Unexpected Visitors – January 4, 2026, Epiphany!

Isaiah 60:1-7, Matthew 2:1-12
January 4, 2026

I used to have a manger scene set up in my house.  I had Mary and Joseph looking down at the baby in the manger, and with them the shepherds, (smelly though they were), the wise men, the sheep, cows, and camels.  And just for fun, I had a little penguin standing by the manger, looking down at the baby Jesus.  It was the perfect size, and I had it placed so you didn’t notice it at first.  But then you did!  And I got a lot of good laughs out of it!  (And some bewildered looks!)  “Hey, what’s this penguin doing here?”

I tell you that, because the more I read this story from Matthew, the story of these “unexpected visitors” – these “wise men” – the more I think they too would have been just as “out of place” in that manger scene as my penguin!  And that actually is true.  Because these wise men weren’t there, according to Matthew.  They arrived later – as much two years later.  And we have Herod to thank for that number.  Remember, he sent his soldiers to destroy all male children below the age of two.

So the Magi would have been out of place in that manger scene – just like my penguin.  In fact, Matthew tells us that they “went into the house and saw the child.  But we see them in manger scenes, and we take them for granted.  They’re just part of the story.  But I think there’s no doubt they would have been unexpected.  And they would have seemed out of place whenever they came!  So, maybe we should all have a penguin in our manger scenes just to remind us of that!

If you think about the Christmas story, you know that there were many prophecies that pointed to the coming of the Messiah, and ultimately to Jesus.  And the people knew those prophecies!  But I’m guessing they would never have associated Isaiah 60 with what happened when these exotic visitors arrived that day to worship the king of the Jews!  I don’t think they would have thought about the passage we read today.  “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

We all have our mental images of this story, don’t we?  We all have our ideas of what it looked like when Jesus was born.  And we have our images of these Wise Men.  And I want us to think about that.  Think about how “out of place” they were, compared to everyone else around them.  They would have been dressed differently.  They would have spoken differently.  And above all, it would have been very apparent that they were foreigners.  And unfortunately, we know what the people of Israel thought about foreigners – especially Gentiles!  And that’s what these men were!  They were from another country, another culture, and another religion!

Yet, here they were!  Here they were, worshipping the “king of the Jews!”  And because of this story, the people would come to realize that day that what was happening with this child was way bigger than they thought.  It was far bigger than just the Jewish people, or their prophecies, or the world they knew.  This story was a “sudden realization” of that.  And that’s what the word “Epiphany” means – “A sudden realization.”  As I’ve said before, an “Epiphany” is an “Aha moment!”  “Hey!  That’s where I put my car keys!”  It’s that kind of feeling!

Sometimes it seems we’ve forgotten that “sudden realization.”  Sometimes I feel that even the church has backtracked from the message of Epiphany.  Think about it.  How do people in our world react to those who are different?  How do we feel about people from another country – or another culture – or another religion?  Well, however we feel, we can’t get around the fact that the Christmas story – the foundational story of our faith – includes just such people!  We can’t forget that!

You know, Matthew doesn’t say here what Luke says in his Gospel.  Luke tells us that, when all this was happening, Mary “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.”  Well, Matthew doesn’t say that.  But, I’ll bet she did – especially when she saw these unexpected visitors!  And I think everyone else did, too!  They had to be wondering – and pondering – what was happening right before their eyes.

And I wonder, do we do that?  Do we “keep things and ponder them in our hearts?”  The human tendency is to not do that.  The human tendency is to be “reactionary.”  When we hear something or see something that doesn’t jibe with our understanding – of whatever it is – we are often quick to defend our understanding.  That’s natural!  We all do it!  It’s the “stopping and thinking,” the “pondering things in our hearts,” that’s the tough thing to do.  It’s hard for us to stop, to take a deep breath, and to think that maybe there’s something more we should be considering.

Christmas – and definitely Epiphany – call us to do just that.  It calls us to think, to ponder, and to be open to whatever God may be doing in our lives or in the world – even if it doesn’t jibe with our way of thinking, or our understanding.

It’s much easier to live our faith when we have things “all figured out.”  Isn’t it?  “Don’t throw us any curve balls, God.”  “Don’t give us any ‘surprises’!”  We’d rather live a faith with no surprises.  “Epiphanies” – like this one – are uncomfortable for us.  We would rather live our faith the way Bilbo Baggins preferred to live his life, at the beginning of “The Hobbit.”  Tolkien told us that “Bilbo liked comfort, regular meals, a quiet life, and had no desire for adventures – which he considered unpleasant and unsettling.”

Aren’t we like that?  We don’t want any surprises.  We don’t want any challenges to our faith – from God or otherwise!  Because it’s not easy to live our lives on someone else’s terms.  But that’s what our faith calls us to do.  It calls us to live our lives on God’s terms.  And that’s not always comfortable for us.  That whole “Thy will be done” thing, is tough to live!  Wouldn’t that prayer have worked out just fine if Jesus had left that part out?

Well, here we are, at the beginning of a new year.  And this story, the story of these “unexpected visitors,” calls us to take a deep breath, and to “ponder things in our hearts.”  And I hope we do!  Because when we do we will be reminded, again and again – particularly at this time of year – that we are part of something that’s much bigger than we can ever imagine!

Prayer

Eternal God, as we look to a new year, give us your vision.  Help us to see that your kingdom is much greater than we imagine, and that, by your power at work within us, you are able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think.  Help us as we seek to do your will, and to be more in tune with your Spirit.  For we ask in Jesus’ name, and for the sake of his kingdom, Amen.