Three Wise Women

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

That’s the story of the three wise MEN.  But as we all know, if they had been Three wise WOMEN, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, brought practical gifts, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and there would be peace on earth.   

That funny, but niggling bit of humor can be found on lots of holiday decorations these days, including on a kitchen towel over there in the Rectory!  It’s a VERY understandable dig at men, who for thousands and thousands of years, have insisted that women were somehow lesser and in doing so have missed out on so much powerful wisdom and so many incredibly gifts throughout the ages. 

 

It’s completely understandable to want to hit back at that stupidity and oppression but it also got me wondering this week… Is doing to men, what men have done to women, the best way toward the future God wants for us?  We’ve missed out on SO MANY gifts from SO people simply because those people were women!  We’ve missed out on SO MUCH wisdom, simply because that wisdom was offered by a woman!  But is giving the Three Wise Men the Tea Towel Treatment the way to get to the world God wants for us all?  

It’s fun for sure!  Three Wise Men?  Ha!  Three STUPID Men, more like it!  Late for Christmas!  Didn’t bring anything useful!  But when we do to the other what the other has done to us, do we just end up missing a different set of wisdom and gifts?  Perhaps the Wise Men were neither lost nor late.  Perhaps their gifts and wisdom weren’t meant for Christmas, but were meant instead for Epiphany?  It was God’s star that led them after all and She isn't known for giving bad directions!  It’s true, their wisdom and gifts did not lie in casseroles or cribs.  Their wisdom was in dreams and their gifts in very small, very valuable, and very portable packages.  Gifts that turned out to be portable and perfect for a refugee family on the run from a narcissistic king out to kill them all!  If the three Kings had arrived at Christmas with a casserole instead, what would have happened?  If we do to men what men have done to women for so long… will we get to where we want to be, or simply miss an entirely different set of gifts and wisdom?

I very much suspect that on Christmas Eve there were wise women who heard the cries of Mary in labor coming from a small cave.  Wise women who knew what those sorts of cries meant and knew how to help.  I suspect those women on Christmas Eve were right on time with their wisdom and their gifts.  Right on time, with just the right gifts of swaddling clothes and cleaning supplies and even some food… although likely not a casserole, since the first casserole was made in New Hampshire in 1866… the same year this church was founded by Anna Barnard and her group of incredibly wise and gifted women!    

So here we are.  We've lost the story of the women’s wisdom and gifts given on Christmas Eve just because those gifts and wisdom were offered by women.  But, if in our attempt to right that terrible wrong we turn to retribution, to doing to the men what the men have done to women for all these years, then it would seem we'd just loose different wisdom and gifts given for a different place and time... basically cutting off humanity's nose to once again spite its face.  So what are we to do?

This past Sunday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu died at the age of 90 years old.  Born into Apartheid in South Africa, a system of violent oppression built on hundreds and hundreds of years of racism, HE as much as anyone, had the absolute RIGHT to turn the tables on the people who had beaten him and his ancestors down and dismissed their collective wisdom and gifts for centuries.  But retribution was not what Bishop Tutu was about because he was a follower of Jesus, and retribution is not what Jesus is about.  Bishop Tutu knew, because Jesus knew, that retribution would just continue a never ending cycle of the oppressed becoming oppressor, and the oppressor becoming the oppressed.  Bishop Tutu knew that retribution did not lead to justice, peace, or abundant life... Retribution led only to a never ending cycle of pain, injustice, and death.  

For me, Bishop Tutu’s greatest witness was once Apartheid ended and he found himself in a position of power, he did NOT choose the path of retribution but instead walked and led the Jesus Way, choosing and leading a path of restorative justice.  It was justice because the truth was told... all of it... and not left buried to fester.  It was restorative because he sacrificed what the world would have seen as his RIGHT to get back at his oppressors, and instead walked toward the restoration of his WHOLE country and modeled that path for the WHOLE world.

  

Until we all set aside retribution as the way fight the injustices of this world and instead follow Jesus, and his disciples like Bishop Tutu did, and walk the path of restoration instead of retribution… until we choose differently than we have for thousands of years, we will continue to miss all the gifts and wisdom creation has to share with us... gifts and wisdom given to the world by God so that we all may have life and have it abundantly!  Until we choose restoration and give up retribution, we will not know the peace that passes all understanding and we will not live the abundant life we were created to live.  May the gifts and wisdom shared by Bishop Tutu with the living of his life, be an Epiphany for our world and may we learn to live together in true justice and into new life as one.  Amen.