Epiphany   January 3, 2009  Cycle C                                                        
Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6,
Matthew 2:1-
12                                                                                                                               
I’ve never tried this, but it can’t be much fun riding a camel across the desert.
Or even for a short ride in a field somewhere! Sitting in between two humps
isn’t my idea of a joy-filled ride, where your safety and livelihood are in the
hands and control of a large beast with an odd shape to
it.                                                                                
Actually, last year when Deacon Joe was visiting Israel, one of the stories he
told when he returned was of riding a camel up Mt. Sinai at 2:00 in the
morning in pitch black. Well, somehow, someway, he’s still here with us. The
story didn’t sound like much fun. Riding an odd-shaped beast up a pitch
black mountain.                                 
Or riding a camel across the desert, even if the purpose of the ride is to come
and give homage to a new born King, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and
laying in a manger. The ride had to be uncomfortable. But they still made the
ride, and nothing was going to stop them. Especially not Herod with evil
intentions. The things we will do sometimes in order to get a glimpse of
God.                                                                        
But this whole ride across the desert, stopping off in Jerusalem to encounter
Herod, never to see Herod again because in a dream they were warned of his
evil intentions (Yeah! He really wanted to come and worship Jesus. About as
much as the Red Sox really wanted the Yankees to win the World Series!).
Then after leaving Jerusalem and being told Bethlehem was the place of
honor, they continue across the desert, on camels, through any potential
setbacks.                                                         
This whole scene of riding across the desert on a camel, and arriving in
Bethlehem with gifts, is a fitting image for our own spiritual journey
throughout life. We do ride with the Magi. We do have our own camels for
this sometimes perilous journey. Yes, we have our Guardian Angel, and we
have our camel.                                                 
What the Magi is riding towards, and what we “ride” towards always, is a
search for truth. And when the truth is God in the form of a child, wrapped in
swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, any incompleteness, and false
ways, any useless avenues, any misdirections, are overcome, and our
search for truth across a lifelong desert on the back of a camel comes to a
stable. Arriving at the stable, and spending time at the stable, and bringing
our gifts to the stable, means that we have found the truth that is the Christ
child.                
So we have these three men, supposedly wise – the philosophical, poetic,
astronomer, lawyerly, doctorly type – and they are in search of truth. The
story in Matthew really doesn’t tell us, but somehow, someway, they come to
discover Truth has arrived, and that a star will lead
them.                                                               
For most of us, we are no longer searching for the truth. We know in our
heart of hearts that Jesus is not only the reason for the season, but Jesus is
the reason for life after death. Our attention is not so much on the truth of
who this child is. We know who he is. St. Paul tells s clearly who he is. The
firstborn of all creation. In every way the primacy is his. He is before all else
that is. In him everything continues in being. It is he who is head of the body-
the Church. He who is the firstborn from the dead. That’s who he is! That’s
the truth! And so much more. We believe these words of St.
Paul!                                         
So our attention, our energy, our yearning, our desire is really focused on
the camel ride. For us, our focus is on getting to Bethlehem, arriving in
Bethlehem safely. And being in the Lord’s presence in such a way where we
are pleasantly overpowered by the scene that awaits us. Welcome to heaven,
but not yet.                                         
First, we have an uncomfortable, bumpy, smelly, seemingly long ride before
we arrive at the manger, where Mary holds her Son. We’re not so much on a
journey for truth like the Magi, as much as we are on a bumpy journey across
the desert, sometimes holding on for dear life. We have an eye on the truth,
but we need a camel to get us there. And thanks be to God we have such a
camel. And the camel goes by the name of “faith.”                 
That’s what stands out in this famous story of the Magi. It’s the faith of the
intellectuals, the faith of the learned, that prods them through the desert,
through the sandstorms, through the evil and deception of Herod, and lands
them in a place of honor. A place known as Bethlehem. Our landing
place.                                                         
At funerals, we call Bethlehem the “new Jerusalem.”                                         
 “May the angels lead you into paradise,                                                         
   may the martyrs come to welcome you,                                                         
   and take you to the holy city,                                                                        
   the new and eternal    
Jerusalem.”                                                                                                                           
                                     
That’s the story of the Magi. That’s the story of their faith. That’s our
story.                
“May the angels – those ministering spirits of God – and a star, lead you
through the desert, may the martyrs come to welcome you, and get you
through the same storms they knew all too well, and help you with your
camel ride, and take you to the holy city where the Christ child is born, a new
and eternal
Bethlehem.”                                                                                                                           
                                     
And in the end, we come to realize in full vision the ride on the camel through
the desert was worth the view we will arrive
at.