Homily for Epiphany 2009

It was to a stable that the star led the wise men from the East. It was not to the Temple in Jerusalem, nor to Herod's palace, nor to the Roman Governor's fortress. A missionary in South Africa tells the story of a School Christmas play in a black township. It presented the usual stable with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger, and the wise men from the East with their gifts. Then he describes what happened next:

"After the wise men had come and gone I noticed the arrival of three more strange characters - one was dressed in rags, hobbling along with the aid of a stick. The second was naked except for a tattered pair of shorts and was bound in chains. The third was the most weird. He had a whitened face, wore an unkempt grey wig and an Afro shirt.

As they approached, a chorus of men and women cried out, 'Close the door, Joseph, they are thieves and vagabonds coming to steal all we have.' But Joseph said, 'Everyone has a right to this child - the poor, the rich, the unhappy, the untrustworthy. We cannot keep this child for ourselves. Let them enter.'

The men entered and stood staring at the child. Joseph picked up the gifts the wise men had left. To the first strange man he said, 'You are poor: take this gold and buy what you need. We will not go hungry.' To the second he said, 'You are in chains and I don't know how to release you. Take this myrrh - it will heal the wounds on your wrists and ankles.' To the third he said, 'Your mind is in anguish. I cannot heal you. Maybe the aroma of this frankincense will soothe your troubled soul.'

Then the first man spoke to Joseph. 'Do not give me this gift. Anyone who finds me with this gold with think I have stolen it. And sadly, in a few years, this child will end up a criminal too.' The second man spoke and said, 'Do not give me this ointment. Keep it for the child. One day he will be wearing chains like these.' The third man said, 'I am lost. I have no faith at all. In the country of my mind there is no God. Let the child keep the incense. He will lose faith in his Father too.'

While Mary and Joseph covered their faces the three men addressed the child, 'Little one, you are not from the land of gold and frankincense. You belong to the country of want and disease. You belong to our world. Let us share our things with you.' The first man took off his ragged shirt. 'Take these rags. One day you will need them when they tear the garments of your back and you will walk naked.' The second man said, 'When I remove these chains I will put them at your side. One day you will wear them - and then you will really know the pain of humanity.' The third man said, 'I give you my depression, my loss of faith in God and in everything. I can carry it all no longer. Carry my grief and loss with your own.'

The three men then walked back out into the night. But the darkness was different. Something had happened in the stable. Their blind pain was diminishing. There had been a kind of epiphany. They were noticing the stars now"(The Tablet, 20/27 December 2008, p 4).

This story comes from Africa with its particular tragedies. I wonder how this story would be told in say, the Middle East, in the midst of the wars raging there? Or how would we write it in Australia? Who would be the three strangers in our Nativity play?

The Christmas story that we tell and retell every year, reveals to us that the most extraordinary things happen in the most ordinary events. For me, a recent ordinary event like that was simply having breakfast with some of my family at Christmas. All the memories of a life shared over the years somehow came together for me. And I became aware of the fingerprints of God, as it were, all over our lives in the triumphs and tragedies, the disagreements and joys, of the years. Not the stuff of soap operas but the stuff of real human people seeking life. It is that kind of awareness that is our personal epiphany. And it is not necessarily found in Church or amongst religious people. It can happen in the kitchen or at work just as much as in a stable. And it happens there often but we do not usually call it a religious experience.

It is the Eucharist which helps us to open our eyes and recognise those graced moments for what they are, the revelation of God with us, Emmanuel. It is the Eucharist in which we celebrate with thanksgiving the God who finds us everywhere. It can be an equally ordinary star that leads us to that epiphany.

Fr Graham