The 12th day of Christmas: Epiphany

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Nativity scene at Beverly Church

Today it takes me almost as much time to get to Beverly Road Church in Brooklyn as it usually does to get to my mom's place near Trenton, New Jersey. I'm a little anxious about being late as I walk up Beverly Road from the subway station. But I have to stop.

I walk into the Panaderia MJP, a Mexican bakery where I like to get a  cafecito and a pastel or galleta on my way to church.  And today, the little shop is filled with tall stacks of freshly baked rosca de reyes, the traditional Mexican bread for el dia de los tres ryes magos, Three Kings Bread.

Rosca de reyes

It's shared with friends and there's a baby Jesus hidden inside.

Baby Jesus

And whoever finds one, by tradition, has to host a party on Candelaria (Candlemass) forty days after Christmas. 

When West Park was at its multicultural peak, we shared a rosca every Epifania. And actually did have our parties 40 days later. We would send someone to the Bronx or El Barrio to bring one to our service. But here I found las roscas right on my way to church. It was very clear...I needed  to take one to the Beverly Road Church. The storekeeper smiles as I try to balance my cafe, my rosca, my bag and my guitar. 

Geraldine smiles when I present her with the rosca and tell her the story. And smiles again when she sees I've brought my guitar. 

We begin the service with praise songs and a new Epiphany hymn and soon enough it's time for my reflection....

Since this is our first time together since Christmas, Happy New Year! SO...it's the 12th...and last...day of Christmas. Also called Epiphany. For our Latinx brothers and sisters it is el dia de los tres treyes magos,Three Kings Day...and they'll be parading through el Barrio today. Live camels and all. And by tradition, these were the guys who bring the gifts, not Santa. And tomorrow is Russian Christmas. So here we are...

I always loved 3 kings day.  That 12 days after the 25th we had one last opportunity to celebrate Christmas and to sing "we three kings" and that they get a day all of their own. It does get confusing. Our manger scenes tend to be mash ups, we  put everyone in there together. Or if you've ever been to Radio City Music Hall, the live camels walk right up onto stage along with the shepherds and angels and donkeys and....But in the Bible they're two separate stories.

The details for Matthew come from the Old Testament.  From Psalm 72:
10  May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles 
          render him tribute, 
     may the kings of Sheba and Seba 
          bring gifts. 
11  May all kings fall down before him, 
          all nations give him service.

And from Isaiah 60:6:
6   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.


Notice only gold and frankincense....myrrh to come later....

One of my favorite experiences this holiday season was getting to see Amahl and the Night Visitors  again.  From 1951-1968 it was on NBC every year and my family always watched it. It was part of our annual Christmas. It's an opera by Gian Carlo Menotti about the kings stopping along the way on their journey at the cottage of a poor woman and her son who has a crippled leg. Over the course fo the night, a miracle occurs and the now cured boy leaves with the kings who are very clear that this new king has come for the poor.

This was a special production because it took place in a soup kitchen and the chorus included present and formerly homeless people. 
And the kings were dressed like eccentric street people, one with his valuables in a wagon, another a shopping cart and another in a baby stroller. They reminded me of people I regularly encountered in my ministry. 

And it was all fitting. As it said in Psalm 72 after the kings, 
12  For he delivers the needy when they call, 
          the poor and those who have no helper. 
13  He has pity on the weak and the needy, 
          and saves the lives of the needy. 
14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; 
          and precious is their blood in his sight.

Matthew is clearly telling us this new king would have special care for the poor. For those who have been left out of so much of the celebration of this season. There's another angle here as well. That's the myrrh. It's added to the story because it's an embalming spice. That Jesus would suffer and die...

Scholars think that these three gifts were chosen for their special spiritual symbolism about Jesus himself—gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming

(They've now discovered that frankincense can also help with arthritis...)

At any rate, the gifts say something about who Jesus is...

SO Herod knows this child is a threat and tries to trick the magi. But they go "home by another way" to avoid him.

James Taylor wrote a song about the Wisemen and it finishes....

Well it pleasures me to be here
And to sing this song tonight
They tell me that life is a miracle
And I figured that they're right
But Herod's always out there
He's got our cards on file
It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch
Old Herod likes to take a mile

It's best to go home by another way
Home by another way
We got this far to a lucky star
But tomorrow is another day
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

                                                         "Home by another way"

Epiphany is from a Greek word meaning manifestation or appearance. And by extension,  a sudden appearance in which all of a sudden you get it. (As in I've just had an epiphany....)

So what are we getting? 



Herod IS always out there, trying to trick us. And as James Taylor sang, give an inch he'll take a mile...

Herod is so many things...for us, it's that seductive or manipulative or even  coercive power that tries to take us off of our path. And in the process, betray or abandon others. Or even ourselves. 

So we need to go home another way.

Maybe there's another sense about that as well...
so often we keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. And of course it doesn't happen. 

We have a new year ahead of us. An opportunity to "start over" if you like. Maybe a time to look at how we've been rolling and think about how we might go home by another way. It's your choice, if you want it...

Let those with ears to hear....

I share how I first encountered Epiphany when I worked at St.Paul's Episcopal Church in New Haven and returned from Christmas vacation to find yet one more candlelit service. And about West Park and the rosca. And how I had brought one to share and that it was waiting downstairs. 

And then I sang for them "Early on one Christmas Morn" by Frankie Jaxon and the Cottontop Mountain Sanctified Singers...and they even sang along!

                                                       " Early on one Christmas Morn"

We shared the bread and cup of communion. And our prayers. Now just time to sing "We Three Kings" and "Joy to the World."

This Sunday, there's spaghetti and meat balls to share. And homemade ginger beer from the Virgin Islands. And homemade cakes. And of course, the  rosca. And this one has three Baby Jesus.' 

One of the baby Jesuses

They can help each other host.

Eugene (Evgeny) is sharing pictures from the Christmas party. He had taken it on himself to create a virtual winter wonderland in the social hall downstairs just as he had created the barbecue last summer. He is engaged in many repair projects and is documenting the life of the congregation with his photos. People are excited because the photo displays on the walls documenting their life have lain dormant, not added to  for years. There is a stirring of new life here. And like so many other small churches, it is lay led, not clergy driven.

I have no idea who Eugene was back in Russia. But here in Beverly Church he has become a valued member of the community doing all he can to bring life. As I get ready to leave, he is at a back table, cutting and trimming photos. 

I tell them I began the season with them the first Sunday of Advent so it is good to end the season with them as well. Geraldine says she could really feel the spirit today. Yes. A new year is underway.




Gospel Matthew 2:1-12

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “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.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 
6   ‘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.’”

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then 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.” 9When 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. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On 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. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

1   Give the king your justice, O God, 
          and your righteousness to a king’s son. 
2   May he judge your people with righteousness, 
          and your poor with justice. 
3   May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, 
          and the hills, in righteousness. 
4   May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, 
          give deliverance to the needy, 
          and crush the oppressor. 
5   May he live while the sun endures, 
          and as long as the moon, throughout all generations. 
6   May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, 
          like showers that water the earth. 
7   In his days may righteousness flourish 
          and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

10  May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles 
          render him tribute, 
     may the kings of Sheba and Seba 
          bring gifts. 
11  May all kings fall down before him, 
          all nations give him service.

12  For he delivers the needy when they call, 
          the poor and those who have no helper. 
13  He has pity on the weak and the needy, 
          and saves the lives of the needy. 
14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; 
          and precious is their blood in his sight.

First Reading Isaiah 60:1-6

1   Arise, shine; for your light has come, 
          and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 
2   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. 
3   Nations shall come to your light, 
          and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4   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. 
5   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. 
6   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.

Holding on to Christmas, or The other side of Christmas

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Geraldine's family is growing.....

On a freezing cold day, i make my way through the ever worsening subway system and somehow get to Beverley Church.


We could've gone  one of  two ways today..either the Baptism of Jesus or Three Kings...We'll have time to look at Jesus' baptism again in Lent...so I wanted to go with the Three Kings...it's like we need them to finish our Christmas. And I'm a believer in holding onto Christmas as long as we can.  In our house, we always wait until the last week before Christmas to put up our tree and then leave it up until January  6th...Epiphany....And for our friends in the Orthodox Churches, this  is their Christmas, old Christmas, Eastern Christmas. When I was growing up, our local paper always had an op ed honoring their celebration. So we today have one final day of Christmas.

Especially since the secular commercial Christmas begins right after Halloween, I want to keep the spiritual, Christmas of faith on its own...all twelve days...

And at West Park Church, when we were a fully bilingual congregation, this was a very special day for us, Three Kings Day, el dia de los tres reyes magos. That  was the day of our Christmas pageant and procession.  And our Latino members always had special gifts for everyone..and we had rosca de reyes...a special Mexican bread for the day...with a little baby Jesus inside..and whoever had the baby Jesus had to host a party.....usually with traditional tamales...so today we will welcome and honor the kings.

Luke has the shepherds and the stable, Matthew the kings, and if you look close, (2:11), they went into a house..that's where the tradition came from that they actually arrived about a year later. We like to mash them up all these scenes together, like with the live camels and the procession at Radio City Music Hall...

And it doesn't say three, though there are three gifts...and they got the gifts ...and camels from Isaiah, but Matthew adds myrrh.....as a foretaste of what will come...


This is  a nativity for adults. My friend Pastor Heidi Neumark of Trinity Lutheran wants us to keep Herod in Christmas.  Driven by fear, Herod winds up murdering all the children under two...there is of course no external verification of thi story....but this was so common or Herod .that a relatively small massacre in a small  hill country    town would not be making the news...Herod was so afraid of losing power he even murdered his own son...so the deaths of these poor people in Bethlehem wouldn't be noticed.

Pastor Heidi says:
We Christians like to talk about putting Christ back into Christmas, but let's not forget to put Herod back into Christmas. Herod represents the dark side of the gospel. He reminds us that Jesus didn't enter a world of sparkly Christmas cards or a world of warm spiritual sentiment. Jesus enters a world of real pain, of serious dysfunction, a world of brokenness and political oppression. Jesus was born an outcast, a homeless person, a refugee, and finally he becomes a victim to the powers that be. Jesus is the perfect savior for outcasts, refugees, and nobodies. That's how the church is described in scripture time and time again - not as the best and the brightest - but those who in their weakness become a sign for the world of the wisdom and power of God. from Joy Carroll Wallis

This kind  of violence is certainly part                                                                                             of our own history. Last week I saw the new movie"Hostiles" . it takes place in the waning days of the US government conflict with Native Americans. Christian Bale  a longtime "Indian fighter" who is assigned to accompany an Indian leader (Wes Studie)back to his home  in Montana. Along the way, old enemies have to find way to live together, work together in order to survive. Along the way they  come to  respect each others integrity. Importantly, it is not the liberals, eastern journalists,etc.. who never actually   encountered one another  but those who truly engaged with ine another, vs "hostiles" ...who show the way towards reconciliation.


So....Free people see Rome for what it is... There is enough love to drive out fear..

God is in and with all the characters..in these stories. A light glimmers on the horizon and the darkness has not overcome it

And so the Holy family flees to to Egypt...as refugees...many traditions grew up around their time there...they'll even show you where they stayed.....One of my youth group advisors suggested they used the gifts      to pay for the trip to Egypt.        ,                                                                                                                              

So what do we make  of  all this?

God places God's child in the hands  of fallible human beings...just like us.  Herod, the powerful one, is afraid.
Joseph, who has nothing but a dream, is not.
Ready to start as journey into a new year. Much to frighten us. We're called upon to face our own Herods.  And go home by another way?  Once you've come to know Jesus,you just can't go back the same way. It's got to be. new.  What's our new way home look like? You tell me....

Here is James Taylor's song, "Home by another way":

Home by another way . James Taylor
Those magic men the Magi
Some people call them wise
Or Oriental, even kings
Well anyway, those guys
They visited with Jesus
They sure enjoyed their stay
Then warned in a dream of King Herod's scheme
They went home by another way

Yes they went home by another way
Home by another way
Maybe me and you can be wise guys too
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

Steer clear of royal welcomes
Avoid a big to-do
A king who would slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you
He really, really wants those presents
He'll comb your camel's fur
Until his boys announce they've found trace amounts
Of your frankincense, gold and myrrh

Time to go home by another way
Home by another way
You have to figure the Gods saying play the odds
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

Home is where they want you now
You can more or less assume that you'll be welcome in the end
Mustn't let King Herod haunt you so
Or fantasize his features when you're looking at a friend

Well it pleasures me to be here
And to sing this song tonight
They tell me that life is a miracle
And I figured that they're right
But Herod's always out there
He's got our cards on file
It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch
Old Herod likes to take a mile

It's best to go home by another way
Home by another way
We got this far to a lucky star
But tomorrow is another day
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

So as God entrusts God's children to fallible human belongs, God entrusts us to each  other. And we will walk with each other as we find our way home.  

And so we share our communion.  And a hot cup of coffee. And unavoidably back out into the cold. 
(Like -14 degrees Centigrade!)

Happy New Year!

Matthew 2: 1-12
[1] Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 
[2] "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him." 
[3] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 
[4] and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 
[5] They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: 
[6] `And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will govern my people Israel.'"
[7] Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; 
[8] and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." 
[9] When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. 
[10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; 
[11] and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 

The 11th day of Christmas. Epiphany. Getting it...

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This is the 11^th day of Christmas. And today we celebrate Three Kings’ Day. El dia d elos tres reyes magos, the Epiphany.  We open our service by singing O Come All Ye Faithful.  And then after greetings, we introduce the kings. Jeremy begins with an oriental riff and the we swing into We Three Kings, including a Spanish verse.   And before we sing, Jeremy lights the frankincense and myrrh, its pungent aromas wafting through the sanctuary.

Our prophetic lesson is  ISAIAH 60: 1-6. It’s a passage about the coming of light. (1,3)And camels. (6) And gold and frankincense.(6b)  (Wait ...what’s missing? Myrrh. Hmmmm…)

Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14 gives us kings, of  Tarshish and of
of Sheba and Seba. Well, that makes three….but it ends with a very explicit plea:

¹²  For he delivers the needy when they call, 
          the poor and those who have no helper. 
¹³  He has pity on the weak and the needy, 
          and saves the lives of the needy. 
¹⁴  From oppression and violence he redeems their life; 
          and precious is their blood in his sight.

It’s easy to let words like that just slip past us. We have to listen to them, let them sink in.

                                                (Nothing like the way Jeremy does it...)

Then we do the traditional Puerto Rican song:  DeTierra Lejana, (from a distant land, and Jeremy takes it to a mambo complete with claves and repeated venimos…

The gospel, Matthew 2: 1-12, is Matthew’s birth narrative, and the story of the Magi.  Then Jeremy and I trade verses on James Taylor’s Home by another way at the same time both his most explicitly spiritual and political song.

So it’s the 11^TH day of Christmas. We’re celebrating epiphany…the three kings day…It’s Matthew’s story…there are no shepherds…just kings..still…centuries of popular culture has mashed them all up…like the grand finale to the Radio City Music hall Christmas spectacular…with all those animals, and finally  the camels and the kings and then, the pop  one solitary life scrolling down by Dr. James Alan Francis, solemn, proclamatory, evangelical.( http://www.john3-16.net/OneLife.htm )….we’re filled with images…the story captures the imagination.

There is this poem by TS Eliot, for example:

The Journey Of The Magi

'A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sorefooted, 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.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kiking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

And remember O Henry’s  The gift of the Magi? The woman who sells her hair to buy her husband a watch fob and the husband who sells his watch to buy her combs for her hair. Typical O’Henry irony. But the true gift is love.

And who remembers Amahl and the Night Visitors? I grew up with that, every year…The Giancarlo Menotti opera on television. Annually. The regal kings. The poor shepherd boy and his widowed mother. The deep rich songs.

And a recent play by our friends, the Representatives,....of orient are...playing on the themes of  epiphanies and magi..

There is no number in the Bible, but we settled on three. And gave them names: Balthasar of Arabia, Melchior of Persia, and Gaspar of India. (And in our family, when we needed a fourth, Orientar…)

They would seem to be Zoroastrian, or Persian…astrologers back in the day when that was an honored profession. But in other traditions, they come from far flung different places and only met on the road outside of Bethlehem. And one was black. And one tradition has them 3 different ages. Young, middle aged, old. 

Something here captures out imagination.. over the centuries…they are exotic, they are mysterious, and hey, they’re kings….

Did you know that their bodies are Cathedral in Cologne? Won in a trade with St. Helena. And yes, check this out. …in 2004, the skulls examined…and indeed, they were three different ages, and indeed, they are dated  to the 1^st century…so, who knows?

What was Matthew up to here? If we go by the Biblical story, they come to an oikos, a house. Only Mary is there. No Joseph. And it could be as much as two years later. (Herod wants to kill all baby boys under 2 years old…)

SO maybe he’s making these points:

1.Outsiders get what insiders miss

2. This is a story about inclusion. The multicultural emphasis was clear as early as 7^th century when the Venrable Beade named them. This is Matthew’s welcome to gentiles…ALL the nations…

3. And even though the Magi were surprised at what they found, they would still worship

And oh yes, the myrrh….Matthew tells the whole Gospel story in the  birth narrative, so there must be a foreshadowing of the grave, an embalming spice is added to Isaiah’s list…

And what of epiphany? It literally means manifestation, (in Spanish, the same  word is for demonstrations…), We have come to  think of it as instantaneous revelation…getting it…

So what do we get?

1.     Those from outside may need to show us the way

2.     Our expectations are  likely to be upset….

Don’t be afraid to take a journey, even if you’re  not sure where you’re going….keep going….and be willing to be surprised once you get there…

After the reflection, Jeremy and I are going to sing Early on One Christmas Morn by Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon.  On Sundays he sang with the Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers.  On Fridays and Saturdays, well, that’s another story…

A striking but visibly agitated woman has entered the service. Sat down by Russ. Spilled her coffee. As we begin to pray, she’s making a phone call. When Marsha asks her gently to turn of her phone, she snaps, my child has been kidnapped….

We carry on…

Following our Eucharist, our final song is the African-American Jesus the light of the world. And then our final blessing.

Conversations. Questions. And then then Session meets. With even more questions.  Hard questions. And after our hours together, I feel tired. A post-holiday down is coming down….

СЧАСТЛИВОГО РОЖДЕСТВА.

The 12th day of Christmas: Epiphany and the Three Kings

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We'll walk in the light

The 12^th day of Christmas. Of course had to clear Joe and his woman off the steps. Again. The temperature is rising. Creating a dangerous situation.  A filmy layer of water over the ice. I’m getting texts from people afraid to venture out. I know what that means.

Jeremy arrives and we do a quick run through of our music.

When John arrives, it’s time to begin.

We start with our old familiar Sanctuary. ( Lord prepare me….) I say that our old song continues to grow like musical weeds in the ecumenical garden. Jane’s congregation named itself Sanctuary. Alistair and West End picked it up. Then the his resident Jewish congregation Romemu took it on. And at our community Thanksgiving service, the new cantor at Rodeph laid it on like whipped cream topping  over Hinei ma tov uma naim.

Our opening song was the traditional We Three Kings and I tell my cousin story again. (….Orientar… http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2013/01/epiphanyel-dia-de-los-tres-reyes-magos.html ).

We begin our scripture readings with Isaiah 60: 1-6.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, 
          and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 
²   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. 
³   Nations shall come to your light, 
          and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴   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. 
⁵   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. 
⁶   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.

We notice the contrast of darkness and light, the light shining through the darkness.  A song of restoration  on the edge of captivity and occupation. Nations coming from afar. A universal, not a local vision. Ah, and here are kings…and camels, a multitude of camels; and gifts of gold and frankincense…  (wait, no myrrh? We’ll have to come back to that…) Clearly Matthew was mining this prophetic passages for images for his birth narrative.

Then we read Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14 and we repeat responsively

All kings shall bow down before you; all nations shall do you service

as Jeremy begins to underscore my reading.

We don’t talk much about the Epistle reading, 3: 1-12, except to notice again the emphasis on Gentiles, the goyim, the others.

After Arcadia reads the gospel in Spanish, Matthew 2: 1-12, Jeremy and I do the traditional Puerto Rican carol, De tierra Lejana. (http://stagersound.com/WestPark/Service_1-5-14/SpanishSong.mp3 ). And people begin to join in. Finally, the gospel from Matthew, the old familiar story.

GOSPEL MATTHEW 2:1-12

Mary and Joseph greet the three kngs

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “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.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 
⁶   ‘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.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then 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.” ⁹When 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. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On 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. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

And we notice…no shepherds, no manger, no sheep or cattle. Just wise men. Not kings. And no mention of three.  And this time a new gift. Myrrh. The spice for burial. It’s always Matthew’s scheme to tell the whole story of Jesus in the birth narrative. So the presence of the cross is here, even at the beginning. Foreshadowing. And like the wise men, after we have been enlightened, we must return home by another road. You can’t go back the same way you came.

We talk about how the word epiphany came to mean more than the religious meaning. Like Anna says, like the cartoon light bulb. The moment when you get it. When the light comes on and on an instant it’s all clear. So what do people get here? That this ruler is different? Like Matthew set us up for in his genealogy? That this ruler must suffer, even to death? And that from here on out, the beloved community includes gentiles, outsiders, people of other religions? ( The wise men, probably Zoroastrians from Persia or maybe part of Iraq….)

But on this day, it has another meaning. Because our leaders will consider sending to our national church a call for the church to grant permission for its pastors to perform same gender marriages. We had been previously asked to endorse such an action where state civil law allows. But our friend Ray Bagnuolo, with whom I did a double same gender marriage right before Thanksgiving, has challenged us to forward an overture that calls for that right regardless of civil law. Ray argues theologically that we cannot allow civil law to determine our law. (Thank you, Ray). And I explain to our people that this will allow my colleagues, based on their own conscience, to do without fear of losing their ministry what West-Park and the sate of New York allows me to do all the time. If you’re gonna  go, go all the way. The congregation has a sense of pride in being able to step out first (thanks to the work of Lincoln Park Church in Chicago) and take a stand that pushes beyond the liberal qualified position. I am honored to be this church’s pastor.

                                                       Bruce Cockburn

We celebrate our Eucharist. Then Jeremy helps me do Early on one Christmas morn. I talk about how the song goes back to Freddie Half-Pint Jackson, of the Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers. How Freddie also sang in the new Orleans bordellos and we now know was a pioneering female impersonator. (Thanks s to Bruce Cockburn for introducing u to Freddie.) And we finish with Andre leading us in Jesus the light if the world.As we sing, we share our Christmas candles one more time.

Andre led us

 On Zora Neale Hurston’s birthday, January 6, 2014, I recall this wonderful passage in Their eyes were watching God..

Folkses, de sun is goin’ down. De Sun-maker brings it up in de mornin’, and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night. Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up nor to slow it down. All we can do, if we want any light after de settin’ or befo’ de risin’, is tuh make some light ourselves. So dat’s how come lamps was made. Dis evenin’ we’se all assembled heah tuh light uh lamp. Dis occasion is something for us all tuh remember tuh our dyin’ day. De first street lamp in uh colored town. Lift yo’ eyes and gaze on it. And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lamp-wick let de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Brother Davis, lead us in a word uh prayer. Ask uh blessin’ on dis town in uh most particular manner.”

While Davis chanted a traditional prayer-poem with his own variations, Joe mounted the box that had been placed for the purpose and opened the brazen door of the lamp. As the word Amen was said, he touched the lighted match to the wick, and Mrs. Bogle’s alto burst out in:

We’ll walk in de light, de beautiful light
Come where the dew drops of mercy shine bright
 Shine all around us by day and by night
 Jesus, the light of the world.

They, all of them, all of the people took it up and sung it over and over until it was wrung dry, and no further innovations of tone and tempo were conceivable. Then they hushed and ate barbecue.

Arcadia cut the rosca

And though we can’t share barbecue, we do share Rosca de reyes, brought to us by Arcadia. We wait to see who finds a baby Jesus in their bread. Whoever does is supposed to host a party on candelaria, the feast of the presentstion ofJesus in the temple 40 days after Christmas, the ne df Epiphany. A carnival event, in te tradition. And Jeremy and I find the babies.

Jeremy found a baby Jesus

If I have my new house by then, I promise to host a party.

All that’s left is for the Session to make our overtire request official. And to n surprise, they is exactly what they do.

After attending Helen Rosenthal’s inauguration as our new city council member and after joining Kate and Arcadia and Marsha spending 12^th night serving dinner at the SPSA homeless shelter, I stop by the church once more. Rachel is there. She has nowhere to go. I try to persuade her to seek shelter. She will not. She drags her carts out into the

And I found one too

bitter cold night. And I wonder where she will be.

Twelfth day. And now frigid 12^th night. The 12 days of Christmas are over

and to our friends in Russia...

Счастливого Рождества

Baby Jesus