Close Doesn't Count

Matthew 2:1-12

Happy Epiphany!

Epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphanea, which is defined in the English as a " manifestation or striking appearance." In Christianity, the word is used to proclaim the appearance of the Christ-child to the Gentiles of the world (aka the wise men).

The story as told in Matthew brought a new meaning to me this year. In the story the wise men go to Jerusalem to find the child they call the king of Jews. In doing so they visit the palace and ask King Herod where that child might be. King Herod, apparently unaware about this child, verifies the prophecy he is being told of, then sets a trap to find that child himself in order to kill him.

So much in this story and we can get lost in all of the details. But, we're not going to do that, instead we'll focus on where the wise men are in their search for Jesus.

The wise men, having followed a significant celestial event and with a working knowledge of scripture, visit the palace in Jerusalem to ask about the new-born king of Jews. They go to where they would assume a king would be living, and as they discover the child they are looking for isn't there.

How many times has that happened to us. We search for the things we've spent our entire lives coming to understand, only to find we're looking in the wrong places. Many of you know I am a recovering addict, currently in my 19th year of sobriety. However, 19 years ago wasn't the first time I tried to quit my addictions, but it was the first time it worked. What made it work this time is I did it for the right reason; for me.

Each time before that I had quit to make others happy, and when those people were no longer a part of my lives I went right back to making bad decisions. Then, one day I just woke up and said, "Enough!", and it was. I wanted to be clean, I wanted a better life, I wanted to know love, real love, again. I stopped living the life I was in, and started talking with God again. Through God's grace I met my current wife and so began my new and renewed journey towards God.

I later realized that I was looking for that which could keep me safe, that which Thomas Aquinas defines as preserving things in the good, that which we call salvation, in the wrong places. My Epiphany was finding that God lives in every moment of every day and that God has never left my side. I just wasn't looking in the right places. I was looking in the palaces of my life, not in the Bethlehems.

In our story from Matthew, the wise men leave the palace and travel just a few more miles to a nearby town and eventually find Jesus. Our question for today is are we willing to do the same? If we don't find the peace we seek in the places we're looking, do we give up or are we willing to go just a little further to get there? If we can't find joy, do we stop or keep going until we get to where we need to? If love isn't in the places we're searching, do we give up and go back the way we came, or do we go forward just a little bit more until we find it?

Epiphany not only celebrates the discovery of the Christ-child, but also the relentless journey the wise men took to get there. To honor this day we need to make the commitment to never give up in our search for that which will bring us true happiness - the understanding that we have a God who lives among us and will always love and accept us.