Welcome to the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast. I'm
John, Father John Deere, and today as we celebrate
Christmas, I'd like to reflect with you on Matthew's
story of the epiphany. This is a project of BeatitudeCenter
.org, where you can find many other podcasts
and Zoom programs on the nonviolence of Jesus
and practicing nonviolence and working for a
more just, more nonviolent world. So, dear friends,
let's begin with a little prayer. I invite you
to, wherever you are, just take a deep breath
and just to relax and recenter yourselves. And
together, let's enter into the presence of the
God of peace who loves you infinitely. personally
and everyone everywhere. And we welcome the risen
nonviolent Jesus here with us and ask for whatever
Christmas graces we need to follow Jesus more
faithfully and do God's will. God of peace, thank
you for all the Christmas blessings of life,
love, and peace. that you give us as we celebrate
the birth and life of the nonviolent Jesus. Be
with us as we reflect on the story of the epiphany.
Help us that we might recognize the presence
of the nonviolent Jesus in our midst. that we
too might renounce the culture of violence and
war and give our lives to him and to the coming
of your reign of peace on earth. Bless us that
we might deepen in peace, hope, nonviolence,
and discipleship, that we might be renewed and
strengthened to do your will, to seek your reign,
to do our part to help end hatred, racism, violence,
poverty, fascism and war, nuclear weapons, and
environmental destruction. to welcome your Christmas
gift of peace on earth. Amen. Well, Merry Christmas,
everyone. I thought that we might, as a way to
celebrate Christmas, reflect together on Matthew's
story of the Magi. So when we look at the whole
world today, with all its violence and justice,
war and empire, and ponder that the incarnation
of the God of peace takes place in such a world,
And all this insane killing and violence and
poverty and nuclear weapons, environmental destruction.
I think we see not the coming of the God of peace,
but an anti -Advent, an anti -Christmas. The
coming of the anti -reign of violence and war.
And it's into that world of total violence, this
Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the greatest
person of nonviolence and peace in history. So
Christmas is a time to deepen our own commitment
to active, creative, loving nonviolence and renew
ourselves to be better peacemakers in the new
year. and more faithful disciples of the nonviolent
Jesus. So 2 ,000 years ago, Joseph and Mary lived
also in a horrific time during a brutal empire.
They were totally poor, homeless refugees. Jesus
is born in extreme poverty. And then we get to
Matthew's gospel, which begins with the genealogy
of Jesus to tell us that, hey, here's the Messiah.
He's a direct descendant of Abraham and David.
Then we get a brief account of his birth. And
then this single story of the Magi. Then just
a few chapters later, we've got Jesus as the
new lawgiver and the new Moses giving us the
Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, and the
new commandments of nonviolence and universal
love. Now, what I'm going to pitch is that Matthew's
story of the epiphany in chapter 2 sums up the
entire gospel in a nutshell. So I want to break
the story down into four parts, if you're still
with me. First, the journey to the nonviolent
Jesus. Second, the epiphany of meeting the nonviolent
Jesus. Third, what do we do after we meet the
nonviolent Jesus? And fourth, which is the epilogue.
How the empire, the culture of violence and war,
reacts to the coming of the nonviolent Jesus
and the threat of our active, daring nonviolence.
If you'd like to read what I'm sharing, you can
find it all at the beginning of my recent book,
The Gospel of Peace, a commentary on Matthew,
Mark, and Luke from the perspective of nonviolence.
I think this is an original take. It's a political
reading. on the epiphany. And so what I'm suggesting
is that the story of the Magi, the epiphany,
is our story. Like the three wisdom figures,
we too are on a spiritual journey, a holy pilgrimage,
one that lasts throughout our lives, and it's
a journey to the nonviolent Jesus, to the God
of peace. So I'm going to be asking a series
of questions as I do this political reflection
on the Matthew text. And I'm hoping they'll make
this kind of a little Christmas retreat for you.
Where are you in the story? In these three movements.
So we have the Magi, the three wise people, on
a pilgrimage in search of the God of peace, the
nonviolent Messiah. Then we have the second movement
meeting the nonviolent Jesus, having an epiphany
of the God of peace. The third movement, they
go forth now entirely focused on the God of peace
and God's reign of peace. not the culture of
war, violence, and empire, and its dominating,
militaristic, sociopathic, narcissistic ruler.
These three movements are followed by this epilogue.
So my questions are, where are you in these three
movements? Are you like the magi in holy pilgrimage
in search of the God of peace, the number one
Jesus? Are you encountering the God of peace
and the nonviolent Jesus there on the margins,
among the poor, among the homeless, the immigrants,
the refugees? Or are you having an epiphany of
the God of peace in your life these days? Or
are you like the Magi, after the epiphany encounter,
committed to living forever in God's reign of
universal love and peace, and therefore... turning
away from the culture of violence, war, and empire.
So now I'm going to read the first part from
Matthew chapter 2. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, magi
from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, where
is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star
at its rising and have come to do him homage.
When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the
chief priests and the scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Messiah was to
be born. And they said to him, In Bethlehem of
Judea, for thus it has been written through the
prophet, And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are
by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
since from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd
my people Israel. So then Herod called the Magi
secretly and ascertained from them the time of
the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem
and said, Go and search diligently for the child,
and when you have found him, bring me words so
that I too may go and do him homage. After their
audience with the king, they set out. And behold,
the star that they had seen in its rising preceded
them until it came and stopped over the place
where the child was. So right from the get -go,
Matthew says, when the novel of Jesus is born,
the whole culture of violence and war reacts.
Everyone is affected. On the one hand, the empire
is already totally threatened. by the nonviolent
Jesus. On the other hand, all of creation, the
universe itself, symbolized in the star, points
to the nonviolent Jesus and says, there's your
hope. There's your peace. There's your way out.
Three Magi wisdom figures set out to find the
newborn king, and King Herod, the brutal tyrant
and genocidal mass murderer who represents the
Roman Empire, is greatly disturbed along with,
quote, all of Jerusalem. That's very powerful.
Think about it. This powerless child is already
a threat to the most powerful war -making person
in the region, in effect, the whole empire. So
the tyrant... gathers the authorities, including
the religious authorities, whom he keeps under
his control, and asks for the birthplace of the
Messiah, and they say Bethlehem, and he claims
he wants to do homage. But like all imperial
and government rulers, from then to today, he's
a total liar. He's a mass murderer, so he didn't
care about lying. His intention is to kill the
child, like all tyrants. He kills anyone who
threatens their power. And he easily, nonchalantly,
deliberately kills children, as all dictators
and bullies and presidents do from then to today.
So the three wise men are from the Persian priestly
caste from the east, which is present -day Iraq
and Iran. They're seekers, wisdom figures, and
they're also, that means, Gentiles, non -Jews,
put at the beginning of this gospel written for
Jews converting to Christianity. The gospel never
calls anybody wise. Never. So we conclude that
they are wise because why? They seek the non
-violent Jesus. And if we want to be wise, we
too have to seek the non -violent Jesus. So here
at the start of the story, This is so amazing
to me. We are learning from the get -go that
the journey to the God of peace and the nonviolent
Jesus has total political implications. Everyone
everywhere is upset they are seeking this little
child who's the new nonviolent Messiah. The wise
men, therefore, in effect, if you look at it
this way, they're disturbers of the peace that
is the false peace of the Pax Romana. Pax Americana,
the culture of violence, empire, and war. They
meet the horrible King Herod, who's all pious
and spiritual and religious. And they're determined
to go ahead on their journey to find the God
of peace and see the star. So they follow the
star. And that's all we have to do, too. Like
the holy magi, we have to decide that no matter
what anyone says to us, no matter what the culture
says, no matter what the... No matter what the
president or the media says, we're going to seek
the nonviolent Jesus, the God of peace, come
what may, and bet our lives on this nonviolent
Messiah. Like the magi, we're going to let creation
lead us. Isn't that lovely? We become contemplatives
who pay attention to nature, to the sun, the
moon, the stars, the mountains and sea and creatures,
and let creation point us to the God of peace.
It's that easy. If you look closely, creation
is always leading us to the God of peace. This
is the way the indigenous people by the millions
have been living for thousands of years. They're
much smarter and wiser than us. They are the
Magi of today, letting creation point them to
God. We have to learn to be like them. But don't
be surprised if everyone gets upset at you if
you keep talking about you're seeking this God
of peace and the nonviolent Jesus. And then don't
be surprised if creation leads you out of your
comfort zone to a place you didn't expect. Into
the margins, among the powerless, the poor, the
vulnerable, the victims, the children, the enemy.
The epiphany story insists that God is not found
in the center of power, then or today, but in
the margins. Not among the rich and the powerful,
but among the poorest of the poor and the powerless.
If we open ourselves to creation, we will be
led beyond the empire. and the rich and powerful,
out of our own littleness into a whole new world
of hope and peace found on the margins where
we will experience the coming of the reign of
God, peace on earth. So my questions for you
are, how are you a wisdom figure on pilgrimage
to the God of peace, to the nonviolent Jesus?
How are you seeking the nonviolent Jesus today?
How does nature point you to the God of peace?
How has your journey to the God of peace led
you into public contact with the ruling authorities
to confront the culture of violence and war?
How does your talk of peace and nonviolence and
the God of peace and the nonviolent Jesus disturb
others? In fact, the entire culture. I'm just
thinking if I had time, I'd share so many stories.
I never thought in my life I'd be brought before
so many senators and congresspeople. presidents,
a queen, popes, political leaders and presidents
all around the world. Part two, the second movement
of the story is short and sweet. So I quote,
they were overjoyed at seeing the star and on
entering the house, they saw the child with Mary,
his mother, and they prostrated themselves and
did him homage. Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. It's beautiful. So we're told they
are overjoyed at seeing the star. Creation points
them to God, and that fills them with joy. There's
our path, dear friends. They follow the bright
star, and it leads them to our beloved Mary.
and the beloved child, and this is their epiphany,
the great life -changing moment when they realize
they're in the presence of the God of peace.
So they fall down and do him homage and worship
the God of peace. Now, I looked up the word epiphany
in the dictionary, and it's, you know, that sudden
realization, self -actualization, but for our
purposes. I define it as the sudden realization
that you are in the presence of the God of peace.
And that moment leads you to worship the God
of peace. All our defenses and selfishness and
ego falls away. And we fall humbly in love with
this beautiful God. And it's so interesting.
We're told they brought three gifts. Gold, which
is what you give a king. Okay, I'm with you on
that. Frankincense. Would you want to give a
high priest? Okay. Beautiful. Traditional for
a Jewish king. And myrrh, which is what you use
to anoint a dead body. What? Well, imagine how
Mary feels about that. You know, and the baby
has been wrapped in swaddling clothes, which
is what you... They're so poor, the only cloth
they have is the material you use to wrap a dead
body in. That's Jesus coming into this world.
So I presume that somewhere along the way on
our spiritual journey to the nonviolent Jesus,
each one of us has had an epiphany moment when
we realized we were in the presence of the God
of peace, when nature points us to God, when
our hearts are filled with joy and we're consoled,
and when we worship God and presented our gifts.
But I'd invite us to see life itself as an ongoing...
pilgrimage to the nonviolent Jesus, which is
filled with epiphany moments when we are in the
presence of the God of peace. This is what Merton
taught. Sometimes I think if we open our hearts
wide enough, we can have epiphany moments every
single day. If we're really... single -heartedly
seeking to encounter the God of peace and meeting
the nonviolent Jesus and worshiping the God of
peace and adoring the God of peace and bringing
all our finest gifts that would help and honor
and serve the nonviolent Jesus. Certainly we
can have epiphanies of the God of peace in our
prayer, when we receive communion at mass, when
we serve Jesus in the poor and homeless, and
if we go deep into the sacramental work. for
peace and justice and creation. So here are my
questions for you. When did you have an epiphany
of the God of peace? When have you met the nonviolent
Jesus among the poor, the homeless, the marginalized?
How does nature continue to lead you to the God
of peace? How does creation, the star, bring
you joy when you suddenly realize you're in the
presence of the God of peace and fill you with
consolation? And the old practice of St. Ignatius
of Loyola is you return to those great epiphanies
and moments of consolation for the rest of your
life. You can dip back into them at any moment.
How are you worshiping the God of peace? And
maybe this is very helpful to ask. What gifts
do you bring the nonviolent Jesus? Isn't that
lovely? So, part three is just one sentence.
Here we go. Having been warned in a dream, Not
to return to Herod, they departed for their country
by another way. The third movement of the Epiphany
story is utterly shocking. This is the clincher,
the surprise ending. Here's the teaching. Buckle
your seatbelts. This is the whole point of what
I wanted to share with you. Once you encounter
the nonviolent Jesus, Once you have an epiphany
of the God of peace among the poor, you change
the direction of your life. Like the three magi,
you go home a different way. Everything has changed,
including your politics. We no longer do what
the leaders of the culture of violence, empire,
and war tell us. We have encountered the God
of peace. So from now on, we no longer cooperate
with the culture of war and empire or its war
-making rulers who are always telling us what
to do. From King Herod and Pilate to the Roman
Emperor to what? Reagan, Bush, Obama, Trump.
From now on, our allegiance is solely to the
nonviolent Jesus and the God of peace and God's
reign. As people of wisdom. We are going to worship
the nonviolent Jesus and do what he says. I find
that very exciting and hopeful. So when the Magi
refused to go back to Herod and turned home on
a different route, think about it. They're committing
nonviolent civil disobedience. They're disobeying
the evil ruler. They could have been killed for
this unlawful behavior. And their disobedience,
we're told by Matthew, this is the beginning
of the gospel, infuriates the evil King Herod
and all the rulers. who are always trying to
maintain their imperial power and control and
wage war and kill their rivals and snuff out
every grassroots movement of justice, peace,
and nonviolence. The nonviolent Jesus and his
way of nonviolence, we are learning right here
at the start of Matthew, are a total threat to
the powers that be, to the empire, the culture
of violence and war, the rulers, the war makers,
the military, and the powerful religious leaders,
then and now, if you have eyes to see and if
you're reading the gospel correctly. So the principalities...
powers always trying to turn us away from God,
to lead us away from the God of peace and the
power of nonviolence, because they understand
nonviolence better than we do. Jesus says that
later. They know that organized grassroots bottom
-up people power movements of nonviolence are
more powerful than anything, including military
forces. all the weapons of the world and all
empires, that we have power, people power, when
we withdraw our consent from the rulers. So they
always lie and seek to kill nonviolent leaders
who emerge from the world of the poor, like Dr.
King and the Kennedys and Romero and Gandhi,
to crush any grassroots bottom -up people power
movements of nonviolence. I think Matthew is
inviting us to seek the nonviolent Jesus on the
margins of the culture of violence, empire, and
war, and let our encounter with the nonviolent
Jesus Our experience with the nonviolent Jesus
and the God of peace lead us away from the corrupt
culture of violence and war to go in a different
direction than the culture, in our case, America,
to turn away from money, consumerism, greed,
racism, gun violence, executions, warfare, fascism,
nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, from
now on to live as wisdom pilgrims of nonviolence
who obey Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which is
coming up shortly. So from now on, we're nonviolent
resistors. Wow. That's what I get from the Epiphany
story. So some questions. How has your encounter
with a nonviolent Jesus, your encounter with
a God of peace, your experience... With gospel
nonviolence changed the direction of your life
and led you away from the culture of violence
and war, from America, in opposition to our ruling
authorities, Democrat and Republican, and the
whole empire, towards God's reign of universal
love, peace, and nonviolence. You know, for myself,
my epiphanies have led me to a lifetime of civil
disobedience and steadfast resistance. Eighty
-five arrests. over 400 courtroom appearances.
I'm very used to handcuffs and police cars and
jails and holding cells all over the country
and all the disruptions that have come with that.
And I count it all a great blessing and a joy,
and I highly recommend it. Finally, we get to
the long part four, which I call the epilogue
of the story. which is what happens after the
epiphany of the Magi and their nonviolent resistance
to Herod. So I'm going to read this. This is
the end of the story from Matthew. So here we
go. When they departed, behold, the angel of
the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
rise, take the child and his mother, flee to
Egypt and stay there until I tell you. Herod
is going to search for the child to destroy him.
Joseph rose. Note the resurrection language.
And took the child and his mother by night and
departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the
death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through
the prophet might be fulfilled. Out of Egypt
I called my son. When Herod realized that he
had been deceived by the Magi, he became furious,
and he ordered the massacre of all the boys in
Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and
under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained
from the Magi. Then was fulfilled what had been
said through Jeremiah the prophet. A voice was
heard in Rabbah, sobbing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children. and she would
not be consoled since they were no more. Later,
when Herod had died, behold, the angel of the
Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and
said, Rise, take the child and his mother and
go to the land of Israel, for those who sought
the child's life are dead. And so he rose, took
the child and his mother, and went to the land
of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was
now ruling over Judea in place of his father
Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because
he'd been warned in a dream, he departed north
for the region of Galilee. And he went and dwelt
in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been
spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled.
He shall be called a Nazarene. So Matthew says
here right at the start, Herod is furious to
discover that the Magi deceived him. Now please
note this word deceived. Wait, aren't these holy
wisdom spiritual figures the greatest saints?
And they're deceiving the political leader who
has the power to kill them all? Again, the three
wisdom figures disobeyed Herod and the empire.
They refused to cooperate with him and they went
home a different way. How dare they? Dear friends,
that's the spiritual life in a nutshell. That's
the height of spiritual wisdom. To disobey our
corrupt, greedy, genocidal, war -making, nuclear
weapons -threatening, environmentally -destroying,
criminal, political leaders who are on the verge
of destroying the whole planet. much less killing
the children of the world and the poor. It's
such an important lesson. Herod would have killed
Jesus and his parents and any witnesses right
there from the get -go. So he now issues an order
to kill every boy in Bethlehem and the surrounding
area two years and under. This, dear friends,
is the Christmas story. Remember that Christmas
is directly connected. It's a straight arrow.
to the cross. So here we see how empires and
rulers use death as a social methodology, how
they care nothing for human life, especially
for children, and how they threaten humanity
with death to maintain their control and power.
And that means, oh, we got to kill the children.
This is what we see everywhere today. If you
have eyes to see, don't be naive. These days,
the nations are planning. total nuclear destruction,
and allowing catastrophic climate change to destroy
the planet and kill millions of holy innocents
in the future. Dare I say, as the scientists
say, maybe billions of holy innocents. The nonviolent
Jesus has come to stop all this, and he's coming
to ask for our help. So just as the Magi disobey
the ruler of the culture of war in order to obey...
the God of peace. So all of us who seek the God
of peace from now on disobey the rulers of the
culture of violence and war and turn away from
them and walk the new uncharted path of gospel
nonviolence, where we don't know where it's going
to go. But from now on, our allegiance is to
the nonviolent Jesus whom we met, whom we know,
and we happily accept all the social and political
implications of that encounter. Once you meet
the God of peace and nonviolence, your first
act is to fall down and worship, and you're full
of joy. Your second act is to disobey the false
gods of violence and war and the imperial ruling
authorities who kill and wage war all around
the planet. So the real question then is, what
does the slaughter of the holy innocents have
to do with Christmas? Then... Or now. It shows
us how we've totally co -opted Christmas. The
empire has completely co -opted it. But how,
in truth, how Christmas is totally real and authentic
and political in your face. If we understood
who this child is and what he's going to do and
what he's going to teach in the Sermon on the
Mount. And the grassroots people power bottom
up movement of total nonviolence, which he's
going to start and which continues today. Today,
our country and the countries of the world are
continuing to kill holy innocents everywhere.
You need only look at Gaza or South Sudan or
Ukraine or the millions of starving children
around the world. Our task. As people who claim
to have had an epiphany of the God of peace,
who have met the nonviolent Jesus, who want to
live according to the Sermon on the Mount nonviolence,
to be people of universal love. is to non -cooperate
with this culture of violence and war and the
rulers who kill the innocents, to resist them
non -violently to the day we die, to defend the
world's children non -violently, and to stop
the ongoing slaughter of the innocents. That's
our mission, not just not to kill, but to stop
the killing and make sure it never happens again.
As an epiphany, people who have encountered and
follow the non -violent Jesus, We are no longer
on the side of the murderous rulers or war makers.
We all have got to learn that lesson. We are
the Jeremiah people who hear the cry of Rachel
weeping for her children today in Gaza, Iraq,
Afghanistan, South Sudan, throughout Africa,
all of India, all of Latin America, all of Asia.
Who? The mothers of homeless youth. the mothers
of death row inmates, the mothers of the immigrants
being arrested and shipped off by ICE, the mothers
of all the school shooting victims. Like Jesus,
we go forward in grassroots movements of justice,
disarmament, and nonviolence to stop the ongoing
slaughter of the innocents. This is our job description,
which we get at Christmas. It's a great blessing
because it brings great joy. So my questions,
what are the political consequences of your epiphanies
of the God of peace? How are you ignoring them
or denying them? What about embracing them? How
does the empire and its rulers respond to the
coming of the nonviolent Jesus today and the
grassroots movement of organized, loving, active
nonviolence? Where do you hear the cry of Rachel?
Where do you see the slaughter of the innocents?
How are you working to stop the slaughter of
the innocents? How is the empire trying to stop
us from following the nonviolent Jesus and living
out, as the three wise figures do, the encounter,
the epiphany encounter with the God of peace?
Here are my conclusions of the epiphany story.
First, is to say it again. God does not come
to the rich and powerful, but to the poor and
powerless. This is as true today as it was then.
If you want to meet God, you got to go to the
poor and powerless. Get out of your comfort zones.
And that leads me to number two. Second, God
is not found in the center of the culture of
violence and war, but on its margins. This is
the fundamental mistake of Christian history.
I mean, it's so obvious right there in Matthew.
We presume that God dwells at the center. Why
wouldn't God be with the rich and famous and
powerful and beautiful? No. I mean, Mother Teresa
gave her whole life to that teaching. Her famous
quote, I heard her say it many times, God comes
to us in the distressing disguise of the poor.
God is on the margins with those no one wants
to be with. Third, God is born among homeless
people, refugees, migrants, the undocumented,
immigrants, prisoners, those with no country,
with no security, with no money, no future, no
hope. Also, God is born in nature. God is found
in nature. Therefore, nature, all of creation,
is pointing to God. With the story of the Magi,
we know that God is for all of creation and for
all people, for everyone, everywhere, and everyone
is included. This brings me to another point
I'm trying to say. Remember, Matthew's gospel,
which is aimed at Jewish Christians, is declaring
right at the start that Jesus is not just for
the chosen people, but for Gentiles and therefore
all people. The Magi are Gentiles. This is scandalous.
And they are the ones who seek out and receive
the Holy Child and bring gold to Mary. You know,
it's a spectacular story. Here's another point.
Epiphanies happen at night. Think on that. They
are journeys toward God, but they take place
in the dark, in the unknown. The sudden spiritual
experience of God's presence comes after a long...
Journey at night. And so epiphanies require following
stars, attending to creation, which means risking
appearing foolish in the eyes of the world. You
know, when I think about that, one of my favorite
quotes of Dr. King is, and I hadn't put this
in my text, but here it goes. He said over and
over again, only at night can you see the stars,
only in the dark. In other words, only when there's
no hope, when you're in the dark, can you see
the light of heaven. In other words, we have
to become contemplatives if we want to have an
epiphany. This is another critical lesson. Epiphanies
require community. This is really important.
Matthew does not tell this story about an individual
wise figure. There's a community. And I think
the lesson there from the beginning, especially
toward us, privileged Americans is to give up
our radical individualism, which has nothing
to do with the gospel. and join a local community
of peacemakers for the nonviolent Jesus. The
first thing Jesus does is form a community. The
Magi seek the Holy Child together as a community.
They worship the Holy Child together as a community,
and they disobey and resist the war -making ruler
and government together as a community. And then
to state the obvious again, epiphanies are always
political. They become acts of nonviolent resistance
to empire and war making. They lead us to the
God of peace. And the experience of God always,
always, always leads us away from the war making
rulers. Why? Because we met God and we know that
God is universal peace, total nonviolence, universal
love. That's why I think, dear friends, if this
is the beginning of Matthew, and it sums up Matthew,
Epiphanies are life and death journeys. They
involve risk. And that's what the gospel is all
about. The days of normalcy and sitting in our
comfort zones, those are over. Epiphanies require
dropping everything we have planned immediately
to go after the holy. Okay, so they're a little
scary. They take us into the unknown. But what's
not to like? We have friends. We have community.
Didn't we just agree that? And we're going to
encounter the holy, which might seem risky and
scary into this unknown place on the margins.
No matter. We're full of joy. Because we've not
only seen creation, we've seen and experienced
the nonviolent Jesus, the God of peace. Well,
then epiphanies are going to get us in trouble.
How could they not? in a world of total war if
we're going to experience the God of total peace.
They're going to disrupt our lives. And why do
we go just so far toward God and then we stop?
We get so afraid. Epiphanies call us out of our
fear, you know, and say, it doesn't matter. You've
met the nonviolent Jesus. Let's keep following
them. Yeah, so our lives get disrupted, but we're
full of joy and consolation, and you know everything's
going to be okay. And we can maintain that joy.
That's what I experienced with my great friends,
Daniel Berrigan, Desmond Tutu, and Thich Nhat
Hanh, people of great joy. Epiphanies call us
to the fullness of religious tolerance, which
is... what Gandhi insisted on. Mary and Joseph
are Jews, and they welcome the Magi, non -Jews.
So like Mary and Joseph, we respect all religions
and all cultures. Let me emphasize again in the
end, epiphanies of God fill us with joy and lead
us to worship and offer gifts to God. When we
meet God, we are filled with joy, and after that
we resist all that is not of God. All that is
not of God's reign. And friends, we let the chips
fall where they may. That's the spiritual journey.
That's the meaning of life. To seek our God.
To experience our God. To risk. prayer and worship
and bringing gifts to God, to look for the non
-violent Jesus, meet him, and from now on, do
what he says because we've become his faithful
disciples. And so, come what may, we go forward
on our pilgrimage. I read Matthew's story of
the epiphany as a metaphor for our pilgrimage
through life to the non -violent Jesus. Matthew's
infancy narrative and epiphany Really sums up
the gospel. So here's my concluding questions
for you. Where are you again in the epiphany
story? How are you seeking the nonviolent Jesus?
How is creation today, even in this time of climate
change, more than ever pointing us to God? When
and where have you encountered the nonviolent
Jesus? What gifts? Are you bringing the nonviolent
Jesus this Christmas? How has your encounter
with the nonviolent Jesus, your epiphany, disarmed
you and changed your life and set you on a different
direction in total opposition to all the violent
rulers of the world, all their militaries and
weapons and all of the forces of death? How do
we disobey the political war -making authorities
and do our part? to stop the ongoing slaughter
of the innocents today, and to console Rachel
as she weeps for her children today. Dear friends,
my hope and prayer has been that this political
reflection of Christmas encourages you on your
epiphany journey to the God of peace, to see
where you are, to meet the nonviolent Jesus on
the margins, and for the rest of your life, to
carry on your nonviolent resistance to empire
and stop the slaughter of the innocents. Thank
you for listening to the Nonviolent Jesus podcast.
You can hear many more podcasts and find other
upcoming Zoom programs at BeatitudeCenter .org.
Please consider offering a donation to support
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friends about this. Dear friends, may the God
of peace bless us all. Keep on following the
Nonviolent Jesus and a very Merry Christmas.