“God’s Ways and Means”

January 5, 2025

Isaiah 60:1–6

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.

Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.

Matthew 2:1–12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.***

Light and darkness are a powerful pair of symbols. We say many things about this paring such as “these are dark days” and “we are kept in the dark.” Or “the dark night of the soul.” We exclaim when something is “brought to light” or those moments where suddenly “the lights go on.”

It seems these symbols are born into us. Many young children are afraid of the dark. But think of it, have you heard of a child being afraid of the light? The fact that we can move back and forth so easily between the literal meaning of the words dark and light and the metaphorical meaning shows how naturally these symbols work for us.

On January 6, the Christian church celebrates the “Feast of Epiphany.” Epiphany means enlightenment, illumination, or a moment when the lights go on. The Isaiah and Matthew readings are full of images of light breaking through the darkness.

The star is key to the story of the wisemen visiting the infant Jesus. It is a symbol of a bright light that shines in the darkness of the night sky and draws strangers to the place of enlightenment, of epiphany. The prophesy from Isaiah develops the image at length after opening with the words, “Arise, shine; for your light has come.” Light has come to us, and for us, and now we are to shine, to reflect that light.

The story of the journey of the wisemen to visit Jesus depicts this, and Matthew alludes to the Isaiah passage. He repeats Isaiah’s image of the gifts of gold and frankincense being brought from far off nations.

What does the Epiphany mean now? What impact might it have on our daily living? Is there anything new still being brought to light, or is it all past history?

In the time of the wisemen it was shocking that outsiders would seek out the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah . The questions which arise today underpin Isaiah’s prophecy. Who does God welcome and what kind of God is this? How does this God operate and what are the ways and means by which this God deals with the world? When the answers to these questions come to light, they still take us by surprise and leave us struggling to work out how to live them out in practice. There are at least two aspects that come to light for me in these biblical passages.

First, both Isaiah and Matthew amplify the image of God drawing people (Jews and Gentiles and even non-believers) to the light. Do you see it? God is not intent upon dividing us all up into insiders and outsiders, clean and unclean, righteous and unrighteous, acceptable and unacceptable. Yet, throughout humanity we are conditioned to think in such divisive categories. No sooner have we let go of one old antagonism, but our darkness mutates and turns us against some other group.

If it is not unbelievers, it is Black people, or it is Asians, or it is women, or it is fence-jumping refugees, or it is gay people, or it is Muslims, or it is conservatives or liberals. Again and again we divide ourselves up into us and them, and “us” is okay so long as we protect ourselves against “them” because “they” are a threat to everything we hold dear and the source of all that is corrupt and degenerate.

But God will have none of it. Matthew tells of pagan astrologers from the area of Iraq as the first people to recognize Jesus for who he really is. Right there we see that God is not going to respect any of our categories of who does and does not belong. Wherever the darkness of prejudice and divisiveness settles, the light of God’s love shines forth and we have to either welcome and embrace it, or go scuttling off for more darkness to hide ourselves in.

The second light shining in Matthew’s account of the wisemen is the never-ending surprise of the humility and vulnerability of the ways and means by which God operates. We keep expecting God to act in big, powerful ways that no opposition on earth can resist. We grasp for words like almighty or omnipotent to define God. We wishfully want a God who wipes away the oppressors and doles out justice for all.

But there again, we want to again divide up world into goodies and baddies, us and them, and expect God to endorse our divisions.

As the wisemen set out to follow the star which they knew the prophets foretold as the sign a new child had been born king of the Jews, they were no doubt expecting to see a vision of power and influence. So, naturally they went to Jerusalem, the seat of power where rulers are born. Certainly, that is where this long-awaited God King would appear.

But God upturned the wisemen’s expectations and brought a surprising truth to light. God continually does this. We expect an avenging God, but we get a vulnerable refugee baby. We expect surroundings of wealth and influence, but we get simplicity and homelessness. We expect the religiously orthodox to recognize and honor his arrival, but instead we see only pagan outsiders. We expect a mighty triumph, but instead we get a crucified victim.

“Arise, shine; for your light has come.” This epiphany goes on and on. We are continually surprised and even disturbed as God’s ways and means are brought to light.

Over and over we look for one thing, even cry out and plead for it, but we get another. In Jesus, hunted at birth and humiliated at death, God’s ways and means are shockingly brought to light. Love and mercy and consolation seem like a welcome idea when God was dealing with “us” but when God is dealing with “them” we want a God of judgement, vengeance and righteous anger.

But as the light comes and makes known to us the God who is beyond our defining, we are called to respond. “Arise, shine; for your light has come.” The good news of truth is that “the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”

In the year ahead, let yourself be drawn to the light of this unending epiphany of God’s vulnerable love and grace and in turn, be an epiphany for yourself and others of this divine goodness.

Prayer:

What a gift to be reminded of your glorious call to arise and shine this day!

You create me to live reflecting your light and love in a world that often walks in darkness.

Stir in me the desire to embrace the foolishness that some see in your teaching:

that the first will be last and the last first,

That the humble will be exalted and the exalted humbled,

That we may lose the world and gain our lives.

Help me to embrace this divine calling with boldness and courage.

Let the light of Your presence dispel any shadows of doubt or fear in me.

Guide my actions and words, that they may illuminate the beauty of your grace to everyone

Showing the unquestionable truth that your light has come and your glory has risen upon me. Amen.