Another Road…

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, 2:2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east, and have come to pay him homage.” 2:3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, 2:4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 2:5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet: 2:6’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.'” 2:7Then Herod secretly called for the magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 2:8Then 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.” 2:9When they had heard the king, they set out, and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 2:10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 2:11On 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. 2:12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Space, the final frontier, has been an obsession of mine since I was small. There were times that I would look up to the sky and imagine what exactly was up there. And it wasn’t until later on in life that I actually found out what is up there and that what we all actually see is light from years and years and years ago. A light traveling from billions of miles away, emitted from a star that no longer exists or a planet or a galaxy. It’s truly fascinating to know that we are all a part of something so vast and intricate like the universe. And that one of those lights, one of those stars, led some of the smartest folk of their time to the humblest setting where the Christ child laid.

The magi, folk of a multitude of different backgrounds, were called upon by Herod, a pawn and tyrant empowered by the Roman Empire. The goal…track down this child so that Herod could get rid of him because the babe possessed far too much of a danger to Herod’s political power. Mary proclaimed what the coming of the babe meant in that kings would be thrown from their thrones and the oppressed would be set free. This Messiah would be the one to save his people and that was far too much for a greedy, sell-out like Herod. So, he enlisted his intellectual officers to track that child down by following a star which they did so perfectly. But what Herod did not count on was that an emotional response erupted within them.

Joy took over their bodies, moved past their pursuit, consumed their analytical minds, and opened their treasure boxes to offer this Joy-Bringer gifts of the most prized possessions of the earth. This emotional and spiritual response then opened up the angelic and heavenly world, entered into their sleep, and transformed their journey away from a tyrant toward a new road.

O how the colonizer detests emotion! O how the colonizer demonizes joy!

As a barer of the colonial legacy, as a white person birthed from the oppression of the Scottish people, as a white queer person, this specific message goes to the worshipers of the Herodian gods of whiteness and colonization. Simply put, this goes out to you white folk…all of you. Just as Herod relied on his intellectual army to gather information and to think his way out of a possible coupe, we white folk often assume that we will think ourselves out of the damage we have done. We read our anti-colonial books, our anti-racist books, we read our Bibles and any text we can to gain knowledge. Or we don’t do any of that and we remain ignorant, so we don’t have to think and especially feel. Or we simplify faith. Or we over complicate faith. All the while, the historic legacy of colonization, predominately backed by religion, still lingers, still oppresses, still robs everyone of their identity and rootedness, and still carries on day after day, and then the numbness sets in.

The road of numbness is an intentional road we are placed upon so that with every bump, every crack, every detour, every emotion is bypassed so that our minds and bodies can handle the damage we do. This road is filled with billboards: “Mass deportation”, “Ban Books”, “Queers Go to Hell”, “No to They/Them”, “Manifest Destiny”, “Oil Over People”, “This Land is My Land and Not Yours”. As we travel this road, we consume empty calories and road snacks the best being, racism, white supremacy, homophobia and the like (doesn’t matter the brand). Sometimes, we think we see the star and we follow it. We take our exit and we find it, a plastic blow mold that towers over a little white boy child. And we stay there, worshipping a being that does not exist for Christ was anything but white.

The stasis and the unmovable stance many of us take in front of this white child will never be moved by intellect alone. You see this road of numbness is predominately for white folk, it’s only open to the people who look like you do. And the trap that keeps us in front of the white Jesus is contagious because it’s simple. We just needed to find him … we don’t need to follow him.

But the true epiphany breaks forth when we are overcome, when we are moved inwardly and outwardly, when we FEEL. Herod didn’t count on the Spirit to move the magi. Herod didn’t count on God With Us to be more contagious than whiteness.  For the magi were moved to joy seeing this Palestinian, Jewish child who would rock the world with love. Moved to joy so much so that they chose to take another road. ANOTHER PATH. ANOTHER WAY.

So what does this new way, this new road mean for us?

It means that the colonized Christ, that old blow mold from the 70s, must be melted down like the idol it is. It means repentance is first and foremost the entry way to this new road. This new road is long, wide, filled with hard conversations, guilt processed in white only circles, education, trust building, and most importantly, action.

Our world is full of Herods, in mirrors and in our neighbors. And the only way we will break from this evil is not only through thought, but through the emotional responses when we see our fellow likeness of God suffer. It’s called empathy.

When our Palestinian siblings suffer, when immigrants suffer, when our queer and trans siblings suffer, when Black and Brown bodies suffer, when our earth suffers, when our Native and Indigenous siblings suffer, our bodies should be moved, our minds should be consumed with holy rage that catapults us into action. That is the Epiphany story!

The beauty of the universe and the beauty of creation is due to its resilience and its mobility. It evolves. It changes. It never stays the same. Our urge and our resistance to control creation and destroy it goes against the very nature of our being. For we are a part of the stars, we are a part of the universe. When we look up, we can still see that star that shined over the Christ child. That same star shines over us all connecting us to that moment in history when a group of people went against a tyrant and chose another road – a road to liberation, a road to repentance, and a road where all shall inherit the light of goodness, dignity and love.

Rev. Lee Catoe is the editor of Unbound and co-host and co-producer of A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast. He is a native of the small, rural town of Jefferson, South Carolina. Lee is a graduate of Presbyterian College (2010) with a B.S. in Biology and a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School (2019) with a Masters of Divinity. His thesis work incorporated the intersection of songwriting and Queer Theology with a focus on incarnational theology and embodiment. Lee is a songwriter, plays guitar and, occasionally, performs. He also freelances as a graphic designer and Instagram manager for his beagle, Rupert (yes, he has an Instagram). Lee and his husband, Will, now live in Nashville, TN with their beagle, Rupert.