Ephesians 3.1-12, Matthew 2.1-12
The Epiphany, 8 January 2023, Austwick, Keasden
Of all the strangeness in the Christmas story, maybe the oddest part is Matthew's tale of these Magi, wise men from the East seeking a child born king of the Jews, whose star they had observed at its rising, and who journeyed to pay him homage, carrying significant gifts.
It's a mysterious story: Matthew shares so very little about these travellers, their home, their background, the details of their journey.
And it’s a strange story because it leaves us guessing at the Magi's motivation: what impulse drove them to leave behind all they knew to undergo such an uncomfortable expedition towards such an uncertain outcome?
T.S. Eliot's famous poem, The Journey of the Magi, relates the difficulties they likely encountered along the way, as we hear the Magi describe:
… the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly. [1]
Were they fools, these Magi, going out of their way to bring gifts to one who they’d thought to be a king, but who, when they found him among the beasts, must have looked like quite the opposite?
Might they have felt foolish about having entered Herod's palace naively, seeking assistance and direction for their journey, only to come up against the king's fearful cynicism and become entangled in his web of manipulation and retribution?
If their holy expedition looks foolish from a rational or a pragmatic point of view, than it stands among the best religious traditions. For as we know, there is good biblical authority for becoming a 'fool for Christ'.
Fools for Christ are those who reject worldly cares, social conventions, and a quest for power and gains, to imitate Christ, who himself promoted an other-worldly set of values on this earth, and for it, endured mockery from the crowd and humiliation and censure from those whose worldly powers he challenged. [2]
St Paul coined the phrase when he told the Corinthian believers that 'We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we are despised.' But in calling himself a fool for Christ he knows he is describing a strength, not a weakness, for he is convicted that 'The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.' [3]
Far from being feebleminded, as they may appear to others, a holy fool is firm in faith; far from being mad, as others may see them, a holy fool's rejection of a broken society's norms, their protest, in reaction to intolerable social conditions, may prove them to be the truly sane ones. [4]
The Magi may have looked foolish to Herod’s courtiers as they may look foolish to agnostics today; but for us they model a compelling attitude to life which elevates hope over hatred, generosity over mean-spiritedness, gratitude over grasping.
The Magi went out of their way to bring their gifts to Bethlehem, to reciprocate God's gift to them in the form of the child they paid homage to.
Now, if they were fools for doing this, then does that also make us fools, as we frequently go out of our way to bring our gifts to our Lord, in thanksgiving for all he gives to us - whether our gifts of time, or care, or money; whether our gifts of art or craft or love? Well, if we think ourselves foolish in this way, then that is the way of the Magi and of St Paul; that is something to celebrate.
Today is a good day to celebrate those who in the past have responded to God’s generosity by giving their gifts in homage to him.
Here in Austwick [5] we are grateful to the Inglebys who gifted this church to the community, and later extended it; we are awed by the craftsmanship of those who created the gorgeous stained glass windows variously given by parishioners over the years; for those who skilfully worked the wood for the altar from oak trees growing in Lawkland Wood, and those whose wonderful embroidery gives us those hangings which adorn our space for worship, at the altar, pulpit, and lectern, and the kneelers which decorate our pews whilst also celebrating our lives. We are grateful for the gift of an organ for our praise, and a kitchen for our fellowship - and that last one is of course a gift which many of you here today have contributed towards giving.
Today is also a good day to express thanks to one another for the sharing of our gifts which each help generate goodwill and companionship in our church and community right now.
Today, permit yourself to relish the joy, satisfaction and fulfilment you find in giving of yourself to others for God's sake: when that friendly word you share with another is received with thankfulness, or that card you've kindly sent; when people stop to admire that display of flowers which you've toiled at for hours; when people enjoy the baking you've donated to a function, or the reading you've caringly given, or the performance of the choir you're in; when you realise how your hard work raising support for a charity has made a real difference to others in need; and how your parish giving helps ensure that the church has not only an active present, but a healthy future.
The world - often in the form of doom-laden newspaper reports - will tell us that the Church is on its way out. But we are foolish enough to keep coming anyway.
Because we come in hope, bearing our gifts of time and care and prayer; we come trusting that God has a future; and however foolish this may sound to a cynical watching world, our paying homage today affirms that indeed, God holds the future in his hands. Which is good news for those people who would rather not watch on cynically, but rather journey on hopefully together through this life.
Notes
This sermon was preached at the dedication festival of The Church of the Epiphany, Austwick, and at the first service of the New Year at St Matthew’s Keasden, at the beginning of its 150th anniversary year celebrations.
[1] T.S. Eliot, The Journey of the Magi, 1927. From Collected Poems 1909-1962.
[2] Wikipedia: Foolishness for Christ.
[3] 1 Corinthians 4.10, 1 Corinthians 3.19.
[4] Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution. p.212.
[5] Alternative paragraph: Here in Keasden we are grateful to James Farrer, Lord of the Manor of Clapham who 150 years ago gifted this piece of land, and paid for the building of St Matthew’s on it, so that Keasden residents could worship nearby rather than travel distances. We are awed by the craftsmanship of those who created the stained glass windows and murals; those who skilfully worked the wood for the altar and pulpit; those whose wonderful embroidery gives us the hangings which adorn our space for worship, at the altar, pulpit, and lectern. We are grateful for the gift of an organ for our praise, and to all whose gifts of time and skills and financial giving have sustained and grown the life of this little moorland church to this day.
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