Hoping for something better?

I guess some people had a measure of anticipation and hope going into this most recent election - though I know for many it’s hard to hold on to much hope for politics. Either way, across the country, and I expect among us here, there’s very different responses to our election’s results and our own new rulers as of Friday morning. Some are hopeful of progress. Others are fearful of where this realignment will take us.

But I doubt there are many who’d say “at last we have the perfect ruler”, one who will do everything right, who’ll do anything for the good of his people. But what if .. what if there was a perfect ruler? Surely everyone would welcome and celebrate a king like that - one who is a true cause for hope, one who is finally worthy of our trust?

Remember our first reading, that ancient prophecy of a king who will reign wisely and bring deliverance? God’s people spent many hundreds of years waiting for, and looking for that king - one they believed would be the best king ever - their forever king. This same coming king’s conception was announced to his mother Mary in our second reading - he would be given the throne of his father David, she was told. In our third reading an angel sends terrified shepherds to look for the promised king, calling him “the Messiah” - which means God’s chosen one. Finally, as we just heard, these wise foreigners arrive in Jerusalem, drawn from the other end of the earth - and they’re hoping to find a new born king.

So much anticipation. So many people hoping for, waiting for, and searching for this coming king. And now that moment had finally come. This is the one!

Yet as we follow the story, right from this first moment of his arrival, we see very different responses to him. How come? Is there anything to learn here?

Let’s start with these Magi [sing] “We three kings from orient are,” right? It’s a required part of any nativity really – and one of the best costume options too!

That word magi, that’s someone who has special understanding based on the stars, someone with secular and religious knowledge - professor plus priest. And these were obviously pretty important people – see how easily they get an audience with King Herod. You can bet he didn’t just keep the doors open and see who rocked up.

So they are significant people — and yet they’ve put everything on hold to go hunt for this new-born king. They came from the East, it says – probably a months-long journey back in those days. No easyjet flight to hop on. No fast train. No cars. No good roads – hardly any bad roads, for that matter. Most likely a long, wobbly camel-trek through the desert, riding on an animal that’s turned spitting into an art-form!

All that to come and see “the one who has been born king of the Jews,” as they say? Now the Roman empire was vast, important, powerful. Perhaps it’d make sense to bring some presents to a new Roman king – but a king of the Jews? A king of this minor people who were just one more nation under the Roman thumb, just one more minor player in the global drama? That’s a bit odd.

And they haven’t just come to say “hello” or “congratulations” – they’ve come to worship him it says, there in verse 2, come bringing precious presents – albeit rather strange ones. Stuff they’ve carried through the desert, through bandit country, no doubt taking some significant risk to get there. I mean I’m not sure I fancy trying to carry a bunch of gold across Edinburgh – so imagine carrying it across the wilds they passed through on their journey!

They must have thought they were on to something big – that this was something massive. Did they dare to hope this king would really be so different? That this child could really change everything? I think so - I think that’s what their journey and gifts tell us: they dared to hope, and they met the new born king!

What about some of the other characters in our reading? Let’s take a look at these chief priests and teachers of the law.

See, when these magi turn up in Jerusalem looking for a king, Herod wants information, and he wants it fast, so he goes to the experts, people who spent their lives studying holy writings, who knew every detail back to front. What’s it say in the book, boys? If there’s a king coming, a special king, a king of the Jews, where’s he going to come from?

Now when King Herod asks them his question, notice exactly what he asks – it’s in verse 4: he asks where the messiah was to be born. Hmm. See, these magi show up looking for a king – but here Herod isn’t asking about a king, he’s asking about “the messiah” He’s connected the two in his head.

Messiah means “the anointed one” – the chosen one; the promised one. For these priests it would bring to mind SO MANY of the words they’d treasured for years and years and years, the prophecies of someone to come and rescue them, to deliver them. Like that one we read first of all this morning.

Are they rubbing their hands in glee? “Oooooh exciting! Maybe it’s finally time at last! Maybe God is going to send us our long-promised deliverer! Maybe this is the time we get to see God’s kingdom throwing off this Roman oppression at last! Iiiiiiiiiiiiit’s showtime!”

Is that what we get from them? No… not at all. You can almost see them shrug their shoulders as they answer – where’s this long-promised messiah to be born? Bethlehem, of course - the prophet said so.

New star, sure. Thanks. All very exciting for you. But surely you know that’s just a fairytale? We’ve been waiting hundreds years – waiting for nothing! Don’t get so excited. It’s not actually going to happen.

These priests, these ones who know all about God’s coming chosen deliverer from their books, who know exactly where he’ll show up, can’t even bring themselves to go the 5ish miles it is to Bethlehem to check. Seriously, it’s about five miles. Maybe it’s a bit snowy. Or cold.

Though when I checked, the forecast was actually 17 degrees and sunny for Christmas day.

Perhaps they’ve been excited before and don’t want to get their hopes up again. Perhaps they’ve just studied themselves full of data and information – but they don’t really believe any of it. In any event, when these foreigners wonder in through the door, all excited, and head back out again in search of the baby, the religious know-it-alls just sit tight in Jerusalem. A newborn king? Whatever.

One more character in our reading I want to look at, and that’s king Herod.

These magi who come knocking on his door really could do with studying up on international diplomacy. When they show up in Jerusalem on their star-driven baby-hunt they make no bones about the fact that they’re looking for “the one who has been born king of the Jews.” - that’s in verse 2.

But on either side of that it’s almost like the text goes to pains to emphasise that there was already a king of the Jews! Verse 1, “during the time of king Herod”. Verse 3, “when king Herod heard…” Herod already was the king of the Jews. Didn’t need another one.

I don’t know whether you’ve noticed or not, but by and large there’s only one king at a time. A throne’s not really a multi-occupancy thing. Either Herod’s the king - and so this new guy isn’t. Or this new guy really is the king.. and then Herod, … well… I don’t think he’s too keen on that option.

Now he’s sneaky about it, for sure. He doesn’t come right out with it. He says to the magi before they head on their way again “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and … [airquotes] ‘worship’ him.” . cough-cough [draw hand across throat]

Herod, to those who would be so naïve as to trust him, seems to welcome this new king. But perhaps you’ll know how that turned out? It’s certainly not worship that he plans for this newcomer king.

Why does Herod respond this way? He’s so afraid that a random baby might one day pose a threat to him that he orders the baby taken out. Herod loves his position, his exaltation, his authority - and he’s dead set against anything which might change that. Even a promised deliverer, a cause for hope, one who would rule perfectly. It’s him or me, thinks Herod, and I know who gets my vote.

The Magi, the priests, and the king. If they walked into a bar, it’d feel like the start of a bad joke! But so what?

If you’ve not been with us before, one of the things we love to do here at Hope City is to ask the question “so what”. A promised baby, different people, different reactions - but all long, long ago and far, far away. What does this have to do with us?

I think the first thing to wonder about is how we’d respond to Christmas news like this? Would we welcome a new born king?

Many people today are ok with a cute baby, someone who can fit comfortably into a cosy in a nativity scene and give us a Christmas that’s really about food and family and presents and traditions and good will. But what if the Christmas story is really about a coming king? A good king, a perfect king, but make no mistake, a king who plans to rule.

Would that be good news for you? Or do you feel like that seat’s already taken, that there’s someone already in charge of things thanks very much: me. And so you’re not really looking for another king. If you’re honest, it’s not that he’s too hard to find, the truth is he’s not welcome.

But what if that was the only path to real hope in life, real hope for this world?

See that’s the second thing this story makes us wonder about: this idea of hope. Do we dare to hope for a better king?

There was a lot of talk about hope in this election - a lot of talk - but for all the talk, I’m not sure there was much hope that things would be fundamentally different, finally fixed.

Do we dare to hope for a better ruler? One so much better than any politician? One who will reign wisely, who’ll do what is just and right? One who actually cares about you and me, cares enough to do what’s the very best for all for us, whatever the cost?

Do we dare to hope for better than the best moments of this broken world? A world where there’ll be an end to wrong, to sadness, to suffering. A world where there’ll be an end to dog-eat-dog and instead we’ll all delight in thriving together?

Do we dare to hope that this baby, Jesus, might truly be all that the bible says he is, might truly be the one who changes everything?

I think there are many people a bit like these priests. They see others pursuing hope, but they can’t bring themselves to join in. They have plenty of information - but knowing is one thing, and daring to believe is quite another.

Perhaps you’ve been burned too many times by false hopes raised. There’s a lot of false hope on offer in our world. Perhaps you feel you’ve been waiting so long for things to change, an you’ve given up. Perhaps it just all seems too good to believe - impossible that it could really be true.

This Christmas, why not nurture that spark of hope instead of quashing it? Why not dare to hope there could be something better than another day, another government, another meal, another holiday? Something so much better. Why not dare to hope that there might be a new born king who would change everything? There’s not a lot of reason for hope in our ordinary world - why not dare to hope for a better one?

Like these magi, pursue hope - go after it! How could you do that practically? Explore faith. Explore the story of this child, Jesus. If you’re shy, take a free book and read some more. Everything on that black bookcase is free. Take a bible - our gift to you - and read Jesus’ story. Talk to someone around you. Talk to me. Why not just come along here for a few weeks and explore with us; join us for another Sunday as we explore this hope together.