Three kings from Persian lands afar

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

Three kings from Persian lands afar: 2nd January 2011: am: The Very Revd Frank Nelson

• Psalm 72: 1 – 4, 10 - 15
• Isaiah 60: 1 - 6
• Ephesians 3: 1 - 12
• Matthew 2: 1 - 12

Epiphany for me is associated with wonderful hymns (some of which we sing this morning), a poem, a short children’s opera, a magnificent solo voice singing against a chorale, and apparent contradictions.

The hymns I learned as a child chorister: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; Hail to the Lord’s anointed; Brightest and best of the sons of the morning; As with gladness men of old.

I still vividly remember my high school English teacher introducing us to T S Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi”. There was something thrilling and exotic in the way he read:

A cold coming we had of it, Just the worst time of the year For a journey, and such a journey: The ways deep and the weather sharp, The very dead of winter. And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow. There were times we regretted The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces, And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

As a young priest I had the audacity and courage not only to co-produce a performance of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” but to sing the part of the deaf king Kaspar.

This is my box, this is my box... I never travel without my box. In the first drawer I keep my magic stones. One carnelian against all evil and envy. One moonstone to make you sleep. One red coral to heal your wounds.

This is my box. This is my box I never travel without my box In the second drawer, I keep all my beads. Oh! How I love to play with beads ...all kinds of beads!

This is my box... this is my box... I never travel without my box. In the third drawer... in the third drawer...In the third drawer I keep... Licorice! Licorice! Black sweet licorice... black sweet licorice! Have some.

Peter Cornelius’ anthem “The Three Kings” has long been a favourite. Twenty years ago it formed the basis for the last sermon I preached as sub-Dean of St Mary’s Cathedral, Johannesburg, just weeks before we emigrated to New Zealand. The guiding star was a strong motif in those days, as we had little idea what to expect or where we would end up. I certainly never dreamed that I would become Dean of this Cathedral.

Three Kings from Persian lands afar To Jordan follow the pointing star: And this the quest of the travellers three, Where the new-born King of the Jews may be. Full royal gifts they bear for the King; Gold, incense, myrrh are their offering.

But while these favourites are there, other people have also been captivated with the image of the magi following the star to Bethlehem, to worship the new-born child and lay their regal gifts before him.

Aucklander Marnie Barrell has captured something of the account in Matthew’s Gospel in her hymn printed on the back page of today’s leaflet. Each verse begins with a question focusing on a different player in the saga, and inviting us to make a response. There are the wise men – who ride by starlight from the corners of the earth, leaving home, forsaking comfort, drawn to one mysterious birth; King Herod – trembling while their tale is told, sending troops to slaughter blindly, crush what cannot be controlled; and the child – a homeless exile destined from this hour for rejection, conflict, danger, marked for death by worldly power.

Barrell invites us to consider and notice the role of each of the players in the story. The magi who search with such purpose, each step directed (it seems) by divine hand, as they follow the star, interpret an ancient text, and listen to a dream. Theirs is the joy of a journey completed, the end attained, the gifts given in worship. Herod the puppet king, so full of his own importance, yet knowing he has no power but what the Romans have given him, seeking to block access to the One born to be king through the cruel use of force and violence. And the Christ child, the one called shepherd, who will tend, protect, guide and nurture his own, and then be rejected, humiliated, nailed to a cross.

Walter Brueggemann has written much about the power of empire, set against the power of God, particularly in the context of the great prophets of the Old Testament and the Exile. So it was a joy to me to receive as a gift a collection of his poetry, which he calls “Prayers for a Privileged People”. Among his prayer poems is one entitled “Epiphany”. In it Brueggemann brings out clearly the contradictions of the Gospel, which make so little sense to the world in which we live, but cannot be ignored by anyone touched by God’s hand and call.

They came, tenaciously and eagerly and regally. They came and bowed down before your foolishness. They sensed the contradiction

    between his vulnerability and their sagacity.
    between his innocence and their calculation,
    between his exposure and their many concealing
         robes of power.

They worshiped him! They recognized that he called into question all that they treasured, so they yielded their best to him,

    their preciousness,
    their secret potions,
    their rich perfumes.

And we stand alongside them with

    our wealth,
    our control
    our smarts,
    our sophistication,
    our affluence.

Give us freedom like theirs

    to yield,
    to worship,
    to adore,
    to have our lives contradicted.

Give us grace like theirs to embrace the foolishness of the child,

    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.

In all the wonderful music, poetry and imagery of the Epiphany, let us not forget the essential meaning behind that word. Epiphany means to make known, to enlighten, to reveal. For the brand new Jewish-based religion just beginning to be called Christian, the coming of the magi from the East must have challenged the belief that the Jews alone had a handle on God. By the end of the Gospel, the Jewish Messiah sends the Jewish Apostles out, even to the ends of the world – all nations are invited to become disciples - for the baby before whom gold, frankincense and myrrh were placed, is indeed the Saviour of the whole world.