The Second Sunday after Christmas Year C
at St Phillip’s Episcopal Church, Circleville, OH, 1/3/16
In one of the little chapels at St Gregory’s Abbey they have a small metal labyrinth and a stylus to trace your path. During my time with the monks I would spend many hours of meditation
weaving the stylus around each twist and turn of the pattern. It wasn't until I got to seminary that I was able to actually walk the labyrinth and make this prayerful practice part of my spiritual life.
As I was preparing this sermon I began to see the similarities between the labyrinth and our lives, and the journey of the Magi.
The Magi, a word from which we get Magician,were most likely astronomers, astrologers, and other philosophical practitioners. We are not sure of how many there were only the varying number of gifts they brought: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. We are not even certain of where they came from,
only that they saw a stellar phenomenon at its rising over the eastern horizon.
For some reason, they felt this sign to be something special. It was not uncommon to believe phenomenon in the heavens told of the birth of a great person or the coming of a great event. Even in our own local history we have the story of Tecumseh, whose very name tells his origin as being born under a shooting star. In any case, a group of Magi, sets out to seek the important child whose birth was foretold by this new occurrence in the heavens. They brought with them the traditional gifts of a King.
Other traditions suggest that these “Three Kings” as we know them may never have existed and are only metaphors for the three roles of Christ as God, priest, and King, or a symbol of Christ being born for all the world. But in the dirt of it, this story still touches us. This story continues to speak to us in many ways.
Back to my labyrinth for a moment. Labyrinths used for prayer are not just mazes. When I think of mazes I think of tall hedgerows or cornfields. No, these labyrinths are laid out - in a circle - flat before you. You can see your destination at the center, but you must follow the path wherever it leads.
Do you ever feel like you can see where God is pointing you, but keep messing up the details? Or you try to take the shortcut to the supposed destination? I sure have. It was more than a decade ago when I first felt a drawing toward life in ministry, always pursuing other ventures but continuing to have the small voice urging me toward the prior. On a few occasions I stepped into the light of the calling.
Since I could not see the whole picture I decided to fill in the pieces myself.
My first attempt was to reconcile ministry with my love for music. I declared to myself and others that I was going to devote my life to music ministry. As many of you know I have spent most of my life doing just that, in one form or another. I even spent two years of undergrad pursuing a degree in Church Music.Though that passion and practice is and has been very important, I have come to realize it is not the end goal. It is not the destination.
A few years ago, I decided I had completed the picture again. In the interim I had found my way to the Episcopal Church, and to this tiny parish on the Mound. Though I was still constructing most of it myself, I caught a glimpse more of the whole picture. I had accepted my calling to be something in the church and perhaps something to do with ordained ministry. There was only one problem, I loved teaching music, and I could not imagine leaving that vocation for another. I even went as far, as to sit in the library, a few steps from this spot, and discuss the possibility of becoming a vocational Deacon with Father Harris. He offered very sage advice, but in the end we came to the mutual conclusion that my place was not in the diaconate.
Another year or so passed and I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church, as the Bishop placed his hands on my head, I prayed for God to show me the path. Be careful what you pray for . . .
That night I dreamed myself celebrating the Mass. When I woke I knew what it meant, though I didn’t want to fully believe it myself.
Since that time I have studied, and prayed, and prepared. As the Magi from Jerusalem, I have even traveled South, not to Bethlehem, but to Sewanee, Tennessee, and to seminary.
It has been a long journey, but along the way I have made frequent stops, thinking I am at the end.
Thinking I have found God and his purpose right where I expected him. Not too unlike the Magi in today’s Gospel.
Matthew begins by telling us that Wise Men have come to Jerusalem seeking a new King
after seeing a new “star” which proclaimed his birth. Again, there are many traditions surrounding this story, but I believe that the wise men saw the sign,they saw the light, but not the whole picture.
They too filled in the picture themselves. This is why they stop in Jerusalem,not to pull over at the local 7/11 and ask directions, but because “where else should a king of the Jews be born, but in the capital city of Jerusalem?”
There have long been rumors and prophecies of a coming Messiah, which no doubt, through caravans, and exiles, have caught the ears of Jew and Gentile alike, to the farthest reaches of the earth. They have an idea of what is happening, or may even make themselves believe it. It takes the knowledge and wisdom of others to help these Magi on their journey. As we hear in the Gospel, the chief priests and scribes look to the texts to see one prophecy, that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem.
The journey is not over. The end was not where they expected it. In fact it is in the place least likely to be expected. They may be too late. After all, the context clues tell us that it could be upwards of two years since Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. But they go anyway, to see what they seek.
Walking the labyrinth takes time, a LOT of time.You walk it slowly, keeping your eyes on the path.
You look not to the left or to the right but remain fixed on the forward placement of each step. At each twist and turn you take a moment to pause, spending a few seconds in prayer and silence listening for the breath of God before taking another step.
In the secular calendar we just celebrated the New Year with the rest of the world. We always have hope in the New Year, time to say goodbye to the regrets and struggles of the past and make plans for the future continuing to look for every bit of happiness in the cold.
I am sure the Magi had hopes of their own.They spent their time looking for light in the darkness:
the light of a new star in the heavens, the light of knowledge found in the prophets, the light of hope found in a Messiah, and eventually from the candle lighting a poor household in Bethlehem.
During the past year we had many reminders of how dark the world can be. In this new year let us remember the light which the Magi found. We too have that same light.
A final return to the labyrinth.You have come to the center, your goal. Once you reach that point you kneel feeling the earth between your fingers.You take a moment to worship God, to adore the creator
and to give him thanks. Just as the Magi of old brought their gifts and laid them before the Christ.
But the Magi did not stay in Bethlehem, nor can we stay in the centered moment. The labyrinth, just as all our journeys does not end. You make your way back out of the labyrinth and the Magi returned home from Bethlehem. But no one leaves the same as when they started.
At the entrance to the circle, we must now go on a new path. We have come to the end of one year
the end of twists and turns in our journey. Each New Year, each Sunday, each Morning, we find ourselves at a new center.Take a moment to thank God, to worship and adore him. Then begin to walk the path again, perhaps going by a different route, but keeping your eyes on the light you can see one step at a time.
Gods path has many twists and turns and unexpected stops. It may not be going where WE expect it,
and the light is not always as bright as we’d like, but we can not rush it or take a shortcut. All we can do is have patience with God and ourselves, and trust him to guide us.
