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February 6, 2008

Sermon for Sunday, January 6, 2008

“The Magi Journey”
Matthew 2:1-12

The word today is about a journey. A journey taken by some men that Matthew’s gospel story calls Magi, Wise Men. You know about the magi, the wise men don’t you? They are in every nativity scene. If you don’t believe me, come to our house during the Christmas season. I have a collection of nativity scenes that are very special to us, not only because of what they mean, but also because of the people and love they represent. Some of our nativities are from all over the world. Others are gifts from people who we love.

In every nativity there are wise men, magi who made it to the stable which helps out with only in a Christmas pageant. We are pretty sure they came later. The Magi are those who came from the East and journeyed to Jerusalem having been led by a star.

We usually have three wise men even though Matthew does not tell us how many, but tradition has had three because of the three gifts—gold, frankincense and myrrh. It really doesn’t make any difference how many. Matthew does call them magi, that is, magicians, people who would perform certain feats of magic, people who looked at the stars, trying to figure out the course of the world. The gospel story doesn’t tell us all that. That’s history.

It was their star gazing that got them to Jerusalem and it is where they realized the course of the world had changed. The visit of these wise men reminds us that Jesus is for the world, not just a select few. What we are told in Matthew is they were people on a journey following a star.

In the ancient world, the occurrence of a star was often associated with the birth of a notable person. So having seen the star that Matthew says proclaimed the arrival of Messiah, having interpreted that star as astrologers do, the Magi travel to find and to worship the child that they would call the king of the Jews. They were people on a journey.

The word today is about a journey—for wise men and for you and me.

That’s what we are all on—a journey. We have dipped our toes into 2008 and we will keep wading into this New Year and none of us knows what the year holds for any of us. Last year at this time, none of us would have known what 2007 would bring. The one thing that makes any journey difficult is that it places us at the mercy of the trip. Every trip is a risk and every trip is really a journey into the unknown even with what we know.

The wise men found that true. They encountered Herod, evil Herod who was threatened by everybody. He not only murdered most of his good friends, but his wife and three of his sons. He said he wanted to worship this “King of the Jews,” once the wise men found Him. “Come back, and tell me all about Him that I can worship Him too.” But we discover his intent was evil rather than good.

It is true that even with the good things there is the unknown and we have to make choices. The wise men found themselves in a choice situation, between the joy of the King and the fear of the king. They had to choose between the delight and joy of one and the anxiety and fear of the other. They refused to go in the direction of their fears. Through a dream, they chose life and growth and joy. They went in the direction that God led rather than back to Herod. They chose to go in the direction of that which they could trust.

Herod has a thousand faces today. He is alive in anything and anyone that leads you away from being overwhelmed by the joy God wants you to have. They moved away from Herod and took another road to get back home. Are you willing to make the journey and in turn make the changes that need to be made and allow God to lead you? Can we, as a church, rise to a new sense of adventure, right here at the beginning of our 150th anniversary celebration, forsake our coziness and go forth following Him and let Him lead us as we seek to share His Good News with His world.

The baby the magi discovered was not the end of the journey, but the beginning, as Christ always tends to be for those who follow him. Note I said, “for those who follow Him.” We don’t just believe that Jesus is the Messiah, we follow Him. He will take us places that we would not have gone without His leading.

Perhaps that is a chief requirement for being a Christian—a willingness to go on a journey. God forgive us if we just settle to believe or as a church, just stay comfortable as if we were at the end. We follow a living Lord, a challenging Savior who leads us forward. As you journey, will you follow the One who came for you? This same Lord wants to meet you at His table. He’s reserved a place for you. Won’t you come?

— Robert Thompson
Pastor
First Baptist Church, Ashland

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