Jerimiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-14; John 1:1-18; Psalm 147
January 3, 2021
Larry Campbell
Matthew 2:1-12: Epiphany
May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
The other day, my grandson and I were talking about Jesus and God, and at one point he asked, “do you believe all this stuff?” Now here he is, an 11 year old boy, who admittedly believes in God, the creator, and understands who Jesus is, but realizes this is not that easy to explain or believe. I said, “yes I do believe it.” I said, “sometimes it’s hard to believe, and I begin to question what it is I believe and why I believe it? But whenever I find myself beginning to doubt, I always look to the universe.”
Let me explain.
In today’s gospel reading we have a story about some astrologers who saw a new star in the sky. They were convinced that this was the announcement of a new king. Not even a king of their own but some tiny, little foreign country somewhere west of them. So they packed up their camels, and their servants, and traveled, who knows how long, to witness this event that they were certain was happening because of what they saw in the stars. There’s a great take on this story from the perspective of the travelers themselves represented in Steve Bell’s song “The Old Sage”, and Steve’s reflections on the song that Noelle and I heard on his “Hunkered Down Christmas Special”. Give them another listen if you get a chance.
In our modern time, especially in North America, there aren’t very many people who look to the stars to guide their lives. But these folks, these travelers, were practitioners of a science from a different time. Some people thought that certain planets at a certain position in the sky could have an influence on things; like illnesses, for instance. This is where we get the word “influenza”. “Influenza” is the Italian word for “influence”. These folks believed that the movements of the stars and planets must mean something… messages from their gods perhaps.
We are now a long way from that way of thinking. Science has given us answers that are clear and logical to the questions we have about life. We are convinced that if there are things we don’t understand, science will figure it out. But there is something that seems to be lost. Before the “Enlightenment” there was an enchantment about the world and everything in it. The rustling of oak leaves was said to be the voice of Zeus. An eagle flying overhead meant one thing, the arrival of a raven meant another. We think that we know this isn’t true, that it’s not real. (But like it says in the song, “Boy From The Country” by John Denver:
“How do you know animals don’t talk
Just because they don’t talked to you.”)
C. S. Lewis was a professor of English Literature, and Medieval and Renaissance Literature. His last academic work was The Discarded Image in which he argues that, since the Enlightenment we’ve lost the image of God in the universe. Michael Ward, author of “The Narnia Code” says,
“To think “with the stars” means to think spiritually, to remember that the material world is more than just matter. Modern science is brilliant at answering questions that begin with “what” or “where” or “how”. What are the stars made of? Where are they located? How do they move? But there are other questions that are worth asking too. Questions that begin with “why” and “who” and “whom”. Why have the stars been made? Who made them? For Whom were they made?
“Modern science tends to think only in terms of matter and mechanism and measurements. But before Copernicus [remember Copernicus – he discovered that the earth went around the sun rather than being the centre of the universe – before him,] science tended to think also in terms of purposes and points and persons. Lewis thought”, Ward continues, “that it was a mistake to allow these two sets of questions to get split apart from each other. To be fully human we need to ask, and try to answer, both sets of questions, not just one set.”
I think we need to be filled with wonder again. I think, sometimes we need to be enchanted with all that God has made. And so, I look to the universe.
Did you know, the distance that light travels in 1 year is 9.7 trillion km. (That’s a 9, a 7, and 11 zeros) The space shuttle travels at 28,000 km an hour. Neptune, the planet farthest out in our solar system, is 4.5B km from the earth. To fly to Neptune would take about 18 years. Our Milky Way is 100,000 light years across. To travel just 1 light year would take 40,000 years. It would take the space shuttle, traveling at 28,000 km an hour, 4B years just to cross our galaxy. And ours is not a particularly special galaxy. National Geographic says there are about 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe. (that’s a 2, followed by 12 zeros!)
OK. This is where my mind begins to short circuit...in a good way. We haven’t even begun to talk about black holes, or nebulae. This is why I contemplate the universe when I have any doubts about whether or not there is a God.
What has this revealed to me about God? Well, God is generous and expansive. God loves beauty, diversity, and mystery. God doesn’t seem to be in a rush. And God is bigger than my imagination is capable of handling. I am in awe. I have been enchanted.
The astrologers were moved by what they saw in the sky. To them the sky said a great king was to be born. Not just any ruler. There was something special about this one. So they traveled many days; probably weeks; maybe months; and many miles to see this cosmic event. What they found was a little baby from a poor family. But they knew this was the one they were looking for.
I hope this year we become enchanted again by the God of the cosmos. If we do, maybe we, too, will be led to Jesus the Christ again, and again, and again.