Epiphany, 01/06/2008

Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12, by James Mueller

1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magifromthe east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been bornkingof the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He 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 too may go and worship him." 9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

11On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

I used to work at a race track as a valet. Got tips for parking cars. Good thing was, if someone picked the right horse and got rich, you knew you were getting a big tip. Typical night you'd make about $50. There was this one car though. The Cadillac. We called it the one hundred dollar bill. Every time you picked up his car out came a hundred dollar bill. We used to fight over that car.

Think about the manger scene. Joseph and Mary were poor peasants. Everyone in Bethlehem was basically what we'd call poor. Their houses weren't much - dirt, mud, straw. But the Magi were different. They weren't from around here. What must it have been like to have some rich travelers from far away march into Bethlehem? They had gifts that no one else in town could afford. Gifts that no one could even imagine! This was a town of but a few hundred peasants. Who were these Magi? Matthew tells us in chapter 2:1-8 of his Gospel.

We first must rethink our understanding of the Christmas manger scene. The shepherds and angels were there...the magi probably were not. Matthew says "they entered the house" where Jesus was, not the cave or stable where a manger would have been. Similarly, despite the fact that I love the carol "We 3 Kings", there might not have been 3 of them (for sure 3 gifts, but maybe not 3 of them) and they probably weren't kings. Though to the local Bethlehem peasant they might as well have been and as dignitaries from afar they certainly represented their kings. However, they are accurately described as "wise men", that is, they were interested in understanding wisdom and mysteries; which is what magi do. But we have now begged the question: Who were the magi, these travelers from the mysterious East? They appear for a moment and then are gone. They are known by many as astrologers, astronomers, philosophers, mystics, or scientists, and they were fascinated with the stars and how their orbits predicted earth-bound events. They noticed when one particular star started doing funny things. Miraculous things that their science could not easily explain.

They trace their history back to the Persian Empire. They spent time understanding magic, the science of the day, and astrology and served as advisors to kings. One famous guy from the Bible is Daniel. He became famous because he was thrown into a pit filled with hungry lions and yet was untouched. The King was so amazed at the power of Daniel's God that he began to ask questions about the God of the Hebrew Bible. Eventually Daniel's Godly wisdom helped him be promoted as one of the magi. He eventually became one of the most prominent leaders in the kingdom. The magi were very interested in this God of the Jews because he rescued Daniel from Lions, he saved men from fire, and he always seemed to have the answers for their problems.

So then it is not surprising that the magi, who by nature and practice research the mysteries of life, cite Scripture when they come to Herod's palace. The magi state, "we have seen his star rising in the East." It isn't clear why or how they associated the particular astronomical or astrological event with the birth of Jesus the Messiah. It appears that some magi were familiar with the Messianic passages from the Bible and were looking for the arrival of the Messiah. Perhaps that's why they were willing to make the long desert trip to find him. Notice something here: the magi allow both their intellect and religious curiosity to guide them. They have always studied the stars and trust their knowledge of astronomy when seeking out mysteries. But they are also willing to follow a star in the belief it would take them to the Messiah. Intellect and faith go hand in hand.

Could you imagine being so curious about God that you'd be willing to take a trip through the desert? Why did they do it? Road Trip! No, they were curious about God. Wondering what they were going to find. But then they must do that thing that males, ancient as well as modern, hate the most - they had to stop and ask for directions!

"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?" Their wealth and importance afforded them the chance to ask that question directly to the local king, Herod. Herod summons the religious experts and they provide the answer: Bethlehem. They continued their journey and again found the star stopped over the place where the child was.

The Bible says something interesting here. "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed." I love that word overjoyed. I would translate it something like "jumping for joy." These men had hungered for truth, hungered for answers to the mysteries of life, hungered for God. That same hunger is found in people today, but they don't know where to start. The magi certainly didn't start with all the answers, but they looked at nature, at the unexplainable things happening in the skies, and they were determined to find the answers. They hungered for the truth. And so these magi were overjoyed because they saw the signs in nature, in the stars, and thus finally found the answer they were looking for.

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him." What must it have taken for these powerful, wealthy, wise men to bow down before the son of peasants? Why did they worship this little baby? No one could believe these important men from afar were in their little town, and here they were giving gifts fit for a king to Mary's baby. In fact, the Bible says they scuffed up the knees and got dirt on their Polo-labeled, Versace-styled, silk robes. They bowed before this baby and worshiped him! They should have been too smart for all that God stuff. They should have been too wealthy to need religion as a crutch. I hear those answers today from people. They have the money to care for themselves; they don't need God. Religion is for people who are desperate, poor, and needy. People pray because they can't take care of themselves.

I've heard what our world says - to be religious is to be naïve. The most intelligent people, Feuerbach, Marx, Voltaire, Lenin, Freud, are too smart for religion. Right? They had outsmarted God. I read this take about "faith" on the atheistparents.org website. "Faith is intellectual bankruptcy. To ask that a belief be accepted on faith is to admit that the belief cannot be accepted on its own merits. To believe without reason is irresponsible, and to act on such beliefs is evil." Is our faith irresponsible? Have we accepted things from the Bible, or from a life lesson, or from God that simply have not been verified? Do the things that God does and says have no merit? Did Darwin prove that God does not exist? Is Christianity simply something that the rich no longer need and the educated are too smart to swallow?

The wise men were not too smart for God. They were not too rich either. They felt like they needed something, something eternal, something bigger than this world. They were technically educated, advisors to kings, and yet they understood that there is more to life than simply the things you can touch and feel. Their spiritual curiosity and faith play huge roles with their intellect. The mysteries of the world leave a lot of questions and they trusted that the Messiah would be the answer. In fact, this whole story depends on what they trusted and whom they didn't. Had they trusted Herod, who secretly wanted to kill Jesus, history might have been very different. When it was time to return home, the oily voice of Herod was still sticking in their minds, "When you find him bring me word so that I too may worship him."

The manger reveals many things. It shows us Herod's journey. This king had a power trip. A white knuckle grip on power. He wasn't going to let it go. "Jesus is the son of God, okay kill him". What? Are you joking? He really wanted to kill that baby because he couldn't let go of the power. The wise men are on a spiritual journey - they're going one direction to God. Not Herod. He's 180 degrees and heading the other way. His life is heading the wrong way and he doesn't care. The wise men knew not to go back to Herod. After seeing Jesus they went in a new direction. Where are you going? Here we are, letting God talk to us. Jesus and the manger scene, just like the wise men. But when you go home, what direction are you going to head? We're all going somewhere. Is your life direction going to change because of that baby?

So in the end their trust was right. We must all decide whom we shall hear and whom we shall follow. Obviously we don't want to listen to the Herod's of the world, but are we willing to listen to another voice that calls in the night? One that sends angels in dreams, set a star in the sky as a map, and sent a baby to save the world.

The wise men didn't go to Bethlehem on a wing and a prayer. They trusted their knowledge and their faith. In many ways we are in the same position today. If the rest of the world saw us, they would see educated, wealthy, important people. The Scriptures are filled with wise men and women who believe the same things we do. Like them, many of us hunger everyday to find the truth to life's mysteries. Faith in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness and new life He gives us on the cross and with the empty tomb of Easter should not be something that is always blind. It is not something to be ashamed of. God does not ask us to give up our education, He does not ask us to pretend we're dumb, He does not ask us to give up intellectual reason. He does say that wise people allow their intellect and faith to work together, not in opposition to one another. So what do you trust? Your mind? Your faith? God created them to work together this Christmas season. The savior is born in Bethlehem, Amen.

Rev. James Mueller
Austin City Church
E-Mail: mueller0024@yahoo.com

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