Isaiah 60: 1–6; Psalm 72: 1–7, 10–14; Ephesians 3: 1–12; Matthew 2: 1–12
This is the homily given at St. John’s,
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, January 6, 2019.
“LIGHT MEANT FOR ALL, NOT JUST FOR SOME”
(Homily texts: Isaiah 60: 1–6 & Matthew 2: 1-12)
Light
has been a theme in our worship and in our readings from Holy Scripture since
Christmas. And now, as we find ourselves at the end of the Christmas season
(remember, Christmas is twelve days long!), ending today on the great feast of
the Epiphany, we will wrap up this theme with today’s readings.
Specifically,
Isaiah’s prediction that God’s light, coming into the world, will bring nations
to that divine light, underscores the theme.
Our
Gospel text from Matthew carries out this same idea. Matthew relates the visit
of the Wise Men (or Magi), who had come “from the east” to find the Christ
child. These foreigners had come to see this new king, led by the light of the
star they had seen in the heavens. These Wise Men would be the leading edge of
many, many peoples from all over the earth who would come to God’s light, made
known in the person of Jesus Christ.
We
might distill this theme in this way:
God’s light is meant for all, not just for some.
Let’s
unpack this idea a bit.
The
ancient world was an interesting place from the standpoint of its religious
beliefs and practices. Religion tended to be a tribal thing, more or less. It
was one way of giving people an identity, a common purpose, and a sense of
belonging. We can see this clearly in the case of God’s chosen people, the
Jews, and especially in the time in which our Lord came among us. Jews in that
day and time claimed their allegiance to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
They seemed to be proud of their descendancy from Abraham (which is one reason
why they looked down on the Samaritans, for the Samaritans’ blood lines were no
longer purely descended from Abraham). The Law of Moses and its strict
observance marked them as being different from other peoples (and especially
from their Roman occupiers).
The
things we’ve just said about the Jews could also apply to other peoples in the
ancient world. For example, the Greeks had their god, Zeus, and a pantheon of
other gods. The Ephesians had their god, Artemis. The ancient Philistines had
Dagon, while the ancient Canaanites had a variety of gods, Baal and Moloch
being two of them.
We’d
be less-than-complete in our assessment of the religious climate of the ancient
world if we didn’t acknowledge that there was some blurring of the religious boundaries
between different groups of people. For example, the Jews welcomed Gentiles who
had come to worship the same God they did, even if these Gentiles weren’t fully
integrated into Jewish practice. They were known as “God-fearers”. The Gospel
accounts contain a record of some of these people. Likewise, mixing of
religious practice took place in places like Corinth, which was on a major
trading route and which saw people coming from all over the known world….mixing
of religious belief and practice was one result of the interaction of people
from different places and backgrounds.
But
God is doing a new thing in the sending of Jesus Christ: God is letting the
world know that the sending of the Christ child reveals to us God’s light in a
way that surpasses any and all other ways of believing, and that the revelation
of God made known in Christ is meant for all the world to receive.
We
can see this in the unfolding of His earthly ministry: For example, He
regularly travels through Samaria and interacts with the Samaritans. (Remember
that the Jews hated the Samaritans. They hated them so much that, in order to
go from Galilee in the north of the Holy Land to Jerusalem, they would go
entirely out-of-the-way to avoid going through Samaria.) More proof of this new
reality arises from the Lord’s interaction with Gentiles. Jesus’ interchange
with the woman from Tyre and Sidon is another such example (see Matthew 15: 21
– 28).
Jesus’
command, given to His disciples in what we now call the “Great Commission”
makes clear that God’s light is meant for all, not just for some. We would do
well to hear the Great Commission’s words: “All authority in heaven and earth
has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And, behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18b – 20) (English Standard
Version)
“Go
into all the world,” He says.
What
are the implications for us as contemporary Christians who are living in an age
when the mixing of religious belief is quite common? (After all, as I look out
at the world today, I am convinced that our world looks a good bit like the
world of ancient Corinth, where people from all over the world mix with one
another, resulting in a pick-and-choose sort of religious practice, whereby the
individual becomes the final and sole arbiter of what is desirable and good.)
Perhaps
what we might take away from our experience of the light of God, made known in
Jesus Christ, is this: God’s light isn’t
our own prized and personal possession. God’s light isn’t meant to be for
members of the Church alone. God’s light is meant to be shared with everyone,
everywhere. For if we believe that the revelation of God in Christ surpasses
all other ways of thinking and believing, then we have a wonderful gift to
share with the world.
And
that’s precisely the point, I think. We are called to let the world know that
God’s light is meant for all, not just for some.
AMEN.
