First United Methodist Church
December 29th, 2024
Rev. Lauren Hall
Persia: A Place of Return
Beginnings are important. For writers, it is the beginning that sets the stage for the rest of the narrative. When you read the gospels, one of the things you might notice is that each one of them begins in a unique and different way, and that the introduction gives us a helpful context for the way that we might hear the Christ story and the promises that lay within the text.
On Christmas Eve, we traditionally read Luke’s gospel, and Luke announces Christ’s arrival with a fanfare of angels and proclamations that places a picture in our minds that can be painted on canvas or carved or molded into Nativity scenes that everybody can easily remember and relate to.
This opening has a two-fold purpose, first to set the historical context by naming the Emperor and Governor, while at the same time zooming in on the gospel’s second purpose, an event that no Emperor or Governor would even have noticed: an unwed, teenage mother, homeless for the evening, getting by in a make-shift shelter of a barn, giving birth to her first child, and attended only by her husband-to-be and local shepherds.
It’s an absurd story when you think about it. But Luke’s story reminds us that God cares enough about us to become one of us and one with us. This scene sets the tone for the rest of the gospel, and Luke will show us why this event matters, and why we celebrate it.
Matthew, on the other hand, begins with a genealogy, which establishes Jesus as a descendent of David. He doesn’t write much about Jesus’ birth, other than to name him, Emmanuel, God is with us.” He doesn’t point out the journey to Bethlehem, or the multitude of angels, or that the shepherds were the first to know. But he does include a story that no one else does – the visit from the magi, or the wise men.
Luke uses the census and the emperor and the governor to locate the birth and provide a historical reference – Matthew locates the birth through the revelation of prophesy. First the genealogy, second that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, which is where the wise men find him. Like the Gospel of Luke, this sets the tone for the rest of the gospel, as Matthew will reveal through Jesus’ life and teachings that he is the fulfiller and the fulfillment of God’s will as disclosed through the prophesies in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Within this text there is a hidden gem – a message, or perhaps a challenge, for us in the 21st Century, and every century leading up to this moment in time. According to our Scripture, the wise men from Persia traveled to Jerusalem first, because they saw the star rise, which they interpreted as an announcement of a new King for the Jews and they followed protocol – they traveled to the place where Jewish kings should reside. The Jewish Leadership didn’t know about the “announcement,” because they weren’t expecting one. Even though Herod was aware of the prophesies, he was more interested in wealth and power and didn’t really pay attention to the details.
So he sent for his own wise men – the priests and the scribes – and he learned the details. Instead of embarking on a royal excursion to go and see the child himself, Herod sends the wise men to search for him and to bring word back to him. And this is, I think, one of Herod’s major missteps. These wise men were of high birth themselves, not messengers for Herod. Herod should have at least provided a royal escort. And they probably thought it was odd that Herod didn’t know about the star or the child or the meaning it had for his own people.
While Herod gathered the priests and the scribes, I’m sure that the wise men didn’t just sit around and drink tea. They probably wandered around Jerusalem and asked questions. Because of their status, they would be able to speak to both the Roman citizens and the Jewish citizens. They would have learned of Herod’s reputation and heard whispers of the promised messiah while they waited.
When Herod told them to “go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring word to me so that I may go and pay him homage,” they were probably thinking, “Why aren’t you coming with us?”
After the star led them to Jesus, and they had an opportunity to see him, and they received a warning in a dream, returning to Herod was pretty much out of the question. Who was this man who thinks so much of himself that he would wait to recognize the God-ordained King of the Jews? The celestial signs and everything else they experienced revealed God’s activity in the things that were happening.
At this pointtThe wise men had a decision to make. They could follow the orders of Herod and return to Jerusalem and betray Jesus, or they could pay
attention to the signs that indicated that something extraordinary was happening and do what God wanted them to do instead.
And this is a decision that we have to make as well. When we put away all the Holiday decorations, when the extra time off is over, will we return to normalcy and act as if nothing special happened? Will we put Jesus back in the box he came out of and not think about the amazing circumstances that brought about his birth, or will we, like the wise men, look into his face and realize that in this child’s birth, God is doing something special?
We know what the wise men did – they were wise, after all. They returned home to Persia, but they didn’t go back through Jerusalem and report to Herod. If they had, Herod would most likely have had them killed as well in order to keep Christ’s birth a secret.
What will be our place of return? Will we return by another road this year and keep the hope and promise of Christ’s birth alive by not giving in to the Herod’s in our lives? How will our lives and the lives of the people we encounter be different because of Jesus?
Will we see that in Jesus, God commits to love the world in and through an ordinary human being? Will we be willing to share this news?
Will we see that in Jesus, God’s character is revealed as God shows us what we can expect from God, creating and redeeming as only God can?
Will we see that in Jesus, God introduces a new chapter in the story of God and God’s people by creating a new possibility for experiencing God’s grace?
Will we see that in Jesus, God calls for us to offer justice – to reflect his light, which ultimately is love and compassion?
A long time ago, the Word became flesh and lived among us. And an ordinary Innkeeper, seeing that Mary was about to give birth and having no place available in his Inn, offered her hospitality in his barn, because it was the right thing to do. The wise men, who came to visit, paid attention to the signs from God and went home by another road, because it was the right thing to do. As you continue the celebration of Christ’s birth, what changes will you make this year, because it is the right thing to do? How will you be the beginning of God’s movement of love and grace in another person’s life? Amen.
Pastor: We begin our prayer time today remembering that when we need guidance the most, we can turn to God in prayer. Today we are guided by the sense that Christ is our Home.
Leader: Let us pray:
God of Hope, we come to you today longing for your presence in our lives and with all those who suffer–in body, mind, or spirit. We pray this day for… [continue with prayers for those in your community and around the world who are in need of healing and wholeness]
God of Joy, we come to you today so deeply grateful for celebrations, triumphs, and even small steps toward the lives we seek and the world we desire. We celebrate the gift of life you gave to us through Jesus Christ, wrapped in swaddling clothes, the Savior of all, lying in a manger. We lift our voices with the heavenly host, that we may sing your glory on high. Guide us as you guided the wise men, who did what you would have us do, recognizing the sacred, and responding to your call.
Holy God of Peace and Love, we know you are near. We know that every step along the way to Bethlehem in this Advent season was a step closer to renewed life in Jesus, the Christ. We know that your Spirit resides within us, growing day by day into the fullness of the Kin-dom. In this moment, we pause in silence, marking your presence with awe and asking you to fill us and guide us along our journey into the new year. Amen.
