JAN. 8, 2006 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
IS 60:1-6; PS 72:1-14; EPH 3:1-12; MT 2:1-12
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Please take a look at your bulletin cover. Notice the three magi, the light in the heavens, and the words We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him (Matt. 2:2). How romantic, how mysterious…how perplexing! I must admit that I have a few questions about these men:
-Who were they?
-What sign did they follow?
-When did they visit?
-Where in the East did they come from?
-And why in the world did they care about this new-born king of the Jews?
Unfortunately, nothing more is said about them in Scripture, and frankly, the gaps leave my facts-and-figures-western-mind wanting more. Various legends offer the suggestions that: 1) around the year 4 B.C., 2) there was a peculiar presentation of planets, and that 3) our easterners were probably astrologers…but that brings up a whole new set of questions.
Astrology…horoscopes…living one’s life according to the alignment of the stars? I don’t know…Carolyn and I are both born under the sign of Aquarius AND we both hit the big 5-0 this year, so…maybe we ought to pay attention to what the planets are predicting…let’s see…(Read the paper).
Anyone else? What’s your sign? (Read a few more horoscopes).
Well, since I’m obviously no expert on astrology or the identity of the Magi, I guess I’ll stick with the one question I can ask with confidence: WHY? Why did these astrologers from an unknown eastern country journeying around the time of Jesus’ birth care about whom was born king of the Jews? What possible impact could that event have on their lives? Any ideas?
I can think of only two ideas and they are intimately related. As God has been preparing heaven’s supper of salvation for all sinners, a certain side dish has been simmering on the stove. Where God has worked within the realm of the chosen few: Adam and Eve, Noah and his family, Abraham and Sarah, the righteous remnant…God has also continually worked to force open the doors that we seem so eager to close on the rest of the world.
The practical effect is that those on the outside seem to see it better than those who are on the inside, that those who get it about God’s grace should not, while those who should, do not. Examples abound. The widow of Zarephath, blessed with oil and flour for feeding Elijah during a famine, and Namaan the Syrian soldier, healed of leprosy by Elisha – both were foreigners to Israel and to the One True God. Yet because God desired it, both were welcomed, blessed, and, in that welcome, changed.
In Jesus’ first sermon in his hometown of Nazareth, his words are not well received. In fact, his response to the people’s criticism nearly gets him killed. Does anyone remember what he says that makes them so angry? Quote: There were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when…there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them – but to a widow at Zarephath in the land of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed but the foreigner Naaman, the Syrian (Luke 4:25-27).
Later, Jesus heals a Roman officer’s daughter; while the first to proclaim him Christ is a hated Samaritan and a woman; he befriends tax collectors and whores; and he heals obvious sinners like those who are lepers or blind.
None of those people, those foreigners and felons, outcasts and offenders, scoundrels and sinners, have any business “getting it” about God’s love and grace…but many do. And those who should know this stuff the best…the Pharisees, priests and scribes…most don’t. This “interesting insight” is, in a very real sense, etched in “stone” in our second lesson for today and is crucial to our questions about those three kings.
In Ephesians 3:6, Paul explains his entire ministry to them and to us. The mystery of Christ, he says, is that the Gentiles have become fellow-heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise of Christ Jesus through the Gospel. It’s a change that was huge for the people of faith, caused all kinds of conflict and consternation in the Church.
In short, Paul’s proclamation meant that all who were most offensive to Jews, those pork-eating, poorly-trained, uncircumcised, unhygienic, ignorant-of-God’s-Law idiots, are now equal as children in the eyes of God. His claim is that faith in Christ makes everyone a member of the family.
So I wonder…if somehow this promise is what moves the three Wise Men to appear. I can’t imagine the expense, the time, energy, or spirit it took to journey that far with gifts for a child that they did not know.
What sign could motivate, inspire, drive them to such great lengths? A parade of planets, a quirky comet, a special star? In truth, I’m thinking there had to be something more than balls of rock and fire in space that would send them out on such a search, something that actually helped these Magi see what the rest of the world can only dream about.
Whatever it was, they GOT IT and they couldn’t do anything but dedicate their lives, their money and their time to this cause, this concern, this Christ who promises to make all people, all places, all perceptions new.
The Zodiac has twelve different signs: a ram, a fish, etc. The Church has a bundle of signs as well, a few, even, that are crucial: bread and wine, water, the cross. But, as the three Wise Men discovered, these are things that can only be brought to life by the vision, the Spirit, the Word of God.
And that life-giving Word, that magnificent mystery, that all-inclusive invitation, is a sign, is the sign that all people are welcome, all people are one in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.