Epiphany - Power and Light
Power and Light
Isaiah 60:3-6, Matthew 2:1-12
January 4, 2026 Epiphany Sunday
Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney, First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael, CA
PDF OF SERMON LINKED AT BOTTOM OF THIS BOX
Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
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.
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.
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. Isaiah 60:3-6
1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "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." 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
5 They 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.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then 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."
9 When 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.10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
In my early years as a pastor, one of my favorite annual projects was to organize the Christmas pageant. This involves children and sometimes teenagers of all ages and heights. Some of you have told me your memories of the beautiful, fun and funny Christmas pageants here over the years. Kids would be assigned various roles – Mary, Joseph, sheep, donkey, shepherds. And for many kids, the three kings were the favorites.
The shepherds wrapped themselves in blankets. The kings put on elaborate gowns. The shepherds had walking sticks. The kings carried a cigar box wrapped in gold foil, a silver jar of frankincense, and an emerald container of myrrh. While the shepherds had hand towels held by twine on their foreheads, the kings wore an elaborate royal crown. The kings were mysterious, even exotic.
And if that wasn’t enough, they had their own song. You know it, we’ve sung it: We Three Kings of Orient Are, bearing gifts, we traverse afar. Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star. That refrain full of mystery and meaning - the star of wonder, star of light… The magi follow the start because Jesus was born. That was the point of it all. Still is.
This account from Matthew takes on another layer of meaning when we look at Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah told of a future day when Gentile strangers would come from afar. Kings would arrive on camels. They would bring gold and frankincense. Isaiah did not mention any myrrh, so I looked it up. Myrrh was a burial spice, the worst possible gift anybody could bring a baby. No wonder Isaiah did not mention it.
When we look at Matthew, our traditional “three kings” story never mentions any camels. And the story doesn’t say the strange visitors were kings. The Gospel of Matthew calls them “magi” in Greek. They were star-gazers and fortune tellers, astrologers. Outsiders probably from Persia.
Our familiar story never numbers them as “three.” All we’re told is magi from the East arrived. There could have been three, or two, or six. The story never says. The magi brought three gifts. Early on, the number was fixed as three.
Whatever number there were, Matthew tells us that Jesus is born and the local king wants to do away with him. The king’s name is Herod. At least, that was his family name. There are six different kings named Herod in the New Testament. The one in our story was the granddaddy of them all. They called him Herod the Great. He ruled from about 37 BCE to 4 BCE. He played up to the Roman Empire that occupied his land; in turn, they kept him propped up. He compromised any values to get his way, so Rome kept him around.
Herod was everything that the Gospel of Matthew described him to be. Herod was ambitious. He wanted more land and more buildings. He had a reputation for profound cruelty, even violence. He never thought twice about imprisoning or eliminating any threat, even if that threat came from his own family. The Herod of history showed little restraint. He was sneaky, sinister. As we’ve heard today, he was devious.
In a sermon by my friend Rev. Bill Carter, he tells this story:
One of my minister friends wrote King Herod into his Christmas pageant one year. I don’t know what he was thinking. But he gave his King Herod the same lines that Matthew gives him: “Go and find this child. Let me know where he is. I want to worship him too.” At that moment, one of the children stood up over near in the manger scene and yelled, “No, you don’t. You’re a liar!” People laughed, nervously, but everybody knew the child was right.
We read in Matthew 2:16 - 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.
Our Bible stories are more than stories. They teach us morality. They instruct us to distinguish between right and wrong. They remind us directly or implicitly that this is a dangerous world. A lot of children are at risk. One of the reasons they are at risk is because some adults are intoxicated with their own arrogance, greed, ego, and power. Any sense of compassion or humanity shriveled long ago.
Today’s text tells us what has unleashed the evil. Matthew says, “Wise men from the East came to say, ‘Where is the new king? All we want to do is worship him.” That was enough to set loose the beast in old king Herod. He had no intention of getting off his throne. He insisted on staying in power, no matter what. So, he said, “Let me know when you find him. I want to worship him too.”
That little child in Bill’s friend’s church said, “No, you don’t. You’re a liar.” Herod the Great proved him right. In the process he exposed himself as being not so great.
He was not great compared to Jesus. Jesus began teaching and embodying a different kingdom, or kin-dom. Jesus, who would one day ride into the city on a humble donkey. This is what the Bible teaches us. A different kind of power.
I think it is good to pause and let it sink in.
Today on Epiphany Sunday we consider these wise ones from the East and the star they followed and their journey that home by another way. We mark time as we shift from Christmas to season of Epiphany. We are here as begin a new calendar year. Actual new beginnings happen in our lives all the time, tangible shifts that redefine and redirect us, like starting new job, retiring or moving, being given a new diagnosis or a new grandchild. And then there are the new beginnings that become a new beginning because everyone treats it as one, like new years.
We wonder if there is something new. Are we different than we were on Dec. 31 or Christmas Eve or last January? Are we finding ways to grow and deepen our connections and awareness of the Holy One, Divine Mystery and to one another and creation? Maybe something shifts in our inner life. It did for me last week.
One of the joys of the past week of vacation after Christmas was reading a new book Jeffrey game me. Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd. It is a memoir about her life as a writer, but it is also an exploration of her spiritual life. I found myself nodding and underlining. She helped me rediscover parts of my life as someone who writes – mostly sermons and prayers but also poetry, journal reflections. I sense something shifting in me as I begin a new year and new season. It is a time of both looking inward to my spiritual awareness and gratitude and outward to see where the Spirit is leading me to be a person of compassion, courage and hope in a time when so many actions of current leaders are causing suffering and harm to individuals and communities of vulnerable people. What are the gifts and resources and skills that I bring to being your pastor, being a writer, and serving the community? I see those who followed the star in a new light this year.
Magi, traveling from afar, bringing gifts to worship God coming into the world. This was never in their life plans or new year’s resolutions. But they lived open to the direction of something outside themselves and responded when the call came. They ventured into the unknown, open to the uncontrollable, obedient to the call, and in the home of a peasant woman and her carpenter husband in a nowhere town 500 miles from home, they met God, the Holy One, incarnate face to face.
The magi departed from that place changed. They were set on a new path, with a new perception of the universe and everyone in it, and belonging to a new, small and very diverse community of those who had been in Christ’s presence, and who would now be watching together what God was doing in the world as ready and willing participants in God’s unfolding story.
What the wise men recognized in the star was the confirmation God’s promise that God’s light would shine on the world. And so they sought the light of the star. They testified to the light. They experienced joy there in the presence of this mystery, this child.
And then they returned home, by another way, to share the light they had seen.
Star words
Last few years, we passed out stars to you, inviting you to take a star word and to let it be a reminder to you that God’s light does shine in the darkness.
Each paper has a word on it. I invite you to consider how that word might speak to your life in this new year. Perhaps you could use it to lead your prayers this year. Perhaps you could tape your star to your refrigerator or bathroom mirror and when you see it, find a source of light and love, look to God as if you are following that the star. An invitation for a word to inspire and guide. To commit to love and light and to resist injustice, hate and violence. There are many roads that lead you home.
Perhaps it can be your reminder that what you do with the light that has shined in your life does matter. Arise! Shine! For your light has come, and the light of the Beloved shines through you. Amen.
Resources
Rev. Bill Carter, “The Dark Side of Epiphany,” Jan. 5, 2025 https://billcartersermons.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-dark-side-of-epiphany.html
Rev. Kara Root, “New Beginnings,” Jan. 5, 2025 https://kara-root.blogspot.com/2025/01/new-beginnings.html