Matthew Chapter 2:
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judea territory, this was during Herod's kingship, a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around: "Where could we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed the star in the Eastern sky that signaled his birth. We are on pilgrimage to worship him. And when words of their inquiry got Herod, he was terrified and not Herod alone, but most Jerusalem as well.
Herod lost no time. He gathered all the High Priests and religious scholars in the city together and asked, "where is the Messiah supposed to be born? They told him Bethlehem, Judea territory.
The prophet Micah wrote: Bethlehem in the land of Judea, no longer bringing up the rear, from you will come the leader who will shepherd rule my people, my Israel. Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the east. Pretending to be as devout as they are, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem and said, "go find this child. Leave no stone unturned." And as soon as you find him, send word and I will join you at once in worship." Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the Eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over a place, the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves. They were in the right place. They had arrived at the right time. They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshipped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. In a dream they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route. Left the territory without being seen. They returned to their own country."
As we've been progressing in our journey of opening our hearts' doors to a season of wonder, today I want to invite you to open your heart's door to new opportunities that God lays before us each and everyday.
There is a musical drama that is beginning to gain popularity. If you haven't heard of it, then you've heard it from here first. You can say I remember when Pastor Jay told me about this. It is the story Amal and the night visitors. That's the name of it. Amal is a crippled boy who lives alone with his mother and they live in extreme poverty and the alone in a lonely part of town. It begins with one evening when three visitors knock at their door and their mother opens the door to see tree gentlemen who share with her that they are on a journey, a journey that has led them with a star in the sky and that they seek to find the newborn king of the Jews. Amal's mother practices extreme hospitality on this night in that she invitea the visitors in. She feeds them what little she has, and offers them a night of rest. And as they are spending the evening with this mother and son, they share with them that they are carrying gifts for this newborn king, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Amal's mother hears gold and immediately her mind begins to think of all the things this gold could afford in regard to the healing of her son, her crippled child. And it becomes so overwhelming that that night, as the visitors go to bed, she seeks to steal the gold from their baggage. But she gets caught. And she shares with them why she's after the gold.
She says, this gold could help heal my son. And the three visitors are so overwhelmed by the need of the boy, that they share with Amal's mother that she can keep the gold. And she says, but I thought this was for the king? And they began to then share with her the witness that they saw in the stars, that this was to be a newborn king who was to be more priestly than any king ever born. That this new king was going to be filled with so much power and love, that this newborn king was to be touched by god in a way that gold would not be needed by this Prince of Peace. And so they believed that the gold would be better for her son.
And as they shared this news, something inside the mother stirs, and her heart begins to get warm and before the conversation is over, she refuses to accept the gift of the gold. She says no, if such a king is to be born, then he deserves this gift. Who am I to take the gift from the king, the anointed one of God?
Well, as this conversation is going on, Amal is hearing all of it and finally towards the end, Amal breaks into the conversation and he says, I want to give something, too, to this king. I want to give the only thing that I have. And he takes the crutches that he has been using to lean on, and he takes it from under his arm and he reaches out and hands it to one of the visitors that night. And as he hands it to the visitor, suddenly he begins to stand upright and in that sacrificial gift, a miracle happens, and he is healed. And his mother celebrates and Amal does, too, and he says, please, let me go and give this gift to the king myself. And the story ends with a Amal joining those three night visitors on their journey to see this new born king.
Isn't it a wonderful story? I like the story of the Maji and I like this version of it, too. It might take some liberties, but it really illustrates to us very prominently the opportunities that God had laid before these travelers. And it's the same opportunities God offers us today. First of all, God wants us to be open to new ways of worship. These travelers were open to new ways of worship. They didn't look for the temple, they looked for the child. I did a wedding the other day that reminded me of a story of a young man who was in the wedding party and, as he came down the aisle, he would take two steps and then would stop and growl. Take two more steps and growl. And did that all the way down the aisle. And we couldn't figure out what was going on. And finally when he got to the end, the groom asked, what are you doing? He said, they told me I was the ring leader. Sometimes we get confused. Sometimes we're concerned about being misunderstood or we're worried about understanding of what's going on and so we want to hold back and not worship fully or not worship completely because we don't want to do something wrong. But when God gives us an opportunity to worship, we need to go at it with all that we have and trust that God will lead the way.
You know, if you go into worship with all that you have, you just never know, you might even bring a little humor to somebody else like that young man did. Everyone else had tears in their eyes that day. I'm telling you.
Next thing the maji share with us is that we have to be open to new ways of witnessing. They didn't hesitate to share with that woman and her son why they were on a journey and what it was all about. And to share with great intensity and with great explanation as to why this baby was so special. Albert Einstein once was in a conversation with a notable Christian leader and he said to that friend, he said, "sir, I respect religion, but I believe in mathematics. This is Einstein talking. And his friend said, on the contrary, I believe in both of them. For both mathematics and religion are gifts from God. Einstein replied, "but, sir, what would you say if mathematical science should some day come to the conclusion that directly contradicts your religious beliefs? What would you say then? And the friend again responded, "oh, I have the utmost confidence in today's mathematicians. If such a thing would happen, I know they would stick to it until they found their mistake.
The maji never hesitated to point to the child or the star or the cross. Should we do no less?
Finally, we should always be open to new ways, to alternate routes, to changes in our plans. They were to go home the same way until they received that dream that night and God said go home a different way. And they went home a different way not just to avoid the danger, but they were also able to share the good news with new people along the way. To meet new friends.
There is a town not too far across the state line from my wife's home town. It's a town in Indiana called French Lick, Indiana. French Lick, Indiana, turned into some sort of a resort town. There are people who travel there from all over the country to spend time there. And one of the reasons why they come there is because of one of the inhabitants of that community. His name is none other than Larry Bird. The Boston Celtic lives in French Lick, Indiana. Isn't that's amazing? In fact, if you go down the center street of town, it's named Larry Bird Boulevard. Story is, there was this couple that was visiting there and they were so excited over being there and seeing the boulevard that they started taking pictures of each other pointing to the boulevard sign and trying to back up enough to get them and the sign in the picture. First him and then her. Then they asked somebody who was going by to take the picture for them. And they were so focussed on what was happening with that sign, so determined to accomplish what they had sought out to do, that they failed to see the jogger who was running by who was none other than Larry Bird himself.
How many times do we miss what God has for are us because we're so intent on completing our task or succeeding in what we are to do. Just think about that, if Amal and his mother were determined to spend that night the way they had planned, if they had refused to accept those visitors in their home, how different would have been their lives. They would have missed out on so much. They would have missed out on so much blessing and so much love.
God calls us to be open, not closed hearted. God calls us to be open not only to God, but to each other. And so, if we want to experience this wonder of the season all year round, let us open our hearts to what love may bring.
God bless you. Amen.