Matthew 2: 2

“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.”

The Magi were not tourists in search of the most recent lunar eclipse.  We travel miles to get to clear evening sky to be able to see the Northern lights, to see eclipses, and some even chase tornadoes.  The Magi were different.  They were not traveling to verify the truth of the documents that pointed them to the birth of a king and led by the star in the night.  Matthew says they openly declared that they came to worship.  The journey was a trip to worship, not unlike pilgrims going to Rome and the Vatican or Muslim pilgrims going to Mecca during Ramadan or Jews going to the Wailing Wall to pray.  The trip of the Magi is not a weird experience that happened back then.  It is a spiritual journey many people of faith take to a “place” that is sacred and might be considered a “thin” place where the seen and the unseen meet.

         So where are your “holy places” where you feel close to the divine.  As Christians we believe our bodies are the temple of God and prayer at any time can be a meeting place but I must admit I have my special chair that the family knows as “mom’s chair.”  Withdrawing and reading Scripture draws us into truth.  When pondering the truth of God’s character, reading the Gospels and focusing on the life of Christ, often comforts.  When we grieve or even are angry, the Psalms of Lament often bring console.  Proverbs’ bite size pieces of truth  encourage us to think more deeply about scenarios we are facing.  Others love music or nature or meeting with a friend.  As Christians who live in the seen but we believe interaction with the unseen God, is possible.  Are we journeying to worship God or is it more like paying a phone bill or a wish list to Santa Clause?

Isaiah 55: 6, “Seek the Lord while he may be found;

 call on him while he is near.”

Proverbs 15:29,  “The Lord is far from the wicked,
    but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”

Matthew 2:1

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem…”

We have been looking at the Christmas season through the eyes of doctor Luke whose target audience is the Gentiles.  He traces genealogy back to Adam and not Abraham.  He brings common people like Anna and Simeon into an unfolding story.  It is the apostle Matthew who is generally considered to be speaking to the Jews, who starts his gospel with a genealogy going back to Abraham and tells the Christmas narrative through Joseph.  He does not mention stables, census or sheep.  Matthew jumps from Joseph obeying the angel who told him not to be afraid to take Mary…so he did…to Magi.  No Bethlehem story!  In chapter 2, Matthew tells the story of the Magi.  Thursday this week is Epiphany that celebrates their lives.

         The Magi are a game changer.  Matthew has shot us from a stable to a more global story.  How far east is not important.  These Magi are not Jewish religious figures.  They are not under the Abrahamic covenant as far as we can tell.  They are Gentiles like most of us.  God is working outside the box of our imagination.  We later learn that Herod ordered the death of children under age two who might be this “new king” so their story started in the past but, for today, we are reminded that God is working in ways we cannot even imagine with other people’s story lines that are set in motion before our crisis impacts their lives.  These Magi are not anticipated, are probably foreign, and their lives are in motion to intersect with the Christmas narrative. Isaiah 55:8 reminds us

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

         Yesterday I watched the Rose Parade whose theme was: “Dream. Believe. Achieve.”  Float after floral float, bands and horse groups encouraged us to have hope in the future.  Next year will be better than last because we have built on our past and look to the future creative ability of people. One float had a little child looking into a mirror, envisioning becoming a dancer that now can happen because of the advances of medicine.  The journey of the Magic is a journey into a dream, into a belief, in an attempt to achieve.  They are searching for the promised new king that will bring hope for the future.

         So what is your journey this year?  What are you questing for and where will you look?  The Magi followed a star that led them and us to new adventures, not necessarily of personal achievement but and adventure of faith. God is working in ways we do not see to bring about a future we do not anticipate.  It is a journey but let us like the Magi, keep our eyes, not on a mirror about self but on the star and the word of God. Blessings.

Last night I looked up the history of the ball dropping in Times Square.  In 1904 two major things happened that contributed significantly to the future of New York City.  The city’s first subway line opened and the first-ever celebration of New Year’s Eve in Times Square took place.  The owner to the Times magazine facilitated the changing of the name  of the location to Times Square to honor the relocating of his newspaper  to the building there on the triangular corner of 7^th Ave, Broadway and 42^nd street.  It was the second tallest building in New York City at the time.  There was a big celebration.  Two years later the owner of the Times had a 700 pound ball built and lowered from the flagpole to welcome 1908.  The newspaper has since moved but the a new and improved versions of the ball has been lowered almost every year since.

         2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old has gone, the new is here!”

         John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

         We stand at the start of a New Year and our eyes do not watch a ball drop like a flag at the beginning of a race.  We keep our eyes on Christ who goes before us into this year that we may be growing into our better self and to help us find life more fully.  That is not the same as happiness, prosperity and wealth.  God is helping us find new life, new starts and a growing relationship trusting him.  Let’s think about how we are starting this new year – watching a ball drop or watching God who created us.  Blessing as you step into the adventure.

Tonight we stand in liminal space and time.  We finish 2021, face 2022, and experience the day.  Some will sleep through the transition.  Some will shoot off firecrackers.  Many will watch the celebrations on TV.  Traditionally it is a partying night for young adults.  But somehow the day calls to us to reflect on the events of 2021.  Will we join the news people that label the year, “The Year of Covid”?  That carriers subtitles of the death of loved people whom we often could not visit to say farewell.  It carries a subtitle of financial instability though many regrouped and found a new way forward.  For students there is a subtitle of “school on zoom.”  Yup, all these things are true.

         Pastor Joseph Gilmore stood up to preach in the middle of the Civil War, March 26, 1862.  He wanted to turn the hearts of the people away from despair and help them find hope so preached on Psalm 23,

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul.

That’s as far as he got for he was captivated by the thought of how God was leading.  Later at a friend’s home for lunch the discussion continued.  He scribbled down a poem and went home.  Three years later he was at a different church and opened a hymnal to find a hymn with his poem set to music by the famous musician William Bradbury.  That night he told his wife about finding his poem set to music.  She explained that she had sent the poem in to a Christian periodical that printed the poem.  Bradbury liked the poem so much he set it to music.  People have been blessed ever since.

     At the moment it is often hard to see the hand of God guiding our lives but as we look back at the crossroads and the choices we were faced with, the opportunities that popped up, the people who blessed our lives and even some of the surprise events, often we can sense the hand of God leading us.  Please enjoy this hymn as you reflect.  Happy and Blessed New Year.

Anna

Luke 2: 35-38

Yesterday we looked at Simeon who just “happened” to be at the Temple when Jesus was presented at 40 days.  He gave us the global perspective as he broke into praise and was able to see in this little baby being presented by a poor couple.  He sw the future light and salvation of the Gentiles.  Amazing.  At the same time a prophetess, Anna, was in the Temple and she came up and “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”  She gives a glocal flavor.  Luke ties her down by name, by tribe, by age, by profession and by place.  Global and glocal insights were in the Temple that day.  God works on the “big picture” and on the details in our lives.  Luke adds another interesting detail.  Anna had been waiting eighty-four years after the death of her husband for the answer to her prayer.

         God works on the big pictures of our lives but he is also working on those prayer requests that it is so easy to loose hope about.  I love the scene in Fiddler on the Roof when the father looks to heaven and speaks to God and asks that while God is over seeing famines and wars “and all those things that bring people together”, he asks if God could help his horse that has gone lame again-while he’s in the neighborhood.  Delightful.

         So as we look forward to New Years Eve and the end of 2021, in spite of the big issues that have confronted all of us, there are also the daily blessings that we often pass over as we wait for the answer to that prayer that is on the tip of our tongue.  Maybe it is for a wayward child or grandchild.  Maybe it is for the strength to weather a disease that is eating away yours or your friend’s strength.  Perhaps it is financial.  Let us make a list of the big and small prayer requests on our hearts as we enter 2022.  God is listening!  Blessings.

Luke 2:22-35

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”

About forty days after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary traveled to Jerusalem and she was purified and Jesus was presented in the temple.  At the same time a righteous and devout man named Simeon came to the temple, led by the Holy Spirit.  He saw Jesus and realized who this baby was and what was happening.  He saw “the big picture.”  What did he see?  He saw a baby but he also saw beyond the baby to the promise of God being fulfilled.  He saw God fulfilling prophecy, bringing salvation, and giving light for revelation to even the Gentiles!  He “the big picture.”

         The people in the Christmas Narrative have the ability to see beyond the obvious and to comprehend that God is working in ways that will fulfill God’s purposes, not just make them healthy, wealthy and prosperous.  The shepherds look beyond the ordinary stable and all it’s humbleness and see God’s plan for peace between God and his creation.  The wise men follow a star that takes them to Bethlehem and they trust and worship a newborn king.  Simeon, a righteous and devout man, is able to see how God works miracles and his purposes even in the lives of a poor, humble young couple presenting their first son in the Temple.

         How do we see?  Are we like a mirror that highlights the wrinkles and blemishes or do we look through the eyes of faith at the world around us?  It is somewhat like asking if we see the glass half empty or if we see it half full.  A interesting challenge might be to fold a paper in half and on one side write some of the obvious “flaws” that have discouraged you about last year e.g., Covid, inflation, migration but then on the other side make a list of the blessings you experienced e.g. sunrises, birthdays, friends.  Take time to pray about the positive experiences and ask God to forgive any criticalness about the negative ones.  He is working but it is not always obvious.

Luke 2:22-24

         Leviticus 12 passes down instructions from God through Moses.  At 8 days circumcision of male babies was a custom that started with Abraham that was an initiation into the Jewish community.  For the next 33 days the mother was still considered unclean.  Whether we agree or not, a system was set up to protect women from another immediate pregnancy until her hormones settled and the baby had a chance to establish himself also.  At this time there was only the Temple in Jerusalem so Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem.  It is difficult to imagine parents committing to a trip like that with a woman barely a month after birth but this couple did. 

         Commitment is a word that we associate with young adults shying away from marriage ceremonies.  Our lives are so mobile now that those deep communal roots are often found in rural settings.  Living together before marriage has become much more socially acceptable and the commitment of marriage seems more easily broken. Like marriage, I note that this purification was a public ceremony with people around at the Temple.  We will listen to the testimony of two of them in the next two days.  Purification was public and involved the bringing of a gift, a sign, a pair of doves as Joseph and Mary were poor.  There must have been a priest who said the words and received the doves.  This was a serious ceremony.

         So how serious are we about our commitment to our faith?  I have chuckled at the saying that someone is a “CEO Christian” – Christmas, Easter, and Other times like funerals.  I have also heard the title “Frequent Flyer” meaning that someone flaps through church periodically. As we finish 2021 and start 2022, let us think of spiritual disciplines we might commit to for the coming year.  We want God to be committed to our well-being.  What might we consider a good “spiritual gift” we bring – Scripture reading? Prayer?  Despite the stereotype, putting our money where our heart is may be a fair expression of our commitment. Church attendance, perhaps not every week but often enough to be a habit.  Sending our children to church?  Joining some group at church?  Then again, an exercise habit can add for instance a lap of prayer as I swim.  What will be your part?  It is true that relationships call for commitment, are public, and usually involve some sort of gifting to the other.  Let’s step up to the plate this coming year with our spiritual relationships!  Blessings.

Luke 2:21 “on the eighth day when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.”

The Christmas season tracts certain important events in the birth narrative of Jesus.  The two weeks following Christmas are considered Christmastide.  December 25 was set in the 4^th century as Christmas Day as it corresponds to the winter solstice on the Roman calendar and is nine months after March 25, the spring equinox.  The Eastern Orthodox Christians go by the Julian calendar so Christmas falls on what is January 7 on western calendars. This is approximately 12 to 14 days later.

         Leviticus 12 gives instructions through Moses that a woman, after the birth of a son, is unclean for seven days and then on the eighth day the baby boy is to be circumcised and the mother then waits 33 days to be purified from her bleeding.  Mary and Joseph are following Mosaic Law that protected women plus circumcision of the child was an important ritual passed down from Abraham and noted by doctor Luke.  According to African tradition a circumcised person is considered a full member of the community and identified by name.  We would say the same about infant baptism.  Circumcision becomes a divisive topic in early Christianity.  Was it necessary for converts to be circumcised to be Christians?  Acts 15 talks about the Jerusalem council where this topic was debated. Quite a bit was said in Paul’s epistles, letters, about circumcision.

         Galatians 5:5-7 clarifies, “⁵ For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” 

Jesus was circumcised to follow Jewish tradition but the equivalent for us today is for our hearts to be circumcised to faith and love.  Our sinful selves are selfish and we are prone to wander but faith calls us back to focus on Jesus and love. Committing to relationship with Jesus is equivalent to circumcision of the heart.

         We are coming to the end of 2021 and one of the questions we might reflect about is the condition of our hearts – circumcised to love or struggling with selfishness and self-centeredness.  To whom are we committed in 2022?  And then who would we pray to be more loving towards this coming year? Set just one or two small, measurable goals that are achievable.  Perhaps “love” is too big a word and so you might want to use a different word like “tolerant” or “kind” or “forgiving.”  All point to improved relationship, not only with God but also with people around you.  You can always add more names as you work on this.  Blessings as you seek to grow in 2022! 

This Christmas carol, that seems so appropriate today, was based on the 1863 poem by American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  He wrote the poem “Christmas Day “ on Christmas Day 1863 during the Civil War.  His deeply loved second wife of 18 years had died in an accidental fire two years prior.  His son had joined the Union Army against Wadsworth’s wishes and been wounded.  The poem was set to music about 1872 by an English organist, John Baptists Calkin.  Bing Crosby recorded the song on October 3, 1956, reset to music by Joseph Mainzer in 1845.  Crosby’s version sold over 5 million copies, a success.  In 2008 Casting Crowns scored their eighth number 1 hit with this song on their Christmas album.  The words have changed a bit but as we listen to the news about our world, our wars may be subtler than the Civil War but “hate and wrong” are just as strong and mock the song of “peace on earth good will to men.”  Let us bow our heads and listen on this Christmas Day.  Blessings.

We have been looking at key players in the Christmas story during Advent: Zechariah and Elizabeth parents of John the Baptist, Mary mother of Jesus, Joseph who became the husband of Mary and fathered Jesus, and the shepherds who were the first visitors at the birthing scene.  In each of these scenarios that form the Christmas narrative angels come as messengers bringing confirmation of the unfolding events.  It is easy to get distracted trying to figure out the types of angels in the Bible.  Many people would like to think they will become an angel at death or that some animal is their angel guardian but we have no proof of that.  What we can say is that the angels at Christmas brought messages to each participant confirming that God is not distant and uninvolved in his creation but present and active, helping unfold a future for the good of his creation.

         On Christmas Eve the angels sang,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace to those

 on whom his favor rests. (Luke 2:14)”

God desires peace for us this Christmas Eve.  That peace, though, comes from relationship with him.  That message seems juxtaposed to the message of our world that yells for justice as we see it, that laments the inequalities of resources, and that feels helpless in the face of environmental destruction around us.  The angels praise a God who is bringing about peace but not through violence and legal systems but through a baby in a manger.

         So what is the message we are sharing with others tomorrow as we gather?  Will we be rejoicing about gifts we received, lamenting the missing loved ones, worrying about the credit card bills that will soon appear or will we too be able:

          to sing with the angels, glory to God,

         bow our head in thanks for the peace that the world does not give,    and feel gratitude for his favor that is not material but relational. 

As many of us go to church today, may we bow our heads and thank God for the message of the angels throughout history.  Amen.  Blessings.