It's possible that the magi were honoring his death. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:21.519 It's also possible they were giving him a vitamin C supplement that they would have had anyway in their travel bag. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:26.480 Frankincense is another resin. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:27.759 It's more like a gum. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:28.799 You can chew it. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:29.359 You can. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.480 It won't like hurt you. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:31.440 It's not poisonous. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:33.759 It tastes like it smells, which is pretty sweet. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:44.799 Now, it is true that frankincense has been used, just like myrrh and a couple other things, like nard, which shows up in our New Testament, and cinnamon to make an aromatic incense. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:45.839 That's true. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:54.160 Turns out though that frankincense does something else, and I didn't see it until I went to the land of the Magi about five years ago myself. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.880 It is used as perfume. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:59.599 So this is kind of a crude example. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:03.839 I didn't want to set the smoke alarm off, so I didn't put a hot coal in. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:05.039 This one's electric. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:30.160 But what I noticed when I went to Dubai for the very first time is that there were these little things all over the place that either had coal, or like I said, this one's electric, and you just take one of these little pieces of frankincense, or maybe you blend it with myrrh or cinnamon, and you put it here in this sort of heating element, and of course, what it does is it starts to relax the gum back into sap, and then it's aromatic. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:43.279 It's not just doing like what a glade house plug-in would do, it's actually used like perfume before there was an eau de toilette spray. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:54.880 So, what you will see people do today is stand over the thing and perfume their clothes with the smoke. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:59.119 You gotta remember that the ancient world smelled pretty bad. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.519 Flushing toilets. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:04.000 People used the street. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:07.359 And there weren't a lot of synthetic smells. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:09.279 So this stuff was really expensive. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:17.039 When you live in the middle of the desert and they don't even have trees, you've got to go somewhere they got trees that have aromatic sap, and then you've got to bring it back. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:18.319 That's a long journey. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:26.319 And then you've got to convert it into smoke, which is kind of inefficient, and waft it on you, or else you could distill it. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:36.079 Like I say, they could have been honoring him with incense, or they could have been sharing deodorant. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:48.160 I want to hold both of them out because so often we think of these magi as being kings and wise, which means we can never be those things. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:53.519 We think of their gifts as being something extremely extravagant, only fit for a king. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:57.039 But I want to suggest to you that there's another possibility in the story. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:58.480 They gave what they had. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:04.319 They didn't go looking for stuff they didn't have, they gave what they had. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:12.880 By the way, surely, surely, God wants you to share what you have, not lament what you don't have. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.240 There's another amazing part about this story. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.480 Like I said, the magi didn't go back converted. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:27.599 It's just, think how bizarre this would be. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.799 I might, but it's not intentional. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:41.440 But just sort of imagine this would be like a Christian person really interested in the next embodiment of the Dalai Lama. 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:45.039 Curious. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:51.839 And paying the child, the new Dalai Lama, homage, and then just going back to church. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:58.640 Or going to the annual pilgrimage in Mecca called the Hajj. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.519 And then just going back to church at the end. 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:06.880 You may say, well, what's the point of that? 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:12.799 Well, I think there's an epiphany in the story about who God cares about, to be honest with you. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:15.920 God doesn't just care about Christian folk or Jewish folk. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:19.839 God cares about magi who have curly-toed shoes. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:24.640 God cares about magi who don't necessarily share extravagant gifts. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:26.799 What they offer is what they got. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.039 God cares about people that don't convert. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.400 That's the story we get from Paul. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:36.559 This is the mystery, he says. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:42.640 The mystery of God is that God's including Gentiles, people you think don't fit in. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:44.640 That's mysterious. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.359 And that's the story Paul gives us. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.839 The goal of this epiphany is that the Lord will rise above us, that God will be our light source. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.519 The truth is, it's not like God's waiting to turn the light on. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.759 We're just waiting until we can see it. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:07.119 And the epiphany reminds us we don't have to wait. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.039 We don't have to wait. 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:20.000 So often what we say is, I'll believe it when I see it, and what we forget is we only see what we already believe unless we're jarred into it. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:25.839 Now, I've got to tell you, this is one of the better trips I've taken in my life. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:34.160 When I went to Iran in 2016 on a lark, I'd seen a video about Rick Steves doing it. 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:36.160 You know, Rick Steves, the travel guy of Europe. 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:38.240 He says Iran's his favorite country in the world. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:45.279 And I knew at the time I'd better go now, or it's going to be a long time because the way politics were going, it was going to be really tough to visit the country, you know? 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:46.799 And so I went. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:48.559 And there were some interesting things. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.720 Like everybody in the streets got one of these. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:52.240 I don't know if you've seen them before. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.200 This is where we got the idea from the rosary in the Christian church. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:26:07.599 We got from the Crusades, because Muslim people do this to count either the 99 names of Allah, or they do it as a way of cycling through prayers of like petition and celebration and thanksgiving. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.000 These are prayer beads. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:12.400 The rosary came from these. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:16.160 Because Christian people saw that's a valuable practice. 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:17.200 I wish I had it. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.960 So I'm on the bus and everybody's got these sorts of things. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:29.440 And unlike the publicity you hear, and I don't want to be silly, but I do want to say there's always a difference between national press and your private experience. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:35.200 When people found out I was American, they wanted to take their picture with me, because Americans don't go to Iran. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:36.720 Like in a good way. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:43.519 And of all the countries I've been to in the Middle East, if I were a woman, I'd feel most comfortable going to Iran. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:45.599 Because no one will touch you there. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:49.359 These were surprises for me, by the way. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:50.880 These were surprises. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:59.200 The end of my journey, I went to a store that was across from the hotel I was going to stay at. 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:02.559 And I had a lovely experience with the salesperson. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:09.680 Because if you've been to the Middle East particularly, sales is a conversation more than it is anything else. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:15.680 There's gifts of like tea and there's food, and you chat it up, and a sale may or may not happen. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:20.079 And you know, as an American, I always feel bad wasting somebody's time if I don't buy stuff. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:22.400 That's just what they enjoy, you know. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:26.640 So I was talking to the seller who had the strangest accent I had ever heard. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.839 He'd spent some time at Oxford and he'd gone to India some. 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:32.799 His accent was incredible. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:36.480 And I told him I was a priest, and he said that had to be really, really hard. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:48.319 And not you know how this came about, but he decided to show me that he and some of his friends had gone to Dubai, and in Dubai, what a lot of Iranian folks do is uh something against the law. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:49.759 They choose to drink alcohol. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:54.880 So he's showing these pictures about he was like a normal person because Americans drink alcohol. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:57.839 This was the perception in an Iran, you cannot do that. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:06.160 Uh he went on to tell me, uh, and I didn't know why, maybe the risk was pretty low, um, about a carpet that I bought. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:17.839 And then he went on to tell me about how he was gay and that he could be killed for that in his country, and he couldn't really tell anybody, including his parents, about that. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:28.880 And so there was this interesting moment where this magi chose to share the treasure of his heart with somebody he'd never met before. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:32.400 And it was an epiphany to me. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:37.519 I don't know what I did to earn his story. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:42.799 It could just be I was different, and therefore what did he have to lose? 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:47.519 It could be he thought I demonstrated a willingness to listen and talk to him. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:48.880 I don't know. 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:54.319 It's not like a light turned on. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.640 Exactly. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:06.799 It's that I saw for a moment that there was this incredible opportunity to show up in lives of people I didn't think would want to share stuff like that. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:17.519 People like fundamentalist Christians in my life, because you know, like I've been there, done that, and yet I know some of these folks. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:20.559 And they share the gifts from their treasure chests. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:24.240 They're not frankincense and myrrh and gold necessarily. 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:28.480 They might be stories of pain or growth or fear. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:37.200 And by showing up and receiving them, don't you see, we're able to make the light of God visible in most people's lives, whether they convert or not. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:45.920 This is not about converting somebody to a proposition, it's about making God visible in what we do. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:54.480 Now I'm gonna tell you. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:57.920 I'm never gonna convert to Islam. 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.279 It's not my story. 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:00.960 It's not my story. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:08.559 But seeing people do this on a bus instead of looking at their smartphones, I thought, man, we could use that. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:10.160 I hope you don't mind me saying that. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:12.319 By the way, I look at my smartphone a lot. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:15.920 I kind of wish I carried these instead. 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:17.359 I mean it. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:22.640 Look, I know I could set my alarm and pray five times a day. 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:34.960 I know I could do that, but I gotta tell you I admire when people do that and they leave a meal to go pray and they come back, or they leave an argument to go pray and they come back, and the way they come back is different. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:39.359 I know I could do that, it's just that I'm not doing that. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.480 And it's beautiful, it's beautiful. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:31:02.880 We have these opportunities when we look at folks who dress different and talk different and pray differently from us to say it's different and it's wrong, or we can say, God, I don't know where you got all those ideas for creativity and diversity, and thank you for them. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:09.440 I'm not talking about appropriating people's stuff, I'm talking about respecting it. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:27.039 So I'm hoping that this epiphany season that we start to see the light of God that's already been enshrouding us since before we were born, that we start to see it more and more, and we start to help other people see it by the way we live our lives. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:29.920 That'd be a real epiphany. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:35.359 You know why most people don't go to church in the United States for the top reasons? 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:46.799 They say it's because Christians are homophobic, number one, hypocritical, number two, judgmental, number three. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:49.359 By the way, all of those are the same thing. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:53.599 All come from the same thing. 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:04.400 Instead of saying there's only the stars in the sky that are what we believe, there's this opportunity to say, man, the universe is teeming with God's light. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:12.079 And I want to open my eyes even wider to see it, and I want to open my life even wider to shine it. 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:19.680 I think if we could do that sort of business, we might be the new magi in the story. 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:21.920 Or we might learn from them. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:29.839 Now, uh, in order to avoid having the final word, I do want to share with you a poem that I encountered this week. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:39.680 It just follows the theme that, hey, we don't quite know the station of these folk, or even their gender, and I don't know what it'll do for you. 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:42.480 Um, but I thought it was at least touching to read. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:44.720 This is a poem by Jan Richardson. 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:47.440 It's called Wise Women Also Came. 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:50.640 Wise Women also Came. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:56.160 The fire burned in their wombs long before they saw the flaming star in the sky. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:01.200 They walked in shadows, trusting the path would open under the light of the moon. 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:06.960 Wise women also came, seeking no directions, no permission from any king. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:11.440 They came by their own authority, their own desire, their own longing. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:21.920 They came in quiet, spreading no rumors, sparking no fears to lead to innocent's slaughter, to their sister Rachel's inconsolable lamentations. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:26.799 Wise women also came, and they brought useful gifts. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:33.839 Water for labor's washing, fire for warm illumination, a blanket for swaddling. 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:43.920 Wise women also came, at least three of them, holding Mary in the labor, crying out with her in the birth pangs, breathing ancient blessings into her ear. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:51.039 Wise women also came and they went, as wise women always do, home in a different way. 00:33:52.079 --> 00:34:05.680 I pray that we will go home in a different way, week, week after week, and not only have an epiphany, but let it be one for a world that could use a whole lot more visible light. 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:18.079 Please join me as we pray our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. 00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:20.719 We believe in one God. 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:27.039 And of all that is seen and unseen. 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:30.400 We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:31.920 We only are God. 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:48.639 Eternity, I think we change, truly, change, each, too, Jesus change, trust our change, you can change. 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:56.239 He wants to be changed. 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:01.039 He's a change. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:16.960 He will come to the world to church with you, and the kingdom of the name. 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:23.920 You believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord in your life, you receive the Father and Son. 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:29.679 He has something for us. 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:33.760 We believe in the Holy Hand as a church. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:41.840 We have sense to be able to resurrect the day and the life of the world to come. 00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:43.199 Amen. 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:04.320 Your spirit lives in us, lives in us, and we in your spirit. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:08.400 Hear us, for it is your spirit who speaks through us as we pray. 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:13.039 Gracious God, you created the heavens and the earth. 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:16.719 Bless the produce of our land and the works of our hands. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:21.280 Gracious God, you created us in your own image. 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:23.920 Teach us to honor all of your children. 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:32.320 Grant good grains for our crops. 00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:36.880 Gracious God, you inspired the prophets of old. 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:40.960 Grant that your church may faithfully proclaim your truth to the world. 00:36:42.800 --> 00:36:45.360 Gracious God, you sent your Son into the world. 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:48.480 Reveal him to others through his life in us. 00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:54.320 Lord Jesus, you sent your apostles to make disciples of all nations. 00:36:54.559 --> 00:37:01.360 Bless the clergy and the laity of our diocese and the church, together with Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kay. 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:09.039 Our bishops in the Diocesan Circle of Prayer, Church of the Cross, Lake Travis, Epiphany Burnett, and Good Shepherd Austin. 00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:13.840 Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Michael, our presiding bishop. 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:19.920 Lord Jesus, for your sake, men and women forsook all and followed you. 00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:25.039 Call many to serve you in religious communities and in the ordained ministry of your church. 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:33.440 Lord Jesus, you called your disciples to take up the cross, deepen in each of us a sense of vocation. 00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:40.320 You prayed for your church to be one, unite all Christians that the world may believe. 00:37:42.159 --> 00:37:46.960 You forgave the thief on the cross to bring us all to penitence and reconciliation. 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:53.840 You broke down the walls that divide us, bring the people of this world to live in peace and concord. 00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:59.840 You taught us through Paul your apostle to pray for kings and rulers. 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.400 Bless and guide all in authority. 00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:06.960 You were rich, yet for our sake became poor. 00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:11.280 Move those who have wealth to share generously with those who are poor. 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:17.119 You sat amongst the learned, listening and asking them questions. 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:20.400 Inspire all who teach and all who learn. 00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:27.760 You cured by your healing touch and word, heal the sick and bless those who minister to them. 00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:37.440 You were unjustly condemned by Pontius Pilate, strengthen our brothers and sisters who are unjustly suffering violence and persecution. 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:44.000 You lived as an exile in Egypt, protect and comfort all refugees. 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.719 You knew the love and care of an earthly home. 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:53.440 May your presence and protection be made known to migrant workers and their families. 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:57.440 You open and none can shut. 00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:02.320 Open the gates of your kingdom to those who have died without hearing your gospel. 00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:08.239 You have been glorified in the lives of innumerable saints, especially St. 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:09.039 Thomas. 00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:11.760 Give us strength to follow in their footsteps. 00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:18.719 Holy Spirit, you help us in our weakness and intercede for us when we cannot. 00:39:18.960 --> 00:39:32.000 Remember our petitions and thanksgivings before God, especially Chris, Sean, Ken, Nancy, and Amber, and enhance our vision to see your presence in them. 00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:40.239 The congregation is invited to name their own celebration or petitions, silently or aloud. 00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:53.199 In your infinite compassion, compassionate God, make your healing and peaceful presence known to the world. 00:39:53.440 --> 00:40:02.480 Comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life. 00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:09.519 Father, we know that you are good and that you hear all those who call upon you. 00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:22.400