The Search for Jesus

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen & Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City NJ

The Feast of the Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

The Search for Jesus

            Today is the Feast of the Epiphany.

And, although it feels like we just “greened” the church, Epiphany means that we’ve now reached the end of the Christmas season.

And, it was certainly a beautiful Christmas season here, wasn’t it? There were lots of people here in our church – a church that I don’t think has ever looked better - here for services that were filled with glorious music - here for Christmas joy and Christmas light.

And then…it was over.

And, the weeks after Christmas and New Year’s are always strange times, right?

I know that I’m usually pretty well knocked out and I bet many of you - especially those of you who are parents - are beyond tired.

And, maybe because this year both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fell on Tuesdays, I had a hard time keeping straight which day of the week it was – and judging by the poor attendance at our weekday services, maybe other people had the same problem, too!

So, yes, it was a special Christmas but, to be honest, the days since have been kind of weird, sort of a let-down, and I found myself feeling a little worn out and maybe even a little sad.

And, this past Thursday night, all I really wanted to do was hang out at home on the couch, probably falling asleep a few minutes into some TV show.

But, I couldn’t do that because I had volunteered for a special assignment.

As most of you know, our friends from Family Promise found themselves in a bind last week because there was no congregation available or willing to host the homeless families.

The solution they came up with was to keep the families at the day center and recruit volunteers from other congregations to offer hospitality – and, of course, to stay overnight.

Since I’ve been talking nearly nonstop about Family Promise for the past couple of months, I felt I had to do something, so I volunteered to stay over Thursday night.

Feeling tired and maybe just a little bit irritated and even, I hate to say it, a little resentful, I left the house on Thursday evening – out into the cold, dark night, carrying my sleeping bag and pillow that I knew I’d soon be placing on an air mattress and then trying to get a halfway-decent night’s sleep.

I arrived at the day center, descended the short flight of stairs, rang the bell, and a volunteer answered the door.

And, standing behind her was one of the little kids who had stayed with us here, and when she saw me her eyes and her smile widened, and she cried out, “I remember you!”

Merry Christmas.

Well, in today’s gospel lesson, we reach the end of the Christmas story.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that after Jesus was born wise men from the East – probably best described as astronomer-astrologers or, maybe even better, wizards – they go to the capital city of Jerusalem looking for the newborn king of the Jews.

The word about these visitors and their search gets back to the man who was the king – Herod the Great, who, no surprise, is extremely interested in this news.

Like many rulers past and present, Herod was ruthless - but he was also insecure (a dangerous combination, right?).

He was insecure because many Jews saw him as an illegitimate king – his Jewishness was questionable and everyone knew he ruled at the pleasure of the Romans.

He’s sometimes described as a Roman “puppet” king.

Anyway, even a popular and secure king would be at least a little concerned to hear news of the new king’s birth, but Herod was not popular nor secure so he immediately hatches a plot: he sends the wise men to Bethlehem to find the newborn king and then report back so Herod could also “pay him homage.”

The wise men follow the star and find the child and his mother, and present their famous gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh – really not such great gifts for a baby but appropriate for a king, for a god, and for one who was going to die for his people.

We’re told that thanks to a dream, the wise men outfox Herod by taking a different way home.

Today’s lesson cuts off there but you should know what happens next.

A furious Herod is even more determined to kill this newborn king and so he orders the death of the innocent children of Bethlehem.

But, before that happened, Joseph was tipped off in a dream and takes Mary and the child to Egypt – they become refugees, just like so many desperate people before and since, hoping for safety for themselves and their child.

For obvious reasons, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents and the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt never make into the Christmas Pageant, but these are important parts of the story – always important, but maybe especially these days.

The Epiphany story – the story of the wise men - has been traditionally interpreted as a sign that Jesus is for absolutely everybody, even some mysterious wizards from the East.

And, that is most definitely true.

But, as I listen to the story today I’m struck by how it’s also about a search for Jesus.

Herod is searching for Jesus because he’s insecure, threatened, and hateful – but, he’s a special case.

But the wise men are also searching for Jesus – have traveled such a long way – and they even practice a little civil disobedience by frustrating Herod – the wise men are searching for Jesus because they have some sense that Jesus is worth finding – that he has something special and valuable: a grace worth far more than gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And, it’s that search that really speaks to me today.

Because today, just like the wise men long ago, in an often frightening and cruel world, and maybe without even realizing it, people are searching for Jesus.

That’s one of the reasons so many people came here over the holiday and it may very well be why we first walked through those doors and why we keep coming back – searching for Jesus.

And, I know Jesus is here – here in the word and the bread and the wine – here in our community.

 I know that Jesus is here, because I find him here all the time, and I sure hope you find him here, too.

But, a funny thing about Jesus is that we tend to find him most easily and most clearly when we’re not consciously looking.

We tend to find Jesus where we’d least expect.

It’s no surprise that the wise men first went to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king. Of Course! Obvious choice! After all, Jerusalem was the capital city – it was where the king should be most easily, most obviously found.

But, instead, in the capital they only found horrible Herod – and their search for Jesus took them to a small, out of the way town, their search took them to a couple of nobodies who had brought this extraordinary new life into the world.

And, sure enough, today we’re likely to find Jesus among the people huddling to keep warm on the steps of Old Bergen Church or looking for a meal at the homeless drop-in center.

We’re likely to find Jesus with the people frightened for their kids every minute they’re out of sight and the people staring at the stack of bills and wondering how on earth they will all get paid.

We’re likely to find Jesus among refugees leaving everything behind and with people in hospitals and nursing homes who feel like they also have left everything behind.

And, even if we’re not searching for Jesus, even if we don’t even particularly feel like searching for Jesus, we’re sure to find him on a dark and cold winter night, behind an open door at Family Promise, in the wide eyes and smile of a little girl, crying out:

“I remember you!”

Happy Epiphany.

Amen.