What
would it take to get you to drop everything, pack up your camel, and journey
hundreds of miles?
Just
to follow a star.
The
Magi saw the star in the sky, and knew it meant a special king had been born. They wanted to worship that king. So they dropped
everything, packed up their camels and started on a journey of hundreds of
miles, following a star.
They
followed the star, across rivers, over hill, through desert. They followed the star to Jerusalem, right up
to the palace.
It
made sense. Where else would you look for king- even a new born King- but in a
palace? So they go, and ask Herod, “where is the newborn King of the Judeans?”
They
had no way of knowing
-
they
were in the wrong place,
-
asking
the wrong person,
-
the
wrong question.
They
had followed a star to this point, but you see Herod followed a star too. And there
was a big difference between the star the Magi followed and the star Herod had
his eyes on.
Herod was
King of Judea, by Roman decree – he had buttered up the right person, and
greased the right palms. Herod’s claim to the throne was only secure as long as
the Romans kept him there. He wasn’t from the line of David - he wasn’t even
really Jewish.
And
that made him very insecure – insecure to the point that he had already
murdered one of his wives and a few sons, all because he thought they were
trying to take his kingdom from him. He would do anything to keep his kingdom.
So
when the Magi came to the palace, and said, “Where’s the new baby king? We
followed his star and it brought us here.” Herod was very, very afraid.
He
wanted nothing to do with a star that led to a new King. Truth be told, he wasn’t
all that interested in following a star that might lead to God. No, the star
Herod followed didn’t shine over Bethlehem. The star Herod followed rose out of
Rome and pointed to power and wealth and status and the necessary violence to
preserve that power.
Herod would
not follow this star the Magi followed, but he would follow the magi to rid
himself of a possible rival and threat to his power.
Since
it was in Herod’s best interest to find out where this rival new king was, he
cooperated with the Magi. Calling
together the priests and the scribes, he asked them “What does the Scripture
say?”
So,
the chief priests and the scribes got together and did little research.
It
wouldn’t have taken them very long to find the information Herod wanted. They
knew the Magi were following a star that led to the Messiah. They themselves
were looking, and hoping, and praying for the Messiah. They would have poured
over the Scriptures many times, looking for clues that would tell them when God’s
Messiah would finally come.
In
fact, they probably didn’t have to even go look it up – where else could the
Messiah be born but the city of David, in Bethlehem?
And so
they tell Herod, “The Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem.”
And
that’s the end of their part in the story.
It’s
actually a little surprising. After all, the priests and scribes have just sent
the Magi to the city of David to find the Messiah – Israel’s long awaited Messiah.
You would’ve thought at least a couple of these religious folks would’ve gone
with them.
Why
didn’t they? The chief priests and scribes were following a star that provided
them security and prestige and some power. They were guarding a tradition, preserving
Jerusalem and the Temple, their religious practice, their identity as Israel,
the chosen people of God. They were
cooperating with the Romans to ensure the safety of the people – at least until
Messiah came to free them!
They followed
a star of ritual and tradition, a star that said that Israel was God’s only
beloved one, that God would send a conquering king to rid them of their oppressors. The star they followed lead to Bethlehem and
a conquering king, not a helpless infant.
They
had no time to follow the Magi’s star, but waited to see if the ancient
prophecy was true and God was bringing a Messiah to rid them of Roman rule. Besides,
what could these people from the East, these Gentiles, possibly know about the
God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob?
The
Magi left Jerusalem to follow the star. Somehow
these outsiders knew that if they followed the star they would encounter God.
And they didn’t hesitate to drop everything, pack up the camels and follow.
And
when the star stopped over the place where Jesus was, they rejoiced. They gave gifts. And these outsiders from far away were the
first ones to kneel and worship Jesus, God-with-us.
It was
worth dropping everything to follow the star.
It was worth it all to come into the presence of God.
What
star do you follow?
I
recently read a book called “Breakfast with Buddha.” It’s about a guy who ends up taking a
cross-country road trip with some sort of guru. They make various stops along
the way and one of their stops is in South Bend Indiana at the campus of Notre
Dame University. He is checked in to his hotel, looking around the room, and he
ponders:
It
occurred to me in one of my many fruitless musings that if the term religion
were defined more broadly—and I believed it should be—then the real religion of
Notre Dame would be not Catholicism but football. After all, did they get a
hundred thousand screaming fans for Mass on a Sacred Sabbath morn? Did the
parishioners come early for the service and set up barbecues in the rectory
parking lot? Return year after year to relive memories of a favorite sermon?
Buy pennants, sweatshirts, and bumper stickers with the name of their church
emblazoned on them?
And
then, in the midst of this somewhat irreverent reverie, I wondered what my own
religion might be. If I defined it that way, that broadly, as the primary focus
of my thoughts and passions, what would it be? Family life, perhaps...
Or
maybe I belonged to the First Church of Good Eating. Or work. Or sex. Or money.
What occupied the very center of the stream of thoughts that ran through my
gray matter night and day?[i]
Everyone
has a star they follow. That thing that would make them drop everything, pack
up their camels, and journey hundreds of miles to find it.
The
newborn King who the Magi worshipped would later put it this way “for where
your treasure is your heart will be also.”[ii] We usually hear this text when we talk about
money and giving, but it also talks about something much bigger.
It
talks about the star you follow.
It
talks about where that star leads.
It
talks about a star so enticing that you are willing to drop everything, pack up
your camels, and journey hundreds of miles.
What
star are you following?
Love this, Ramona. A clever and enticing play on words...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ramona. This is a keeper.
ReplyDelete