"Recent scholarly research has definitively proven that the Magi were undoubtedly women. There is no other way to explain the fact that they stopped and ask for directions." ~Anonymous
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'
Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.” Matthew 2:1-12
In 288 words the Gospel writer known as Matthew provides us with a remarkable allegory of our modern day search for Christ. It is the story of three intelligent and well to do people searching for a new direction in their lives. We assume they are men but a "magus" (singular) is a practitioner of magic, including astrology, alchemy and “other wisdom”. Though in Latin the word is masculine the magi could just as easily have been women.
The magi set out to find new meaning in their lives… to find a “new born King”…to have an epiphany as it were. The religious definition of epiphany is a “divine manifestation”. In today’s vernacular however it has become a “manifestation of the essence or the meaning of something….” “A new perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization” or as former Newsweek reporter Frank Maier put it, "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself".
With all their wealth and intelligence the magi’s search is not an easy one. They struggle to find the baby Jesus (the Messiah). Their search probably took months and required both intelligence and persistence not to mention money. This is in sharp contrast to Luke’s depiction of the poor shepherds who do not have to “read the stars”, do research, ask directions from a king, or set out on an extensive, costly journey. The poor shepherds get the message first hand, up close and personal complete with a heavenly choir. There is a less than subtle message here that brains and bucks are not the answer to our salvation. Property, possessions, and position are often obstacles to our seeing life’s simple truths and detours on the road to eternal life. …Hence the many warnings by Christ about the danger of money and possessions.
Initially the magi’s understanding is somewhat vague…they saw a star in the east (which is not enough for map quest). They have seen a glimmer of the truth, but have not yet grasped the meaning…the direction. This does not stop them however. Not only are the magi smart and affluent, they are connected. When they can not find the Messiah, rather than turn to God for help, they begin “networking” and with a king no less. They go see King Herod. What does King Herod do…he forms a committee: “Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.” (Matthew 2:4).
In a contemporary setting this part of the story would undoubtedly take place in a board room, at a large conference table, surrounded by a bunch of “suits”. The networking produces the information they need (the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem), but the information comes at a price…they leave with promises made and strings attached. "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." (Matthew 2:8). Even 2,000 years ago knowledge was power.
At this point in the story something remarkable happens. “After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.” (Matthew 2:9). Once they leave the King behind…Once they are on their way to Bethlehem…Once they follow the star; not the crowd, and not their intellect, things begin to change: They are no longer trying to lead, but are being lead. We all have control issues and most of them arise out of fear. Those of us who deny God often do so in an effort to get God out of the way. If God does not exist it means we are now in control…or we think we are. Once the magi leave the world of power, of intellect, of money and influence…once they relinquish control and turn toward Bethlehem their lives fundamentally change. God takes over…the star appears and leads them.
Now that they are on the right road the magi “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:10). Thanksgiving is an important part of our faith and of stewardship. All of God’s gifts should be received with gratitude. An epiphany is certainly a wonderful gift worthy of gratitude.
When the magi arrive in Bethlehem and find Mary and Jesus the magi “fell to the ground and worshiped Him” (Matthew 2:11). This unqualified act of faith is also remarkable. These three people, who are practitioners of the sciences of their day, have fundamentally relied on their knowledge and influence (at least until they allowed the star to lead them) to get them this far. When they encounter the Messiah they do not find a king per se’. What they find is a poor family holed up in a cave. The “new king” is a baby lying in a feeding trough. Most of us would probably begin second guessing ourselves, but these three very smart people immediately prostrate themselves and “worship Him.” This is faith in a very pure form. Rationale does not get in the way. There is no demand for an explanation. They do not ask why and do not hesitate.
The three magi now present there gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gifts are fraught with symbolism and many a homily has focused on their meaning. But, what is truly noteworthy is that we do not know the names of the magi (from scripture anyway), but we know the names of their gifts. What does this infer? Does this mean we need to be careful that we do not allow ourselves to be defined by what we own, rather than who we are? Does it again caution us about the dangers of possessions? Does it foreshadow some of Jesus’ later teachings in which He carefully warns us not to seek recognition when we give or pray, but that it is better to be done in private? Is this why the magi’s gifts are given anonymously so to speak?
The beauty of scripture is that it conveys many messages at many levels. God loves us all uniformly, intensely, without qualification, to the point of anonymity…i.e. it matters not to God who we are He loves us just the same. From our side of the relationship, what is most important is what we give back to God. Our “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” is our “treasure, talent and time”.
The end of the story hammers home one final point: “the magi left for their own country by another way.” Having experienced Christ…having encountered Christ in acts of thanksgiving, gratitude, sacrifice, prayer, worship and stewardship the magi’s lives are fundamentally changed. They have had their epiphany. Their lives have been changed by their search for and encounter with the Christ Child. They take a different road. They go home a different way.
Dear God, lead me home by a different way, "save me from this road I'm on".
Jesus take the wheel.
Take it from my hands.
Cause I can't do this on my own.
I'm letting go.
So give me one more chance.
Save me from this road I'm on.
“Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood
© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.
All rights are reserved. You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.” is included along with this message. Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections. If written approval is given the ”© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.” must be included along with this message.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Babushka
“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.” ~Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, novelist, dramatist and critic (1854-1900)
Babushka kept her son’s toys stored away in a cupboard. He had died in infancy. Daily she busied herself tending house…cooking, cleaning, baking, washing. One day there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find the three Kings…the Magi. Since they traveled by night (to follow the star) they asked if they could sleep at Babushka’s house for the day as there was no inn in the small town. Babushka fed them and gave them a place to sleep until the sun set and the star reappeared.
As the Magi were preparing to leave that evening, Balthazar invited Babushka to come with them to find a new King they were seeking, but she replied that she was “too busy” and, after all, she needed some time to “find an appropriate gift”. After the Magi departed Babushka resumed doing those things with which she was most comfortable…sweeping, polishing, dusting, cleaning, but Balthazar’s invitation continued to tug at her. She went to the cupboard where the toys were stored and opened the door. After some consideration Babushka decided her son’s toys would make good gifts for the “new born King”, but, of course, they needed a thorough cleaning. She spent the rest of the night cleaning and polishing the toys. Once finished she planned to leave in the morning and catch up to the Magi while they slept during the day. Unfortunately, rather than leaving at daybreak, exhausted from her work, she fell asleep and did not awake until after night fall.
Realizing she was now almost two days behind the Magi she quickly packed up the toys and rushed out to find them. She followed their path from village to village, but arrived in Bethlehem too late…the Magi had “gone home another way” to avoid Herod. Likewise Joseph has spirited Mary and the baby Jesus away to Egypt to escape the “slaughter of the innocence”. Not knowing what else to do Babushka began to wander the world, and continues to do so every Christmas Eve. Still carrying her bag of toys, she gives them to small children in hopes one of them is the Christ child. Babushka is the Russian equivalent of Santa Clause.
As Americans we define ourselves by our work. Babushka, in modern terms, is a workaholic. When Balthazar offers Babushka the opportunity to come along to find the Christ child she is too busy with what she sees as important: work. Work is more than just work though. It is her security blanket. Going to find the baby Jesus means doing something to which she is unaccustomed…stepping out of her comfort zone. Work for Babushka and for us means security because we know what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it and…it makes a convenient excuse. “Oh sorry I can’t help with that, I have to work.” “Gee I would love to come, but I have to work.” I am not suggesting we should all quit our jobs and spend our days at church, but as one noted psychologist put it, “If you want to know what is really important to someone observe how they spend their time.”
We are often so busy with our work…with what we think is important…that we fail to hear God’s call. The Gospels call us to set aside life’s distractions, particularly work: “And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Mark 4:18-22)
Jesus calls his disciples and they set aside their work to follow Him “immediately”. As Stewards of our time we are called upon to find a balance in our lives. If we are going to follow Him we are, at times, going to have to set some things aside. In a way Jesus is saying, “Put down your nets before you get tangled in them” which describes many of us. We have become entangled in the net we call work, so much so, we do not know any other way to function. We sometimes need to be reminded work was a punishment, not a blessing, which God visited on mankind in the Garden of Eden.
“Leaving our nets behind” also means dropping the “psychological baggage” which we often drag along with us. Babushka loses her infant son and she addresses her pain by distracting herself with work. “Leaving our nets behind” means leaving behind the pain, hurts, resentments, fear, dishonesty, self-pity, intolerance, and anger which continue to make us unhappy. In short it means being good stewards of and to ourselves.
As Christian Stewards how we spend our time is important…it is a gift from God. How will we spend this Christmas? Will we be too busy with other things to notice our greatest gifts? Will we become entangled in our own nets complaining we are too busy? Will we allow old resentments, fears and hurts to hold us back from experiencing the love which is readily available to us? Will we be like Babushka who is so distracted by her work she ultimately encounters an empty stable and spends the rest of her days trying to find happiness?
Let us put down our nets and come to the manger this Christmas…Jesus is waiting for us.
Dear Lord, remind me this Christmas that your Son calls me to something greater than myself.
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important” Bertrand Russell, English logician and philosopher (1872-1970)
© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.
All rights are reserved. You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved” Is included along with this message. Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections. If written approval is given the”© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved” must be included along with this message.
Babushka kept her son’s toys stored away in a cupboard. He had died in infancy. Daily she busied herself tending house…cooking, cleaning, baking, washing. One day there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find the three Kings…the Magi. Since they traveled by night (to follow the star) they asked if they could sleep at Babushka’s house for the day as there was no inn in the small town. Babushka fed them and gave them a place to sleep until the sun set and the star reappeared.
As the Magi were preparing to leave that evening, Balthazar invited Babushka to come with them to find a new King they were seeking, but she replied that she was “too busy” and, after all, she needed some time to “find an appropriate gift”. After the Magi departed Babushka resumed doing those things with which she was most comfortable…sweeping, polishing, dusting, cleaning, but Balthazar’s invitation continued to tug at her. She went to the cupboard where the toys were stored and opened the door. After some consideration Babushka decided her son’s toys would make good gifts for the “new born King”, but, of course, they needed a thorough cleaning. She spent the rest of the night cleaning and polishing the toys. Once finished she planned to leave in the morning and catch up to the Magi while they slept during the day. Unfortunately, rather than leaving at daybreak, exhausted from her work, she fell asleep and did not awake until after night fall.
Realizing she was now almost two days behind the Magi she quickly packed up the toys and rushed out to find them. She followed their path from village to village, but arrived in Bethlehem too late…the Magi had “gone home another way” to avoid Herod. Likewise Joseph has spirited Mary and the baby Jesus away to Egypt to escape the “slaughter of the innocence”. Not knowing what else to do Babushka began to wander the world, and continues to do so every Christmas Eve. Still carrying her bag of toys, she gives them to small children in hopes one of them is the Christ child. Babushka is the Russian equivalent of Santa Clause.
As Americans we define ourselves by our work. Babushka, in modern terms, is a workaholic. When Balthazar offers Babushka the opportunity to come along to find the Christ child she is too busy with what she sees as important: work. Work is more than just work though. It is her security blanket. Going to find the baby Jesus means doing something to which she is unaccustomed…stepping out of her comfort zone. Work for Babushka and for us means security because we know what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it and…it makes a convenient excuse. “Oh sorry I can’t help with that, I have to work.” “Gee I would love to come, but I have to work.” I am not suggesting we should all quit our jobs and spend our days at church, but as one noted psychologist put it, “If you want to know what is really important to someone observe how they spend their time.”
We are often so busy with our work…with what we think is important…that we fail to hear God’s call. The Gospels call us to set aside life’s distractions, particularly work: “And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Mark 4:18-22)
Jesus calls his disciples and they set aside their work to follow Him “immediately”. As Stewards of our time we are called upon to find a balance in our lives. If we are going to follow Him we are, at times, going to have to set some things aside. In a way Jesus is saying, “Put down your nets before you get tangled in them” which describes many of us. We have become entangled in the net we call work, so much so, we do not know any other way to function. We sometimes need to be reminded work was a punishment, not a blessing, which God visited on mankind in the Garden of Eden.
“Leaving our nets behind” also means dropping the “psychological baggage” which we often drag along with us. Babushka loses her infant son and she addresses her pain by distracting herself with work. “Leaving our nets behind” means leaving behind the pain, hurts, resentments, fear, dishonesty, self-pity, intolerance, and anger which continue to make us unhappy. In short it means being good stewards of and to ourselves.
As Christian Stewards how we spend our time is important…it is a gift from God. How will we spend this Christmas? Will we be too busy with other things to notice our greatest gifts? Will we become entangled in our own nets complaining we are too busy? Will we allow old resentments, fears and hurts to hold us back from experiencing the love which is readily available to us? Will we be like Babushka who is so distracted by her work she ultimately encounters an empty stable and spends the rest of her days trying to find happiness?
Let us put down our nets and come to the manger this Christmas…Jesus is waiting for us.
Dear Lord, remind me this Christmas that your Son calls me to something greater than myself.
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important” Bertrand Russell, English logician and philosopher (1872-1970)
© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.
All rights are reserved. You are welcome and encouraged to forward this e-mail to family and friends provided the”© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved” Is included along with this message. Organizations, whether for or non profit, are required to receive written approval before reproducing these reflections. If written approval is given the”© 2009 James E. Carper. All rights reserved” must be included along with this message.
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