Gospel: Mt. 2.1-12
The Incarnation is ostensibly about change, which when you think about it is not an idea we often associate with God. When St. Athanasius, writing in the fourth century, describes the need for the incarnation, he argues that God made himself available to us in many ways, but we were not successful in understanding these fully. A change in strategy was needed, and that change is the arrival of God himself in the World – the Incarnate Logos. Logically, if God changed his strategy, our reaction to that change ought to result in an alteration in our relationship with him.
Often, there is an uncomfortable uncertainty that accompanies change. Sensing impending change we might sometimes imagine ourselves standing on the edge of the unknown, our ability to “see” beyond the immediate moment hampered as though a veil had been dropped before us – so much possibility depends on the next step we choose.
Our perspective is limited by comparison with that of the divine. No doubt you are familiar with the phrase, “to see the big picture”; but no matter how well we might visualise the wider scope of a change, our vision is still limited, and it is necessary to take some portion of our choices on trust, or faith. We are uncomfortable doing this because it still leaves us open and vulnerable to the unexpected.
Herod was terrified of this impending change which he could not control and did not understand. His scope for “seeing the big picture” was further limited by the concerns of his position – what we call in the divine liturgy “earthly cares” – this “King of the Jews” posed a threat to his position, in relation both to the populous he ruled, and to his Roman overlords. Herod’s vision was hemmed in by personal apprehension, and politics.
The Magi, on the other hand, are not so easy to read. They are Zoroastrian priests of Persia, obviously they are not concerned with the politics of Judea; likewise they have no interest in the possible dynastic repercussions of this “King of the Jews”. They come to pay homage to a foreign “King” but why? Does it not strike you too, that it is foreign priests, of a foreign God who come to pay homage to a Jewish “King”? How did they perceive his kingship? These are questions that are not answered in the narrative. It would seem, however, that they are a link in understanding the change to come. Perhaps, it is a foreshadowing of what is yet to come – the church is not a Jewish, but a gentile assembly – a fact, which curiously enough some “Christian” traditions, namely fundamentalists, still struggle with over 2000 years later.
Their mysteriousness aside, there remains an openness about these priests from a far off land, by comparison with Herod’s own position. The star guided them, but aside from predictions and prophecy, what they would find, and where they would find it, was as much a mystery to them, as it was to Herod (who at least had prophecy to tell him the location). What was their “agenda” in seeking out this prophesied king? Surely it was not power or authority – as magi in Persia they would not have had a shortage of that – it must therefore, have been something else, but what; wisdom? How much wisdom can one glean from a gurgling toddler? Perhaps they somehow knew that this “king” would revolutionise the way humanity perceives and relates to the divine; seeking an audience with him, as a mere child, they could then say that they stood on the edge of the unknown, and peered at the shadows on the other side of the veil – bearing witness to and marking a great change. These are open questions and they have only speculation to answer them, one thing we can say, however, is that the Magi clearly undertook this journey accompanied by a substantial amount of faith.
We have commemorated the incarnation for centuries now, in contemporary celebrations however, the theological content of the incarnation has been stripped away in favour of more sentimentalised presentations of the “ideal family” and “babies”. The incarnation is the eruption of the divine into our world; it is a break with the expected; the inauguration of great change.
Many of us have joined the OC/IC community seeking to bring about change in our religious life. Others among us, it seems, have either never learned that this was a necessity, or have forgotten that this tradition that we share is not comfortable repeating the familiar, and the expected. Most of us have allowed this peculiar tradition to erupt into our religious experience with little thought for what it really stands for, and therefore, not many of us have allowed that break with the past to transform our identity as faithful Old and Independent Catholics. Have you? Did you become a member with the openness and expectation of a magus, or were you looking over your shoulder in fear like Herod?
Christ came into the world, our world, to bring about great change for us. I believe it is our task in today’s often complacent and sentimentalised Christianity, to take an active part and reclaim the faith, openness, and expectation of the Magi; renewing our understanding of our shared OC/IC heritage, our identity as a community, and to urge others within the community to do the same.
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