Journey by Starlight: The Wise Men - Matthew 2: 1-12

When I was a senior in high school I started attending a Bible Study in the home of a fellow classmate, whom I did not know. One day he simply walked up to me when we were both serving as tutors and asked if I would like to come to his house that evening for a Bible Study his mom was leading. To this day, I’m not sure what compelled me to go, but that Study was something that transformed my life, and transformed our high school. The first week I went, there were only ten or so people, a mixture of Christians from every denomination to strict atheist. Over the school year we out grew the living room in this women’s home, her home In general, and at one point were having close to 40 students meet in the youth trailer at the local church. Many years later, we still remember that study fondly. It was were many of us grew in our faith and learned about evangelism. It was were many of us learned about differences in beliefs, as we were diverse. And it is where we learned, some of us for the first time ever, that we have a gift to share.

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth is different from Luke’s. While Luke tells us that God announced the birth of the Christ child to the humble and lowly, the Shepherds, Matthew tells us that God announced Christ’ birth to all people. Like the young man who first asked me as well as many other people to come to the Bible Study, God indiscriminately invited everyone to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child. I’m sure my friend got many rejections to his offer for people to join him for Bible Study, just as many people did not respond to God’s celestial event, but some people do respond and their lives are forever changed.

Author Adam Hamilton asserts that for many of us, “our way of imaging what happened after Jesus’ birth is typically mistaken...particularly regarding the wise men.” (The Journey, 121). Let us pause to consider who the wise man really were. First, while we have just sung the song “We Three Kings”, Matthew does not describe the men as kings but as magoi, which translates in English to magician. However, they were probably not like our modern concept of magician, rather priests who study the stars, and believed that the positioning of the stars told of future events. This would make them similar to a cross between an astrologer and an astronomer.

The wise men traveled from Persia, what is now Iran, to Bethlehem. At least a four months journey and up to six months. We do not know when they started to see the star - if it appeared for a period of time before or if it did not appear until the night Christ was born. We are not even sure exactly what they saw. It may have been a star. Or a comet. Or as some scholars have recently suggested Jupiter aligning with the star Regulus and Venus, all moving in a backwards motion. Or something else entirely. But we do know that they observed something in the heavens that made them believe that a new, great king was born in Judea, and this compelled them to travel quite a distance to pay him homage.

We also know that these men were not Jewish. And they were not of humble circumstances, for they could afford to make such a long journey. They were men from a foreign land seeking truth in their own way. And God provided them with a sign that they would recognize and understand. Matthew’s gospel truly tells us that God is the God of all people and wanted everyone to have the opportunity to experience the birth of Christ! Jesus is not the King and Savior of the Jewish people, or later those who identify themselves as Christians, but everyone.

Sometimes we get so caught up in placing people into categories - good and bad, right and wrong, Christian and non-Christian, that we forget that God extends grace through Jesus Christ to all people. God does not see people through the same lens that we see them. God sees people as Beloved and worthy of being saved, even if they are not Jews or Christians. Even if they do not worship our God or even know who God is at all.

Often when we want to quote the gospel of John 14:6, saying Jesus “is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” But in our haste we forget the story of the Magi, which tells a story of God deeply caring for people of different faith traditions, drawing them to God through Jesus in a unique way. The Magi were the first people who began taking the message of Christ to the ends of the world, even before Jesus gave his disciples the great commission. God went as far to coax the wise men to come meet the Christ child through something they understood and could respond to - a celestial event.

When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, where Herod was located, they went to the King’s court to ask about the child that has been born king of the Jews, because they made the logical assumption that the child must be Herod’s, as he is the current king. However, Herod was not a Jew - he was an Idumean who had simply been appointed to be king of the region over the Jewish people by Rome. Herod knew this and knew he could not be the one who had a son who was born King of the Jews. In all honesty, he probably would not have wanted his own son to be declared the King of the Jews either. During Herod’s reign, he had his favorite wife, his mother, his brother-in-law, and three of his sons killed out of fear for his throne. It is not a surprise then that Herod wanted to use the Magi to know more about this one who had been born King of the Jews so he could have him killed. He summoned his advisors, who pointed him to Micah 5:2 which stated, “But you, Bethlehem Eprathat, though you are small among the clans of Judea, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Based on this clue, he sent the wise men on to Bethlehem to search for the child.

The wise men did find Jesus in Bethlehem, in a house, probably Joseph’s parents home with the additional room built on for Mary, Joseph, and their family. When the Magi finally found the child, they were overwhelmed with joy. This is the response that we saw from the Shepherd’s in Luke’s gospel as well, and it should be our response as well when we recognize who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Take a moment and reflect on what Jesus means to you. Which of the magi’s gifts - gold for kingship, frankincense for the high priesthood, and myrrh for burial of the dead (and in this case his resurrection) - point today to what Jesus means in your life? Now considering what Jesus means to you, what are you willing to give to him for his Kingdom?

I know many pastors who dislike preaching about stewardship or what membership in the Christian church means because they are fearful of driving people away. But how often do you...I....we live into the true meaning of the gifts that Christ has given us? How do we celebrate them? The reason we gave our offering away this Christmas Eve, was part of a denominational rethinking of what it would look like to give what is precious to us as an expression of joy and gratitude for the Birth of Jesus Christ and the meaning of his role in our lives. In the words of Mike Slaughter, the pastor of the second largest church in the denomination, “Christmas is not your birthday.” Yet, often we live Christmas and most other days as if it was our birthday, spending beyond our means thinking that we need something in order to bring ourselves joy. But joy can really only be found in the Christ Child, the one whom we should adore and seek to bring honor to with our entire being, including our finances. For some people struggling financially, the gift that they can give can only be small, but for many of us, we limit our giving based on what we want to give, or have to give after everything else is taken care of, or even feel that the church has earned. But what do you feel compelled to give this year, as you consider the gift of Christ?

The two largest churches in the denomination have been donating the totality of their Christmas Eve offerings for years. And for many of the seekers who find their way to their churches for Christmas Eve, this is their shining star, what attracted them the church. That a church would rethink their finances in such a way that the mission of the church to serve others, make disciples, and transform the world comes first. Many people come because of this star and stay because of the ministry that the church is doing.

There are many other stars attracting people to ministry today. When I taught my Bible Study for the Wesley Foundation, often their would be more atheists and agnostics in my group each week then Christians. They would come in for a cup of coffee and feel compelled to join us to learn more about this person who would make us so willing to give away free coffee and boundless hospitality every day. For my friend, the star was his willingness to share his faith with everyone, inviting everyone to Bible Study without fear of being judged if they rejected his offer. How are we drawing people to Christ as individuals and as Albright-Bethune United Methodist Church? What is our compelling sign that we extend to other people of Christ’s love?

Today we are celebrating Epiphany, a time in the church that marks the appearance or manifestation of the celestial event in the sky that marked the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ. This time also celebrates the appearance of Christ’s ministry through his first miracle in the gospel of John, the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast at Canaan, reminding us that Christ appears to us in many different ways to different people. I would encourage you to take time to truly think about how you are shining Christ to others, as an extension of what Christ means to you. I would also challenge you to think about how your priorities reflect what Christ means in your life, honestly. How would you like to change in the coming year? How can you be open to Christ revealing himself to you over the coming year? For each of us have the ability to serve as stars for other people, attracting them to Christ in a variety of ways, if only we would open ourselves up to allowing God to use us and if our light is a reflection of how we live into God’s gift to us each and every day. Amen.