What do we do with Jesus?

Scripture

Matthew 2:1–12 NLT

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ” Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

Happy New Year!

If there was ever a year to try to do differently than the year before… 2021 is it.

Not New Year’s resolutions. Real change that sticks. Get out of debt for good. Say goodbye to bad habits that have cost you more than money. The fear of the unknown is real and you can feel it almost physically when your life is not in a place of stability. This is another day, another year, another chance to make a change and find something or somewhere stronger to stay.

And grow. If 2020 taught us anything, it is that everything changes, whether we like it or not.

The driver’s seat is open for 2021 and the keys are on the dashboard. What choice are you going to make?

The Fear of the Lord is the foundation of Wisdom

The year that Jesus was born was a year of change and unknown futures as well. Our passage today shows the way the birth of one child had ripples that rocked the nation and reached out to touch people in lands far away as well.

I have wondered how the people of God shifted from being a nation-centered people to a family across the globe. It is in the Old Testament, both in the Law and the Prophets. It has never been part of our human nature though. How did God make that hard turn with his people to help them understand they were part of something much bigger than themselves?

This is a small story of how God met people in their fear and guided them into a new year, and more importantly, new way of life. We will see how true wise men set aside their wisdom and follow God.

Thesis: Followers of Jesus do as God asks, not as they think best.

The Fear of the Lord

People who who sought after God, and even those who were not Jewish, were often referred to as God-fearing people. The term God-fearing has fallen out of favor for generations, and not without reason.

Fear has been used as a weapon to push people and also as a mark of shame. That is frustrating because fear is not bad in itself. In fact, we know fairly well how to tell the difference between good and bad fear.

The fear that reminds you what you need to do to keep yourself and others safe is good fear. You will not have accountability without the fear of being held accountable for your action and inaction. Fear about things that you have at least some measure of influence over is good fear. This kind of fear motivates us to make responsible choices and to grow beyond ourselves.

Bad fear, is the kind of fear about things you do not have any influence over at all. This is the kind of fear that paralyzes us and makes us feel like nothing matters at all. It is this kind of fear that drives people to do irresponsible things, and even those acts don’t take the fear away.

Here’s what Scripture Says:

Proverbs 9:10 NLT

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

Psalm 111:10 NLT

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!

These are very similar passages, and they are not the only ones that carry this message that Fearing God is the first step to being wise.

The Wise Men

These Wise men from the East would have been called God-fearing, although they were not trembling and trying to hide from God. Quite the opposite. They were convinced that the God of Israel was going to send His Chosen One into the world to become the King of all kings.

Perhaps they wanted to make sure He knew where their loyalties were as soon as He got here.

Maybe it was a strong sense of curiosity.

It might even be just that the Bethlehem star took over the night sky in a way that made them wonder what new thing had occured that their superstitions concern for the unknown drove them to go discover.

We don’t really know.

King Herod

What we do have in contrast with these wise men from the East is the paranoid King Herod, who killed anyone, even his own family members, at the thought that someone would take the crown from him. Herod ruled by fear because he was ruled by fear. He heard these wise men asking about a new king and it shook him to his core. That was not a surprise. What is a little more surprising is that it upset everyone in Jerusalem as well.

He got all of the priests and scribes together and gave them a research project: Find out where the Messiah would be born. Herod pulled out all the stops and called in all his favors on this operation and then called the wise men in for a “secret meeting” and gave them the results of the scribes and priests.

Matthew 2:6 NLT

‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’ ”

Now we have a contrast set up between the God-fearing wise men and the King who fears everything except God. Matthew also shows us that something fishy is going on with the king and with those in charge… so much so that they feel threatened by the birth of an unknown baby.

The Foundation of Wisdom

We judge the wisdom of people by their deeds. Jesus would teach that many years later in when He struggled with the people of Israel.

The Wise Men did find baby Jesus and they offered their gifts that we joke about being unfit for a baby, but would have been very fit for a king. I bet Herod was jealous when he found out what they were carrying with them. Like Simeon and Anna, the shepherds, ad Mary and Joseph, they were filled with joy when they met Jesus. It was a joy that didn’t make sense.

This was not their King and it was not their country. They were not here to stay.

They came following a star, and God would let them know in a dream that they should find a different way home, avoiding King Herod and any of his people. They had a choice to make.

Choices

The birth of Jesus is a story full of choices. We’ve already heard about the big choices made by little people like Mary, Joseph, and even Anna and Simeon last week. Here we have big choices made by big people that are going to affect everyone around them.

For a moment though, I want to point out that all God did was show up. He announced his arrival, gave everyone a nearly 500 year time to get ready as foretold by the prophets. He even made a special star and gave people dreams to remind and help them understand His arrival. This story is a good example though that some people claim to love Jesus, but act as though they are severely allergic to Him.

Historians tell us that King Herod was crazy. It is easy to paint him as the villain of this story. The problem is, when the rest of the world had a choice to make between following a villain or following God, their common sense told them to stick with the king in power now in the hopes that they would live longer.

Walking in their shoes

Put yourselves in the shoes of those wise men.

Honestly, most of us would not travel across the world following a star, to see the birth of a foreign ruler in a foreign country. They weren’t getting paid to travel. They were paying themselves and bringing expensive gifts as well. Most of us do not look for God outside of our own community, let alone outside our nation. These wise men took the initiative to seek God from the very beginning and they were willing to follow wherever He led them.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they used their common sense, checked in with the authorities, and were received well. They were just given one request: let us know where you find Him.

In the choice between following the one request of the authorities and following God, they chose God. They themselves moved from being immigrants to Herod’s Most Wanted hit-list, and these men, who were probably not trained as spies, were on the run instead of back at the palace, being rewarded with a banquet, and seeing the sights of Jerusalem.

They gave away their very expensive vacation opportunity and used it all to follow God. They feared losing the opportunity that God had given them.

Most of us would prefer having a short spiritual experience and opportunities to tell those around us. These guys had to take an unexpected detour to get back home after they had given away most of what they had brought to trade. God has his ways of making us all poor enough that we have to depend on Him and often rewards faithfulness, not with a sense of security, but with joy that sees beyond the things we cannot control.

CTA

Scripture tells us the opposite of fear is love, but here in the Christmas stories, we are not necessarily dealing with opposites. God comes into the world. His love becomes flesh and dwells among us. Those who experience the presence of Jesus come away filled with fear or filled with joy. No one understands fully what happened, and for both them and us, we feel a mix of both fear and joy in the presence of God.

Those who keep that joy are the ones who put down the fear and follow God further than their understanding reaches - beyond their own wisdom and trusting in God’s wisdom.

Those who keep the fear put down the joy and focus on figuring out what they should do for themselves and their own people. They call out the bible scholars and fortune tellers, turning a blind eye to the presence of God and His messengers right in front of them. Worst of all, some try to use God to suit their own ends.

God is not for us to use. He is for us to follow.

What will you do with Jesus?