New Age religion
Commentary
What has been called New Age religion has been with us for a while now. It is an eclectic category of modern beliefs usually starting with the premise that we are good people and can get even better if we know the right techniques. New Age religion sports many old and ancient philosophic ideas, all dressed up in new clothes for another go around -- monism, pantheism, reincarnation, Gnostic enlightenment, to name a few. Even though these ideas proved less than satisfying in the past, they attract contemporary questers like shiny baubles. Some studies even indicate that one-fifth of our North American population may now classify itself religiously as New Age.
So it is no wonder that New Age religion is resoundingly condemned in most of our churches. As a competing religion to Christianity, it should be. After all, the classic doctrines of Creator and creation, sin, covenant, incarnation, and redemption in Jesus are at odds with New Age religion's focus on the god-ness of every human soul, the mysteriously vague cosmic enlightenment and the string of lives that are part of its reincarnated versions of the self.
But the term "New Age Religion" belongs as much, if not more, to Christianity. It would be a shame to let this great idea be stolen away from biblical expressions of faith. Each of the lectionary passages for today speaks of the new age about to dawn for the people of God. Isaiah announces it from a distant hilltop. The Magi see it emerging in the young life of the one born to be King, and the Apostle Paul tells his readers that they are living in the dawning between the ages.
While a pastor in a Christian congregation ought to be careful with the term "New Age Religion" because of its clearly non-Christian connotations in ordinary speech, she or he need not fear taking this biblical concept and reclaiming for its rightful designation. Indeed, the new age of Jesus is upon us, and most of the world's population actually marks time according to the new age that dawned when Jesus was born. We are, today, celebrating the Epiphany Of The Lord, identifying it on our calendars as the first Sunday of the Year of Our Lord 2005.
While the mish-mash of New Age religions around us vie for attention and speculate on how we are getting better and better as the god-ness of our souls grows brighter with channeling and spiritual enlightenment, we in the Christian church declare the "new age" of the Messiah, who came because we could not find spiritual health and peace by ourselves. We proclaim the "new age" of the King who gave up his rights in order to buy back ours. We proclaim the "new age" of the One who sits on the throne and alone is able to open the seals binding our times, and unravel the mysteries of the universe created and sustained by God alone.
This is the New Age explored by J. R. R. Tolkien in his The Lord of the Rings trilogy, ending triumphantly with The Return of the King. This is the New Age imaged by C. S. Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where, after the Faun had declared that in Narnia it was "always winter and never Christmas," Mr. Beaver later reports that Aslan has landed and is on the move. This is the "new age" of the new covenant in the blood of Jesus, the "new age" of the spirit of Pentecost, the "new age" of the church and its mission. This is the "new age" of Christmas, which each year follows the hopeful longing of Advent and waits expectantly for God to fulfill God's promises.
Isaiah 60:1-6
Morning has broken for Isaiah. Whether one sees in this prophecy a collection of writings attributable to one, two, three, or four Isaiahs, there is no uncertainty about the message here. After God's people have endured a time of painful exile, they will return from scattered locations and hidden haunts to reclaim their place in the land of promise (see ch. 40). When that happens, not only will the ancient glory of Israel be re-established (see ch. 54), but the nation will become a magnet toward which all other people and kingdoms will be drawn (see the preliminary announcement of this in ch. 2:1-5).
Isaiah's image of dawn has two antecedents. First, this morning glow recalls creation itself. The "thick darkness" (v. 2) covering earth is reminiscent of the murky gloom clinging to the planet in the chaotic prelude of Genesis 1:2. At that time the creative word of God brought light, and from that light, life spread across the face of the world. In this metaphor Isaiah portrays a re-creation in which the ill-defined morass of international politics is reborn to meaning and purpose as God's glory hovers anew over Israel.
Second, Isaiah's picture is rooted as well in the nation's sanctuary scenes. When the oily fog of sin blocked out the brilliance of God's presence (see Isaiah 9:1-2), earth was left with only the pale glow of the natural sun. Through God's unique relationship with Israel the glory of heaven hovered above both tabernacle (see Exodus 40:34-38) and later temple (see 1 Kings 8). In a sense, the light of God's presence upon Israel was the beacon calling all nations to find Abraham's God (see Genesis 12:1-3). Although this lighthouse was put out of service in recent times by Israel's disobedience (see Isaiah 5), God's promise here is that there will soon be a grand reopening, with its power boosted to never-before-experienced levels.
This time around, other countries will not see Palestine as a mere trifle to toss back and forth in the battles of the superpowers. Instead, Israel will be seen as throbbing with divine glory itself; so much so that, as in the days of Solomon (note the reference to "Sheba" in v. 6), the nations will come curious and stay in awe. Not only will the light of divine blessing appear as a cloud over the cultic sanctuary, but also it will reflect in and glow from the faces of the people (v. 1). Its transforming power will draw others like the lights of a city at night. Richard Mouw has powerfully reflected on this in his book When the Kings Come Marching In (Eerdmans, 2002).
Isaiah's dawn is related to Israel's recovery from its current religious and political nightmare. Just as no human effort can bring the morning sun, so only an act of God can cause the glory to return to Israel. When it happens, the New Age of the Messiah (see Isaiah 9, 11, 35, 61) will be inaugurated.
Ephesians 3:1-12
A little detective work shows that the three letters of Paul to Philemon, Colossae, and Ephesus were written at the same time (explore the personal notes near the end of each letter which reveal their shared occasion and couriers). It seems that the return of the slave Onesimus to his owner Philemon was the prompting agent for these pieces of correspondence. The emergence of a false teaching in nearby Colossae appears to have shaped Paul's instructions in his letter to that congregation (see Colossians 2). This letter to the Ephesians, as we know it, might well have been a circular letter (note that the earliest manuscripts do not specify a destination in 1:1) that made its rounds through the variety of congregations in the Lycus River valley (possibly the referent of Paul's enigmatic comment in Colossians 4:16). In any case, it is clear that the patterns of Paul's thought in Colossians are largely duplicated in Ephesians, minus any counter-teaching to a specific heresy.
Paul's Ephesian letter is filled with confidence, encouragement, and prayer. Chapter 1 exudes all three. In chapter 2, Paul explains the reason why: the new age of Jesus Christ has dawned in which old conditions of death and alienation are undone. Paul uses the image of a temple (2:19-22) to pull together several themes -- spiritual rebirth (like the construction of a building), union of Jew and Gentile into a single community (like shared building materials), and the return of God to an earthy residence. As God did in God's interactions with ancient Israel, God is making a new effort to reclaim the earth from the power of evil. This time God will succeed, since the outcome is not dependent on Israel's strength, but rather on the divine initiatives displayed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This signals the dawning of the new age, the messianic age. Paul is driven to ecstatic prayer at the thought of this wonder (3:1). But before he can pray in earnest (see how he picks up his thought and prayer in 3:14), Paul gets sidetracked by a need to explain his unique role as messenger of the new age. As he does for the Galatians (ch. 2), the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:1-11), and the Philippians (ch. 3), Paul provides brief hints of his special call to serve as ambassador of Jesus and the new age of the kingdom to the Gentiles (see also Acts 9, 22, 26). But Paul's vocation never takes prominence; always it is upstaged by Paul's reflections on what he calls the "mystery of Christ" (3:4, 6). "Mystery" here is not secret knowledge (like in gnosticism) nor insights or spells known by the few (as in mystery religions). Paul's use of mystery is similar to the revelations of Revelation -- things that were hidden during past times, even though they were playing out beyond the sight of human gaze, have recently become evident to all.
For Paul, this new unveiling of God's redemptive activity signals the transition from the old age to the new or messianic age (see this further developed in 5:8-14). In other words, the same dawning that Isaiah anticipated from a prophetic distance, Paul now declares to be actually happening. The church, however, is the locus of God's resident glory (3:10), not merely the nation of Israel. Furthermore, instead of the nations coming to a specific spot of real estate in order to bask in the glow of heaven, as Isaiah perceived it, the church has become a fluid organism that moves out into the world meeting the Gentile nations through gospel proclamation in every city. The New Age has dawned, and the glory of God is seen through the ministry of the church.
Matthew 2:1-12
Only Matthew gives us the story of the coming of the Magi to worship the newborn King. Three strands of theology intersect in Matthew's selection of this material.
First, there is the royal grant covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel 7. David had desired to build a permanent house for God, since Israel was now settled into brick and mortar dwellings in the land of covenant promise. But God's word through the prophet Nathan declared that David's son rather than David himself should build the temple. Still, to honor David's worthy wish, God promised to build an eternal royal "house" out of the descendents of David. According to the divine pledge, there would never cease to be a davidic king on Israel's throne. Unfortunately, Israel's national identity declined and the royal line was no longer needed because the remnant Jews had become an occupied nation. Only through a new and spiritual version of the promise would God's oath to David be fulfilled. In Jesus, Matthew declares (1:1) the final and eternal royal heir has been born (see Jesus' ultimate kingly declaration in 28:18-20). For this reason the Magi have the story right (2:2-6). The new age of the messianic davidic kingdom has dawned.
Second, there is Matthew's desire to show how Jesus replays the full life of Israel. Jesus is unusually born after angelic visitations and miraculous promises (1:18-25) as was Isaac to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17, 21). Jesus was called out of Egypt (2:14-15) as was Israel (Exodus 12-19). Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness (4:1-11) as Israel wandered in the Sinai for forty years (Numbers). Jesus receives the "law" of God on a mountain and passes it along to contemporary Israel (5-7) as Moses did for ancient Israel (Exodus 20-34). In this particular passage (1:1-12), Matthew sets the stage for the ruling king, Herod, to follow the pattern of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh in opposing the birth of male babies (Exodus 1), which will eventually lead to the slaughter of the innocents around Bethlehem (2:16-18). In building these parallels Matthew indicates that the second major age of history has dawned. The former was the age of Israel; the latter is the age of the Messiah.
Third, there is in Matthew's Gospel a consistent theme that the age of Israel is giving way to the age of the Gentiles. Jesus' early healings involve outcasts and non-Jews (8:1-13). Jesus tells the parable of the tenants (21:33-46) as an indication that God's work is now going beyond Israel. Only in Matthew's Gospel does Jesus pronounce the seven woes upon the cities and leadership of Israel (ch. 23). And in Jesus' kingly benediction (28:18-20) is the command to bring the gospel to all nations. Here, in 2:1-12, it is the Magi -- court astrologers and royal advisors of mysterious Gentile nations far away -- who already know that the baby newly born in this obscure place is destined to hold sway over international politics. The age of the global ruler, born a Jew but promised to the Gentiles, has dawned.
The coming of the Magi is like the ringing of the morning alarm clock or the crow of a rooster at sunrise. This is the dawning of the new age of the messiah, a transcendent scion of David's line, a replay of Israel who will this time accomplish the redemptive work of God, and the ruler who will call all nations into his global kingdom.
Application
The first Sunday of a new year is a great time to capitalize on everything "new" about the Christian faith: new life, new joy, new relationships, new community, new attitude, new hope, new trust, new spirit ... the list could go on a long time. Christianity is truly the "New Age Religion." Isaiah saw it coming. Paul celebrated its power. The Magi marked its world-changing significance, and on the first "Lord's Day" in the Year of Our Lord 2005 we preach hope and expectation of the new age of Christ in which we live.
Regardless of whether the news today is bleak or insignificant, tragic or hopeful, the "good news" of the gospel is that this world will not end with either a bang or a whimper, but with the shout of an archangel and the trumpet blast of God, and all heaven will break loose! On this first Sunday of the new year, encourage God's people with this great "new age" promise.
Alternative Applications
1) Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12. The first Sunday of the year is always a good time to make New Year's resolutions. Today it might be possible to help people reflect on the messianic age announced by Isaiah and ask people to think about how this new age is seen in their lives. If they are to make New Year's resolutions, better than trite resolutions about dieting and changes in personal habits of hygiene, it would be good to have them wrestle with the big resolutions that we make as we struggle to live in the world but not of it. What would Isaiah's messianic kingdom look like if it were actually unfolding around us? Yet, in Jesus it has begun to be a reality. What commitments do we need to make in order that we choose to be part of the world of God's blessing rather than the world of sin's mediocrity and evil?
Similarly, Paul challenges his readers to remember the new thing that has happened in Jesus. Paul's own life was changed enormously, and he expected the same to be true for the church he had evangelized into existence. Ephesians 2 tells of several New Year's resolutions that need always to be made in the Christian community -- racial and ethnic division must be overcome; forgiveness must be received and given; spiritual disciplines must be practiced so that God might live easily in the temple of the congregation's membership.
The story of the Magi is harder to fit into this theme. However, the dedication of men who would travel far distances at personal expense to worship an unknown king is highly admirable and may stimulate similar resolutions of changed behavior. Also, the gifts brought by the Magi are always symbols of the offerings that God's people ought to bring and pledge as New Year's resolutions.
2) Matthew 2:1-12. Since we celebrate Epiphany this Sunday, it would be good to think about the "manifestation" or "revealing" of Jesus' divinity. The Matthew passage is well-used to make this point. Although Jesus is only an infant at the time, the Magi are able to see in him (through divine revelation) the fullness of deity that will gradually be unveiled to others through the course of the gospel. Today is a good day to celebrate the incarnation and the visible representation of Immanuel, God with us.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Using the psalm during Epiphany provides an opportunity to create a message that moves from the lesser to the greater. The lesser, of course, is the king of Israel. The functions and expectations of the davidic king are recited and celebrated in the context of worship. The people are able to hear, with the king listening in, exactly what is his responsibility to God and to them.
For instance, the psalm opens with a prayer that the king would be given justice and righteousness so that his rule would establish a just social order. The king is here presented as the one who is responsible for the maintenance of the social order.
The psalm also prays for the long life of the king (v. 5). This indicates the belief that the nation's well-being, its length and its prosperity are all tied to the fate of the king. If the king does well, the nation will also do well.
There is also an expansive aspect on which the psalm touches. The psalmist sings about the reign of the king "from sea to sea," and mentions "the kings Tarshish and of the isles." This language allows him to project the reach of the king of Israel all the way to the very limits of "the whole world" (vv. 8-11). The prayer was that the king would have far-reaching dominion over nations that would be submissive to his rule and generous in the payment of tribute.
Finally, the psalmist reminds the king of his responsibility to protect and defend the weak members of society (vv. 12-14). There were no laws in ancient Israel requiring kings to protect the rights of the powerless and the vulnerable. However, society placed the king under the moral obligation to defend the weak, to help the needy, and to have compassion on those most likely to be victimized by others.
All of this, of course, is the lesser. All of this represented the job description for one king of one country.
In our celebration of Epiphany, we are invited to expand these ideals expressed for earthly kings and celebrate their fulfillment in the appearance of the King of kings. Justice and righteousness are his mantle. Caring for the least of these is his daily bread, and the reach of his kingdom goes far beyond simple borders. For the King who has appeared to us as Jesus the Christ, his kingdom is the universe and his reign is forever.
So it is no wonder that New Age religion is resoundingly condemned in most of our churches. As a competing religion to Christianity, it should be. After all, the classic doctrines of Creator and creation, sin, covenant, incarnation, and redemption in Jesus are at odds with New Age religion's focus on the god-ness of every human soul, the mysteriously vague cosmic enlightenment and the string of lives that are part of its reincarnated versions of the self.
But the term "New Age Religion" belongs as much, if not more, to Christianity. It would be a shame to let this great idea be stolen away from biblical expressions of faith. Each of the lectionary passages for today speaks of the new age about to dawn for the people of God. Isaiah announces it from a distant hilltop. The Magi see it emerging in the young life of the one born to be King, and the Apostle Paul tells his readers that they are living in the dawning between the ages.
While a pastor in a Christian congregation ought to be careful with the term "New Age Religion" because of its clearly non-Christian connotations in ordinary speech, she or he need not fear taking this biblical concept and reclaiming for its rightful designation. Indeed, the new age of Jesus is upon us, and most of the world's population actually marks time according to the new age that dawned when Jesus was born. We are, today, celebrating the Epiphany Of The Lord, identifying it on our calendars as the first Sunday of the Year of Our Lord 2005.
While the mish-mash of New Age religions around us vie for attention and speculate on how we are getting better and better as the god-ness of our souls grows brighter with channeling and spiritual enlightenment, we in the Christian church declare the "new age" of the Messiah, who came because we could not find spiritual health and peace by ourselves. We proclaim the "new age" of the King who gave up his rights in order to buy back ours. We proclaim the "new age" of the One who sits on the throne and alone is able to open the seals binding our times, and unravel the mysteries of the universe created and sustained by God alone.
This is the New Age explored by J. R. R. Tolkien in his The Lord of the Rings trilogy, ending triumphantly with The Return of the King. This is the New Age imaged by C. S. Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where, after the Faun had declared that in Narnia it was "always winter and never Christmas," Mr. Beaver later reports that Aslan has landed and is on the move. This is the "new age" of the new covenant in the blood of Jesus, the "new age" of the spirit of Pentecost, the "new age" of the church and its mission. This is the "new age" of Christmas, which each year follows the hopeful longing of Advent and waits expectantly for God to fulfill God's promises.
Isaiah 60:1-6
Morning has broken for Isaiah. Whether one sees in this prophecy a collection of writings attributable to one, two, three, or four Isaiahs, there is no uncertainty about the message here. After God's people have endured a time of painful exile, they will return from scattered locations and hidden haunts to reclaim their place in the land of promise (see ch. 40). When that happens, not only will the ancient glory of Israel be re-established (see ch. 54), but the nation will become a magnet toward which all other people and kingdoms will be drawn (see the preliminary announcement of this in ch. 2:1-5).
Isaiah's image of dawn has two antecedents. First, this morning glow recalls creation itself. The "thick darkness" (v. 2) covering earth is reminiscent of the murky gloom clinging to the planet in the chaotic prelude of Genesis 1:2. At that time the creative word of God brought light, and from that light, life spread across the face of the world. In this metaphor Isaiah portrays a re-creation in which the ill-defined morass of international politics is reborn to meaning and purpose as God's glory hovers anew over Israel.
Second, Isaiah's picture is rooted as well in the nation's sanctuary scenes. When the oily fog of sin blocked out the brilliance of God's presence (see Isaiah 9:1-2), earth was left with only the pale glow of the natural sun. Through God's unique relationship with Israel the glory of heaven hovered above both tabernacle (see Exodus 40:34-38) and later temple (see 1 Kings 8). In a sense, the light of God's presence upon Israel was the beacon calling all nations to find Abraham's God (see Genesis 12:1-3). Although this lighthouse was put out of service in recent times by Israel's disobedience (see Isaiah 5), God's promise here is that there will soon be a grand reopening, with its power boosted to never-before-experienced levels.
This time around, other countries will not see Palestine as a mere trifle to toss back and forth in the battles of the superpowers. Instead, Israel will be seen as throbbing with divine glory itself; so much so that, as in the days of Solomon (note the reference to "Sheba" in v. 6), the nations will come curious and stay in awe. Not only will the light of divine blessing appear as a cloud over the cultic sanctuary, but also it will reflect in and glow from the faces of the people (v. 1). Its transforming power will draw others like the lights of a city at night. Richard Mouw has powerfully reflected on this in his book When the Kings Come Marching In (Eerdmans, 2002).
Isaiah's dawn is related to Israel's recovery from its current religious and political nightmare. Just as no human effort can bring the morning sun, so only an act of God can cause the glory to return to Israel. When it happens, the New Age of the Messiah (see Isaiah 9, 11, 35, 61) will be inaugurated.
Ephesians 3:1-12
A little detective work shows that the three letters of Paul to Philemon, Colossae, and Ephesus were written at the same time (explore the personal notes near the end of each letter which reveal their shared occasion and couriers). It seems that the return of the slave Onesimus to his owner Philemon was the prompting agent for these pieces of correspondence. The emergence of a false teaching in nearby Colossae appears to have shaped Paul's instructions in his letter to that congregation (see Colossians 2). This letter to the Ephesians, as we know it, might well have been a circular letter (note that the earliest manuscripts do not specify a destination in 1:1) that made its rounds through the variety of congregations in the Lycus River valley (possibly the referent of Paul's enigmatic comment in Colossians 4:16). In any case, it is clear that the patterns of Paul's thought in Colossians are largely duplicated in Ephesians, minus any counter-teaching to a specific heresy.
Paul's Ephesian letter is filled with confidence, encouragement, and prayer. Chapter 1 exudes all three. In chapter 2, Paul explains the reason why: the new age of Jesus Christ has dawned in which old conditions of death and alienation are undone. Paul uses the image of a temple (2:19-22) to pull together several themes -- spiritual rebirth (like the construction of a building), union of Jew and Gentile into a single community (like shared building materials), and the return of God to an earthy residence. As God did in God's interactions with ancient Israel, God is making a new effort to reclaim the earth from the power of evil. This time God will succeed, since the outcome is not dependent on Israel's strength, but rather on the divine initiatives displayed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This signals the dawning of the new age, the messianic age. Paul is driven to ecstatic prayer at the thought of this wonder (3:1). But before he can pray in earnest (see how he picks up his thought and prayer in 3:14), Paul gets sidetracked by a need to explain his unique role as messenger of the new age. As he does for the Galatians (ch. 2), the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:1-11), and the Philippians (ch. 3), Paul provides brief hints of his special call to serve as ambassador of Jesus and the new age of the kingdom to the Gentiles (see also Acts 9, 22, 26). But Paul's vocation never takes prominence; always it is upstaged by Paul's reflections on what he calls the "mystery of Christ" (3:4, 6). "Mystery" here is not secret knowledge (like in gnosticism) nor insights or spells known by the few (as in mystery religions). Paul's use of mystery is similar to the revelations of Revelation -- things that were hidden during past times, even though they were playing out beyond the sight of human gaze, have recently become evident to all.
For Paul, this new unveiling of God's redemptive activity signals the transition from the old age to the new or messianic age (see this further developed in 5:8-14). In other words, the same dawning that Isaiah anticipated from a prophetic distance, Paul now declares to be actually happening. The church, however, is the locus of God's resident glory (3:10), not merely the nation of Israel. Furthermore, instead of the nations coming to a specific spot of real estate in order to bask in the glow of heaven, as Isaiah perceived it, the church has become a fluid organism that moves out into the world meeting the Gentile nations through gospel proclamation in every city. The New Age has dawned, and the glory of God is seen through the ministry of the church.
Matthew 2:1-12
Only Matthew gives us the story of the coming of the Magi to worship the newborn King. Three strands of theology intersect in Matthew's selection of this material.
First, there is the royal grant covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel 7. David had desired to build a permanent house for God, since Israel was now settled into brick and mortar dwellings in the land of covenant promise. But God's word through the prophet Nathan declared that David's son rather than David himself should build the temple. Still, to honor David's worthy wish, God promised to build an eternal royal "house" out of the descendents of David. According to the divine pledge, there would never cease to be a davidic king on Israel's throne. Unfortunately, Israel's national identity declined and the royal line was no longer needed because the remnant Jews had become an occupied nation. Only through a new and spiritual version of the promise would God's oath to David be fulfilled. In Jesus, Matthew declares (1:1) the final and eternal royal heir has been born (see Jesus' ultimate kingly declaration in 28:18-20). For this reason the Magi have the story right (2:2-6). The new age of the messianic davidic kingdom has dawned.
Second, there is Matthew's desire to show how Jesus replays the full life of Israel. Jesus is unusually born after angelic visitations and miraculous promises (1:18-25) as was Isaac to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17, 21). Jesus was called out of Egypt (2:14-15) as was Israel (Exodus 12-19). Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness (4:1-11) as Israel wandered in the Sinai for forty years (Numbers). Jesus receives the "law" of God on a mountain and passes it along to contemporary Israel (5-7) as Moses did for ancient Israel (Exodus 20-34). In this particular passage (1:1-12), Matthew sets the stage for the ruling king, Herod, to follow the pattern of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh in opposing the birth of male babies (Exodus 1), which will eventually lead to the slaughter of the innocents around Bethlehem (2:16-18). In building these parallels Matthew indicates that the second major age of history has dawned. The former was the age of Israel; the latter is the age of the Messiah.
Third, there is in Matthew's Gospel a consistent theme that the age of Israel is giving way to the age of the Gentiles. Jesus' early healings involve outcasts and non-Jews (8:1-13). Jesus tells the parable of the tenants (21:33-46) as an indication that God's work is now going beyond Israel. Only in Matthew's Gospel does Jesus pronounce the seven woes upon the cities and leadership of Israel (ch. 23). And in Jesus' kingly benediction (28:18-20) is the command to bring the gospel to all nations. Here, in 2:1-12, it is the Magi -- court astrologers and royal advisors of mysterious Gentile nations far away -- who already know that the baby newly born in this obscure place is destined to hold sway over international politics. The age of the global ruler, born a Jew but promised to the Gentiles, has dawned.
The coming of the Magi is like the ringing of the morning alarm clock or the crow of a rooster at sunrise. This is the dawning of the new age of the messiah, a transcendent scion of David's line, a replay of Israel who will this time accomplish the redemptive work of God, and the ruler who will call all nations into his global kingdom.
Application
The first Sunday of a new year is a great time to capitalize on everything "new" about the Christian faith: new life, new joy, new relationships, new community, new attitude, new hope, new trust, new spirit ... the list could go on a long time. Christianity is truly the "New Age Religion." Isaiah saw it coming. Paul celebrated its power. The Magi marked its world-changing significance, and on the first "Lord's Day" in the Year of Our Lord 2005 we preach hope and expectation of the new age of Christ in which we live.
Regardless of whether the news today is bleak or insignificant, tragic or hopeful, the "good news" of the gospel is that this world will not end with either a bang or a whimper, but with the shout of an archangel and the trumpet blast of God, and all heaven will break loose! On this first Sunday of the new year, encourage God's people with this great "new age" promise.
Alternative Applications
1) Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12. The first Sunday of the year is always a good time to make New Year's resolutions. Today it might be possible to help people reflect on the messianic age announced by Isaiah and ask people to think about how this new age is seen in their lives. If they are to make New Year's resolutions, better than trite resolutions about dieting and changes in personal habits of hygiene, it would be good to have them wrestle with the big resolutions that we make as we struggle to live in the world but not of it. What would Isaiah's messianic kingdom look like if it were actually unfolding around us? Yet, in Jesus it has begun to be a reality. What commitments do we need to make in order that we choose to be part of the world of God's blessing rather than the world of sin's mediocrity and evil?
Similarly, Paul challenges his readers to remember the new thing that has happened in Jesus. Paul's own life was changed enormously, and he expected the same to be true for the church he had evangelized into existence. Ephesians 2 tells of several New Year's resolutions that need always to be made in the Christian community -- racial and ethnic division must be overcome; forgiveness must be received and given; spiritual disciplines must be practiced so that God might live easily in the temple of the congregation's membership.
The story of the Magi is harder to fit into this theme. However, the dedication of men who would travel far distances at personal expense to worship an unknown king is highly admirable and may stimulate similar resolutions of changed behavior. Also, the gifts brought by the Magi are always symbols of the offerings that God's people ought to bring and pledge as New Year's resolutions.
2) Matthew 2:1-12. Since we celebrate Epiphany this Sunday, it would be good to think about the "manifestation" or "revealing" of Jesus' divinity. The Matthew passage is well-used to make this point. Although Jesus is only an infant at the time, the Magi are able to see in him (through divine revelation) the fullness of deity that will gradually be unveiled to others through the course of the gospel. Today is a good day to celebrate the incarnation and the visible representation of Immanuel, God with us.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Using the psalm during Epiphany provides an opportunity to create a message that moves from the lesser to the greater. The lesser, of course, is the king of Israel. The functions and expectations of the davidic king are recited and celebrated in the context of worship. The people are able to hear, with the king listening in, exactly what is his responsibility to God and to them.
For instance, the psalm opens with a prayer that the king would be given justice and righteousness so that his rule would establish a just social order. The king is here presented as the one who is responsible for the maintenance of the social order.
The psalm also prays for the long life of the king (v. 5). This indicates the belief that the nation's well-being, its length and its prosperity are all tied to the fate of the king. If the king does well, the nation will also do well.
There is also an expansive aspect on which the psalm touches. The psalmist sings about the reign of the king "from sea to sea," and mentions "the kings Tarshish and of the isles." This language allows him to project the reach of the king of Israel all the way to the very limits of "the whole world" (vv. 8-11). The prayer was that the king would have far-reaching dominion over nations that would be submissive to his rule and generous in the payment of tribute.
Finally, the psalmist reminds the king of his responsibility to protect and defend the weak members of society (vv. 12-14). There were no laws in ancient Israel requiring kings to protect the rights of the powerless and the vulnerable. However, society placed the king under the moral obligation to defend the weak, to help the needy, and to have compassion on those most likely to be victimized by others.
All of this, of course, is the lesser. All of this represented the job description for one king of one country.
In our celebration of Epiphany, we are invited to expand these ideals expressed for earthly kings and celebrate their fulfillment in the appearance of the King of kings. Justice and righteousness are his mantle. Caring for the least of these is his daily bread, and the reach of his kingdom goes far beyond simple borders. For the King who has appeared to us as Jesus the Christ, his kingdom is the universe and his reign is forever.
