The first event is, of course, the New Year.

The second event is that late this afternoon, Oklahoma plays Louisiana State to see who is the football runner-up to the true national champions -- USC. Hey! How about my Trojans? I’ve always been a secret fan of SC football. Some of you probably think I’ve been a very secret fan. There isn’t a bandwagon too big or too fast that I can’t climb on.

The third event is that this Tuesday is Epiphany. At Epiphany we celebrate God revealing Himself to the world -- both in the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan and also in the revelation to the non-Jewish world as symbolized in the visit of the wise men.

Let’s talk about these wise men. Who were they?

The first thing we need to do is to clear away the illusions that have built up over years of Christmas Carols, stories and Nativity Scenes. The Biblical record says nothing about kings, camels, or deserts. We don’t know how many there were. We don’t know their ages. We don’t know their names. We don’t know their skin color.

What we do know is their background. The Magi were a tribe of Persia – modern Iran -- that vied for power with the Persian monarch. After losing out in the bid for political power, they became a kind of professional priesthood and political advisor corps for Oriental monarchs. Although they are not kings, they advise kings. They are court functionaries -- smooth, sophisticated players in the intrigue and infighting that was so much a part of court life in the Middle East – and still is today.

Their technical specialty was what was later named after them… magic. They read the stars and discerned omens in the livers of slaughtered sheep. A later Magi, Simon Magus who we find in Acts 8, offers money to Peter and John in exchange for the gift of the Holy Spirit given by the laying on of hands. To him, the Holy Spirit is nothing more than another, especially potent form of magic. He behaves as though there is a market in spirits to which he has easy access. “Your silver perishes with you,” Peter responds, “because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.”

These court-wise, crafty Magi, learned in the ways of astrology, see a star which leads them to believe that a king has been born to rule over the Jews.

Would you rush to the Dominican Republic because you heard that a future president of the Dominican Republic had been born? Probably not.

But the Magi went to Israel because of what they expected the birth to mean. God was preparing the whole world, not just the Jews.

For example, the Roman historian Suetonius will write in his Life of Vespasian: “There has spread over all the Orient and old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world.” Tacitus, in his history, writes: “there was a firm persuasion… that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire universal empire.” The Magi were not the only ones looking for the birth of a king of the Jews. Others, Jew as well as Gentile, were also waiting.

When the Magi see the star they do a very Magi-like thing. They follow it. But once they arrive in Jerusalem they start behaving in a very un-Magi-like way. They come to Jerusalem and start asking around for the birthplace of the King of the Jews. When word of their questioning got to Herod he is troubled. And because he is troubled, the entire city of Jerusalem is troubled. That’s the way Herod is. If he gets a headache, everybody starts taking aspirin.

Herod calls the Magi to come to stand before him. They are in a difficult spot. Not only are they there looking for a King of the Jews who is not Herod, but they are officials in the government of an enemy power. These Magi were most likely from Parthia, an empire that was the enemy of Rome. In fact, it was precisely because of his support of Rome in one of the many Parthian wars that Herod is sitting on the throne of Israel.

So now here we have the spectacle of a party of Parthian court priests standing in front of the Roman King of the Jews after they had been asking where they can locate his rival so that they can worship him -- giving him of their wealth in homage. It would be like Saddam Hussein asking President Bush where he can find Osama Ben Laden so he can help him.

These Magi put their heads into a noose when they walk into the court of Herod. Herod is extremely cruel and extremely unstable. The massacre of the infants of Bethlehem is but one example of his vicious nature.

Chris Adams did a good job of portraying this dark reality in the drama she wrote with Steve Lady for December 14. My only regret was that she didn’t use my title suggestion which was “The Gory of Christmas” as a take-off on the Crystal Cathedral’s “Glory of Christmas.” “The Gory of Christmas” would fit Herod well. If he suspects anyone of being a rival to his power, that person is promptly eliminated.

He murdered his wife, Marianne, and her mother, Alexandra. His eldest son Antipater and two other sons, Alexander and Aristobulous were also assassinated by him. Augustus, the Roman emperor, had declared that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son, an epigram in Greek where “hus” is the word for pig and “huios” is the word for son. Later, when Herod was near death, he gave orders that a collection of the most distinguished and beloved citizens be arrested and imprisoned. He then ordered that they all be killed when word was received of his own death. He said grimly that he was well aware that no tears would be shed for him, but he was determined that there would be crying when he died -- even if the crying was for his victims.

The Magi stand there in Herod’s power. He is cruel and they know it. They are very well-versed in the ways of courts. They are experienced intriguers.

The Magi-like thing to do at this juncture would be for them to forget about the star of Jesus and link themselves to the star of Herod. Better a link to an established king than a dangerous hunt for a child of unknown potential. That is the way of the Magi. But these Magi turn their backs on all of this and continue their search for Jesus. In their ears they hear Herod’s hypocritical words: “Let me know when you find him so I can go and turn my power over to him.” They are probably Magi enough, even without being warned in a dream, to know that he didn’t really mean it.

The Magi are called the “wise men” because all Magi were called wise… just like all preachers are called Reverend and all judges are called Honorable. Some are and some aren’t. But these Magi were truly wise… not because they were Magi but because they had the wisdom to transcend their own Magi training to seek the truth.

This is the lesson of the Magi. They recognize their need for something more and they take the trouble…even the danger...to find it. And in this, God communicates to them where they are. The Bible generally frowns on astrology but God gives them a star to lead them. You see, God speaks first to them in the language they speak, But then He gives them something much greater.

Georges Combet, a French author wrote: “I find the most interesting people in the gospels to be the seekers. The Wise Men, seeking the Messiah, did not know where to go to pay homage to the King of the Jews. A star led their search to Bethlehem, where they found not a prince in a palace, as they might have expected, but a poor boy. Mary, seeking the body of Jesus, did not know where they had put Him; her name whispered by a stranger she took for the gardener brought about recognition. She came to look for a dead man, but embraced a living one. The Samaritan woman at the well, seeking which mountain she should climb to worship God properly, found the answer to her search in a tired Jew who asked her for a little water.

The ways are different for each seeker, but the discovery is adequate for the needs of the seeker.”

“The discovery is adequate for the needs of the seeker.” Whatever you truly need, you will find in Jesus.

So as we prepare now to share in the first communion of this New Year, let me ask you a question. What are you seeking in 2004?

Now let me give you a word from the grown-up Jesus. He said, “Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”