God Speaks to All

Ephesians 3:1–12 ESV

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Matthew 2:1–12 ESV

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

God Speaks to All

One of the things that happens when you live in a house with three other people, four cats, and a dog, is you say, “I wasn’t talking to you” about 700 times each day. Just this morning, as our big orange cat Julius greeted me, I held his little face in my hands and said, “Aren’t you a pretty boy, my sweet cuddly buddy.” any my husband groggily replied, “What?!” He was far less confused when I told him I was talking to the cat.

It’s sometimes ludicrous too, the things people don’t realize are being said to someone else. I’ve had my kids reply “I’m not ON the kitchen counter.” when I’ve scolded a cat for trying to help me cook. They don’t seem to hear me when I’m talking to them, but the second I start talking to the dog, they hear every word I say.

It’s really frustrating when the people you’re talking to don’t hear you or when other people accidentally jump into the conversation and make it way more confusing than it was. And it’s also frustrating to be the one who wasn’t being talked to. Sometimes in a house as busy as mine, we just start tuning out everyone and not listening at all.

We have to really pay attention to know when someone is talking to us and when they are talking to someone else. We have to be aware of what is going on around us, the relationships involved, the other people who are nearby, because the context matters. As soon as we aren’t paying enough attention, we find ourselves saying “What did you say?” to someone who wasn’t talking to us or not hearing a person who is talking to us.

It’s the same when we are listening for God. We get caught not paying enough attention to what is going on around us or being too overwhelmed by all the noise around us and we find ourselves mishearing, misinterpreting, or missing what God is saying to us. When this happens too often, we can get frustrated and just stop listening because we assume that God must be talking to someone else.

When I was a kid, there was a popular series of books called “Choose your own adventure“. You would read a story and at certain parts of the story, you would be faced with a decision. Which direction to travel, which character to trust, etc. And the book would tell you what page to flip to for whichever decision you made. The book ended differently depending on the choices you made. Sometimes you “won” so to speak and sometimes the book ended in tragedy.

I never felt like there was enough information provided in these stories with which to make the decisions, so I made myself a loophole. I would use scraps of paper or my fingers to mark my last decision so I could back track if I got abducted by aliens or bit by a vampire. I could thereby ensure I would always find the best possible ending to the book.

That’s not how life works, unfortunately. And since we don’t have cosmic scraps of paper with which to mark the places to go back to if we get something terribly wrong, sometimes we just sort of freeze up and/or take the easy path because it’s safer. Or we figure that if we don’t have the confidence to say “I heard God say. . .”, God is talking to someone else.

But God has something important and life changing to say to absolutely everyone if we put in the hard work of listening - actively and attentively. We can’t possibly know how to move through the world and our rapidly changing culture as individuals or as a church if we don’t assume God has something valuable to say to us and take the time to listen.

Just be warned: God might have something really weird to say like “So there is this baby king sleeping with the animals in the backwaters of Israel. . .”

Sometimes we don’t give ourselves enough credit for having the immagination to do this or we don’t think God has much to say to us.

Today, in our gospel passage we read about the “wise men”. This is the most common translation these days for the Greek word “Magus” (plural “Magi”). In the past it has been translated as “kings” but they were really king’s advisors, not actual kings.

Today, in our gospel passage we read about the “wise men”. This is the most common translation these days for the Greek word “Magus” or the plural “Magoi”. In the past it has been translated as “kings” but they were really king’s advisors, not actual kings.

Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece Editio XXVII 2

μάγοι

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. μάγος

μάγος, οὑ, ὁ (s. μαγεία, μαγεύω)

① a Magus, a (Persian [SNyberg, D. Rel. d. alten Iran ’38], then also Babylonian) wise man and priest, who was expert in astrology, interpretation of dreams and various other occult arts (so Hdt.+; Jos., Ant. 20, 142; s. Da 2:2, 10; in still other pass. in Da, Theod.; Tat. 28, 1. Beside φιλόσοφος of Apollonius of Tyana: Orig., C. Cels. 6, 41, 13).

The common tellings of the Christmas story seem to have a huge contrast between the two groups who come to see the baby Jesus. you have the dirty, sheepy, common shepherds, and you have these regal, fancy pants guys on camels from far away. And especially contrasted with the shepherds, the idea of actual kings getting word about Jesus and following a star to see him is a pretty cool idea, theologically. Scripture does state in other places that both kings and common people will bow to Jesus. Just be careful, because the gospel writer Matthew was making a different theological point here originally.

But other places we see these sorts talked about in Scripture, they are sort of looked down on. “Smart guys” “eggheads” “hippies” etc. They aren’t necessarily much more desirable than the stinking, rough shepherds.

Just be careful, because the gospel writer Matthew was making a different theological point here originally.

The magoi were not actually very popular guys in many circles. In other places we see these sorts talked about in Scripture and other ancient texts, they are sort of looked down on. They are seen as knowitalls, “eggheads”, or even “hippies”. They are the weirdos who read the stars and think they know the future. They aren’t necessarily much more desirable than the stinking, rough shepherds.

The magi were not actually very popular guys in many circles. In other places we see these sorts talked about in Scripture and other ancient texts, they are sort of looked down on. They are seen as knowitalls, “eggheads”, or even “hippies”. They are the weirdos who read the stars and think they know the future and then tell it to kings and other important people. They aren’t necessarily much more desirable than the stinking, rough shepherds.

The only real earthly king in the story is Herod. And Herod completely misses the voice of God in all of this.

A bunch of smelly farmhands hears angels and obeys.

A group of weird eastern astrologers reads about Jesus’ birth in the stars and come looking.

But the king doesn’t get it. He seems to want to, he asks the magi to help him, but ultimately, he’s unwilling to go out on a limb and listen for himself, so he misses out.

Grace in the text

God speaks to shepherds.

God speaks to weird smarty-pants magicians.

God speaks to any and all who are willing to do the work and listen.

Not all of our Christmas imagery is very historically accurate and that includes our picture of the wise men. There are even stories about their names which are not listed anywhere that we know of. Someone was just doing creative reflection on Scripture once upon a time and it stuck. That’s not always bad, though. Sometimes, the theological drive of the image is just as important as having a good historical understanding. It’s wonderful to use our imaginations when we read these stories.

A great example of this is when the wise men are depicted as being of different races. (Take a look at the church’s nativity - one Magus is clearly a white guy, another is of African decent and another is probably middle eastern or Mediterranean). Historically - they were all probably from the same place. But, the whole reason they began to be imagined and pictured in the way that they are is because it highlights the epiphany promise that Jesus is for all people. The easiest way to represent the idea of all people is to make them look different from one another. It is through Christ that freedom is opened up to everyone everywhere and that is what the wise men represent.

Joanna Harader: Ephesians presents a mystery: that gentiles are fellow heirs with the Jews. I've always assumed that the revelation here is that Jews should let the gentiles into the community. But perhaps the revelation is at least as much the fact that the gentiles want to be included.

A great picture, is when we see them of different races. This highlights the epiphany promise that Jesus is for all people. It is through Christ that freedom is opened up to everyone everywhere.

From: https://www.christiancentury.org/article/editors-desk/post-christmas-blues

As outsiders—non-Jews in a Jewish story, Persians and Arabs at the manger with these Hebrew parents and child—the Magi give us a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus will shatter religious tradition and ethnic boundaries and bring strangers center stage. Before the story is over, Jesus will challenge boundaries of race, social class, status and even gender. He will welcome outsiders—sinners, the unclean, lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, poor people, women and children, Roman soldiers—and share meals with them. Jesus will scandalize some people with his radical inclusivity. Apparently he didn’t know or care about the function of a religion to define insiders and outsiders. Instead he will fling open the doors.

Grace in the World

A great picture, is when we see them of different races. This highlights the epiphany promise that Jesus is for all people. It is through Christ that freedom is opened up to everyone everywhere.

A great picture, however, is when we see them of different races. This highlights the epiphany promise that Jesus is for all people. It is through Christ that freedom is opened up to everyone everywhere.

God speaks to all of us. God speaks to everyday good old boys who watch the sheep. God speaks to goofy intellectuals who read stars and advise kings. God speaks to Presbyterians and Catholics and Americans and Africans and Arabs and young people and old people. God speaks to you, dear friends.

It’s hard to accept that we are able to listen, that God is speaking, and that we have something valuable to contribute. We spend too much time second guessing ourselves. We want a choir of angels or a star labeled “This way to the Messiah” but we get far subtler queues from God most times.

That’s not how life works, unfortunately. And since we don’t have cosmic scraps of paper with which to mark the places to go back to if we get something terribly wrong, sometimes we just sort of freeze up and/or take the easy path because it’s safer. Or we figure that if we don’t have the confidence to say “I heard God say. . .”, God is talking to someone else.

Sometimes, it’s hard to accept that we are able to listen, that God is speaking, and that we have something valuable to contribute. We spend too much time second guessing ourselves. We want a choir of angels or a star labeled “This way to the Messiah” or a giant sign that says, “Avoid Herod on the way back”, but we get far subtler queues from God most times.

That’s why spiritual practices like study and meditation are so important and why it can be so helpful to take a random word handed to you on a piece of card stock paper and just sit with it. Don’t look at it as if God could talk to you through it, assume that God will talk to you through it. Know that God does have something to say to you and it’s probably not what you expected. Your challenge as we begin this near year together and as we celebrate the good news that Jesus is for all people is this: Go out and listen. Pay attention to the world around you and do the hard work of listening to God.

We have many big decisions to make as we navigate the world, but like the Magi, we are not left without guidance. God speaks to all of us.

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Ask to Be Shaken

Ask to Be Shaken

One day Theodore Roosevelt had been speaking sternly to his son, Kermit, and in desperation finally reached down to shake him. Whereupon Ethel, Kermit’s sister, touched her father’s arm and cried out, “Shake me, Father, shake me!”

The church that wants spiritual power must ask to be shaken.