Stars and a Stable: Responding to Disappointments
One of my closest friends loves UGA! He’s a graduate and a dedicated football loyalist. Now let’s not question his Christianity just yet. He has a saying, "When I die, make sure you chant the Eucharist at my funeral mass. And make sure the University of Georgia football players serve as my pal bearers. That way, they can let me down one time."
I am a Seminole fan. Someone asked me a few weeks ago, “What will you do if the Seminoles win their bowl game?” I said, “well, I guess I’ll…” Then he interrupted and said, “No, you’ll have to turn off your PlayStation.” He and I both know the disappointment of unmet hopes and expectations.
I wonder if the Magi felt any disappointment when they arrived to see Jesus.
They were star-gazers from Persia. They saw a strange star, one they had never noticed before. They knew an ancient legend about the birth of the Jewish messiah.
Keep in mind, these men were not a strange little persnickety religious group with peculiar rituals that they kept with unbridled dedication; you’d call that Episcopalians… These men were likely in the court of the king. They were men of status, education, wealth, and influence. As such, they dared not disappoint the future King of Jerusalem; The packed expensive gifts and made their way hundreds of miles across the desert.
I wonder if the Magi felt their hope rise at the thought of a King in Jerusalem who would bring peace. Certainly the baby would be surrounded by priests, servants, princes, and sages. But he wasn't… They saw a young woman and a husband, clearly people of no status. And then they saw the child – kings deserved silk pillows – yet this child was in a barn, a manger, a feeding trough.
Imagine with me… You followed the star… and it led you to a stable instead of a palace.
Everyone understands that metaphor. You expect one thing, and after hard work and even years of patience, you arrive only to be disappointed. Some people are so acquainted with that experience because they married that metaphor.
No matter if it’s a relationship, a football team, or a priest, we need to know how to respond when our expectations leave us disappointed. I think these wise men show us how to react to disappointment.
They teach us: To look for God in a stable.
There was once a poet who wrote a poem from the perspective of the Magi. But in the poem, they turned around out of disappointment. They walked away once they saw the stable because Mary and Joseph dressed as commoners…
Question: Wouldn’t you be tempted to turn around too? I would; “This neighborhood… it can’t be the right place… that NorthStar GPS system needs an update because there’s no way the king of the Jews is around here.”
But they stayed! And the result was an Epiphany! Today, we celebrate their “ah-ha” moment. We remember that God can flip the script. We can find God in a barn.
The wise men found the Christ in the most unlikely place, among animals and peasants.
Question: “What will you do when you shoot for the stars, but wind up in a stable? Will you stay long enough to find the epiphany moment? Will you search for God until you can say, “Ohhhhhh, now I see what this means.”?”
The Magi encourage us to give our best to God, even when life’s hard.
Matthew said, “The Magi knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
Hummmmm….. That sounds curiously like the ladies’ jewelry and perfume Dillards. The gifts were actually gifts for royalty. They gave him frankincense. We used it at the Christmas service. Every day in the Jerusalem temple, priests burned incense to God. Worship is a multisensory experience. The incense was a visible reminder of God's presence. When worshipers smelled it, it was a reminder that God was with them.
Think of it this way: The wise men gave their best! They gave incense, a reminder of God's presence when they were in a humble house. That’s an epiphany moment!
Sometimes the light doesn’t come on until we’re willing to give our best to God. What I find fascinating is they prepared their gifts before the Epiphany moment. Before they ever met Jesus, their offerings were prepared.
Last week was clergy conference. The bishop shared something with us…. Our diocese is at the bottom when it comes to giving… many of our churches do not tithe.
We, the leadership of St. Andrew's, committed to offering the tithe to God even though our budget is behind. With that, I’m going to ask, will you consider being generous to God and St. Andrew’s this year? We never know when the Epiphany moment might happen… and then we are thankful we were ready.
Conclusion
Pierre Renoir, the French artist, along with his close friend Claude Monet ushered in impressionism and created art that will inspire the imaginations of people for centuries. A Renoir last sold in 1990 for 78 million dollars; it wasn't even his best work.
A lot of people don't know that he suffered from chronic rheumatism most of his life. For years he was forced to paint while sitting in a chair. A friend noticed one day that the artist was forcing himself to paint through blinding pain.
His friend told him, “You have painted enough. You are established as one of the top artists of France and Europe. Why must you go on, torturing yourself like this?” Renoir looked up at him from his canvas and said, “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.”
The epiphany moment happens so often after the pain of painting. Let’s push through the pain and disappointment and paint a life and a faith that will be remembered for generations. I love hearing the stories of previous generations of parishioners here. I’m inspired by their faithfulness, their willingness to work through fights and disputes, their resilience when faced with financial loss, and their dedication even in the face of extreme difficulty.
The Epiphany: The pain passes, but the beauty remains…. Amen.
