CHRISTMAS FOR ADULTS

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON JANUARY 7, 2007

 

Matthew 2:2 "Where is He who has been born king of the Jews?

 

There was a great disappointment in the parish this week! As we prepared to make ready for the Epiphany crèche the realization dawned that we had no camels.  How could the wise men arrive without camels? And if we had camels would they have one hump or two humps?  

 

I have seen many Epiphany crèches in my life.  I particularly remember the one when I was attending church as a young man over thirty years ago: St. Paul's, Port Adelaide. It had a wonderful Epiphany crèche. Mary and the baby Jesus and the manger were taken away and in their place was a figure of Mary seated with the child Jesus on her lap. The wise men were all of different ethnic origin.  There was the black king, an Arab, plus a Chinaman. The Epiphany crèche was quite special, and really added something different to Christmas. 

 

Legend has it that the wise men came from Persia which is modern day Iran.  Today many Episcopal preachers are having a field day that the wise men came from Iran, and delivering an anti-war or a pro-immigration sermon! 

 

So here we are Epiphany - celebrated today with the arrival of the kings at the crèche.  In keeping with the tradition of this festival, on Tuesday we will celebrate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and next Sunday the gospel will be the wedding at Cana in Galilee, when Jesus turned the water into wine.

 

These three events - the wise men, the baptism of our Lord, and his first miracle - are all integral parts of the feast known as the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.  The manifestation of Christ is not just the wise men, representing the Gentile world. It's also Christ being revealed at his baptism as the only son of God, and finally revealing himself in his first miracle, when he turned the water into wine. St. John says: "This was the first of his signs."  The three are all part of the feast of the Epiphany, and we celebrate them all as the week unfolds. 

 

It is also the conclusion of the Christmas season. 12th night - the day when Christmas cards get consigned to recycling, the trees are taken down and the decorations disappear. 

 

It was not always so. In the old liturgy and prayer book Christmas crèches stayed in the church until February 2, the feast of the Purification. From Christmas Day to February 2nd is exactly 40 days.  So the Christmas season lasted for 40 days, like the season of Lent and like the old Eastertide which went from Easter Day to Ascension Day.  This observance is no longer customary and tomorrow the green will replace the white, and Epiphany will soon be left behind.

 

But this is only for church people!  For anyone else, Christmas actually finished on December 26th.  The rest of the world was puzzled that we still have decorations and a Christmas crèche.  People might know that cards and trees came down yesterday - but there is no understanding that after Christmas day Christians are still worshipping the Christ-child for 12 more days.  In his first address to the world the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, pointed out that this problem is almost a battle between the Christian Christmas and the secular consumer Christmas.  I am grateful for him bringing that to the world's attention.

 

As I was reflecting on this, I was thinking that good generals know when it's time to give up an impossible defense, when it is time to try a different tactic, to seek a more secure position.  I suggest it is time for us to give up Christmas completely! Christmas as it is now celebrated is overrun by the combined forces of sentimentality, folk religion, bad taste, lots of buying and selling, lots of eating and drinking, and children.

 

I'm not denying that children are the center of Christmas day celebrations if they are part of our family. But the liturgical experts who love novelty have made sure that children are present in Christmas services to a high degree.  For instance: pajama services on Christmas Eve, where the feature is that Santa Claus is coming to town, and the lovely walls of the church adorned with the scrawling and scribbling of children.  So let's leave Christmas to Wal-Mart and Rite Aid and Vons! Let's move our celebration to Epiphany. 

 

Think of the advantages:

+ the sales are over now, so there is no pressure to buy anything.

+ there is no tradition of over eating and drinking.

+ no traveling by car or plane, the airports will be free this evening.

 

Very few people have heard of Epiphany let alone visited it.  We can keep our Christmas today undisturbed and unthreatened.  And although the baby Jesus is still at the center of our Christmas today, and we have the star - there is depth of theology today that is missing from the baby in the manger.  There is a real mystery about this day in the right sense of the word.  Today is Christmas day for adults.  People who want to think.

 

There are special traditions for the Epiphany that we celebrate here.

 

Firstly, the blessing of chalk and the chalking of the names of the wise men on the homes of Christians. 

 

Secondly, the procession of the wise men to the crèche - though I'm sorry we don't have camels!

 

In Spain they do have camels. Also hens, rabbits, ducks and pigs - often the whole village - in enormous crèches. And they have the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker - and in Italy as well as Spain, a wine press.   In France they have the priest complete with cassock, biretta and, for some reason, an umbrella.   I have seen some of those and it takes twelve days to erect them. 

 

It is good to see these because those sorts of crèches take Jesus away from the manger and place him in the middle of life. And not just in the middle of life - but in the middle of life's questions.  For Epiphany is about questions, the questions of life.  In the three wise men we see earthly wisdom and philosophy kneeling before heaven's wisdom. 

 

They brought gifts of gold incense and myrrh.  Not the sort of gifts you wrap in Christmas stockings, and not for a child. Gifts for a king, for a priest, for a prophet, for the Lamb of God.  Their concerns - these men of earthly wisdom - are life, death and eternity, as symbolized by the gifts - the stuff of adult conversation. The Calvinist reformer, John Knox, said of them: "They are wise men interrupting our feast of fools." 

 

And they confront us with this disturbing fact that our society's preoccupation is with itself and its fulfillment.  No guiding star to lead our society to Him who is our wisdom, and our hope, and our salvation.

 

 In recent years we have seen increasing popularity of meditation groups, eastern religions and other things spiritual - people talking about 'my spirituality' as if it is something you can buy in a shop.  And these groups encourage us to seek a guiding light from within.  I have even heard people talking about the 'God within' - and they are not talking about the Holy Spirit. They are talking about themselves. 

 

I know people get comfort and peace from these things - but these things don't lead to heaven, they lead back to ourselves.  Everyone who is human needs the eternal light that comes from beyond us and is now revealed as outside coming in.  Everyone needs a reference beyond what is within ourselves - otherwise we are only formed by ourselves and our biased thinking, and not by Him who is the true light. 

 

The Magi, the wise-men, the three kings, they submitted to this light when they came to Bethlehem, even though they were enlightened as wise-men of their time.  They now stand before us on this day to remind us that as well as having enlightenment within, we need to search for external light, Jesus. And to submit to him. 

 

They found a king in the form of a baby, a king of God's making, not man’s.

 

That is how the mystery of God is revealed to both children and adults.