January opens with the great feast of the Epiphany on January 6^th, when we commemorate the visit of the wise men from the East bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. If we believe all the Christmas cards they arrived at the same time as the shepherds, but Matthew’s Gospel implies a longer gap of perhaps two years. So the infant Jesus they saw was probably a toddler, which means he was probably old enough for the wise men to give him their gifts directly though no doubt Joseph and Mary looked after them immediately.

All kinds of stories have accumulated about these wise men. We are not actually told that there were only three of them; we simply don’t know how many they were. Despite the carol they are not described as kings, and despite medieval legends they may not have been called Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. Nor despite many a painting do we know if one of them was black. They remain mysterious figures.

In the original Greek text they are called Magoi, though we know the Latin version Magi better. This may be a clue to who or what they were, but not one that should be pressed too far. We know very little about any Magi, and what we do know is uncertain. They first appear in literature with the Greek historian Herodotus (still a delight to read) in the 5^th century BC. According to Herodotus the Magi were an important Median tribe absorbed into the Persian Empire. They were never a tribe, but more likely a profession of soothsayers and seers. Certainly by the time that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the 1^st century AD the word Magi had come to be used by educated Greeks and Romans to refer to oriental astrologers, seers, and magicians. (The modern equivalent is probably guru, in the Beetles’ sense.) Some modern Bible translations call them astrologers from the East, which is too narrow a rendering of magi.

However they did follow a star, so studying the heavens was part of their skill and lore. In those days people did not make our distinction between astrology and astronomy; it was all one, and most people believed that the heavenly bodies affected our lives in various ways. Despite many learned attempts over the centuries to identify the Star of Bethlehem, either with a star, a supernova, or some other celestial combination, it remains like the Magi a mystery.

All we really know about the Epiphany is that some wise men from the East brought highly significant gifts to the infant Jesus, gifts in fact well explained in the carol We Three Kings. Alone among the learned and the wise of their time, they recognized that God was doing something marvelous and wonderful. Our response should be the same. We do not always understand the ways of God. It is not necessary that we should. All we have to do is to recognize his hand at work in our lives and to bring what gifts we can into his service.

Have a blessed New Year.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Michael +

* If your birthday or anniversary is in the month of January and it is not on the list, chances are our records are not up to date. Please call Bobbie at 414/744-3637, e-mail her at office@stlukeschurch.com or leave a note in the office mail slot next to the office door.

We have now raised $40,074.57 for our new roof! This ia a wonderful achievement on the part of our congregation, and would not be possible without ALL of our generous donors-large and small! We are all so blessed! Happy New Year!

The sign up slots to serve at coffee hour somehow always get filled. Sometimes it’s a family, someone new, the or the "Kitchen Elves" that make sure that we don’t just run out of church on Sunday mornings. So, we stay and share good news (and the bad) with our church family. We keep connected and our church thrives.

Please don’t be afraid to sign up one Sunday even if you’ve never done it before. A few rolls, some butter, and cheese or whatever you think is good Sunday fare is sure to be enjoyed and appreciated.