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December 29, 2006

Who were those guys?

Who were those guys? The three Wise Men, the Magi, appear only in the Gospel of Matthew. Tradition says they were learned astrologers from Persia—the Iraq and Iran of today. In the 800’s, they acquired the legendary names Melchoir, Caspar, and Balthazar. Wikipedia says that Marco Polo saw the tombs of the three Wise Men in Tehran in 1270, and their remains were also revered in Cologne Cathedral up until the Reformation. We tend to laugh at the gullibility of the Medieval Age, but the symbolic power of the Wise Men must have had deep resonance.

Before the Enlightenment people had a different a way of knowing. The term Reason itself, which we refer to as one of the legs of the three-legged stool of the Episcopal Church (with Scripture and Tradition) had a broader meaning beyond the scientific method. Story, symbol and image formed the bedrock of human knowledge. The Christmas Story, and the Christian story in general, is not logical, it does not make sense. God became a helpless baby! How logical is that?! If we try and make sense of it, make it logical, then the story dies. The world has tried, and made use of it for its own commercial purposes and, after December 25, turns away and keeps moving. Yet in the church, we celebrate 12 Days of Christmas until January 6, the Epiphany, that commemorates the arrival of the Magi. So we linger at the Manger with the Magi through the Season of Epiphany, until the first day of Lent, February 21, Ash Wednesday.

While Advent is quiet and inwardly focused, these days after Christmas and the Season of Epiphany are celebratory, and extroverted. The word Epiphany means “shining forth” and the Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Christ’s light to the gentiles, our mysterious friends the Wise Men.

So how does this relate to Family Ministries? As parents, it’s important that we soak ourselves in the images and stories of Christmas so that we can shine forth our own Christ light and nurture the Christ light in our children.
It is good to question and probe what we believe. And yet we also need to be open to the wonder of God’s reaching out to us. To simply believe, to have faith. It is ok not have all the answers, and not have it all figured out. I often think our children are looking to us to model trust, faith and belief. There are plenty of models of questioning in our culture, but very few models of trust, faith, and belief in God, who is beyond ourselves, beyond our understanding. We are much like the worldly, wealthy and learned three Wise Men. Let’s lay down the worldly gifts we bring to the baby Jesus, the Christ, and be awed by this unpredictable, unexplainable event. Then our Christ light can truly shine forth brightly to others in the coming season.

Yours in Christ, Beth Foote