“Does the Birth of Jesus Signal an End
to All Other Ways of Knowing God?”
January 6, 2008
Scripture:
Matthew 2: 1-12
Rev. Jean Morrow
I have a sermon title, it’s
just not printed in the bulletin…but I think it is a rather good title…so I
want to share it…
“Does the Birth of Jesus
Signal an End to All Other Ways of Knowing God?”
That question ought to give
us something hearty to chew on this morning.
“Does the Birth of Jesus
Signal an End to All Other Ways of Knowing God?”
It feels like the right
question to pose today, Epiphany Day…the day on the church calendar that begins
the season when the church emphasizes God’s call to us to spread the Good News
of Jesus Christ to all nations on earth.
From a scriptural point of view, Epiphany always kicks off with the
arrival of the wise men…or wise ones…who arrive from the East to see God’s
magnificent work in Jesus.
A common biblical interpretation
has grown up around the last line of the text from this morning’s reading. The last line reads, “And having been warned
in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another
road.” A common teaching of that statement is that
the wise ones not only return to their countries of origin changed or transformed
by their experience of Jesus…many teachings go much further and say that the
wise ones converted that day…converted to Christianity…before Christianity
existed…so a better way of saying it might be that they became followers of
Christ.
And so, I think my question
is a good one. Does the birth of Jesus
signal an end to all other ways of knowing God?
There is something about
Jesus…and the scripture, stories and legends that have grown up around him…that
give many Christians the chutzpah to say that he is the only revelation of
God…that he is the final revelation of God.
From my study this week, one
commentator suggested that this Christian perspective comes to us in a couple
of ways. First, there is the
exclusivist, who finds God’s self-revelation only in Jesus Christ and regards
other faith traditions as simply false…then there is the inclusivist
who sees God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ as the final goal toward which
all faith traditions point, whether or not the faithful in those other
traditions realize what is “really” happening or not…and all Christians are
called to enthusiastically evangelize all people of all faith traditions show
them the direction towards Christ, the direction that their faith tradition
surely points.
Either way, exclusivist or inclusivist, the perspectives are oppressive, heavy-handed,
patronizing, disrespectful…and I think dangerous and polarizing.
Let me bring this to life by
sharing a story I heard this fall…one that really bothers me. You’ll remember that the Women’s Fellowship
hosted two missionaries from
After their presentation, as
they were packing up their things, I engaged Liz in casual conversation. She shared that one of the hardest things
about being in
One of the stories she told
me was about a sacred Tibetan mountain where Buddhists monks would make a
yearly pilgrimage. The pilgrimage required
that the monks walk around the base of the mountain several times while praying...walking
in a particular direction. A very intentional prayer pilgrimage. Well, the Fundigelical
Christian community would gather…flying Christians in from all over, Liz
thought…to walk around the mountain the opposite direction, praying, to undo…to
counteract the evil that the pagan Buddhist prayer pilgrimage was creating.
Hmmm…does the birth of Jesus
signal an end to all other ways of knowing God?
We all know there are other
examples. Religious bigotry happens everywhere. Between and among all faith
traditions. But, this morning I
want to explore my question from a Christian perspective…to challenge both the
Christian exclusivist and Christian inclusivist
perspectives on God’s revelation through Jesus, while standing firmly in my own
faith tradition as a Christian…a faith tradition that holds me, roots me,
empowers me, humbles me. We are going to
explore the question through today’s text in particular, because of the way the
theme of Christian conversion has grown up through the text.
For most of us, the birth
narratives of Jesus, pulled from the books of Matthew and Luke, are woven
together with each other. But they are quite
different…and we can only find the wise men in Matthew. So, let’s begin by
separating Matthew from Luke and taking a closer look at the wise ones from
Matthew.
Our next step will be to separate
the scripture from the story or legend that has grown up around the scripture. We’re going to take a really close look at
what is and what is not in the Bible account of the visit.
And, I’m going to be direct. So let’s get started.
There weren’t three of
them…the Bible doesn’t specify a number.
Three probably came to be accepted because there were three gifts
cited.
They weren’t kings. The Greek word “magi” is most often
translated in scholarly texts as wise men or wise ones. The idea of kings comes from reading Psalm
72, Isaiah 40 or Isaiah 60 into the story.
Those ancient texts mention kings kneeling before the promised one. “We three kings” actually emerge in early 14th
century Christian writings…very late, really.
Scholars believed they were
learned, educated people and that they did study the stars. Ancient astrologers. It is thought that they were probably
Zoroastrians, from
They aren’t named in the
text. Caspar, Balthasar
and Melchoir emerge in 6th and 8th
century texts from
We don’t know whether or not
they had camels, we have written them in…for which I am glad, as they add so
much to our crèches scenes. I love them.
And we don’t know that they
were all men.
What is clear is that they
have been drawn from the East to pay homage to what they believe is a
revelation of God…a revelation as seen through their faith tradition…not
through Judaism…certainly not through Christianity…which didn’t exist. They had traveled far to pay homage…let me define
homage: to offer respect, reverence, deference, honor…they had traveled far to
pay homage to God’s revelation, God’s presence, God’s light…call it what you
want. They came to experience God. What they saw, what they experienced was
meaningful, powerful, authentic, genuine…and they knelt and offered their
gifts. In that action, the text suggests
they were moved, they were convinced, they were touched by their experience of
Jesus.
Let’s
go back to that troublesome last line of the scripture, “And having been warned
in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another
road.” Is there another way to hear or
interpret that sentence without assuming conversion?
If
you remember, they had met with Herod and they asked about a child who was born
king of the Jews. Surely they had some
inkling that a new king might unseat Herod.
The text says their posing that question frightened Herod. He gathered chief priests and scribes and had
them pouring through scripture. He was
totally thrown off his game.
And,
I don’t think the wise ones would have had to hang around
I
think that once the wise ones found Jesus and experienced whatever they
experienced, whether it was an angel visitation, a dream or gut instinct and
intuition, they knew going back by way of Herod would surely end in tragedy…and
they went home by another way.
We’ve
taken our text apart and we are back at our question, does the birth of Jesus
signal an end to all other ways of knowing God?
This is a question each of us will have to ask, but I find myself
agreeing with commentator Charles Allen when he says, “What I see in this text is
that people of other traditions can “pay homage” to Jesus Christ without
becoming “Christians.” The magi bring
gifts, leave them, and return to their own lives. They do not get baptized. They do not stick around to wait for Jesus to
grow up and begin his ministry. They do
not return during Jesus’ adulthood to become his disciples, nor do we have any
record that any of their descendants returned to become disciples. Yet, Matthew presents them as faithful” in
their response that in Jesus, God is made manifest…God is made visible.
“No
doubt, they have been changed by their journey,” Allen says, “they are most certainly allies of Jesus. But they are not Christians. They remain magi, even after their
encounter.”
I
think the magi lead us to a third way to consider how we interact with people
of other faith traditions. Rather than
the route of exclusivist or inclusivist, could we not
find our way, with them, as pluralists?
I’m not sure that’s the right word, but there must be a word or way to
convey that, as Christians, we are open to or can embrace the understanding
that God works beyond our own understanding…and within that, God works beyond
our particular faith tradition…that God is revealing God’s self all over the
place and that revelation is being viewed authentically and genuinely and
powerfully through other faith traditions.
God’s self-revelation in Jesus is only one way among many…a “final”
revelation for some, but not others.
That
leads me to another set of questions. Can I, like those wise ones, explore
other faith traditions eagerly, opening myself to their experiences of
God? Can I kneel in their homes and in
their holy places and offer my homage, respect, reverence, deference
honor? Can I be a good Christian and
still do all that?
I
think the wise ones would say, “Go and learn, but don’t feel like you have to
abandon the experiences of God that ground you.” I think I would hear something similar from
the author of Matthew…and it is certainly something that resonates in my own Christian
heart.
My
friends, does the birth of Jesus signal an end to all other ways of knowing
God? Only you can find the answer to
that question. But, should you choose
this journey, following that particular star, look to the wise ones as faithful
guides. Read the signs around you, follow God’s leading and celebrate the good news of God’s
love alive in the world wherever you find it.
May the journey be rich with God’s love. Amen.