It Takes a Foreigner (Reflections on the Feast of the Epiphany)

Pat is a great guy. He used to be just a Christmas and Easter Christian, but in the last few years he’s become a regular church-goer, he’s put his kids in Sunday School, he sings with the church Praise Team, and currently serves as “Property Czar” on our church council. He was also my designated representative last December 22^nd when I was unable to attend a special worship service held by our mission partners, the Beersheba Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The good folks of Beersheba—who use the worship space at Faith Lutheran on Saturdays—had planned a special end-of-the-year worship and concert to honor eleven community leaders. Somehow they got it into their heads that I am a community leader, and they honored me with a beautiful glass statuette for generosity.  I don’t know that I’m any more generous than the next guy, so I think they were really trying to say “thank you” to my congregation for providing a welcome space for their congregation to use. Pat was kind enough to attend the celebration and accept the statuette award on my behalf.

“It was an awesome ceremony,” Pat told me. “Everyone was so friendly. I was overwhelmed by their kindness. They even gave me an interpreter!” A language interpreter was necessary, of course, because the congregants of Beersheba are Haitian and Haitian American. They celebrate and worship in French. Even though he couldn’t understand a word of the service, Pat was blown away by the sheer joy of the experience, the excellence of the music, and the friendliness of the congregation. He couldn’t say enough in their praise.

As I write this post, the United States federal government is in partial shut-down because of Congress’s refusal to fund the Great Wall of Trump—a barrier intended to keep foreigners out. My little congregation, however, has been tremendously blessed by the presence of foreigners. Not only do our brothers and sisters of Beersheba show great respect for our property, but they are consistently understanding when we have to make schedule changes. They are also overwhelmingly generous to us and provide a considerable financial contribution for the upkeep of our church building—a contribution we’d be hard pressed to get along without.

The Epiphany story (Matthew 2:1-12 in the Revised Common Lectionary) isn’t just an exotic or cute Christmas card. The Wise Men—these foreigners—came searching for the baby Jesus because their tradition (very likely the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism) told them that this child would be worthy of their search. They had a true understanding of who Jesus was, and their gifts reflected his uniqueness. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were traditional gifts for a king, but they also reflected the characteristics they valued. Frankincense was symbolic of wisdom. Myrrh was symbolic of healing.  They weren’t looking for a king of power and might. They were looking for a king who would give light to a hurting world.

Sometimes it takes a foreigner show us Christ in a new way.