“We have come to worship Him.”  So said the Magi when they spoke to King Herod. They had travelled from the east to Jerusalem in search of a king. They come to worship the king of the Jews because in the east kings were worshipped as rulers of earth often by divine right.  They did not fully understand yet that this Jesus was not just the king of the Jews, but also their king, the king of the Gentiles.  And so, on Epiphany every year, on January 6, we remember and celebrate that God began to reveal the saving glory of Christ which is for all people. 

Isn’t that what we are saying with our words and actions whenever we come here?  “We have come to worship Him.”  That’s why we are here after all.  We too follow the path of these Gentile magi, led to the King of kings and Lord of lords, to worship the Christ.

It is entirely possibly that these magi were the remnant of those who had been the scholars or disciples of the prophet Daniel. Several hundred years earlier, God used the Babylonians to discipline His wandering and idolatrous people, sending them into exile in a foreign land.  There, Daniel, and others, lived out their faith in God and the promised Messiah in a pagan land.  There, they gave witness to the hope they had in the Word of God who would keep His promise to the world.  Now, these magi, students of nature, observed the star that had appeared and believing it to signal the birth of a king head out of their home to search out the king to worship Him.

Here the magi teach us the right faith. After they had heard the preaching and the word from the prophet, they were not indifferent nor slow to believe. And yet they had many obstacles in the path: a long journey, an incomplete understanding, a deceitful king. We too face obstacles in our lives of faith, sometimes ones larger than others: a long drive to church, an incomplete understanding of scripture, a deceitful and greedy heart.  The star goes before these magi and leaves them not until it brings them to the Christ child.  But neither does it go any farther, but stands still over the house where the Child is.

This revelation of where to find Jesus and what it all means came to them not through the star, nor through their feelings or decisions nor religious leaders. It came to them through the Scriptures.  This was done to teach us to be guided by the Scriptures, and not by our imagination, not to follow any worldly wisdom. We seek neither Jerusalem nor Rome nor earthly political saviors, but the King Christ in the Scriptures.

We are led to Jesus by the light of His Word.  Thus also the light of the Gospel is as a lamp in the darkness (2 Peter 1:19) leads us to Christ, goes no farther; for beyond Christ it teaches us nothing (1 Corinthians 2:2; Colossians 2:8). God revealing Himself to us through His Son. The great revelation of Epiphany is not just who Jesus is as the savior, but who this Jesus is for.  That the Gentiles are fellow heirs of the promises of God throughout history.  And that this status comes only by faith in the Christ, the revelation of God to the world in the means He has chosen.

As the magi find the Christ child, the king of whom they had been led, they did not balk at the humble estate in which they found Him. They were not offended at the lowly and poor appearance of the little Child Jesus. Rather, they knelt down and offered their gifts in all reverence and respect, worshipping Him. 

When we are led to Christ, we too are met by Him as He humbles Himself before us through the means of Scripture and of the Sacraments.  While the world may never understand the meaning of the King of the universe being found in such a meager manner, we come bringing the offerings of our worship and praise in response to His epiphany among us. If we would join them in honoring Christ, we must close our eyes to everything that is beautiful and brilliant according to worldly standards, and exercise ourselves in such works as appear foolish and of little importance to the world; for instance, such works as feeding and clothing the poor, consoling the troubled, and helping our neighbor in his times of need.  But most of the all, joining together in the highest worship of the King: believe in His name and to receive the gifts that He bestows upon His people. The true gifts of Epiphany are not those that the magi brought to Jesus nor their worship of Him, but what Jesus brings to His people. He is the gold of the Father. For your sake, He became poor so that you might make you rich.  He is the frankincense of heaven, as His death on the cross serves as the sacrificial incense offered up as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. He is the myrrh of salvation, for in Him, the stench of every sin is taken away for all time. 

Come, let us worship Him, led by the light of His Gospel, receiving His gifts of Word and Sacrament in repentant faith, for in Christ, the epiphany, the revelation, of all that God is, all that God has, and all that gives is lavished upon you. In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.