A Journey of Faith, Worship and Change

I think this story of the Magi is one of the most misunderstood stories of the Bible and part of the reason for this is because of the beautiful nativity scenes we set up each year, and the Christmas cards we send, and the Christmas pageants we produce with our children. In all of those things we place the Magi right next to the shepherds, but that is not how the story goes. The shepherds heard about Jesus the night he was born and they arrived immediately. As soon as they heard from the angel that the Messiah had been born it says they went with haste and found an infant wrapped in strips of cloth lying in a manger, but the Magi didn’t arrive the night Jesus was born, in fact they could have arrived months if not years later. Look at Matthew 2:1: AFTER Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not the night he was born, but after, sometime later.

The logic of the story goes this way. The star appeared at the birth of Jesus and so it took some time for the Magi to figure out what the star meant. They had to study the skies and figure out that the star proclaimed the birth of a king of the Jews. Then they had to decide to make a journey to find the king and also figure out where to go. They chose Jerusalem because it was the capital of Israel and their thinking was that if the child was the king – he would be born in the most important royal city. So they make plans to go to Jerusalem, but since the journey was going to take some time they had to make some preparations and gather some supplies and of course decide on and purchase their gifts. Then there was the time it took them to travel from the countries in the East to Jerusalem. I read this week that some scholars believe this journey could have been hundreds if not a thousand miles and so the trip would have taken a considerable amount of time. Once they arrived in Jerusalem they met with the religious leaders who told them that the king they were looking for was not to be born there but Bethlehem, so now they had to travel to Bethlehem, a much shorter journey, but a journey that took some time none the less.

Obviously all of this did not happen overnight which is why it not only says, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but look also at Matt 2:11. Notice that it doesn’t say anything about a stable and manger; it says they entered the house and saw the child, not an infant, but a child. So the Magi simply were not there the night Jesus was born, they weren’t standing next to the Shepherds and they weren’t looking into a manger. In fact it could have been up to two years after Jesus birth and the reason we think that is that if we keep reading in Matthew we find out that once Herod realizes that the Magi are not coming back to report to him, he sends people out to kill all the children around Bethlehem who are two years of age or under. What Herod did was figure out the time the Magi said the star appeared and then had all the children killed who would have been born from that moment on.

So our nativity scenes and Christmas cards don’t get the story right, but that’s not all, we don’t even know how many Magi there were. Matthew never says there were three of them, just that there were 3 gifts. So the story the way we picture it in our minds and on our cards could have been very different than what actually happened, but in one sense none of that really matters, what does matter is that the Magi made this journey and it was a journey of faith and worship that changed their lives. God calls us this year and every year to embark on a journey of faith and worship that will change our lives – will we take it? Are we willing today to step out in faith to experience the fullness and power of God?

Following Jesus is first and foremost a journey of faith. The Bible defines faith as the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. The Magi had faith because they were convinced that the star in the sky would lead them to a king. They didn’t see the king before they started out, but they had faith they would find him. When they arrive in Jerusalem they ask the officials, where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? Their question is not, was a child born who is the king of the Jews, it was where is the child, they had no doubt the king had been born – they had a deep and abiding faith and trust that the star in the sky was a sign that a king had been born. So their journey was primarily a journey of faith.
Following God is a journey of faith. We don’t see God and we don’t see Jesus standing with us and yet we are convinced of his presence in our lives. We chose to live our lives according to the teaching and example of Jesus because we are convinced that God is real. For many of us, we know God is real because God has placed some kind of star in our lives, we have had some kind of sign or experience that assures us that God is real and that in his grace and love we are forgiven and loved. What has been your star? What has given you the faith and trust to follow Jesus? For some it is the conviction of God’s word. For some it is a peace that passes all understanding, for others it has been the healing of a heart or a relationship. What has been the star that strengthened your faith? Like the Magi we need to share this so that others can learn to place their faith and trust in God and begin to experience the love of Jesus for themselves. Reader’s Digest asked people to share miracles they had experienced, I think it would be great if we shared our faith. What has been that star that has given us the conviction and confidence that God is real and with us.

The journey of the magi was not just a journey of faith, it was also a journey of worship – they didn’t want to find the child who was born king of the Jews just to say hi or to prove that their star gazing abilities were accurate, they wanted to find the king so they could worship him, which is why they showed up with generous and extravagant gifts. One of the things the Magi show us is that real worship always involves giving and sacrifice. The Magi sacrificed their time and security and comfort to make the journey to find the king and when they find him they give themselves to him, they worship him and give gifts of Gold, incense and myrrh. True worship calls for us to sacrifice our time and maybe our comfort and security as we give the gift of our hearts and lives to God. How is God calling us to give ourselves to him more completely in this new year? What gift of time is God asking us to give? What sacrifice is God asking us to make? How can our worship look more like the worship of the Magi?

God calls us to worship him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – with all our time, energy, thoughts and resources – with all that we have and all that we are. God really does want worship where we let go of everything so we can trust in him and him alone. That’s a long journey for most of us. I’m not sure how many of us are even there yet. I don’t know about you, but I still have to surrender to God more of my time, my devotion, my attitudes and pride and words and actions and gold. I still have to stop trusting in myself and my own good deeds so that I can trust in God more and more. It is a long journey for us to get to a place where we worship God and God alone, and yet step by step we hear the call to worship God and so give to him the gift of love, trust and the self surrender.

We are not just on a journey of faith and worship but the magi show us that we are on a journey that needs to change us. Look at 2:12 – isn’t it interesting that after the magi find and worship Jesus they can not return home the way they came? When we have a genuine encounter with Jesus we will also be changed. Life simply can’t be the same as it was before. There are fundamental changes that take place as we follow Jesus. As we follow Christ God calls us to stop living for ourselves and to start living for others. Jesus calls us to forgive not just once or twice but continuously. We are called to deny ourselves and take up a cross – willingly surrender ourselves to God and to the needs of the people we see around us.

Everyone who followed Jesus was changed. The blind received sight, the lame walked, the dead were raised, sinners were forgiven, those living in shame were lifted up and loved. Everyone was changed and our journey of faith and worship needs to change us. How has our faith changed us in the past year, and what changes need to take place in the coming year? What new road will God be asking us to take? Finding and following Jesus in the new year will change us if we will allow God to enter into our hearts and lives.

I want to invite you all to do something different when you go home today – go home by a different road and as you do ask God to show you all the things that can change and maybe need to change in the year ahead.