January 1, 2012
How Did Your Journey Start?
- Isaiah 60:1-6
- Dr. Teri Thomas
This morning we are celebrating the season of Epiphany.
In fact we are celebrating Epiphany through most of February.
Epiphany means revelation,
appearance, vision, occurrence.
Epiphany is about God's revelation.
God is revealed in the person of Jesus.
God was also revealed to the shepherds in an angel in the sky.
God is revealed to the magi in the star.
God leads them and they follow.
But in two very different ways.
In the Gospel of Luke,
the story we usually read on Christmas Eve
is about the birth of Jesus.
We hear about shepherds
keeping watch over their flocks by night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them.
The angel told them of Jesus birth in nearby Bethlehem.
The shepherds went to find this baby of whom angels sang.
On Epiphany
we read the Christmas story from the Gospel of Mathew
and it is a different version.
No angels, no shepherds.
But this story has the magi-
sometimes called the three Kings
(even though we don't know how many there were
and they were probably more like astronomers than kings).
But the story is there.
The magi came to worship a new born king
by following a special star in the sky.
They brought gifts to a baby the prophets foretold as the messiah.
They wanted to see this child for themselves.
So, which version of the story do you prefer?
Which account feels most like your own journey to Bethlehem?
In your own travels to worship the Christ
would you say you are more like a shepherd or one of the magi?
Which would you choose?
The shepherds and the magi have different stories.
They get to the birth in different ways.
They are different types of people.
What are you? One of the shepherds or the magi?
The shepherds were pretty simple folk.
They were humble and down to earth
They were faithful and dedicated to their task.
They didn't have to think a lot about what they were doing.
They probably sang songs or told stories
to entertain themselves through the long nights.
They were trusting and responded on emotion.
The magi are thinkers, planners, chart makers and list keepers.
They were students, always questioning,
always seeking, always learning.
They responded to facts- science- reality.
They read books and gaze through telescopes
to get through the long nights.
What are you? magi or shepherd?
The shepherds had a pretty clear message about Jesus.
They didn't seek it or ask for it.
The vision from heaven just came to them while they were minding their own business.
They got a message loud and clear.
Angels singing the halleluiah chorus.
They couldn't have missed it if they tried.
The magi got one star. Not even a huge star.
And they had to search for it.
How easy it would be
to miss the birth of one new star in the heavens.
They must have been great astronomers
able to chart the heavens,
to study the stars, to memorize the constellations
and to notice one thing out of place.
What are you? shepherd or magi?
Do you hear the angels singing the good news?
or do you see just a small glimmer of light in the distance?
Did God seek you out
or did you have to go searching?
The shepherds not only hear a chorus of angels
they get clear directions
The angel said-
go to Bethlehem
go to the stable
look for Mary and Joseph and you will find Jesus.
They got celestial GPS to show them the way.
The magi received no directions.
They saw the star but had no idea where it was or what it meant.
They had to stop and ask for directions from Herod.
They received some misdirection.
What are you? magi or shepherd?
Do you know the way and follow the directions pretty simply?
Or are you wandering and wondering feeling lost most of the time?
The magi had to travel a long distance to find Jesus.
It took a long time.
It's believed Jesus was nearly three years old by the time the Magi arrived.
The shepherds were just around the corner.
They were watching their flocks in a field nearby.
They were there before the night was over.
What are you?
One of the magi or a shepherd?
Have you always felt close to God?
Or are you coming from a long distance?
Maybe we don't get to select our role in this story.
We are what we are
and it is what it is.
We come to Jesus the way we come
and we certainly do not all follow the same path.
But the shepherds and the magi
have some important things in common.
They all eventually arrive
at the source of every good and perfect gift.
They all meet Jesus, the messiah.
They all see the face of God.
They all worship the king.
Isn't that all that matters?