Stories about journeys have a special appeal.  They have all the ingredients of adventure and romance, and more than that, they speak to us of our striving to find purpose and meaning in life.

Journeys are not like they used to be; the speed and comfort of modern travel has robbed us of so much of the experience of a journey that the image has lost much of its power.  (Maybe that explains the appeal and popularity of Michael Palin's travel programmes, in which something of the old character of the journey can be experienced, albeit from the comfort of an armchair.)  For those who journey must first plan and prepare; then there is the leave taking, often with its own poignancy as the sadness of parting is made bearable by the excitement of what lies ahead.  The high spirits of the first part of the journey may give way to tiredness, boredom or anxiety as the hours and days pass by, and the excitement of reaching the destination.  Later may come the reliving of the adventure as the tale is told and re-told, and if our journey brought with it a discovery.  Or a new experience, then in the re-telling we shall find that the end of the journey was a new beginning; more of a resting place than a destination.

So, it's not surprising that the Christian life is often portrayed as a journey, for progress in faith has that recurring quality of finding that a point of arrival is really just another point of departure; that our destination is just a resting place before we journey on deeper into the mysteries of God.  So it is not surprising that a story of just such a journey is told by St. Matthew near the beginning of his Gospel: -

"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."

The story of the Magi is one of searching, being led and finding - and in the finding - a knowing and a loving, which changes the rest of the journey - the Magi went home another way.

The story has some striking features, and has much to teach.  It is Wise men who go to pay homage.  Matthew gives us a picture of wisdom in search of worship.  This is not quite how the world sees things.  Cleverness has displaced wisdom as the goal of the pursuit of knowledge, and worship is held by many to be of little account.  But surely, it is only the un-wise who take that view!  For life is safe only if we approach it through worship which guides and informs our entire outlook on life.

The Epiphany gospel story is about those from afar drawing closer to God than his chosen people - those outside the faith finding it easier to respond positively to the new than those within it.  You know, Religion can so easily obscure our view of God - maybe because it conditions us to look for God in familiar ways and to overlook new disclosures of His truth.  We box up God and try to keep him enclosed.

The story is also about the fulfilment of prophecy.  As God said through Isaiah: -

                                                                                                                      (Isaiah 60: 3, 6b)
 

And so it was.  As St. Paul put it, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself".  Our modern preoccupation with 'the facts' blinds us to see the deeper significance of what God is actually doing in the world.  In Christ God sets before us not only a model for personal life, but also for the public life of kings and nations.  It was not only individuals whom God sent home another way - remember that they were kings - representatives of nations - as Queen Elizabeth represents our nation.

So, the story of the Magi is our story; the story of the profoundest of human experiences - with its account of the searching, the leading, the finding and the yielding - it's almost like falling in love.

It is also the story of the whole Bible: the story of a people's search for God.  It is a journey in which we all have our part to play.  The real journey is where Christ is made known.  Matthew begins his gospel with a journey - Luke ends his with another journey - of Clopas and his companion walking to Emmaus.  Like the Magi they also met Jesus as they travelled and their journey was transformed.  Too often we tenaciously hang on to what we know, secure against the new.  We declare to the world: "I know where I stand".  Yet, if faith is a journey, and the journey is where Christ is made known, God is not so much concerned with where we stand but with where we are travelling.

The journey of faith is not easy: - "A cold coming we had of it"  And often we have to make it at a time that is not easy, or of our own choosing: "Just the wrong time of year...."  But if we seek wisdom, if we want to be open to the newness of God's truth, if we want to make the world a better place, we have to make the journey, and, like the Magi, we have to make it bearing gifts ourselves.  At Epiphany, God asks us whether we are on a journey towards him, or are we content simply to sit in an armchair and let others do the travelling.

This year we are going to make the feast of the Epiphany extra special with our EPIPHANY CHRISTINGLE service at 6 o'clock on SUNDAY, 6th JANUARY.  Children are encouraged to come along dressed as kings in crowns and cloaks (i.e. the old curtains that used to hang in the living room!)  So come along, take the journey to All Saints, and make the new year shine with the with Christ's Light.
 

EPIPHANY BLESSINGS,

FATHER DAVID