In A Blue Moon

Did you notice? If you watched TV at all on New Year’s Eve you couldn’t help but notice. Whether it was football, or New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (and does anyone else think it is time for Dick Clark to enjoy his retirement?) and probably the 11 o’clock local news, mention was made multiple times of the rare occurrence of a blue moon that night. Could be a sign, don’t you think?

Now for you amateur astronomers out there, let me say that I know about the debate raging about blue moons. Apparently the popular notion that a blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month is not the “true” definition. The term originated with the old Farmer’s Almanac early last century, and was used to refer to an extra full moon in a season. Normally, you know, there are three full moons in a season. But once in a while (once in a blue ... ) there are four. And for some reason it is the third full moon that is called the blue moon. I’m not sure why it is the third instead of the extra fourth, but it makes sense to someone. A magi perhaps.

The point is people get excited about these phenomena. They argue about them, just like we argue about other important stuff. Like whether resting key players before the playoffs is a recipe for disaster or success! Like whether blowing a perfect season for the purpose of not getting a owie on the multi-millionaire makes any sense whatsoever!! Sorry. Gotta focus here.

I wonder if the wise men argued about the true meaning of the celestial phenomenon all the way to Jerusalem. Melchoir argued that it meant a king, a true blue-blood ruler with a pedigree and royal birth mark and everything. Caspar snorts in disdain and says that is obviously referring to a warrior, a military type, someone who can wield a sword and look good doing it. But Balthazar declares they are both as blind as Persian fruit bats, it is a leader on fields of play who isn’t afraid of perfection or getting a hangnail and is ready to stick it out to the end, 16 and 0!! The others look at him and ask, “what are you talking about?” “Dunno,” he mutters, “came to me in a dream.”

Could have happened. But probably not. That’s the tricky thing with signs, they are open to misinterpretation. Here’s what Matthew thinks happened:

Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" 7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

I am always amazed at what isn’t told in this story. We don’t know how many magi there were. The traditional number is based on the number of gifts, since no one believes that “this gift is from both of us” explanation. We don’t know where they come from. “The East” is bible talk for foreigners. Persia, what is now Iraq or Iran make the most sense, but we don’t really know. We also don’t know why they went to Jerusalem. Were they heads of state making an official visit, or were they just a bunch of guys who got lost? According to Matthew’s story, it is the star that gets them to their destination and not Herod’s rather dubious directions. So, why stop in the first place?

And then there are the gifts. Much has been made over the meaning of the gifts. Some argue that gold is a gift given to kings. Incense is a gift given to God. And myrrh is a gift given to one who is to die. In that giving, says the tradition, the wisemen told the whole story of this child. The first declaration of who he was and what he came to do was laid there at the feet of the mystified girl who gave him birth.

Did she grasp what was being said as the gifts were placed there before her? Did she grasp what it meant when she said yes to being the vessel for God’s entrance into the world? Did she understand what was about to happen to her? She pondered, says Luke, in her heart all these things, all these signs, but it never said she figured it out. She just said yes.

For that matter, did the magi who opened their treasures even understand what it was they were saying? Probably not. But something about what they saw there in that house in Bethlehem, something about the celestial phenomenon and something about their journey, something about this whole event moved them to generosity. They gave, maybe more than they intended when they set out, but they gave because they saw a sign.

We’d so like to be sure, wouldn’t we. We’d love to know, not just hope or not just believe, but to know that what were doing was the right thing to do, the right direction to follow, the right choice to make. We’d like a sign that would come along and convince us. We keep asking for, looking for a sign.

The problem with signs is that they are open to a variety of interpretations. The wisemen might have argued about the interpretation as they started their journey to follow that star. There might have been others who saw it and came to the meeting, but in the end decided it was just a coincidence and didn’t make the trip. When the travelers returned with their story, one wonders if those who didn’t go regretted it. If they watched the sky for their chance to go with even more intensity.

That’s the message of Epiphany, it seems to me. Not that there will be convincing evidence. Not that something will happen to remove any trace of doubt. An Epiphany is an opportunity. It is a moment of clarity in a dark time, a glimpse of something larger than the everyday concerns of our lives. And it demands a response. Are you going to follow your star? Are you going to say yes to that angel in your living room? Are you going to keep believing, are you going to keep hope alive, are you going to serve as though the most important thing in the world was not you or your happiness, but the one in front of you, the one who needs you?

Then, in the in between times where most of live, we go on in the strength of that sighting, with the memory of that clarity. We go on still wondering, uncertain but hopeful. We go on convinced that a life of service is a better way to live. Convinced that a life of living in community is a better way to find yourself. Convinced that worship is a better way to connect with that something larger.

And we go on because Epiphanies are rare. Some say, only once in a blue moon.

Shalom,
Derek