The three wise men:
a revelation from the Gentiles points us toward new openness to
learning from other faiths and from environmental scientists
by Peter Sawtell, Executive Director, Eco-Justice
Ministries
[Posted originally on 12/13/01, and posted here on
12-17-01]
The Three Kings are a beloved and familiar part of the Christmas story.
They turn up in carols, devotional artwork, New Yorker cartoons and
Monty Python movies.
Of course, if you read Matthew, you'll find that the
Epiphany story isn't about three kings, but an un-numbered collection of
astrologers. That just goes to show that people often learn Bible
stories better through music and artwork than from actually reading
scripture.
Looking at the text, rather than singing the carol,
reveals an important and surprising message for the contemporary church.
The wandering star-gazers who are at the heart of the
story were going about their normal work, observing the movement of
stars and planets, and discerning significance in those celestial
events. They saw an important star "at its rising," and the
specialized knowledge of their profession told them that this said
something about a new king born among the Jews. So they went to
Jerusalem, the capitol city of the Jews, to pay a visit.
This came as a rude shock to King Herod, who did not
observe the stars, but who carefully observed any threat to his power.
Herod called in his advisors, and told them to tap into their sources of
revelation and wisdom -- the scriptures -- and thereby flesh out the
secular message of the foreign astrologers, a message that he took very
seriously.
When told to look for leads on unexpected kings, the
biblical scholars found a passage that they had not previously discerned
as pertinent for their own time: that a shepherd king would come from
Bethlehem. Herod takes seriously both the Magi and his own advisors. He
learns from the outsiders when the star appeared, marking the birth of
the contender to the throne, and sends them on to Bethlehem, hoping that
they will serve as his spies and identify this new king.
Lo and behold, all of the messages were true! The wise
guys find the child, present gifts, and hightail it out of Judea. Herod
has less success figuring out who is the special child in town, so he
slaughters all of the baby boys. He took no chances about the truth of
the astrologer's interpretation.
The Epiphany story is often referred to as "the
revelation to the Gentiles," because those non-Jewish astrologers
did come to see that important things were happening in Bethlehem. But
the important part of the story for us is what we might call "the
revelation through the Gentiles."
It was through the secular message from the Persian
astrologers that Herod became aware of the birth of Jesus. The insights
of the Magi led Herod, the chief priests and the scribes to a remarkable
new understanding of what was happening in their world. And that message
was confirmed by a fresh reading of scripture.
+ + + + +
So what is the message for us in all of this?
It is the humbling news that those outside of our
faith traditions may be the ones to discern most clearly what is
happening, and where God is at work. It may not be theologians or
denominational executives who are aware of significant signs and
portents.
Today, environmental biologists and atmospheric
physicists, going about their routine, secular work, see an important
message in the evidence that they are paid to observe and analyze. They
see ecological collapse and global climate change as present realities.
And like the Magi twenty centuries ago, some of those scientists have
come to the political and religious leaders to share their important
news. A critical message about what is going on in the world comes, not
from the church, but from secular researchers.
There is a further parallel in the story that is even
more striking. The priests and scribes, when alerted to the message from
the Magi, discovered themes and insights in scripture that they had
never perceived before. So, too, today's biblical scholars and
theologians, alerted to an environmental perspective, are rediscovering
parts of the Judeo-Christian tradition that help us understand how we
fit into the whole web of God's creation. A profound revelation about
the nature of our faith, about our place and purpose in creation, has
come to the church from an unexpected source -- from the realm of
secular science.
Herod and his religious cohorts responded to the
message with fear. Similarly, many of today's leaders -- political and
religious -- are responding defensively and destructively to the
revelations of science. But fortunately, there are folk in the church --
a growing number, including some key leaders -- who have been more open
to this transforming revelation. There are people of faith who have been
touched by the scientific message, and have been opened to fresh
understandings of their own spiritual journey, and of humanity's
relationship with all of God's creation.
In this Christmas season, let us give thanks that God
continues to speak to our world, even through the most unexpected of
sources. And let us give thanks for all the faith communities who have
discerned how the message of today's Magi calls us into a new and
faithful ethic of global relationship with the entire web of life.
Shalom!
Peter Sawtell, Executive Director
Eco-Justice Ministries
E-mail: ministry@eco-justice.org
Web page (www.eco-justice.org)
