Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to comm.church for more information.

As we're getting going, I wanna take my chance to wish you all a very happy New Year. My name is Scott. If we haven't met before, hello and warmest 2022 wishes to each of you because there really are so many reasons to be hopeful and excited about the specific three hundred and sixty three days ahead of us. Just as I'm sure there are many uncertainties and challenges that might have some of us feeling a little bit down, being back online for a couple weeks here certainly reminds us all of how quickly things can shift and that's that's okay. It's okay if you're excited to see 2021 in the rearview mirror.

It's okay to be thrilled about some potential here in the coming months or to be unsure about how to feel about what's ahead. Cause the reality is that we often mark time this way. We move quickly and expectantly in some moments and then we hang back and we take care in so many others. And regardless of where you find yourself as we flip the calendar over, we are honored that you're journeying with us. Whether this is day one for you or you have found us in this persistent pandemic or your story goes back to an earlier iteration of our community, Regardless, we are so excited about the connections that will form this year in groups and at events and through conversations.

And we are so excited too about the ways that our shared work will give us opportunities to serve together, to offer support to local and global partners, to make a significant difference through our combined efforts. And we are also so excited to be learning together in all kinds of spaces, including our Sunday teaching, which you can follow along with on your or in your journal. Some of you have already been looking ahead and know that we are gonna visit some intriguing territory over the next few months. We're gonna be thinking about friendship and how the last couple of years really have changed our experience of these important connections. We're gonna dive into our theology and experience of the Holy Spirit and we're also going to explore some ancient songs that informed the writing of the early Christians which is just a bit of a teaser trailer.

And if you don't have one of our free journals yet, no worries. All of our teaching is mapped out there for you to follow along and take notes with, and you can grab your journal by swinging by the church this week if that works for you. You can also wait to grab one in person in just a few weeks or you can always link to the digital version that's available every day on the title page of our website. And either way, we don't take your attention and your thoughtful engagement lightly. We're actually so humbled by all the ways that you invest in and you shape this community, and we celebrate the road ahead even as we trust the spirit to lead us and grow us together.

Now with this said, today, we find ourselves in a bit of an in between space of sorts. We are in the season of Christmas still with the season of epiphany right around the corner, and we are gonna jump into all of that with a conversation about expectations and bias and the clash of kingdoms and the particular in just a second. But first, would you take a moment and pray with me? God with us. To you, our hearts are open with all of the complexity that we hold today.

Our hope for the days ahead, maybe the heaviness, the fatigue, the apathy, and anxiety too. And with these things, we come and we ask that you would be the source of all that we need, all that we need to take the next step, and all that we need to care for those who are around us, and all that we need to find a way. And we also hold the promise of your fragile, tender presence in this world. We ask that you would be our guide, that you would lead us in these moments and in the days to come. We pray these things.

In the name of Christ, our hope. Amen. Alright. So, I know that some of you who have tuned in to the live stream today, you've tuned in and you've realized that maybe something might not be quite right. I mean, we have the advent candles still burning here.

I'm wearing our fancy and some of you, this has you wondering if we even look at our calendars here at the church and the answer is of course, yes, we do and I want to take a moment to address a quick point here because if you are the kind of person who takes your tree down on December 26, well, I'm sorry because during Advent, we made mention of the debate that rages on how early to decorate for Christmas and I would humbly suggest that the debate on when to tear down might be just as significant or more. See, because as many of you might be aware, in Christian timekeeping, Christmas is a twelve day feast and sometimes called Christmas tide, and it's not just a couple of days of rapid tests and family time and movie marathons and ski runs and thousand piece puzzle. Whatever your jam is, it's an extravagant celebration of lights and cheer in the heart of winter darkness. And in this part of the world that we live in, the feast is often at its most bright at the beginning on Christmas day, whereas in other traditions of Christianity, it gets brighter towards the end.

It generally finishes on January 5 before the season of epiphany begins. This is a seasonal transition that we're gonna mark later this week, which on one hand means that you should feel perfectly entitled to keep your decorations up until at least Thursday. Okay? I'm just saying that. Get all the Christmas that you can.

But then on the other hand, it means that our teaching today finds us in Christmas tide feasting but leaning towards epiphany light. And if you don't happen to be familiar with epiphany, here's a quick breakdown. It's another feast like Christmas that celebrates the appearance of the divine in Jesus' human form. But it goes beyond the themes of the infant Christ and the holy vulnerability that we have taken up during Christmas to consider ideas of how Jesus is revealed and uncovered and announced in the world. Epiphany actually takes some different images from the gospels as its starting point and we're going to look at one of those in just a second because first, I want to offer a quick epiphany thought.

Just a few weeks ago, a friend asked me and a few others if we wanted to get out for a sunrise hike. And while many of us do hike year round, this particular outing was going to serve a particular function. See, the plan was to reach the summit just as the sun came up on the first morning after the winter solstice. We would greet the sun as dawn broke on longer days and warmer months and good times ahead, which is pretty cool. Right?

So in the days leading up to this hike, I was reflecting on this and I was thinking about the turning of the tide. I was doing some evaluation on this past year, and I was getting really excited for this time with my friends and a chance to get outside. So by the time that actual day came, I was pumped because the weather had cooperated and I had amazing drinks and snacks packed and then, we had to slog through a ton of soft energy sucking snow on the ascent. We are punching through constantly and filling our boots, and on top of that, there were a couple of us in the group, mostly me, that weren't in great winter shape, which slowed us down to the degree that I arrived at the summit a minute after sunrise, a sunrise that was completely blocked by low hanging cloud, which was still beautiful, but it wasn't what I'd imagined it would be. Except as we huddled in some trees out of the wind to catch our breath and sip our coffee, one of my buddies spoke up.

And he quietly told each of us there how meaningful these joint hikes we've been doing had been for him this past year, how climbs suffered through and conversations shared together, even the smoke obscured views we'd had to deal with had these things had steadied and helped him through a really difficult season. And this made this moment unexpectedly holy for me, sitting there with freezing cold hands and a warm heart. It was this moment of tide turning epiphany parallel for me. See, it was a reminder that even with its fresh hope and anticipation, this new year will let me down. It's gonna undermine my expectations, but it's also a reminder that just like my friend's mountaintop reflection surprised me, it's a reminder that I can trust that God's creative and restorative work will happen in delightful ways that I can't possibly predict.

Now one of the primary narratives of this looming epiphany season that we're entering is the story of the Magi which we find in Matthew's gospel. This is a familiar image for many of us and we read that after Jesus was born, sometime after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of king Herod, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. And And over the next few verses, we learn that these Magi get the information that they need to continue their journey and eventually they come to a house where the toddler Christ and his parents are living. And there they offer the holy family these lavish gifts.

And here's the deal. Magi, that's just the plural form of a Greek term megos, which is a word that ancient Greek historian Herodotus used to describe this group that wielded power in ancient Persia through their use of sacred and medical and scientific knowledge and by the time of Jesus, this term could function as an honorific title for the priestly caste of many countries to the East of Israel. There's actually some evidence that Magi came to visit the Roman emperor Nero. But this term could also be a slur of sorts, and we see this in the book of Acts when it refers to charlatan magicians and performers who were taking advantage of people. And the truth is that these characters and this story in Matthew two, it's very familiar to us, but it's become a bit of an imaginative playground because Christian writers have turned these travelers into kings.

They weren't kings. They speculated on how many of them there were even though the text doesn't tell us anything about that. By the time of the sixth century, the Magi were actually being given names, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar if you're taking notes and in the medieval church, some bones rumored to be theirs became wholly contested relics. People died defending these things. You can still go see them in Germany if you want.

And to be honest, this kind of creative flexibility might be why I find it so hard not to picture Shacklebold, McGonagall, and Dumbledore in this story. The point is that the Christian tradition and the season of Epiphany have focused on these characters from a far off land simply because they're exceptional. They're a significant interjection on the story of Jesus' life and by definition, epiphanies are rare. That's how we identify them in comparison to regular occurrences which I wanna suggest betrays a kind of bias in how this story gets told, but also in how you and I live our lives. Noted biblical scholar Douglas Hare observes that the passage here fixates on these foreign dignitaries at the expense of silencing and marginalizing the holy family.

It pacifies Jesus' closest and most significant caregivers because Joseph is nowhere to be seen, and Mary who sings aloud in Luke's version of the story is given just a passing reference here. And the truth is that the gospels include almost no information about Christ's early experiences, which makes this Magi story really stand out. And it's also what's led interpreters and meaning makers to weave all kinds of tales about the role these Magi played in Jesus' story. When in reality, the people, the places, and experiences that dutifully shaped and faithfully protected Jesus, they're left out of history's telling despite being arguably far more important. And I point this out so I can offer you this simple encouragement.

By all means, make sure you mark and you post about and you celebrate all the exceptional and improbable experiences you might have this year that bring epiphany and new perspective with them. We are gonna be so excited with you. Just don't let them bias you into ignoring the profoundly normal ways you're changing. How revelation is sparking and growing in places like consistent self care and therapy sessions. How small and yet insignificant habits are unveiling the best of you over time, and how someone's faithful presence in your life is already building trust and openness that you know you can't deny.

Now, let's jump back into the story here for a moment because I think there's something happening behind the scenes here that we need to look at. Remember, Matthew two begins with the Magi riding into Jerusalem and asking around for the newly born king of the Jews and clearly, this wouldn't sit well with the incumbent king, a guy named Herod the Great, who we meet briefly. A historical sources have a lot to say about Herod. They reveal that he had a mixed Jewish Gentile racial background that he acquired and kept his throne largely because of a friendly relationship with the ruling oppressive Roman Empire and that he maintained a lavish and extravagant lifestyle through cruel extortion of the peasant people. Oh, and also, he was violently paranoid and power hungry.

He murdered multiple family members to preserve his rule. And these are all factors that made him a serious pretender, a counterfeit king for the devout Jewish author and audience of this particular gospel. So, when in the story, we see Herod visibly disturbed by the appearance of these Persian Magi looking for a king. He's truly in character and he asks the priests and the rabbis in Jerusalem what predictions the Hebrew Bible makes about what a Messiah king or where they would be born? And those leaders replied, they said, well, in Bethlehem and Judea, of course, for this is what the prophet Micah has written.

But in you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, by no means are you the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people, Israel. Now, one of the things you need to know is that the author of Matthew is layering meaning here. See, because Bethlehem isn't just any old name drop. This is a town just outside Jerusalem long remembered as the birthplace of the great Hebrew king David whose lineage it was believed would produce the great future messiah king who would deliver the Jews and restore a long lost kingdom. And if you don't quite remember the story here, Herod takes this information and sends the Magi away to Bethlehem, and he tells them to come back once they've found this child so that he can go and recognize this new king too, which of course, we know He has no intention of doing.

We know that Herod represents all those willing to do whatever it takes to hold their power firm. And we read in the story that the Magi find Jesus and that they are then warned in a divine dream to not go back to the king. The author makes it clear whose side god appears to be on here which is why? When Herod sends the Magi to Bethlehem in search of a king foretold, there's an all too obvious irony at play in this text for a Jewish audience. This pretender king doesn't know the stories.

This pretender king will stop at nothing to keep power. This pretender's king, his rule will not last. And you know what? This pretender king is not worthy of your allegiance. And biblical scholars make it clear that Matthew's author is all about this clash of kingdoms.

See, because Jesus is born in the hamlet of kings. And these mysterious figures from the East arrive and herald him as king and they carry gifts fit for a king. And then of course, we will see Matthew's Jesus speak time and time again about a new heavenly kingdom. A kingdom marked by a very different relationship to power than Herod. A kingdom embodied in Christ's humble service and his provocative advocacy.

His revisionist message of divine mercy and all of these teachings and practices that ultimately lead him to being executed by imperial force. Under the title the Magi brought with them years before. King of the Jews. Because in this story's subtlety, the season of Epiphany asks us if we can feel power shifting. It asks us if we can identify our own Herods and hear the groans of the neglected in our world.

It asks us if we can imagine the change that might come if we were to acquiesce to Jesus' humble reign. And I get it. That might seem a little abstract, but I don't think it needs to be. See, I think Epiphany makes it clear that kingdoms and powers will collide, and that as a result, none of us will be the same at the end of 2022 as we are right now. An epiphany leads and leaves this challenge hanging in the air with us.

Will I be more liberated from cultural self centeredness in my thinking a year from now? Will I be freer and more intentional with my affection and my generosity? Will I be more committed to practices of justice that decidedly change others' experience in my neighborhood? These are the kinds of questions that just as they did in Matthew's time, they invite us into the clash and onto a journey of faith that follows Jesus toward the answers we might find. And you know what?

It's it's not easy to know how to proceed down that path, especially in a time like this with so much uncertainty swirling around all of us. Right? I'm sure that there are more than a few of us that have come to this January and this looming epiphany season, we are struggling to find the energy we need. Maybe you know that things need to change, but you don't know what steps to take. Perhaps the New Year dawns with this feeling that old wounds and demands just will not leave you alone.

And regardless of where we find ourselves, I really do think this Magi story offers us some helpful perspective. And here's how. You remember that familiar detail? How these guys show up saying, we saw his star when it rose, and we've come to worship him. See, scholars have debated just what exactly this means.

Just what kind of celestial event might have inspired these Persians to think that something was actually happening and to journey hundreds of miles to investigate. On one hand, we do know that Haley's comet appeared in the years December, which is probably too early historically to be what the Magi saw. Some There was a notable one of these between Jupiter and Saturn in the year July. But then, of course, there are some experts who point to the notes of Chinese astronomers who recorded a bright nova or a star explosion that was visible for up to seventy days in the years May. The reality is these are all great theories but we don't really know.

The details of this aren't really what concerned Matthew as he wrote. What mattered to this ancient Jewish author was that these Gentiles, stargazers, and wisdom finders came in search of a newly born Hebrew child. A child that had been herald in the sky by a sign in the sky that anyone and everyone could see. And that's just it. The claim of Matthew's gospel is that these travelers showed up having followed a universally available sign.

In fact, that's a big part of what this season of epiphany celebrates, this universal divine message that could be seen and can be seen and heard by all, which is a captivating idea for sure. But I think it's just as incredible to consider how Epiphany invites us to consider how Jesus was revealed and announced in the particular, in the particular fascination of these premodern astronomers whose eye sensitivity and knowledge of the heavens just might have uniquely positioned them to see truth writ large as the sky. In the unique fixation of these Persian tourists who might have set out on a grueling winter solstice hike of their own in search of a child whose name they would never know but whose future they sensed was worth knowing more about. In the embedded wisdom of these scholars that had never known Torah or its stories about Jehovah God, but they could recognize mercy's brightness on the dark canvas of human history. And that's worth considering because I think the same is still true.

I think that we do come to know God's goodness in the grand sweeping arc of the Christian story. It's a story available to all. It's a story woven into so many different tales of a creative and eminent presence in the universe. Just as I'm sure that the divine is found in the particulars of your life and your perspective and your experience. Where Epiphany invites you to launch into this year in search of the light that you can always see, but hope is there.

Where Epiphany invites you to read fiction and study scripture and write poems and songs and scripts and persist in relationships and explore the planet safely when we can again and invest in causes and love in ways that only you can do. Finding that your journey into your particulars, just like the Magi, your journey will bring you to the humble foundations of a faith found in seeking. And with this, I wish you a happy New Year, friends, and may Epiphany Light guide us all. Let's pray. Loving God, we are so thankful for these moments now.

And maybe we can sense that we maybe just need to pause with this gratitude. Our gratitude for the ways that community and shared life tie us together across this digital distance. The ways that your spirit gently keeps and comforts us in this journey that we are sharing together. And as we lean into the changing of seasons this week, the beginning of a new year, the list of goals that we might write, the invitation of epiphany light that we might sense, we pray. Would you give us strength for the work of faith as we surrender our expectations and we pay attention to the steady ways that change is happening, even as we look out at our world and we carry your gentle kingdom's goodness into all kinds of places where it's needed, into the particulars of this journey where we can trust that you will be there.

Grant us grace to trust you. We pray. Amen.