Matthew 2:1-12
“Is God Rerouting Your Life?”
By: Rev. Ken Sauer, Pastor of Grace United Methodist Church, Soddy Daisy, TN www.graceumcsd.org
God is so awesome and the New Testament, in particular, gives us such insight into the heart and mind of our Creator.
And it’s a good insight.
I’ll tell you, there are so many layers to the Bible!
That’s one of the things which make it, not only so amazing, but also interesting.
One can read it for a life-time and still not even touch the surface of its meaning and truth!
Most of us have heard about the Magi most of our lives.
Sometimes they are referred to as the 3 Wise Men.
They appear in just about every Christmas nativity along with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the animals and the Baby Jesus.
We have, at least one, nativity set at home.
Jeanne, Mary Ellen and myself were putting it up a couple weeks ago…well, Mary Ellen was putting the animals and other characters in place…the animals ended up on the roof.
I suppose that was as good a place as any.
Mary Ellen was allowed to assemble all the folks except for the Baby Jesus.
He couldn’t go into the crèche until Christmas Eve.
Jeanne put Him in a drawer, and Mary Ellen would get Him out and ask if it was time to put Him in the crèche.
Eventually, she would just get Him out and play with him.
One time she asked us, “Can I pet the Baby Jesus?”
Too cute.
Manger scenes are a cool way for children and adults alike to learn the fundamentals of Christ’s birth as it is recorded in the Bible.
So we have these 3 Magi or Wise Men.
They were not kings nor were they even Jewish.
They were astrologers, persons who sought to read the future from the stars.
They had seen a new star, which seemed to promise the birth of a king, and they had come to “worship” Him.
They came from the East, which was probably the area around Babylon, where lots of astrologers lived.
The astrologers also brought gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
So the Magi were the kind of people who are often referred to as “Gentiles” in the Bible.
Gentiles mean non-Jews.
And remember, the Jews thought that they were God’s only chosen people!
They believed that they were the only descendants of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise.
Jews and Gentiles did not associate with one another.
The Gentiles were seen as being heathens with no possibility for salvation.
But right off, right at the very beginning of Jesus’ time on earth—while He is still just a babe…He is visited and worshiped by 3 astrologers (and astrology is condemned in the Bible as a sin) with an alien faith and wisdom who began their search for Jesus in unbiblical ways, but their search led them to the God of the Bible.
How awesome is that?
There is a lesson for us here.
These Gentiles followed the star, building on their own notions of what it meant.
They may have been following their own wisdom, but it was God Who put the star in the sky to attract them.
What has God put in your life to attract you to Jesus, the Christ?
So these magi were Gentiles and they were among the first people to recognize the birth of the Messiah!
Already, in the birth of Jesus, we see God breaking down the dividing walls between “us” and “them”.
That is one of the most important aspects of the Bible and Christianity.
It is one of the great puzzles of life.
God wants humankind to come together, to learn to get along with one another.
God wants to break down the barriers that separate us…
…barriers of race and gender…
…barriers of religion…
…barriers of nationality.
As Paul states so clearly in Galatians Chapter 3: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Yes, God wants us all to accept each other—no matter who we are or where we come from or what we look like, as ONE with one another—in Jesus Christ our Lord!!!
How are we doing at this?
Is this how we see our African sisters and brothers?
Is this the lens through which we view our neighbors, both near and far away?
We need Jesus.
We need to allow Jesus to break down the walls of division and hatred between persons!!!
We are called to love one another—unconditionally, no matter what!
That is the essence of the Gospel.
Jesus came to break down the walls of hate and prejudice…and it began, even at Christ’s birth, with 3 astrologers from the East.
Matthew informs us that Herod, who had been designated King of the Jews by the Romans, felt threatened by Jesus.
So Herod “called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make a careful search for the child.
As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I may go and worship him.’”
Liar!
Anyhow, the Magi followed Herod’s instructions and we are told that “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.”
Awesome!
There we have it.
These 3 persons of a different faith…
…these pagans…
….these sinners…
…bowing down and worshiping Christ!!!
And is this not what all of us do every day?
As sinners, saved by Grace?
The Magi present the Christ Child with presents and then they are warned in a dream “not to go back to Herod.”
For if Herod knew where Jesus was, he certainly would have sent an army to kill and do away with this INFANT KING.
What a difficult situation the Magi find themselves in.
Are they going to obey Herod or are they going to obey God?
And this is a conundrum which all of us find ourselves in each and every day!
Will we choose to obey those forces which seek to extinguish the Light of Christ from our lives and this world, or will we choose to obey God?
Will we choose love over hate?
Will we cave into peer pressure or will we stand for what is right and good and lovely?
Will we choose to be the best we can be or will we debase ourselves, other people and God?
Our answer to this question not only has consequences for today, but all the way into eternity!
Anyhow, the Magi received a revelation from God…make that two revelations or perhaps even three!
When they saw Jesus, they recognized Him as the true King of the Jews, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.
They believed in and loved Jesus at first sight!
The Bible teaches us that faith and love are gifts from God.
They are a huge part of what we call God’s grace!!!
God reveals God’s self through the revelation of Jesus Christ as Son of God, Lord of all Creation, Savior of the World!
Has God revealed God’s self to you through Jesus?
God will do this, if you only ask.
God will do this, if you only follow the light…and seek not to extinguish the light!
For the Light leads to Jesus!
Anyhow, the Magi are transformed by their new found relationship with Jesus.
In the presence of Christ, they allowed themselves to experience God!
And once we allow ourselves to experience God—we will never be the same again!!!—Never!!!
This past week I received an email from an old high school friend.
In the note he told me some of his faith journey.
He wrote that he became a born again Christian in the early 1990’s.
He got involved in a very fundamentalist church and eventually he nearly lost his faith.
Instead, he sought out another denomination—he wasn’t about to give up his relationship with God!
He had been changed for the good—forever!
And that’s what happens once we make the choice to open ourselves to God through Jesus Christ!
We will never see the world through the same lens again.
Try as we may, we will never be the same person again!!!!
If we try and leave the faith, we will be the most miserable of souls.
If we stick with it—live into it…
…and this takes daily intentionality, we will be the most joy-filled and peace-filled persons who walk this earth!!!
The Magi chose to return to “their country by a different route.”
This is the language of conversion!!!
This is the language of changed lives!!!
This is the language of decision…
…THE DECISION to follow Christ and forsake Herod!
Have you made this decision?
Have you made the decision to allow God to reroute your life?
If not, now is the time.
What are you waiting for?
What would have happened if the Magi had not turned and gone by a different route?
What would have happened to my old high school friend if he had not allowed God to reroute his life?
What would have happened to me, if God had not allowed me the grace to change directions—to seek to follow Christ?
Would I even still be alive?
We have entered a New Year.
Can you believe it is already 2009?
What will you do with this New Year?
Will you follow the light of God’s star?
Will you enter into or enter deeper into relationship with God through Jesus Christ?
Will 2009 be the best year yet, or more of the same old, same old.
The choice is ours.
The gift is of God.
