Wiseguys

Text

The New Revised Standard Version The Visit of the Wise Men

2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Intro

As the unbelievable show The Mandalorian has taken off, it’s sent me down a rabbit hole of Star Wars geek-dom that few have seen.

I have rewatched all the movies.

I have replayed all the games.

I have hummed the theme every time I put my robe on and low-key pretended to be a Jedi.

Hands down one of my favorite characters in Star Wars is master Yoda.

He’s just so wise!

You can use any of his sayings on a day to day basis and be in a better spot.

Do, or do not, there is no try.

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

We are what they grow beyond. That is the burden of all masters.

And so I wonder. What would it take to be as wise as master Yoda? What does wisdom look like for us?

Perhaps a story about some wisemen would help us!

The Text

Misconceptions about the Wisemen

There may have been more, or fewer, than three of them.

When I was at my last church, we had a tradition of doing a live nativity scene.

Every year as the youth pastor it was my job to fill all the roles with youth from our group.

And every year I would pick the three most annoying middle school boys I had, and place them as the wisemen.

Not only because I reveled in calling them wise guys, but because I would ask the child we got to play the star to make sure they ran around the room fast enough to give these guys a real work out.

But the reality of this text is that we don’t really get a number of Magi, just that they had three gifts to offer.

There could have been as few as two wisemen, or even as many as hundreds (which actually makes more sense, given how much of a stir they caused in Jerusalem).

They were not so much kings, but astrologers and scientists.

All apologies to the song we sing this morning (which I love by the way!), but it is also fairly clear that these Magi were not kings.

The word “Magi” is also translated as “Magician” or “Astrologer.”

These guys were the diviners who looked at the stars and disclosed people’s horoscopes.

They may have served their kings and queens as advisors and guides, but nothing in the texts suggests that these folks were royalty in themselves.

They were very much not Jewish

What is very much important about this text is that these folks were not Jewish.

They were from a far off country in the east.

They celebrated practices like astrology that the Jews would have found reprehensible.

They were Gentiles.

But they were wise.

These guys are wise.

They studied at least enough to know the Jewish customs of the King to be born.

They acted upon what they had studied, traveling who knows how far to get a better look.

And they’re wise enough to stop and ask for direction and guidance, even if they ask the wrong people.

Speaking of which...

The people who were Jewish were confused.

Herod is half Jewish, and holding on to power with both hands.

The Jewish people hated Harod, and with good reason.

He was only half Jewish, and instead of being the rightful king out of the line of David, was installed by the Roman occupiers.

Like many people who get a taste of power, the most important thing to him was keeping his power at all costs.

So he kept the Jewish people happy, only when it was in his self interest.

History suggest that he was a brutal king, not afraid to take any lives, as we’ll tragically read later in this story.

So imagine how he must have felt when he hears that these Wise Men were here to visit some new king that’s just arrived on the scene.

All of Jerusalem is afraid, not super pumped to have a new king coming along.

Scripture makes it clear that it is not just Herod who has the problem.

All Jerusalem is afraid with him.

And maybe this is literally the whole city, or maybe it’s more how we refer to Washington or Harrisburg.

Either way, the entire political class of the nation of Israel is uneasy about this newborn king.

The chief priests and scribes have knowledge, but they don’t quite grip what it means.

Possessing a very small amount of knowledge of the Jewish people, he calls together his experts.

What these religious leaders do is actually all too common in our world:

They read the words.

They know the words.

They even understand the words.

But they don’t believe the words have any relevance.

If Jesus’ arrival means that the word takes on flesh and bone, it doesn’t for these guys.

What do you do when there’s a threat to your power:

Lie

Herod straight up tells the Wise Men he intends to worship Jesus.

He’s lying to their faces.

We know that after the fact, but in the moment it’s a bold faced lie.

Rationalize

One of the interesting things that the Priests and Scribes do is to use the Scripture to justify their idea, but not have any weight behind it.

They rationalize away their fears.

Plot

Wanting to know where the child is was not so much so that Herod could send a Christmas card.

You can see even in this moment that a plot is forming, an idea is hatching.

Kill

Power in the mind of many is a zero sum game.

If this kid is a threat to Herod’s power, then from Herod’s perspective, the kid has to go.

In Other Words, Power is opposed to Wisdom.

The Wise Men, unlike the Priests and the Scribes, have knowledge.

Incidentally, they have enough intellectual curiosity to have knowledge of a faith system other than their own, a topic we will come back to farther down the road.

But this knowledge alone isn’t enough.

For it to be wisdom, they have to tie their knowledge to action.

What Does action born from wisdom do?

It celebrates

When the Wise Men see the place where the star stopped, when their knowledge and action had led them to the right place, they are “overwhelmed with joy.”

What does it look like to be overwhelmed by joy?

Happy to the point of being unable to speak?

Giddy squealing and jumping up and down?

Partying all night long?

These Wise Men know that wisdom’s ultimate end point is joy.

I truly hope one of the words of the year for 2021 is Joy.

2020 was hard.

It’s still hard!

And I know many of us just a few days ago said “Oh thank God!” when the clock hit midnight and we could turn the calendar over to 2021.

But 2021 won’t mean much more than a new calendar if it is not a season built on joy.

Joy for the potential freedom of the future.

Joy for the presence of God even and especially in the suffering of the moment.

Joy in the good times and the bad.

It worships

When the wise men, who are not Jewish, who do not hold to the belief system, when they see Jesus, they fall down and worship.

They are wise enough to recognize when they are in the presence of something larger than themselves.

They are wise enough to know that they don’t measure up to the God-made man.

They are wise enough to know their place in the story.

Worship, when it is at it’s best, serves to remind us of where we stand in the story.

Worship puts Jesus on the throne, not us.

Worship puts Jesus on the throne, not our needs or wants or desires.

Worship puts Jesus on the throne, not our favored political party.

Wisdom worships, because wisdom knows where it stands.

It listens.

On the way home, the Wise Men apparently all have dreams.

They are warned that Herod is up to no good, and so they go back a different way.

Wisdom knows that a story is unfolding, and that you may have to try something new.

Wisdom knows that you have to listen to the voices of the angels, even when they show up in odd and unexpected ways.

Wisdom isn’t afraid to take a different road, an uncharted path, or a new direction.

I think everything in our worlds should be categorized in “The Before Time,” “The Pandemic Time,” And The Post Pandemic Time.

Friends, at the risk of sounding scary, I believe that for this last little bit of our pandemic time we ought to listen to the dreams of the angels, and see what new roads lie ahead.

Gone from our vocabulary should be the Presbyterian Complaint “That’s not how we used to do it.”

Wisdom is listening to the dreams of the angels, and seeing what new roads God has laid out ahead of us.

Take Home

We are called to seek truth, not power.

While it may not feel like it on a day to day level, every single person watching this right now has a good bit of power.

We are citizens of the greatest nation on earth.

We are flush with resources, or at least enough resources to watch a YouTube video for church.

We have unlimited voice and influence, in a way that many people around the world can only dream about.

The danger is when we decide that our power is worth protecting, rather than the truth.

When we decide that some facts are better rationalized than allowed to speak for themselves, we are in trouble.

When we decide that it is better to hold on to our own power rather than be generous in lifting someone up, we’ve lost our way.

When we decide that it is better to retain our place of privilege rather than recognize Jesus in his, we are unwise.

We are called to seek wisdom, not simply knowledge

That isn’t to say that knowledge has no place in our faith. It very much does!

We owe it to ourselves to read our Scriptures each and every day.

We owe it to ourselves to learn the facts and doctrine and theology of our faith.

We owe it to ourselves to be as informed as we can be about the events going on in our world, to better see what God is up to in it.

But wisdom marries knowledge to action.

Wisdom uses the Scriptures to build a life on.

Wisdom uses the theology and doctrine of our faith to reach out and be the Church in the world.

Wisdom uses our knowledge of what’s going on in the world so that we can continue to build a better one, with Christ’s help.

We are at home in wisdom when we can celebrate, worship, and listen to Christ.

I hope we have the wisdom to celebrate.

We’re not quite done with Christmas yet.

I hope you’re still celebrating!

I hope you are still able to see the sparks of joy that Christ is bringing to our lives each and every day.

I hope you are overwhelmed with joy!

I hope we have the wisdom to worship.

I hope they can remind us of God on the throne.

I hope they can remind us of our place in the story.

I hope they can be a sweet and beautiful gift laid at the feet of King Jesus.

I hope we have the wisdom to listen to Jesus.

I believe with all my heart that the angels of God are still speaking, and that their dreams are very real.

I believe with all my heart that there are some new roads opening up for us, and that they are beautiful.

I believe with all my heart that Jesus is preparing a much better world for us on the other-side of this pandemic than even the one we had before.

Our role in the coming days and weeks is to still our hearts, quiet ourselves, and listen to Christ.