-Have you ever gone on a journey to see something cool?
-Have you ever looked forward with anticipation to seeing something new or interesting?
-Do you remember what it was like to get ready to go see Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas, when you were little?
-When I had the opportunity to travel overseas when I served in the Army, I was really excited
-Getting the opportunity when I was at West Point to go to England and see some of the sights in London was really cool
-I remember being really excited to see the crown jewels and the Beef Eaters
-Also, when we went to Germany for some training, I found out that we were going to get some opportunities to take some day trips.
-I was excited to get to see some sights and interact with some of the locals, trying out some of my German, which was much better back then
-Obviously, we couldn’t go unless all of our work was accomplished so I worked really hard and got my guys to work hard so that we could enjoy some of the sights. {PAUSE}
-That’s a little of what is going on in our Gospel lesson today
-We see the anticipation of the magi to see Jesus
-We see some of their determination of the magi to get to where the Christ would be found {PAUSE}
-We don’t know a lot about the magi from the Biblical text.
-However, we can know some from history and from the tradition of the church
-Magi is a Latinatization of the plural of the Greek word magos
-It comes from an old Persian word magus
-That is why Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9-13 is often referred to as Simon Magus
-It refers to an occupational title of the priestly caste within Zoroastrianism
-Part of their religion, they paid particular attention to the stars and became renowned for their astronomical and astrological prowess
-It is interesting that form of the word magi were associated with the occult.
-It is from this term that we get our English word, magic
-However, that should not taint our opinion of them
-We believe that they were from Babylon, modern day Iraq
-They, more than likely, were not Jews from that region.
-However, they did have a messianic hope
-Where did that come from
-More than likely, the Jews during their captivity in Babylon did share their hope in a coming Messiah
-We do know that Daniel rose to great prominence in the Babylonian government
-In Daniel 2, Daniel by the power of God, interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and then it says, beginning in verse 46, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.”
-The idea that the magi were kings comes from Isaiah 60 and Psalm 72, where it declares that kings will come to worship God
-That they were three in number comes from the gifts that were given, gold, frankincense and myrrh
-The gifts were of great value of course but their significance was even greater
-I’m sure that they came in handy after Herod threatened the life of Jesus and Mary and Joseph had to escape to Egypt
-I’m sure a carpenter could make a living there but Joseph might have struggled initially, being an outsider, so the gold probably came in handy
-However, its symbolic significance is important as well
-The gold obviously demonstrates that Jesus is a king
-The frankincense (an incense) points to Jesus as a priest
-Myrrh was used for embalming, pointing to Jesus’ death {PAUSE}
-So the Magi used the stars to find Jesus
-Are we looking in the right places to find Jesus?
-Are we as eager to find Him as we should be?
-Unfortunately, we often look in the wrong places and don’t turn to Him when we need Him most {PAUSE}
-Where can we find Jesus?
-Where should we look?
-He is where He has promised to be.
-Like we mentioned last week, the Word can be found in His word
-That is where God has chosen to reveal Himself to us {PAUSE}
-I was talking to a Lutheran pastor friend of mine about a Christian song I heard where the praise leader told the people to reach out their hands to Jesus
-He smiled as He placed his hands out in front of himself as if to receive the body of Christ in the Lord’s Supper
-God sure knows us, doesn’t He
-He knows that our feelings can turn on a dime
-If you recall watching, “A Christmas Carol” at Christmas time. Ebenezer Scrooge gets into a conversation with Jacob Marley near the beginning of the movie.
-Marley asks Ebenezer what, aside from his senses, tells him that the ghost of Jacob Marley exists
-Ebenezer says nothing
-Marley asks him why he doubts his senses
-Ebenezer rightly tells him that our senses, like our feelings, are impacted by so many outside stimuli
-For instance, I had a massive headache when I wrote this sermon
-Did I feel, at the time, that God loved me
-No, not at all
-I was just trying to get the pain to stop
-That doesn’t change the reality now, does it
-Does God still love me even when I don’t feel like it?
-Absolutely
-And I think that’s what’s great about God
-He gives us a reality that we can really sink our teeth (pardon the pun) into to let us know that He indeed loves and forgives us
-He gives to us His very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, to let us know that He loves us and forgives us
-Even when we don’t feel it or maybe better yet, especially when we don’t fee it, God reminds us what He did for us on the cross to pay for our sins
-That’s why He gives us physical reminders of His compassion for us {PAUSE}
-God also gives to us baptism as a physical sign that points to what Jesus has done for us
-As He died and rose again, when we are baptized God actually buries our sins and our sinfulness with Jesus in His death and raises us to a new life as a Christian, just like He was raised to new life again. {PAUSE}
-God gives us real-life pastors to communicate the love of God to us
-He gives to us other Christians to love and encourage us {PAUSE}
-He also gives to us the ability to make things to point to Him
-He gave us artisans to make crosses and candles, altars and tapestries, and of course stained glass windows to remind us of what God has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ
-They were all very important for an illiterate culture to teach and learn about Jesus
-They are again becoming important in our post-literate culture for Christians to learn about our savior {PAUSE}
-Instead of turning to our feelings or our pop culture or what we’ve been taught to believe or what we think the right thing is, let us turn to Jesus and seek Him where He is to be found, where He has promised to be found, in His word and sacraments and in the midst of His people
-Let us continue to make our quest to see Jesus, everyday
