Dr. William A. Ritter
First United Methodist Church, Birmingham, Michigan
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
When I was a kid, Dick Bowman always got be a wise man....at least as I remember it. I think it had something to do with his being taller than the rest of us. Someone said that the church only had "tall" bathrobes. For all I know, Mrs. Bowman probably donated them.
It's funny how things like that stay with you. I can see those wise men coming down the aisle like it was yesterday. The organ was playing "We Three Kings of Orient Are." They looked so regal....so tall....so stately. Somebody had made crowns for them to wear, which were really cardboard cutouts covered with gold foil. Their bathrobes were tied with a sash. But it was the way they carried the gifts that captured me... .proudlycarefully.. ..with great dignity....as If transporting each item for the Christ child was a task for which they had rehearsed an entire lifetime. At last they reached the front of the church, deposited their gifts at the child's feet, nodded with oriental respectability in the general direction of Mary and Joseph, and then went to stand beside a cardboard cutout of a camel.
It wasn't until last Sunday night that I got to make that journey for myself. Suddenly it was my turn. Doris Hall was playing "We Three Kings" on the organ. My page, gift in hand, was standing at the ready. Suddenly Kate Wilcox was whispering in my ear that it was time to march down the aisle. I wondered aloud if I would know where to go. She reminded me that I had rehearsed this journey several times. Even if I forgot, I simply had to follow Bill Ives. Which I did. And it was marvelous.
It was years before I understood that things may not have happened exactly as depicted in the pageants. Over time, I learned that it is only in Matthew's gospel that these three from the East appear. I learned that later church tradition had them arriving, not on Christmas Eve at all, but twelve nights later. I learned that in spite of the familiar language of the carol, these visitors were not exactly kings....nor were they exactly from the Orient. New Testament scholar, Sherman Johnson, writes: "There is no way to ascertain whether the account of this visiting threesome has been embellished, or whether it even happened at all. For these verses have no parallel or corroboration In any other first century Christian writing."
They are not called "kings" at all. 'Wise men" is the more common translation, but "magi" is probably a better one. When we track the word to other sources, we find some evidence that "magi" was a word once ascribed to a tribe of Midian priests. Elsewhere, the same word 1 refers to a Zoroastrian priestly caste. In 60 AD. an embassy of Parthian magi (or priests) Is recorded in Roman chronicles as paying homage to the Roman emperor Nero, and "returning home by another way." Which is a most curious phrase, in that it first turns up In a Roman record written In 60 A.D., and then turns up in exactly the same manner in Matthew's gospel, written in 85 A.D.
It is also fascinating to note the linguistic linkage between the word "magi" and the word "magician." This may explain the growing body of acceptance for the idea that the "magi" may also have been magicians, or a particular group of magicians who used the stars in effecting their magic. Therefore, the "magi" may not have been wise men or kings at all, but astrologers. Matthew, it has been suggested, may have been referring to three visiting Babylonian astrologers. If you were to say that an astrologer is a long way from a king, you would probably be right. But then Babylon was a long way from the Orient, which goes to show you what sometimes happens to stories over time.
But that's all right. It really is. It may be that Matthew introduces foreign visitors into his story, simply as a way of saying: "Look, the birth of this child is no isolated event. This is a world event. This is not simply a Jewish Messiah. This is one who attracts foreigners." To have foreign visitors come to Bethlehem certainly magnifies the occasion. It gives it scope and significance. It broadens it out. It is like CBS covering an event in Standish. Or People Magazine sending a reporter to Iron River.
But It may be even more than that. If, Indeed, these men were astrologers....and if astrologers were, in some sense of the word, magicians.. ..and if astrological magic were as rampant then as it is today... .then perhaps Matthew is saying: "Look, even magic bows down before the Christ. When Christ comes, magic meets its match." Astrologers are humbled, in that they bow down and worship him. Astrologers may chart the heavens.
Jesus, however, rules the heavens. But, like I said, I didn't know all that years ago. And that's all right, too. For the test of the story is not solely in Its factual verifiability. The test of the story lies in the story's ability to lead us to Jesus. So we will hitchhike on any approach that works.
Which is, ironically, what Herod tries to do. Herod uses the Wise Men as his private vehicle of approach. Now why a king such as Herod should be interested in approaching this particular child is a question that strains the boundaries of credibility. Herod is a very powerful king. And Jesus is a very tiny baby. In point of fact, Herod is not interested in births at all....at least any Jewish birth. Herod is interested in Jewish ideas rather than in Jewish babies. Specifically, Herod is interested in Jewish political ideas. For Herod is a very political animal. And the one Jewish political idea which scares the daylights out of Herod, is the idea that a Messiah is coming... .one whose birth will fulfill the promised return of the Davidic Monarchy....one whose birth will quicken the pulse of every Jewish militant in the hills, and every ardent Zealot In the cities....one whose birth will stiffen the spine of this subjugated people....and one whose birth will give them a symbolic dream around which to rally. Herod has nothing to fear from the baby, himself. But Herod has plenty to fear from what the baby represents.
So, having heard the rumors, Herod is troubled. And all Jerusalem is troubled with him. You can understand that. If the king is happy, the people are happy. But if the king is anxious, neighborhood drugstores suffer a run on Maalox.
Herod summons Jewish religious leaders. "Look," he says, "you people have writings which talk about a special One who is to come. Now just assuming this preposterous claim were true, where might He appear?"
"In Bethlehem," he is told....which literally means "house of bread." Next, Herod summons the Wise Men (or magi....or astrologers) and says: "Look, I keep hearing about a birth....a town....and a star. And you guys are in the star business (not that I believe in such stuff, of course. I skip that section of the newspaper every morning. I don't even know what my sign is). But let's just suppose that someone were interested in this star stuff. When would this star show up?"
And they tell him. Which is followed by the part that intrigues me....the part that I have worked all this time to set up. Herod speaks again. "Look, why don't you guys check it out. Then come back and report to me, so that I might go and worship also."
Fat chance. This Is beginning to smell like a plot. And if these three astrologers from Babylon (or wherever) have any smarts about them at all, surely they can smell it too. For it smells of fear, and stinks like conspiracy. And underneath It is the faintly disguised odor of impending violence. Which is the correct odor. For we will not have to read much further into Matthew's second chapter before Jesus and his parents will be racing for cover in Egypt, with Herod slaughtering every male infant in sight, accompanied by the refrain of Rachel weeping in loud lament for her children. That's the part of the story we never read on Christmas Eve.
One permissible inference that can be drawn, Is that violence smears everything.. ..even the Christmas story. And I suspect that everybody knows that. I suspect that our three astrologers knew that, which is why they initially played bail with Herod. They stopped by for a chat. They went on his mission. But what choice did they have. You get along by going along. These guys are not stupid. They know Herod's game. And they know Herod's fame. They know that upon reporting back to Herod concerning the child's whereabouts and hair color, Herod isn't going to wrap a baby gift and go between the hours of 2 and 4 o'clock to tap on some maternity room window, saying: "Show me that one over there....the one with the blue blanket....that cute little Jewish kid." No, they know Herod's not going to do that. What Herod is going to do, they are not sure. But they know he's not going to do that. Still, one suspects that they are prepared to come back and tell Herod everything he wants to know. That is, until they see the child. The scriptures are so simple and unadorned here. They enter the house. (Note that there is no stable in Matthew's gospel. Stables are Luke's thing). They enter the house. They see the child with his mother. They fall down. They worship. They open presents. And then, 'Warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they depart for their own country by another way."
You know, It was years before I gave any thought to this business about an alternative route home. After all, people vary their journeys all the time. You come by one road. You go 3 home by a different road. Maybe you do It for variety. Maybe you do it for scenery. Maybe the first road was too slow....too rough....too obstructed. Maybe you receive a tip from one of the locals, or stumble upon a guidebook you hadn't seen before. Maybe you take a chance while you're In the area and call your long lost uncle Jack, who tells you that an additional 85 miles will put you at his doorstep in time for dinner. Or maybe you are swayed from your original course by two of the most persuasive words in the English language, "outlet shopping."
But let's not kid ourselves. None of these things explain why these men of the Orient (or Babylon) go home by a different route. They know that if they retrace the steps that brought them to the baby, those steps will take them back through Herod's house... .Herod's fear....Herod's plot....and Herod's predilection to smear everything he touches with violence. It could be that they were cowardly, seeking to save their own necks. It could be that they were crafty, seeking to save Jesus' neck. Or it could be that, having been to the manger, they said to themselves: "After searching for lo these many days (months? years?) we have seen a glimpse of a better way than Herod's way, and are going to take one small step down a different road."
My friends, I don't know about you, but I am tired of the violence that smears so much of my history. I am tired of talking about it. I am tired of trying to understand it. I am tired of listening to explanations of it. And I am tired of watching everybody try to blame everybody else for it.
What's more, I think that a lot of you are where I am. I think that there is a ripeness and a readiness to move beyond anger... .beyond avoidance..., beyond frustration... .and beyond impotence, that I have not seen or felt before. I think that a lot of us are beginning to realize that we come equipped with two hands, and that it is no longer enough to simply wring them... .wash them....cover our eyes with them....pass the buck with them... .or point the fingers of them.
I think of the grandmother I told you about last week, who actually watched the video game she bought for her grandson, before taking it back to the store because of its excessive violence.
I think of the wife of the Chelsea teacher (the teacher who gunned down the superintendent) who first called the victim's office with a word of warning, then confronted her husband as he faced her with his gun, and then was the first to administer CPR to the dying victim.
I think of the Walmart people who one day last week said: `We're not going to sell anymore handguns." Then they went on to add: 'This isn't anything political or constitutional. We're not taking a stand on any issue or confronting any lobby. We simply don't believe that this is a business that the majority of our customers want us to be in." And then I think of any number of you who are quietly writing a letter....switching a channel....turning a cheek....sending a buck to somebody who appears to be making a dtfference....or quietly vowing to think a second time before screaming, blowing the horn, cussing somebody out, slipping somebody the one finger salute, slapping a kid, shoving a spouse, or actually striking anybody (or anything).
My friends, failure to try something different....anything different. ...simply sends us back through Herod's house to perpetuate Herod's way. At least the men of the Orient knew better. Which, come to think of it, may be why history records them as wise.
