What aren’t we seeing?

Welcome to OnMission.

Today we're reflecting on the story of the magi who visited Jesus in Bethlehem...What motivated them to journey to seek this newborn king and to worship Him? Our prayer today is that this story would lead us to examine our own motives for seeking Jesus and reveal true hearts for worship.

But first, as we turn to God’s Word, let’s begin in prayer:

Almighty God, our Father in Heaven:

Give us eyes that see, we want to know You.

Give us ears that hear, we need to hear Your Word.

Give us hearts that Love, transform us so we might Love as You Love.

Amen

The reading today is found in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 verses 1-16.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘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 shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then 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 search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On 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, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the Child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my Son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Now here's today's reflection entitled: "What aren’t we seeing?"

Today is a day that in some Church traditions is called Epiphany.

The English word epiphany comes from the Greek epiphaneia which literally means for something to become obvious.

As my daughter Adda describes it, epiphany is a “light bulb moment” when something that seemed confused, veiled or even impossible just clicks and somehow is now so obvious that you can’t believe you didn’t get it before.

Traditionally, there are two texts read, pondered and studied on Epiphany.

One is Jesus’ baptism when God reveals Himself in Trinity and when Jesus’ divinity becomes obvious - we will reflect on this important moment in the coming weeks.

The other text, which we will focus on today is the Scripture Cathy read for us, the magi’s visit to Bethlehem when Jesus is a young boy.

Though so much effort has been spent trying to discover the identity, origins and number of these magi, the truth is this - we don’t actually know much about them.

People have called them kings or princes - we don’t know this.

People have called these men wise, scientists and scholars - we don’t know this either.

Various traditions say there were three or twelve magi - but again, we don’t even know this.

We do know from contemporary historical documents written by Suetonius, Josephus and Tacitus, that there was a widely held expectation, an anticipation “in the Orient” that at this precise time in history rulers coming from Judaea would become powerful and would rule the world. The source or cause of this expectation is not known.

We do know these magi were what we might today call astrologists - they believed that the movement of stars and planets somehow impacted, governed and even predicted the future of people and nations.

They were astral mystics – they were pagans.

We do know that the fame and fortunes of magi very much depended on them aligning themselves with and becoming useful to rich and powerful political and military leaders - so here we actually find a plausible motive for their journey that is completely free of any mystical astrological affirmations - if a powerful future king was born, it was potentially profitable for them to curry favor with him and his family.

To be clear, we do know that they saw something in the stars that caused them to journey to Jerusalem, not Bethlehem in search of a newborn universal king who would first be born a king of the Jews. In other words, we do know their astrological readings were imprecise and unreliable, and we do know they were not seeking God incarnate.

We do not know what they saw in the stars.

We do know that God placed the stars in the universe and established their courses and cycles through the cosmos - they are His handiwork and declare His glory as they follow their unvarying paths through the night sky. In the reliability and mathematical precision of the universe we glimpse the nature of God: we see His provision for us and protection of us; we see His creative, consistent, perfectly just nature.

We do know these astrological gurus, the magi observed something unexpected and prominent rising that they called the “star of the king of the Jews.”

But, we do not actually know what it was.

So, though many books, documentaries and astronomers have caused media sensations arguing the star of Bethlehem was a comet, conjunction, supernova, solar flare or some other celestial phenomena, we do not know what it was. Let me quote astronomy.com, “For centuries, astronomers have looked to the historical record in search of evidence for what could explain this star of Bethlehem… the truth is, science will likely never know”. A stunning admission – science has come up completely empty.

What we do know is that the text is pretty clear, unlike any known astronomical feature, whatever it was, this “star” appears to have led the magi from Jerusalem and stopped exactly where Jesus was in Bethlehem. The magi called it a star, but it was a star like no other. It led these pagan gentiles into the very presence of God the Son - it led them to Jesus.

So rather than speculate on all the unknowns, I wonder if we might adjust our attention and see at least one thing that is rather evident in the text.

During Advent and Christmas, we have been seeking Jesus. We have been asking how Jesus impacts who we are and how we live.

So, here in Scripture we witness responses to the news of the potential birth of the Messiah.

What is interesting is that these responses are not unique to the time of Jesus’… we see them repeated throughout our history and these same responses to Jesus are just as obviously manifest, epiphaneia, today as they were then.

In the text we see deceit, hatred and hostility.

Look at King Herod’s response. Herod’s self-serving, self-glorifying, self-gratifying position and power would be undermined by the appearance of the true king of the Jews, the true Messiah. Through Herod we see how sin rages against Jesus, intent on destroying this Christ who calls us to surrender, submit and serve. Anyone undermining his self-interest must be erased – anyone threatening his wealth, power or reputation must go.

Today sin rages against Jesus just as it did then. How dare He tell me who I am, or what is good, or judge me! I am who I say I am - I determine what is right and true, not some archaic myth. I determine what I should do, and what is good for me is what I say is good for me.

People whose every thought and deed centers on themselves have no use for Jesus Christ - so He must be cancelled.

Christians follow Jesus, they know Him as God, the Way, the Truth and the Life - they trust Him to govern and guide them. But this is not the way of our secular society today.

In the text we see indifference to Jesus.

The temple elites' only response to a celestial phenomenon (that may or may not have been prophesied) and to these foreign men seeking the Jewish Messiah was to offer scriptural analysis, legal advice and theological opinion; but beyond that… nothing.

Like so many of us today, they searched and studied the Scriptures because they thought that from them they might puzzle out the Way to eternal life.

Scripture bears witness to Jesus yet we ignore Him – we dismiss His call to follow Him. Instead we gather to go through our religious routines, and we read and chat about Him as if this is what it looks like to be His people. Being Christian is more than hearing sermons and participating in Bible studies… Jesus is abundantly clear on this point.

Christians worship in Spirit and Truth; with integrity, authenticity and with Love revealed in compassion, empathy and natural benevolence. Too often this is not what we witness in churches today.

And finally we come to the response of the magi; a response the text calls worship.

This word that is translated as worship can be accurately understood as either:

•         legislated, mechanical acts of culturally appropriate homage, greeting and acknowledgement, or

•         acts of earnest, genuine adoration and perfect submission to the One True God.

Here we might remember that these magi were mystic pagans, with potential political and financial motives, seeking a king, not God, in the wrong place. We might argue the result of their misguided stop in Jerusalem was the heinous murder of infant boys.

So we might see in them the misguided response to Jesus of so many people today, that leads only to evil and death. We might see merely a routine, culturally appropriate acknowledgement of a friend or the paying of respect. We might see people only going through the processes and procedures of the sacraments and “worship” out of a sense of propriety, obligation, cultural tradition, or even coercion. We might presume they, perhaps like the magi pay their respects, grease the wheels for future political, social and economic gain and then leave never to be heard from again. If this was the response of the magi to Jesus, if this is our response to Jesus, then at its root it is not worship – it is idolatry; an evil that leads only to eternal death. Though the word used is the same, this is not true Christian Worship.

But you know, we can’t see into the hearts of those men. Only God can.

Only God knows why, when these pagan magi saw the star they shouted joyfully.

Only God knows what filled their hearts as they came into the house and saw the Child Jesus with Mary His mother.

Only God knows if some epiphany unfolded within them and they saw that the king they sought was so much more than they thought… perhaps in Jesus they saw the King of kings, Lord of lords, very God of very God, the beginning and the end, alpha and omega, the Word made flesh dwelling among us. The Light that shines upon people living in great darkness. Perhaps somehow they saw and knew God the Son.

Only God knows why they bowed down and did what they did. Only God knows their motives and He cannot be deceived or manipulated by mere acts and works of “worship”.

Some people will find this lack of definitive conclusion frustrating… but acknowledging our limitations and God’s omnipotence is an honest reading of this text; acknowledging that judging the motivations and desires of other people, good or bad, remains the work of God alone.

However, as we end, I hope we understand this text is convicting, yet it encourages each of us to honestly examine our desire for and response to Jesus.

People of God know we are sinners and know that without Jesus we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Without Jesus we cannot stand in the presence of God. So people of God will desire God’s manifestation of anything that potentially separates them from Him; they will want God to shine His Light into our darkness and reveal any hidden sin – they will want to be confronted by any unrecognized, unacknowledged and unconfessed rebellion against Him. Why? Because though it is hard and humiliating to see our own sin, it is important for us to confront our sin, confess it and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. When we know God’s Love we desire nothing more than to be in His presence we will want no sin to distract us from God and lead us away from Him. So, we will ask God to look into our hearts and minds and reveal to us what we aren’t seeing that impairs our true Love for Him and thus separates us from Him.

I pray this story of the magi will cause us to pause and consider our professions of faith, our motives for seeking Jesus and the authenticity of our worship.

Perhaps in that, there is truly an epiphany for us today.

Will you pray with me?

O LORD, You examine me and know me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; even from far away You see and assess my motives. How difficult it is for me to fathom Your thoughts about me, O God! Examine me, and probe my thoughts! Test me, You know my concerns. See if there is any idolatrous tendency in me, and lead me in the reliable ancient path into Your presence. (see Psalm 139)

Let today, always be an Epiphany of You causing an overflow of my heart in worship.

I am Yours, redeem and restore me. I am Yours, lead me.

Help me follow You worshipping only You, in Spirit and Truth.

We pray in the mighty Name of Jesus.

Amen.