SERMON 480

THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD – JANUARY 7, 8, 2006

ISAIAH 60:1-6, PSALM 72, EPHESIANS 3:1-12, MATTHEW 2:1-12

THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO GOD!

Beloved in the Lord, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.

One of the blessings about living in a large city like Calgary is the abundance of roads. One has numerable options even in traveling down town. When the traffic on Ave 16 or on Deerfoot or on Memorial Drive is simply insufferable, you can find another route. As the daily traffic continues to increase one becomes ever more grateful for the options that have been provided.

There were not that many roads provided and maintained in Jesus day. But there were options and we see the Wise Men being instructed by God to take another road on their way home. They had come from the east through the capital city of Jerusalem on their way to pay homage to the new king that had been born. They had seen his star and had come to pay him homage.

They had promised King Herod that they would return by the same road to Jerusalem and give him information about the king that had been born. But the Lord God warned them in a dream to take another road on the way home. They did and in so doing provided the security of silence so that the baby Jesus would not be exposed to the murderous intentions of Herod. Thank goodness for other roads.

This past week we watched the drama of the miners in West Virginia trapped under the earth by an explosion and subjected to dangerous life threatening gases. The families and hundreds of friends gathered and waited, desperately hoping that their loved ones had found the route to safety and clean air somewhere in the mine under the earth. What a tragedy it turned out to be. How painful it must have been to have first rejoiced in the good news of their safe keeping, only to hear three hours later that only one of the men had found a path to safety, all others had died.

As we examine our lessons we will talk about roads. Actually we will spend most of our time talking about one road, THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO GOD!

Now if we have such a variety of roads in our city and enjoy the treasure of that benefit, and if we can choose one road or another depending on where we are going and when, surely then there must be a variety of roads also that lead to God. Surely God would not have left us with only one road that leads to God! If the Wise Men were instructed by God to take a different road home, would there not be different roads to God?

In the season of Epiphany we gather to celebrate the light which has been made manifest for all the nations, for all the peoples of this earth. Isaiah prophesied about it in our lesson written 700 years before Christ. Isaiah talked about the glory of the Lord which has risen upon us. The peoples of the earth who walked in darkness, on them has the light finally shone. Isaiah even talks about camels coming and the riders bringing gifts of gold and frankincense. He talks about everyone seeing and being radiant, their hearts being thrilled and rejoicing.

The Psalm for the day talks about the time of the coming of the King’s son, one who shall live and reign forever, rescue the poor and needy and crush the oppressor. The Psalmist also sees kings of Tarshish and Arabia coming to offer gifts to this new king.

But it is in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we begin to grasp that something beyond human comprehension has come to pass. Paul talks about a mystery that has now been revealed in our midst. He talks about a plan that God has had in mind for ages, a plan that has been hidden from view by the creator of all things. He talks about the eternal purpose of God, the purpose that God had from the beginning now being made manifest for the first time.

Something is really going on here, something very worthwhile considering. This mystery that Paul talks about, this plan, this eternal purpose had been hidden from the beginning. Not even the angels in the presence of God knew about this plan. And God hid this plan well, not only from humanity but also from the evil one and all his powers and principalities.

Sin and death had entered the world through the evil one and the disobedience of Adam and Eve. No one was going to destroy or thwart God’s plan of redemption. So God hid it well and let all the world walk in darkness until God was ready to let the light shine. It was God’s intention to come and walk on this earth and bring salvation to all in such a way that no one could prevent his coming and his redemption.

It was God’s intention from the beginning that we should, as St. Paul tells us, that we should all have access to God. Just think about it for a moment if you will. God actually wants us to have access to him. So God came among us and suffered and died and rose again, paying the penalty for sin and conquering both sin and death so that we should have access to God.

The access to God, the road to God is faith in Christ Jesus, the light that God sent among us. In Christ, Paul tells us, we can have boldness and confidence to walk and stand before the living God, to know God as God is, and to trust God above all things. Christ Jesus is the access and Christ Jesus is the road that leads to God. And this Christ is the road and the light for all of humanity. This is the mystery that has now been revealed to us.

And it is not only kings who have seen his star who are invited to come and worship the Lord Christ. All of humankind has been invited to know God and have access to God through Jesus Christ. No one is to be excluded from this marvelous invitation, this wondrous gift of grace and forgiveness.

Jesus Christ was the light that was sent among us. St. Paul was the messenger that was sent to proclaim this mystery of Christ Jesus to the non Jewish world. And we who have come to know and believe in Jesus Christ have also been set aside to bear witness to the men and women of this world of this glorious road that leads to God on high. And we have been given the truth from God about the roads to God. There are not many paths to God. There is only one road to God, Jesus Christ.

Our world has one value above all other values, and that value is tolerance. Is it not wonderful that we can live in a country in which there is to be no discrimination on the basis of gender or race or clan or religion?

But our culture has raised tolerance to a new level. In order to be tolerant in our society one must accept the differences that exist and concede that every person’s belief, though it may differ from ours, is equally valid. Every person’s values, every person’s beliefs, though they differ from ours, are as valid for them as ours are valid for us.

In other words, to be tolerant in our society one must not only not discriminate against any other person, one must accept that every road to God that any one travels is as valid as the road to God that we proclaim.

Our culture has created some significant problems for Christians. We know that there is only one road to God. We know that we have an obligation to share this wonderful news of real access to God in Christ with all of humanity. And yet to do so now and in the future will become exceedingly more difficult. People will expect us to believe that every road to God is as valid as any other. Who knows to what suffering our culture will lead those who proclaim Christ only?

When I walked into Mac’s for a cup of coffee on the way to the church on Wednesday morning, I saw the headlines both in the Calgary Sun and the Calgary Herald, both rejoicing in the twelve men who had been rescued from the mines in West Virginia. By that time of course the whole world knew that eleven of the twelve men had died and that the one remaining was dreadfully ill. We all felt the pain of those who suffered not only the loss of their loved ones but also the tragedy of having the truth withheld from them.

We have been told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. All of humanity is trapped in the mine of sin and death. There is only one way of escape and that is through Jesus Christ, the one road that God has provided for all of human kind. It is the road that leads to salvation. It is the road that leads to joy. It is the road that leads to confidence and hope.

We can follow the rules set by our society and agree that there are many paths and roads to God. Or, we can risk being called intolerant and be prepared to let women and men know the truth about the light that God sent among us and share with them the news of salvation and the glory of the Lord.

Do we dare risk being called intolerant? But on the other hand would we dare to withhold the truth and let them suffer the tragedy of having such vital and life giving information withheld from them?

In this season of Epiphany let us cast aside all fear and cowardice of any sort. Our light has indeed come in Jesus Christ. God has revealed to us the mystery hidden for ages. We now have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in Christ. The grace of God has been poured out among us. By this grace we too have become witnesses of and to the truth of Jesus Christ, THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO GOD!

Let us continue to search diligently for the child as did the Wise Men, and let us also follow the instructions of King Herod, to let the world know what we have found, so that they too can come and bring him homage and worship him as THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO GOD! AMEN!