December 30 is the only Sunday worship during the season of Christmastide. The following Sunday is Epiphany.
My reflections on the lectionary passages for that Sunday can be found at Christmas 1 C.
Blessings,
David
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By Nina-no (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
This is more than curiosity. I think their journey teaches something about our own journeys in following of Jesus and our awareness of the living presence of God.
So what can the Magi teach us?
Who were the Magi? Some call them kings. Others call them wise men. I think they were star-gazers. There were more like our modern astrologers than astronomers. They spent their nights observing the movements of small lights in the skies and during the day reflected on the significance of those lights.
It is likely they served as advisers to some wealthy landowner or even a ruler of a land east of Jerusalem. Somehow they were able to fund a trip that could have taken as long as 2 years while also providing gifts that were more treasure than trinket.
The most important piece of information about them is that they were open to whatever was coming. They were the futurists of their day: always looking ahead.
They looked to the stars and fully expected them to reveal the mysteries of the future. They saw and discovered in the subtle movements of stars the possibilities of what Life was bringing.
We need to expect the Divine Wisdom to lead us.
It is easy for us to lose our way. We get so focused on the mundane, day to day details of life that we forget that God has more out there for us.
We are distracted so easily. Our attention is stolen away from the grand journey Jesus invites us to by voices and events both positive and negative.
Our anxieties and worries train us to always react to the fires and storms in our lives. Our attention is grabbed by fear inducing events, consuming all our energy. Then when the urgency is past we find it hard to return to what we were doing in the first place. Don’t worry, the next emergency comes soon enough.
In mythology, the Sirens captured the attention of travelers with the beauty of their song. Those travelers then crashed on the rocky shore as they followed these enjoyable attention thieves. What are some of our modern day Sirens? It is more pleasurable to be spectators as we watch television or go to movies. We chase after the latest fad, and have to buy the newest shiniest technology. Before we know it, we don’t know how to return to our original path.
As we follow the light of Christ, we need to keep our eyes on the glory of Grace in order to stay on the path toward our healing and salvation.
“From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 CEB)
To keep our focus on this grace we need to nurture a rhythm of listening to God.
We need to immerse ourselves in the reading and reflection on Scripture. The stars won’t speak to us as they did many years ago, but we have been given a better gift: God’s Word to lead us.
Sometimes those words are as subtle, confusing, and difficult to understand as the stars were. As we cultivate a mind devoted to hearing God’s voice we can trust that God does want to guide us.
I’m sure as the Magi traveled they ran into road construction and detours. Not every road was straight and not every fork in the road was marked. Even our modern GPS devices lead us astray. They didn’t even have maps.
The Magi had to keep looking up to follow the star. They also had to keep looking around to stay on the road.
To move safely through space we need to develop spatial awareness in order to see where we are, what is around us and where it is safe to go. If we need spatial awareness to be able to walk or drive, so we need spiritual awareness to journey to Christ.
A popular concent in spirituality circles lately is Mindfulness. A key component of mindfulness is to increase our awareness of all that is going on in our present moments. We become more aware of our eating, our resting, our playing, our working, our listening, our everything.
As we choose to be mindful of what is going on around us we see the clues about dangers are coming as well as enjoy the spectacular things that bless our days.
In order to stop ignoring, denying, and avoiding our present moment we must nurture a living trust in God: that God is with us in each moment and desires for us to live this fully dimensional life.
“Practice these things: whatever you learned, received, heard, or saw in us. The God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 CEB)
It all comes back to expecting God to lead us and guide us.
Whether we are searching the scriptures or being present in every moment, we have to believe that God is still communicating with us and wants us to respond to that wisdom with our lives.
“And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. (Luke 11:9 CEB)
Sometimes God seems hidden. I don’t think it is because God is cruel or is truly absent. Maybe God wants us to look, seek, and then find.
Early in my ministry, I discovered the joy of seeking with shy children. When a small child hid behind the legs of a parent or grandparent, unsure about this strange, tall man with a beard wearing a dress (my preaching robe), then I would slip behind a corner or hide behind my fingers and peek shyly at them. Now, instead of them wanting to run away from me, they wanted to find out where this funny man went. It doesn’t always work, but most of the time fear became curiosity and we now were playing a game. I usually received a smile. Sometimes we shared a small high five.
God invites us into a relationship that is not based on our fears even as we shrink in fear before the Divine Glory. So when God chooses to hide behind other things in our life, we can become the ones who seek the One who came from the stars to seek us.
The invitation of the Child in the Manger calls us to go on a search. God wants us to seek. God is there to be found. Just as we have already been found by grace.
What pleasures or anxieties have pulled you away from living the fully dimensional life of God’s glory?
Where can you make the time to nurture that rhythm of reading and reflecting on God’s Word? Who can you join with to listen together in Bible story and prayer?
How many activities in your life do you practice mindlessly: just following the routine and getting things done? What happens when you slow down and practice awareness and openness to what God is giving you in each moment?
You are welcome to share your awareness in the comments.
It is always a pleasure to discover new music and new musicians. It is especially difficult at Christmas for me to find new music that really speaks to the joy and expectation of the holy day.
Melanie McMillan and Martha McConnell have written a delightful song that speaks deeply to our yearnings.
Enjoy.
As we grow closer to the Celebration of the Incarnation the joy of the good news grows and we want to express it. Traditionally, the ringing of bells was a way to spread news of danger and celebration to the countrysides.
Put that together with tightly harmonized Acapella voices and we have a wonderful song.
As we move closer to the celebration of the Incarnation of Jesus, I want to share music. There is a healing and transformative value to music.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, is a hauntingly beautiful Advent song that expresses our yearning for the coming of our Savior/Healer. This arrangement for piano and cello bring out that hunger and hope.