Matthew 2:1-12 (Click on the scripture to read it)
Do you top your Christmas tree with an angel or a star?
If your tree topper is an angel, then maybe you prefer Luke’s gospel story of how it was the host of angels that enlightened the shepherds in the fields and sent them out to find the baby Jesus lying in a manger.
If your tree topper is a star, then maybe you prefer the guiding light found in the gospel of Matthew. Within today’s gospel reading we just heard about a star worthy of a newborn king, a star which led the wisemen on a long journey from the east, in search of royalty.
“I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like for them… “They were probably educated men, astrologers who worked for a king of their own. Kings had astrologers who studied the stars...if you knew the stars, that knowledge would allow you to navigate more accurately, and you could chart the seasons and be prepared for what was around the corner. Knowing the stars gave you an advantage in the power struggles of the world…. Understanding the stars gave you glory. “The wisemen were in the upper class….they had something to offer and they would have been rewarded quite nicely.”
So what would it have been like to pack up a camel on head out?....
Leave family
Leave job
Risk bandits… carrying such valuables….
Harsh terrain and weather
Was it like a moth to a porch light?.... Irresistible?
A star so magnetic……
What a disappointment it must have been when Herod called them to the palace....
All that Anticipation… But No new king?
This was not what they expected.
They continued their journey drawn to the light of that star.
Now they arrive at the baby?...a poor baby…
They paid him homage…. They gave him expensive gifts.
They gave a baby who would have been born without a birthright of power and glory the gifts worry of such status.
“Today we celebrate the Epiphany….
It should be one of the biggest celebrations for us.
Today we celebrate how God revealed the Christ child to the Gentiles…to us!
The Shepherds in the field were Jews….they spread the word to the Jews.
The wisemen were not Jewish they were gentiles…they were the first to spread the good news of the Star that led them to the new king..the newborn baby that changed the world forever.”
There is a saying that:
Example is not the best teacher,
it’s the only teacher.
“The wisemen have taught us to live our lives with our eyes open enough to see it the light,
They have taught us to live our lives with our minds open enough to recognize it when we do see it. And the wisemen have taught us to have the courage and willingness to follow the light of Christ wherever it may lead us, even when it is not where we expected.”
As Christians we are called to be Examples of what it means to live in the light of Christ.
We are called to be examples of the Gospel in every aspect of our lives…..
In our work
In our rest
In our play
In our sorrows
In our worries
In our joys
In our worship
“In the time of Jesus, knowing the stars gave you a path to Glory.
May the star shine… and may you live into the Glory of Christ.”
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