Dear brothers and sisters, have you ever made a wrong turn in your travels? I know I have! My misadventures usually come from taking the wrong exit off a freeway. Thirty some odd years ago I drove from new York to Seattle. As you may know, getting out of New York City is not the easiest thing in the world, so once in Jersey, I though I had it made. Except for one little detail – driving in the right lane which became an exit only lane. By the time I realized it, it was too late. I had to follow the crowd and ended up in an area that looked like a mixture of factories and run-down homes. I was awfully glad to get back on the Interstate.
Now, you would think that I would have learned a thing or two over the years. Well, a month and a half ago, we went to visit a cousin who lives in Los Angeles. I don’t know how many of you are fond of driving in LA. I am not. Getting there wasn’t so bad because of great directions from mapquest.com, but going back, I relied more on the signs that Mapquest, and the inevitable happened – I took the wrong exit. Boy, was I glad to see Victorville again! Many of you here can share your own story.
Part of the Christmas story is the journey of the three wisemen, the Magi, astrologers; some call them kings, who also made a wrong turn. Understanding the constellations, they observed a bright new star, a nova, that signified to them the birth of a great new king. They set out on a journey to pay homage to him, as they followed the bright star.
And they almost made it, except for one moment when they followed their male intuition instead of the heavenly sign. It happened when they reached Judea and started thinking: hey, wait a minute! The star is pointing us to a little jerk-water town, but the big city of Jerusalem is that-a-way. A great king would not be born in the boonies, would he? A king would be born in a royal palace, right? So, they had a directional dilemma. Not having their wives with them who would tell them, “Why don’t you pull over and ask for directions?” they abandoned their original itinerary, and made a wrong turn – they went to Jerusalem.
By the way, do you know what man’s new best friend is? The GPS – Global Positioning System, a great little device in the car that tells us how to get to where we are going without having to stop at gas stations asking for directions.
But asking for directions was what the wisemen inevitably had to do. “Where is he who was born the king of the Jews?” they asked. “He is to be born in Bethlehem,” answered the priests and the teachers of the law.
So, the wisemen made a U-turn, backtracked a little, and followed the star like they were supposed to in the first place. And when the star stopped over the place where the Child was, they were overjoyed. In spite of the detour, they had found Jesus. They bowed to Him in adoration and brought Him their gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
There is a good lesson to learn from this – a lesson for our own journey. You can make the right turn to Jesus, you can also make the wrong turn away from him. It’s important to know our sense of direction.
Have you ever made a wrong turn in your spiritual journey? I have. Was baptized, went to church as a boy, was going through the confirmation program, but then took the wrong exit in my rebellious teenage years, and drifted away from the church and from the Lord for twenty years. Oh, there were plenty of direction hints given, just like you would get from your GPS today – “You missed the turn. Go back and fix it!”
But I would not listen. There were plenty of invitations to church, but I followed my own course instead. I thought faith was nice, but not for me; I didn’t want to take it seriously. Whenever someone offered me a spiritual direction, I would answer, “Good for you; just don’t bother me with that stuff. I don’t need it!” Or so I thought.
Invented some of the best excuses for not going to church, but I ain’t tellin’ in case you might want to use them someday.
I was like a stubborn driver who ignores directions and follows the way to destruction, until one morning when I woke up with chest pains. Then, in the hospital, my heart stopped for five minutes, and the Lord in His mercy showed me a glimpse of heaven, and I even felt the warmth of His loving presence. He showed me the other place too, and gave me a directional dilemma. I could not ignore it. Upon recovering from the heart attack, for once in my life, I was led to make the right turn and I have never regretted it. It is only by the grace of God that I am now sharing the good news of Jesus. It is absolutely amazing that God can use even someone like me. He sure has a sense of humor, I tell you that.
Living on the other side of the fence, so to speak, for two decades, gave me a valuable perspective. I now better understand those who have taken the wrong exit in their spiritual journey.
I have often asked myself why was I so stubborn? What was it that kept me from listening to the good directions? I thought my friends would laugh at me if they found out I went to church. But there was a greater fear. A fear of change. I thought I would have to undergo some painful metamorphosis, and become a “holy person” in order to be accepted and loved by God. Surely, He would not want me back the way I was!
Little did I know that through the gift of Jesus he loves us already and is willing to accept us as we are, warts and all.
The other day the TV news carried a report out of Paradise, CA, about a father and two youngsters who were rescued after getting lost in a storm for three days. They went to the forest to cut a Christmas tree, got caught in a storm, and made a wrong turn somewhere. When they found them, I am sure they didn’t smell too good after three days in the wilderness, but that didn’t matter. They were hugged, they received warm blankets around them, and there was much rejoicing.
The love of God comes to us much like that. The Lord does not see us as bundles of smelly sins, He sees us as His loved ones who have been found. Through the gift of Jesus, He forgives us our sins and puts a blanket of Christ’s righteousness around us and there is so much rejoicing in heaven when any one of us makes the right turn to Jesus.
The Lord Himself promised that God so loved us that He gave us Jesus so that whoever believed in Him, whoever makes the right turn to Him, would not perish but have the gift of salvation and eternal life. That God did not sent Jesus into the world to condemn us, but to save us through Him.
Jesus accepts us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us as we are. Have you ever gone camping for a few days? You remember the smell of campfire smoke and sweat wafting from you when you came home? You remember after taking a shower, shaving, and having a change of clothes how good it felt to be clean again? That’s what coming to Jesus does for us. He cleanses us from all our sins and gives us a change of clothes, that is – He gives us a new life, under His management, with a new meaning and purpose. A new life that will continue into eternity.
That’s why He was born in Bethlehem. That’s why He came into this world – to become the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the word, including my sins and your sins. 33 years after His birth He suffered on the cross to serve out our sentence, so that we could go free. That’s God’s gift of grace and forgiveness.
You know how good it feels to be forgiven, don’t you? I do. I need forgiveness in my life because I have done things, said things, thought of things I am deeply ashamed of. There are skeletons in my closet; in yours probably too. We are sinners, but through making that right turn to Jesus, we are forgiven sinners, and that feels good! Our slate has been wiped clean, and we begin each new day with a clean new page to write another chapter in life.
Jesus accepts us as we are, but we don’t remain the same. We can’t. Changes are inevitable, but they are not changes that we should fear. Some things change immediately. Other changes are gradual. God in His love works in our hearts gently and patiently. Sometimes we don’t even notice the changes going on within us, until we pause and look back over a period of time. Then we rejoice because those changes brought much benefit to our lives.
Where are you at in your spiritual journey right now? Have you made a right turn to Jesus already? Then you know the peace and joy that He brings into your life.
Or, are you standing at crossroads experiencing the same directional dilemma I had 27 years ago? Perhaps you came because you thought this is something to do around Christmas. Perhaps you came out of a sense of obligation to your parents. Perhaps you are here because your wife or a girlfriend insisted you come. It doesn’t matter why you came. You are here, in God’s presence. You have an opportunity to make the right turn to Jesus.
In a little while, we will be celebrating Holy Communion, a reminder of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, a visible sign of God’s forgiveness. And much more. With the bread and the wine we will also receive His very presence in a special way.
As you receive this special gift, invite Jesus to remain in your life. He is so eager to love you, to cleanse you from all your sins, and to walk the journey of life with you, onto eternity.
I have here a gift for anyone who is ready to make the right turn to Jesus on this holy night. It is a cup that bears an inscription: “Wise Men Still Seek Him. His Name Is Jesus.” If you are ready to invite Jesus into your hearts, please stay after the service for a prayer and we will joyfully share this gift with you. Merry Christmas!
