Follow That Star

Follow That Star

Sermon for MCC New Haven

January 4, 2015

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Isaiah 60:1-6

Matthew 2:1-12

A talking cricket once sang for a puppet that had a terrible problem with telling the truth…

“When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true.”

         As the Gospel of Matthew tells the legend, a group of Persian astronomers, priests in the Zoroastrian religion, were studying the stars and noticed something peculiar: a particular star rising in the East and setting in the West. Certainly they knew all of the constellations by heart, so a difference in the star pattern had meaning to them. So, like you do, they set out with gifts to give to the new king of a culture completely foreign to them- the Jewish people. It would have been over 1000 miles to travel between Iran (then called Persia) and Bethlehem. Matthew doesn’t say they rode on camels; that’s just legend. The image of three kings on camels has been engrained in our minds from greeting cards. But they were not said to be kings or have camels, and just because there were three gifts does not mean there were three men; there could have been two or eight. They were rather said to be Zoroastrian priests who traveled a long way… and for what? Apparently just to give gifts to a baby and to worship him.

         I don’t know about you, but it sounds pretty far-fetched. Why would priests from one religion travel so far? It would not be completely out of the question for people to travel throughout the Near East for trading purposes. And throughout the ages, people have seen comets and other differences in the sky that they wanted to put meaning to. But that is not the point Matthew was trying to make and once again, truths do not necessarily come from facts.

         Christian scholars tend to agree that Matthew was attempting in telling this story to show that from the very beginning of Jesus’ life, the gospel message was not just for the Jews. It was rather for the whole world. Evangelicals often interpret Matthew’s message as saying that everyone in the world needs to be “saved” by confessing faith in Jesus as the one and only savior of the world. But Matthew never gives us a confession of faith from the Magi. The simply travel, avoid dealing with the malicious King Herod, give Jesus expensive gifts, venerate him, and go home. Matthew could have had them say something like the Roman Centurion did after Jesus’ crucifixion “Surely this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). But no, the only voice the Magi are given is asking where they can find the newborn King of the Jews.

         The Magi did not know the God of the Jews. They worshipped a good god named Ahura Mazda and they feared a second evil god named Angra Mainyu. It sounds kind of like fundamentalist Christianity today doesn’t it? Worship Father God and fight Satan (in Hebrew ha-satan “The Accuser”). If Persians brought anything from to the East to Jesus, it was an idea: the idea that the Supreme God was ultimately good, unlike what people today sometimes call the “Wrathful Old Testament God.” God didn’t change, but ideas about God did. A wrathful God was not good enough for Jesus, and it’s not good enough for me either.

         Today is called “Epiphany Sunday” in the Christian tradition. Epiphany from ancient Greek means “manifestation” or “striking appearance.” In the Eastern Church, it is called “Theophany,” meaning “vision of God.” These titles teach Christians that Jesus’ appearance in the world was not ordinary, that it was truly seeing God in the flesh, Emmanuel. As the Gospel of John says, “And the Word (Logos/Wisdom/Sophia) was made flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). If people had not seen God through Jesus of Nazareth, he would have just been another Jewish peasant whom history would not remember. But people did indeed experience Jesus as the Anointed One who would somehow deliver them from despair and degradation.

         And isn’t that why we are all here today? Either you have heard about Jesus and how he allowed God to work through him and wonder how he might work in your life, or you can give testimony to the ways that the Living Christ has worked in your life.

         As a child, I used to watch The Wonderful World of Disney and on many occasions, I would sing along to Jiminy Cricket singing “When You Wish Upon A Star.” I remember asking my mom if wishing upon a star really worked. She said, “You won’t know unless you try.” So with the patience of Job, I wished upon stars night after night for a better life. With the innocence of a child, I believed that my dreams could come true.

         As an adult Christian, I don’t wish upon stars. Rather, I pray to God that the deepest desires of my heart will come to be. One of the most popular Christian prayers today is called the Prayer of Jabez from 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NIV): “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.” I would like to believe that it’s that easy.

Even Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” But Jesus was not saying that God is a genie in a lamp. Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean you can ask God for a new car and it will show up at your front door. Ellen Degeneres might do that, but God wants something greater for you. In the midst of whatever you are facing in life, God wants you to focus on the Good.

Allegorically, the Magi were seekers of Truth. They sought to expand the horizons of their spiritual understanding. And after a long journey, they found a child that radiated the presence of God. It sometimes takes us many days, months, or even years to find a spiritual epiphany, but they do happen! You could come to church every Sunday for years and not really “get” the Good News of God’s unconditional Love. Just because you hear it doesn’t mean you will receive it. But then one day, maybe your heart is broken open enough for you to finally realize, “Wow, I am a beautiful child of God, made in God’s image, blessed to be a blessing!” Maybe you’ll finally realize, “My God- I really am essentially good even though sometimes I do bad things!” Or maybe, just maybe you’ll have the “aha moment” that “I am not the ego I have created. I am really a perfect, whole, and complete being.”

Each of us desires things at the depth of our beings. But we too often want them on our own terms. We expect blessings to show up in ways that we dream up in our minds. But that’s not how God works. God promises that we will be blessed, as we are a blessing in the world. But we don’t understand the value of blessings. The Magi brought some pretty expensive gifts. They didn’t receive in return more of the same. Instead, they received the invaluable experience of an encounter with the holy. And isn’t a transformative spiritual experience worth so much more than gold?

We all want a lot of the same things: enough money to pay the bills and to have some fun with, health of body and mind, and good friends and family. But if you don’t make the journey, you won’t arrive at your place of blessing. It is through the journey that you come to many epiphanies about what needs to change for the better in your life. It is the journey that allows you to leave excess baggage in the desert. Maybe you’ll do some trading with other wanderers.

But you will arrive at your destination if you do the work. You have to be prepared before you find what you have been looking for. On the journey, follow that star! As Dr. King said with such profound encouragement: Keep your eyes on the prize. And when you least expect it, when you’ve almost given up, God will blow your mind. May it be so. Amen.