I preached this sermon on Sunday, January 9, 2011 at St. Lydia's. The text is the story of the Magi, Matthew 2:1-12; read it here.
At St. Lydia’s Community Meeting yesterday, we heard a lot about jobs. Liking jobs and not liking jobs and wanting to leave jobs and feeling over-invested in jobs.
If we had lived in the Ancient Near East, there would have been some options for professions that might have appealed to us more than the jobs we’re currently holding. Like being a Magi, for instance. Apparently, these guys’ jobs were to watch the heavens,
looking out for a movement or a change in the stars, waiting for signs.
The thing is, things don’t happen in the sky all that often. So being a magi would require a lot of patience. Patience and silence and a keen eye. A waiting heart.
It seems as if the magi live in a perpetual Advent,
watching and waiting
for something to shift,
the smallest change in that vast expanse of darkness.
And then it happens.
It’s as if a blueprint for God’s plan is hidden in the heavens.
They see a new star,
read the prophesies,
and know that somewhere,
a new king of Israel has been born.
After all that time, all that waiting, it’s time to follow. And the rest of the Gospel,
from here on out, is pretty much all about following.
Following a star,
following Jesus,
setting out on a journey,
following a road.
After all that waiting, we’re on the move.
We spend our spiritual lives either waiting or following. Waiting in times of darkness that may feel uncertain, suspended in time, lost and without direction. You may be waiting for an answer for a question, waiting for a change to come, waiting for an anticipated event to finally take place.
You keep looking at sky, and it seems to offer no signs.
Nothing seems to be changing.
And so you wait, wondering if you will will ever be able to do anything else.
And then, suddenly, from nowhere, there is a new star,
in a sky that seemed like it would never change.
And instead of waiting, you set out to follow a light that in many ways,
is just as uncertain as the darkness.
Because to recognize a sign, to follow a star,
is to relinquish control over your own fate.
When the magi set out on their journey, they thought they’d be bringing gifts, fit for a king, to the royal courts. They thought their gold and frankincense and myrrh would end up in halls of marble, wealth piled upon wealth, at the feet of a new king.
Instead, after setting out in pursuit of that star, they end up doing something quite different. They place their gifts, gifts for a king, at the feet of two poor, frightened young parents. And then, having deceive a shrewd and calculating ruler, they flee the country in fear. Following that star took them place they could have never expected, but nevertheless, they followed.
Are you waiting or following right now?
Are you seeking a sign?
And when you see it, what might it mean to follow?
Chasing a star will take you someplace you never could have anticipated,
yet, because God has led you there,
you will be, like the Magi,
overwhelmed with joy.
From here on out,
the gospel is all about following.
Following a star, that dim slight just ahead of you in the darkness.
Following Jesus, a man who’s signs are terrifying, but too powerful to ignore.
Following a road when you’re not sure just where it’s going to lead.
There’s nothing certain about what’s to come,
nothing we can say about how we’ll get there or where we’ll end up.
Except that, like that magi,
we will find that, wherever the star leads us,
we will be overwhelmed with joy.
I needed this today. xo
Posted by: Knittingnarwhal | 01/12/2011 at 10:38 AM
Glad I could help.
Posted by: Emily Scott | 01/13/2011 at 01:02 PM