Sermon for SMHP, Year C, Sunday of the Epiphany, Jan. 12, 2025
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
In 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.
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At my desk at the synod office, I have
twin monitors…which was really helpful on Thursday, when I was able to put the
funeral service for President Jimmy Carter on one and work on the other. It was a stunning service, and I hope some of
you got to see it. If you didn’t get to
see it, I highly recommend listening to three pieces in their entirety:
1.
The eulogy that Gerald Ford wrote for the man
who defeated him in the 1976 election, read by Ford’s son, Stephen.
2.
The eulogy delivered by Jason Carter, Jimmy and
Rosalynn’s grandson.
3.
The sermon delivered by Rev. Andrew Young.
Rev.
Young was a wonderful choice, because he represents the legacy of the carter
presidency. Young was a leader in
the Civil Rights movement, and a member of Martin Luther King’s inner
circle. [From 1964 to 68, he was
Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Alongside
Bayard Rustin, he helped to plan the March on Washington in 1963. He also helped to draft both the Civil Rights
Act and the Voting Rights Act.]
In 1977, Jimmy Carter appointed Rev.
Young to be the first African American ambassador to the United Nations. In 1981,
Carter awarded him Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A good sermon has a bit of dramatic tension,
and the honorable Rev. Young brought that, when he opened his sermon reflecting
upon the days when he and Jimmy Carter were both residents of South Georgia. Young was pastor at Bethany Congregational
Church in Thomasville, Georgia. He said
he would occasionally drive north and have to go through Sumter County—home of
Plains, Georgia. He would be nervous,
since, according to Dr. King, the sheriff of Sumter County at that time was
“the meanest man in America.”
When Young met Carter—back when Carter
was running for governor of Georgia, he told Mr. Carter than the only thing he
knew about Plains and Sumter County was that mean sheriff. And Jimmy said, “Oh yes, he’s one of my good
friends.”
It’s a little hard to imagine how they
got from there to working together, and to Rev. Young being the preacher at
Carter’s funeral.
But in his sermon, Young explained
it. “Time and time again, I saw in him
the ability to achieve greatness by the diversity of his personality and his
upbringing.” Then he said this, and I want to use this statement as a lens for the
story of the Epiphany, and probably for the season of Epiphany, when we
will be girding our loins to defend our faith.
“Dr. King used to say” Rev. Young
preached, “that greatness is characterized by antitheses strongly marked.
You’ve got to have a tough mind and a tender heart.
And that was Jimmy
Carter.”
Jimmy Carter was the rare human who
was able to be friends with the small town sheriff who threw Martin Luther King
in jail, and with one of Dr. King’s most trusted advisors—because he was
able to hold together contrasts and to do so wisely. He called both men friends, but he
only invited one of them to join his administration.
Dr. King used that phrase “antitheses
strongly marked” in a number of speeches and sermons about discipleship. It a rephrasing of the teaching Jesus gives
to the disciples when he sends them out in Matthew, chapter ten:, “See, I am
sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and
innocent as doves.”
The strong person, Dr. King said, is
able to maintain toughness of mind (“wise as serpents”). They aren’t afraid of change,
but they hold fast to principles. At the
same time, they have a tenderness of heart, which flows forth in selfless love. There aren’t many who are able to do both
really well, but if you know anything about Jimmy Carter, you know he had a
tough mind and a tender heart.
And we needed it, to knit this country
back together after the Watergate scandal and the travesty that was the Vietnam
War.
Persons able to hold antitheses
strongly marked are especially needed in the most troubling times.
We have come to such a time, without
such a leader. The leadership we need
for the days ahead will not come from the usual places and the usual
people. In fact, the challenges we face
in the coming weeks and years are rolling down upon us from the halls of
power.
But the story of Jimmy Carter, peanut
farmer from Plains, Georgia is still darn relevant. As is another story we’ve heard this morning.
The melding of a strong mind and a
tender heart is not actually a well marked attribute of the dominant culture. The sorts of capitulation required to stay in
power often do lasting damage to the minds and hearts of the powerful. By many accounts, King Herod the Great
ascended the throne a wise and thoughtful man who did some great things for his
people, including rebuilding their temple.
But by the time we meet him, he is a paranoid despot.
If we’re looking for antitheses
strongly marked in our gospel story, it won’t be Herod we’re studying, will
it? It will be the outsiders—the “wise
men from the East.” Their tough minds are on display in both their title and
their activity in the story. They have been observing the heavens and discovered
a curious astrological phenomenon. And
they’ve come to investigate that Star they saw rising. Their wisdom extends to multiple fields—they
are scientists and philosophers. They
can read the stars and the ancient texts, which is how it is that they, the
Gentiles in our text, come to explain to
Herod, the King of the Jews, that according to the book of Micah the
Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.
Their
wise minds help them find the child, and their tender hearts are on full
display once they arrive. What a lovely
scene it is, right?
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.
Their interpretation of signs is
rendered useful one more time, and they sneak out of town to avoid having to
tell Herod where the child is. Were they
a bit less wise, this story could have been over before it started.
“Antitheses strongly marked.” A tough mind and tender heart. That is the leadership Dr. King knew was
needed to protect the vulnerable.
“Be wise as serpents and gentle as
doves.” This is the advice Jesus gave to the ones charged with sharing his Way
with the world.
These are teachings we must lean into
in the coming days, my friends. There
will be leaders among us, and I believe there are leaders in this very
sanctuary, who are able to gather all sorts of people together and mark a way
forward that is both wise and loving.
They will not be the leaders to whom
we generally turn, as citizens and as people of faith. There will be voices of resistance in
Washington, but not enough to temper the brutal, Herodian reign to come.
There will be teachings from church
leaders, but they will fall short in both wisdom and heart. It pains me to tell you that as someone who
works for our churchwide organization, but I can tell you that, as someone who
works for our churchwide organization. Christianity is in the time of the growing
pains, the time Jesus warned us would come.
Many have left the Way of Jesus. And
some speak the name of Jesus but have a heart full of Herod.
They are, all of them, our
siblings. The ones with whom we have the
most in common right now are the atheists and agnostics, because they still
believe in humanity. Many of them have
the wisdom, the heart, and the courage to tell us that our house has fallen out
of order.
It will be harder to reclaim our
Christian nationalist siblings. Fear is
a powerful force, and what many of them fear is us.
And still we will try. As the wise men went to Herod, we will go to
the leaders of our own church and to those from other communions who are
captive to fear. We will offer the gifts
we have—no gold, but the sweet-smelling traditions of worship and justice
ministry that marks a church along the Way of Jesus.
Hard times are ahead. Wisdom may seem to scarce, but it is there,
and it will come from unexpected places, as it always has.
If you find yourself in a room and
there doesn’t seem to be a wise person, then it is probably you. Bring a tough mind. Speak from a tender heart. That is the Way. That is the hope to which we cling.
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