1-7-2018 “The Journey to God”

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF CANTON

Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

Epiphany Sunday, January 7, 2018

Sermon: “The Journey to God”

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12

Epiphany: the day that Magi (also known as the Wise Men, also known as the Kings, also known as the Sages from the East) — this is the day that these characters arrive at the manger marking the twelfth day of Christmas. This is the day that Jesus received gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It is the day that someone else received from his or her true love: 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a leaping, 9…you know the rest. (You ever look at that song carefully? The person singing it got a lot of birds. I’m just saying.)

I remember attending a Bible study in my home church years ago. The pastor tried to debunk the epiphany as mere myth saying that the Magi would have to have travelled two years to get to the manger. But Scripture supports this time-frame. We just read the proof. Verse 16: Herod decides “to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” This suggests that the baby could have been born anytime that the star began to shine, up to two years ago.

Think of that journey! Think of the commitment! Travelling two years to arrive at the Bethlehem birth-bed. Myth or not, it is a story of incredible faith. It also stands as a symbol to all of us. Like the Magi, we too are on a journey to God. For some of us, it takes years. For others a lifetime. Some of us never arrive. And yet we journey. We travel through difficult terrain (a symbol of life) carrying many burdens (guilt, shame, regret, you name it). Eventually we arrive at the manger-bed. Instead of offering gold, frankincense, and myrrh we offer our very lives in service to the one through whom God became incarnate, the one who is God. We also offer the burdens we have been carrying, knowing that in the hands of the Christ all things will be made new.

That is a journey that many people take. Again, some arrive, some do not. A good friend of mine, who is a staunch atheist, is on that journey, but not to find Jesus. Rather, he feels that science proves everything: the cosmos, the creation of the world, our existence, everything. There is no God, according to my friend, and he immerses himself in the literature of a group that has become known as the New Atheists. C. Stephen Evans refers to them as the “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheism: Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. They have written such books as The God Delusion, God Is Not Great, and The End of Faith. My friend believes that these writers have proven that there is no God and that science explains it all. Footnote: I find it interesting that some people who do not believe in God make it their quest to disprove God’s existence. That doesn’t make much sense to me. I do not believe in unicorns, but it is not my lifelong ambition to disprove their existence. But that’s another sermon for another time.

The truth is: you can embrace the scientific worldview and theism. These are not mutually exclusive disciplines. Saying that they are is like saying, which field of study into the human condition is more valid than the other: sociology or art? It is an apples and oranges question. Both fields ask different questions and offer different answers — both as valid as the other. Sociology is the scientific study of patterns of social relationships. The sociologist uses empirical evidence and critical analysis to understand culture and patterns of interpersonal behavior. He provides great insight. That is not what the artist does. She sits at her canvas and uses paint or pastels to capture the beauty (or the ugliness) that speaks to the human condition. She also provides us with great insight.

In a similar fashion, the scientist asks the how question. He uses experimentation and the scientific method to uncover the facts: how was the world formed, how does the human body function, how do specific species survive in desert or artic climates. The theologian on the other hand asks the why questions. Why are we here? Why was the world created? Why is there something rather than nothing? These are very different kinds of question. The answers are no less valid, no less true.

With the how and the why questions, do we not get a fuller picture of ourselves and the universe? Do we not see the purposefulness of creation and how it must have come from an intelligent creator? Science explains the patterns for us, but they do not tell us who designed those patters and set them in motion. Science and religion complement each other; they should not be spiteful combatants.

The interesting thing is that there are scientists who agree. A year and a half ago, Kayleen Schreiber, a Ph.D. student in neuroscience at the time, published an article entitled, “A Scientist’s Journey to God.”[1] In it, she argues that “studying God’s physical creation helps [her] maintain an awe and reverence toward Him that is otherwise easy to lose.” People would often ask her how she believes in God after eight years of intense scientific study. Schreiber writes, “As I delve deeper into understanding God’s creation, it allows me to appreciate just how detailed, how organized, how beautiful God is.” Think about it: the world is so complex, so purposeful. Science may be able to explain its structure and function, but it cannot account for its origins.

We all want to know why: the scientist, the believer, the philosopher. All of us ask the same questions — and the different answers we find give us a fuller picture.

This may seem strange as an Epiphany sermon and, to tell you the truth, it isn’t what I originally intended to write. But lately I have been amazed at the timelessness of Scripture, particularly the characters within it. Although they existed thousands of years ago, their questions are our questions. Like the Magi, they are also on a journey to find God — and they find him in the least likely of places. Today we seek God in pious moments: when we pray and meditate. We seek God in certain places: in churches and cathedrals. We seek God when we read the Bible or share the bread and cup of the Eucharist. God is there, to be sure, but God is also in the most unlikely and humble of places.

Keep your eyes open on this journey. Follow the road that God has set before you. Be open to where it will lead you.

[1] Kayleen Schreiber, “A Scientist’s Journey to God,” from Beyond Today, July 11, 2016: ucg.org.