Following the Star

Preached Jan 03, 2010 by Rev. Teri Summers-Minette

Isaiah 60:1-6  

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.  Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.  Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.  Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.  A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem asking, Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him. And calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him bring me word, so that I may also go and pay him homage.

When they had heard the king, they set out. And there ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

 

SERMON

Have you made your new years resolutions?  Mine include losing the proverbial 20 lbs and saving more money.  Apparently I have lots of company, because according to LifeScripts.com the top 5 resolutions are:

1. Lose weight

2. Quit smoking

3. Save more money

4. Get into shape

5. Spend more time with family and friends

In one way or another, all 5 resolutions I mentioned are about physical or emotional health, or financial well-being.  What fascinates me about this list is the lack of interest in our spiritual well-being. 

Im guessing most of us in this sanctuary are always looking for ways to improve our relationship with God.  After all we are the church-going types.  Yet I wonder how much of a priority spiritual health is to us.  Even if it makes our list of resolutions, theres a good chance that within a months time, our attention to our spiritual wellbeing can be found in our car-trunks along with discarded McDonalds bags and forgotten gym clothes. 

Isaiah wrote todays 1st lesson for Judeans who were having trouble with their own list of resolutions. 

During Isaiahs time, the Judeans had been living in their Babylonian and Persian exile for several generations.   At the end of their exile, the Persian King told them they could back to Judea and holy city of Jerusalem.  Obviously they wouldve been grateful and excited.  But after listening to idyllic stories passed down from generation to generation about how wonderful Judea and Jerusalem were, they would also be understandably frightened and apprehensive about returning.  No doubt they had a list of resolutions which mightve included:

1.      See the Kings Highway paved with gold

2.      Walk through the famous palace gardens

3.      Make a sacrifice at the Temple

Theres a problem though. When they returned from their exile, Jerusalem was no longer the powerful hill town in the Promised Land that it had been during King Solomons time.  Instead what they found was a bomb-riddled shell and political mess.  No highway paved with gold.  No palace gardens.  Not even a holy temple. 

Anything of material value had been carted off long ago.  And for as far as a dove could fly, there was only misery and despair to be seen.  Imagine the fear and doubt which the returning exiles wouldve felt.  Overwhelming hopelessness.

In the middle of the despair, the prophet Isaiah sings out to the needy children of God.  Arise! Shine! for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  He continues, declaring Gods promise of a new age; a new age in which peace and abundance will be established for all nations to the glory of God.  Isaiah has this incredible ability to see at the same time both the desolation all around them, and the light of Israel among them.

Some 500 years later, the wise men are apparently familiar with this song of Isaiahs.  Amazingly, even though they are not Jewish, they feel compelled to leave the safety of their homes to follow the Star far to the West.  Some say it wouldve taken them at least 2 years to reach Jerusalem.  Yet these foreigners are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to pay homage to the newborn king of the Jews. 

Apparently the prophecy the wise men do not know is the prophecy of Micah.  After all, it is from the Book of the Prophet Micah which Herods priests quote. The greatly anticipated Messiah will come forth from the hamlet, Bethlehem in Judea.  Not knowing this, our unwavering trekkers stop in Jerusalem which has been rebuilt to be the seat of power that it once was.  They naturally assume that the great Prince of Peace can be found in the capitol of political power and intrigue.  Surely King Herod will know where to find the newborn. 

If Herod walked in the ways of his God, he would have known the answer to the wise mens question.  But he doesnt know the answer.  With this minute detail, the gospel writer of Matthew is making it crystal clear to us that Herod does not walk in paths of righteousness.  He does not walk humbly with the Lord.  King Herods power is of this world.  Yet Herod believes that the presence of the infant Messiah means his authority and control are in jeopardy. 

Well, its easy enough for us to hate Herod for being consumed with his earthly powers.   However, I wouldnt be doing my calling as your pastor, if I didnt wonder out loud what earthly power it is which we willing serve. What consumes your attention when you could be following the star?

Following the star is more than a story of old.  It is more than the makings of good song lyrics.  Following the star points us to Jesus Christ whom John calls, the Light of the World.  

8 days ago we responded to the call, Come all ye faith.  We exchanged symbols of love and devotion; and hopefully we enacted tokens of mercy and grace.

That was last year.  Now weve wisely started our diets and cut our credit cards in two.  Christmas decorations are back in storage for another year.   Already Walmart is displaying valentine candy hearts, and Im sure chocolate Easter Bunnies will follow very soon.

Yet according to the church liturgical calendar, it is still Christmastide, and the Magi continue following the star.  This is why the crche and Christmas tree are still in the sanctuary this morning.  We continue to celebrate the Christmas season.  Epiphany, the feast day of the Magi, is not until this coming Wednesday.

Like our stored Christmas decorations, it will be easy to hide our promise to work on our relationship with God in the weeks to come.  Our forgotten need to be better disciples will be found in our car trunks along with the buried evidence of our other abandoned resolutions.  We prefer to go about our busy lives until the day when Christ can be found on MapQuest; or until someone publishes the book, Following the Star for Dummies. 

It is because of Gods immeasurable love for you that I urge you to make deepening your relationship with God your New Years resolution.  Perhaps you have old habits which you know will let you feel closer to God.  Return to them; make time for them.  On the other hand, maybe youd like to develop new habits which will lead to greater spiritual well-being.

I used to give of a short presentation to confirmation students and new church members called, Nine Habits Towards Spiritual Well-Being, --or as some of us remember it used to be called discipleship.  If you would like a copy of Nine Habits Towards Spiritual Well-Being, you may pick it up after worship from the back pews.

Today you and I stand are at the crossroads of Epiphany.  We can remain rooted in all that is familiar and comfortable, or we can participate in the journey of the wise men.

Like the travels of the Magi, our own journeys will have both real and imagined dangers.  God requires that, like the Judeans of Isaiahs time, you and I must also let go of familiar misconceptions and face our fears of the unknown. 

Friends, the pagan wise men saw the light and understood its significance.   Through deserts and foreign places they followed.  They took wrong turns. And listened to the wrong people.  Yet they would not allow this to dishearten or deter them.  They continued trudging along the Way to reach the Star of Bethlehem. 

These single-minded sages help remind us that regardless of the number of our own misdirected steps, God is always with us lighting our way.  And when we will follow the star, God leads us to amazing places we could never imagined even in our wildest dreams.