Year B - Epiphany 3 - January 24, 2021

The Rev. Ken Saunders
Greeneville, TN

Year B - Epiphany 3 - January 24, 2021

• Jonah 3:1-5, 10
• 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
• Mark 1:14-20
• Psalm 62:6-14

This morning there are four more… Four more that join the ranks of that unlikely teacher from Nazareth. Four more, who, heard a man preach and decided that there was something to it. Four more, who will help lay the groundwork for the next 2000 years of the movement that followed that will change the world.

Last week, we learned about two, Philip and Nathanael, who when told to 'come and see,' decided to follow after originally doubting the integrity of anything that came out of Nazareth. And then afterward declaring Jesus to be the Christ, the son of the Living God…

And today we have four more, Simon (who Jesus later called Petros or Rock) and Andrew his brother, who were simple fishermen… He saw them from a distance casting their nets, and were told to repent, and believe… Then he said to them, “follow me, and I will teach you to catch people”… repent, believe, and follow…

Then later that morning, a little further down the shore, he stumbles upon James and John, brothers, the sons of Zebedee, also fishermen, tired and mending their nets after a long night of fishing… and he called them… repent, believe, and follow…

Four more, who after simply being asked, knew they were lacking something in their life that this man was offering… Four more, who left everything they had known and gave up the security and comfort of their family business to follow Jesus into a way of life that will eventually lead to ridicule, persecution and even their own death…

John the baptizer had just been arrested, and it was time for Jesus to step forward and proclaim the Good News… the Good News that God was up to something!… The good news that the kingdom of the living God was here to retake control of the world that God had created. 

This was indeed Good News… But it wasn’t just Good news, it was God’s news… But the Evangelist, Mark, isn’t big on the details… the message is short, simple, and very direct. Repent, Believe, and Follow… Jesus calls them out of their everyday ordinary lives, the fishermen believe, then they put down their nets and followed... They followed without question, without regard for their own life, or questions about the difficult journey ahead of them.

I wonder what that would look like today? I wonder how many of us would really give up everything we trusted, our security, everything we rely on in our ordinary lives, just to follow - because a great teacher told us to? I’m not sure that any of us would! We wouldn’t, would we? I’m pretty sure that there are more people that admire Jesus than follow Jesus. We have trouble getting out past our own front doors, carrying with us the teaching that takes place within these walls! We are scared, uncomfortable, and worried about what “others” will think! There are probably more people who say they follow Jesus for some social or political recognition… than actually live by his teachings... Than actually let his teachings inform their lives.

We are probably more like Jonah of our Old Testament lesson, who didn’t want to go to Nineveh… Jonah was so worried what the Ninevites would think of him, when he brought them God’s warning of their demise. Jonah knew God, and how much God loves! And he knew that regardless of how angry God was, that God would forgive the Ninevites if they repented. But, Jonah didn’t think Ninivah deserved God’s forgiveness…

And Jonah also knew that if God didn't forgive them then he (Jonah) would be considered a “false prophet” and being a "false prophet" made him subject to being cast out of society completely or worse yet, being stoned to death… He whined and cried about it to God… "I don’t want to go to Nineveh… Please Lord, don’t send me to Nineveh… I don’t want to go!"

So, what did God do? He sent a great fish to come swallow Jonah up and take him across the sea to Nineveh and spit him out on the beach… And there Jonah was called again to deliver God’s message. This is where we pick up the story this morning… Jonah is there in Ninevah as an extension of God’s grace a chance to return to righteous living… And Jonah does what God asks and warns the Ninevites that God would destroy them… So, the Ninevites repent and turn to God… and God forgives them just as Jonah suspected…

Each and every one of us, as Christians, are called to be followers of Jesus, followers, not just admirers. And part of that following includes bringing others into the glorious presence of the Jesus whom we know and love… the Jesus who loves us without limits… who forgives us, and wants us to love and forgive each other. Jesus meets us… each and every one of us right were we are in our common and ordinary lives. He meets ALL of us… white, black, red, or yellow, American, Mexican, African, Iraqi, Arab, Chinese…. ALL of us… and asks us to repent, believe, and follow.

Jesus teaches us a deep lesson in the simple, and direct story of his call to Andrew, Simon, James, and John. Jesus called, and they went, without question! We should do likewise… Jesus is calling each and every one of us right here… Right where we are in the midst of our lives and whether we like it or not, we are called to be an extension of God’s grace, right here in Greeneville, TN.

Jesus calls us to go out into our community here and live the good news of Jesus Christ in our lives… and not just give it lip service when it’s convenient... but actually live the good news. He calls us to be so filled with the spirit that we are excited about what we have got going on in this wonderful place. He calls us to give so much of ourselves, our everything, our all, that all that we have and all that we are lives for him.

What would Greeneville look like if we did that? What would St. James Church be like if we did that? What would this Church be if we made some noise in this community about the mission we have to reconcile the world to God through Christ? What if we live out our mission as his followers... actively engaged as his disciples, out in the world, making disciples that make a difference. 

If we are living out our mission, then we should get so distressed when we know that someone out there is suffering from injustice or cruelty… Is living in poverty or despair or is hungry or abused… It should be upsetting to us if we know someone who doesn’t know the wonderful forming, informing, and transforming message… the message that God loves them, it there for them, protects them, comforts them, and offers them everlasting life. The same that God that does that for all of humankind, even the one that we don’t think deserve it. 

If we are living out our mission, then we live out the week Monday through Saturday by the words we proclaim here on Sunday…  If we are living out our mission, Jesus provides the tools that we need to do the work he has given us to do. He equips us, and restores us continuously to do this great work. 

Today, brothers and sisters, we are called to repent, believe, and follow. But following Jesus is tough work. I heard someone once say, “ministry is misery, but it is the most rewarding misery I have ever experienced”… I can say, that after almost 14 years… How true it is.

You see, being a disciple, a true follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that we are just “regular” Church goers… some say yes… that’s me, every Sunday like clock work, before the pandemic it was in the door by 10:30 out by 11:30 (or 11:45 if Ken preaches too long) then to b-line straight out to the car to start another week… these people never darkening the door of a Christian Education classroom, parish house, or nor do they engage the community that should help feed their souls.

Being a disciple means living for Christ means that every fiber of our being seeks to learn more about how to make the most of this life that God has go graciously given us. It means that we continuously seek God’s guidance and grace as we use our resources to serve others. It means we empty ourselves, step out of our comfort zones, and face the world head on… 

So why do we sit back and whine about how we don’t want to do this or that, or that we don’t have any time, or we’re not that kind of people, or I did that when I was younger – so I don’t have to do it now? Instead of meeting the challenge of the call to seek to serve Christ, and really be a disciple? 

Repent, believe, follow – it sounds simple but it’s pretty challenging work. The nice part is, that we are not left to do it alone. Jesus is with us, just as he said it would be. Jesus goes with us out from this place out into the world. The light of Christ shines so we can find our way out of the darkness of our ordinary everyday lives. 

If we follow, Jesus is with us…  He is with us in the sacrament of his body and blood that we share in communion, One body broken for this broken world. One cup that is his blood poured out for us… because we who are many are one… because we follow one…

Repent, believe, follow… just actions, no conditions, no excuses – 

just Repent, believe, follow… and let Jesus, the Christ lead. Amen!

Year B - Epiphany 2 - January 17, 2021

The Rev. Ken Saunders
Greeneville, TN

Year B - Epiphany 2 - January 17, 2021

• 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)
• 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
• John 1:43-51
• Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

Today’s lessons from scripture are a smorgasbord of images of call and response. God’s call and God’s people’s response. Jesus’ call and the follower’s response. 

I’m not talking about calls like you would make on the telephone or hollering across the room. This is deep-seated. Known deep in your bones. It’s like when you hear an older wise person talk. The phrase they will use sometimes is I know it in my bones.

These people often have the gift of discernment, or the ability to perceive and respond, by the Holy Spirit's movement, to God’s will. It is sometimes referred to as spiritual sensitivity. It’s said that a spiritually sensitive person is “in tune” with God’s heart.

But, I think that the lessons we heard today go beyond just call and response. They are about God speaking and God’s people listening, hearing, and knowing. They talk about honoring God with lives lived and about responding fully by following.

Samuel’s mother, Hannah, was originally unable to have children. Eli, the priest, happened upon her when she was praying silently for God to give her a child. Eli blessed her and asked God to grant her request. She has Samuel, her long-awaited child, and thought it only proper to honor God by giving Samuel to the service of God. We can only imagine how hard it would be to give up our child, our only child, to be raised by someone else. We can hardly comprehend that grief. 

Samuel was not a servant to Eli. And Eli, in his advanced age, was not a master, nor was he merely a caretaker. I think that the relationship was more like father and son, or even grandfather and grandson. 

I find it fascinating that in the story is that when God’s call came to Samuel, it came 3 times before they knew what was going on. Eli then perceived that it was God calling to the boy and that Samuel should listen. 

The scene in the reading from Samuel is all too familiar. The word of the Lord was rare, and visions were not widespread. When was the last time you saw a vision of possibly a pillar of fire or a column of smoke or possibly a parting river or sea? No, we haven’t seen many visions we perceived to be from God recently. That doesn’t mean they’re not there. It just means that we don’t recognize them. Sometimes God needs to call us over and over again until we finally understand that it is God who is calling. 

When I started the process of discernment and self-discovery in the process of Holy Orders for the church. I realized that I had been called as a young adult. Called but didn’t listen. That doesn’t mean I never listened. It just means that it took a while. After most of my life running in the other direction, finally at 35, I stepped up and said, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Perceiving, hearing, and listening to the divine spark is something we are each called to do, but it’s difficult. The best that we can hope to do is honor God with our life.

That’s what Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth is saying. Context matters. We have to remember that Corinth had a large port and was a big trade city in Greece, there on the Gulf of Corinth's shores that led out to the Mediterranean and the known world. Corinth saw all types, sorts, and conditions of people… Some people say that it was more like the Las Vegas of the day… known for its prostitutes and pagan temples. One could say, “What happens in Corinth, stays in Corinth.”

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul addresses their struggles and points them toward righteous living that honors God. He reminds them that they are vessels of the Holy Spirit, bearers of the divine spark, and he calls them to glorify and honor God with their life. 

Listen and respond with honor. 

Jesus has been baptized by John in the River Jordan. We were there last week as Jesus came up out of the water and the heavens were torn into, and a booming voice came down from heaven, “You are my son, the beloved. With you, I am well pleased.” God spoke, and some thought it sounded like thunder. 

Now we are with Jesus as he goes to Galilee the day after he is baptized. He starts what I like to call “his recruiting tour” as he rounds up men from around the sea of Galilee, most of them fishermen. Today we hear of Jesus calling Phillip, who was contemporary of Andrew and Peter, from Bethsaida. We hear that Jesus told Phillip, “follow me,” and Phillip then found Nathanial. Nathanial comes off as uninterested in this man Jesus from Nazareth, and even asks Phillip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Again, context matters! Nazareth was considered the equivalent to a place on the “wrong side of the tracks.” Surely no place for a messianic teacher to be from. Phillip’s simple invitation come & see.

Nonetheless, Nathaniel goes to Jesus, and Jesus identifies him immediately as an “Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” and Nathanial identifies Jesus as Son of God and King of Israel. And Jesus tells Nathaniel, you haven’t seen anything yet.

In this interaction, Jesus calls Phillip… and Phillip invites Nathaniel. It reminds us that sometimes, in our travels, we depend on others to help show us the way. Like Eli showed Samuel. The simple invitations in this portion of John’s Gospel account are “follow me” and “come and see.” There are no promises other than you haven’t seen anything yet. Phillip and Nathaniel heard Jesus’ call and responded with their life. They responded to something they perceived that was much bigger than they were. They knew that Moses and the prophets foretold the one who was to come, and when he arrived, they answered the call.

So, where does that leave us today? How do we respond to the call of God in a time when it seems like God isn’t saying much or isn’t doing much? 

I would then like to remind us that we need to stay still enough to listen. Listen to that still small voice from God that comes through at the most unexpected times in the most unexpected and strangest places. 

Hear God out, believe me, you will know it’s of God. A good litmus test for it would be something that Bishop Curry says all the time, “If it’s of Love, then it’s of God. If it builds up, honors, restores, and heals God’s people (which is all of humanity), then it’s of God. 

The next thing we need to do is honor God. Put God first. God put us first by entrusting us to be bearers of the Holy Spirit. We need to honor God by putting God first.  

Know and remember that God loves you and that God wants to use you to help restore this broken world. God calls you and me into a relationship so that we are Christ’s body on the earth. We are Jesus’ hands and feet as we lift up and heal, and as we work for justice and peace. 

And finally, like Phillip invited Nathaniel, we are called to bring others into the relationship with Jesus. We are given the responsibility to make other disciples that will follow Jesus in a way that leads to life and salvation. Phillip simply told Nathanial to come and see. In this day and age, it might be “click and watch” as the first step to seeing what a relationship with Jesus could do for them. Inviting them to worship with and be nurtured by the word and sacrament of our Lord. 

Things may be quiet, but we know God speaking. Folks may not hear at first, but we know God’s people listen, hear, and know. We know this world needs help, and we know God’s people are honoring God with lives lived are trying to respond fully by following Jesus in the way. Come and See what life in Christ is all about.

Year B - Epiphany 1 (Baptism of Our Lord) - January 10, 2021

The Rev. Ken Saunders

St. James Episcopal Church

Greeneville, TN

Year B - 1 Epiphany 2021 (Baptism of Our Lord)

January 10, 2021

• Genesis 1:1-5
• Acts 19:1-7
• Mark 1:4-11
• Psalm 29

In the collect of the day, our petition to God is - Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made. Keep the covenant that they have made… Some of you know that I have been working on my doctoral thesis. I promised myself that I wouldn’t ever preach my thesis, but the topic hits a little close to home this morning. I have actually finished my thesis and turned it in. Hopefully, I will get a chance to defend it next month. I’m telling you this because it has a bearing on the message we heard from scripture this morning. 

 

You need to know, like most students that ever needed to title something, I wrestled with the title for quite a while. When most of the work was completed, the title came to me. Clear as day; “Keeping the Covenant.” The full title is “Keeping the Covenant: the creation of best practices when terminating a lay employee in the Episcopal Church.” Its focus is on how we, as believers, keep our baptismal covenant in situations that are often riddled with emotion, fear, uneasiness, and anxiety. 

The model that I came up with, put together by much research and discovery evaluates the practices that surround employment termination against the baptismal covenant. The oath that we take on when we become Christians. The baptismal covenant that says because we believe, we will renounce evil and turn to Jesus… 

 

Turn to Jesus and swear an oath to trust, obey, worship, persevere, proclaim, seek, serve, love, strive, and respect. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do as Christians? The whole Christian ethic surrounds baptism and is based on what we do after we say that we believe. It is our beliefs brought forth into action. Maybe that’s why I like to phrase from St. Francis, “Preach the Gospel at all times, when necessary, use words." You’ve heard me use that one before. It’s more than merely claiming Jesus is Lord. It’s showing others he is Lord by our actions. It’s putting meaning and action to what we are saying. 

Now, please don’t misunderstand. This has nothing to do with works righteousness. We can’t earn an ounce of our salvation by anything that we do. Jesus did all that for us. Nor does this make us perfect or better than anyone else in the world. Because the good Lord knows we are as broken and flawed as anyone else. And it also doesn’t mean that we live our lives by some puritan ethic or standard that is neither realistic nor attainable.

 

We know covenant is much more than just laws, moral principles, or empty promises. A Covenant with God means living in a bound relationship, sealed by an oath. A covenant made with God that says we will continue to strive to be formed, informed, and transformed by following in Jesus' way. By letting Jesus guide and strengthen our lives, by choosing the good and right and not being guided by our personal prejudice or selfishness. The covenantal promise made at our baptism is the superglue of our salvation. A bond to God that is often tested but cannot be broken. 

 

And yes, we test them. We test the covenantal promises every time we get rattled, every time we get upset, every time we are pushed to the edge. Those are the times we need to check ourselves and make sure we are holding up our end of the covenant. Because we know that God is keeping up God’s end - always loving us, never forsaking us.

 

2020 was a rough year with all its loss and challenge (challenges politically, racially, socially, medically, and mentally). We are still in the midst of the horrible COVID virus that has stood the world on its head, and unfortunately, friends, it’s not over yet. 

 

2021 has just started off with its own challenges as we watched those who did not get their way act out with violence and selfishness. Threatening the very core process that keeps our country free. Our baptismal covenant has received a workout this week.

 

The questions asked at our baptism: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in ALL persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among ALL people and respect the dignity of every human being? We say WE WILL with God’s help! We will, we will, we will - but have we?

 

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John, the heavens were opened, they were torn apart, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, and the voice of God spoke, “you are my son, the beloved, with you, I am well pleased.” There on the bank of the Jordan, Jesus began his earthly ministry. At his baptism, Jesus forged for us a renewed covenant with God in living flesh, and blood lived out in a relationship.

 

Lived out in flesh and bone. Forged with water rather than stone. A practice that we use in the church to begin again. Baptism into a new life and a new way. Jesus enters the waters as a human being and emerges from the waters with the unshakable assurance that he is God’s Son, the Beloved.

 

The attention in the story from Mark’s gospel then shifts from John to Jesus. It is Jesus who sees the Spirit in physical form – that like a dove – and it is Jesus alone who hears the words, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you, I am well pleased.”

 

With the baptism of Jesus, everything becomes new and different. The Spirit of God is no longer a future promise, no longer a prophetic dream of what is to come. But it is there in flesh and blood. It is a present, living reality, in the flesh. Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit and is here to baptize all who come to him with God’s Spirit and seal them as Christ’s own forever. 

 

As John baptized with water, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. The great gift of God - God’s Spirit upon us – becomes ours for the asking. God's totality is revealed through Jesus to all the new believers in the Acts of the Apostles. That same Christ comes to us now through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Receive the Holy Spirit” becomes the gift that Christ’s disciples offer those who confess the name of Jesus. And then the world is transformed.

 

That is the story that Luke tells us in today’s portion of Acts. That even those who may not have heard, or who may not recognize the words, the Holy Spirit is given as a gift from God. Paul arrives in Ephesus to find believers who have been baptized. He asks them: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” Although they are believers, they really don’t understand his words. 

 

Then Paul asks a significant question: “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they answered. Paul does not discount John or his baptism but explains how John’s baptism was completed by the coming of Jesus. Our repentance, our change of heart and mind, the transformation of our thinking about God are all completed by the baptism of Jesus and the Holy Spirit's arrival. 

 

Paul lays his hands on the believers in Ephesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit is given to them. And on and on through the years, the story continues. We are now, here today, standing in the realm of that great mystery. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection makes it possible for all of humanity to learn of God’s love and to receive the gift of God’s Spirit. 

 

As baptized persons, we are bearers of that Holy Spirit. And it is a great and awesome power. And, as I have said before, with great power comes great responsibility. 

 

We have said we believe, and we have received God’s holy spirit. Now what? Our entire Christian life boils down to what we do after we say we believe. Have we kept the covenantal promises we made at our baptism? Have we lived out those promises as purveyors of God’s kingdom, bringing others into the covenant? Into a life lived in the power of that relationship?

 

Going forth from the font, after we have received the waters of rebirth and been made new in the power of the Holy Spirit, how then shall we live? 

We should live out our baptism today and every day. We should live as someone who has been crucified with Christ. So it is no longer we who live, but the Christ who lives within us. Live as someone dead to selfishness, ambition, and conceit. We should live for the good of others and for the glory of God.

 

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

 

Will you seek and serve Christ in ALL persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

 

Will you strive for justice and peace among ALL people and respect the dignity of every human being? 

WE WILL with God’s help…

 

We have the chance to measure everything in our lives, everything we do, by the covenant oath that we swore at our baptism. Sometimes, we are challenged, and it’s difficult. But it’s in the toughest of times we must continue resisting evil and turn to Jesus. Turn to Jesus and trust, obey, worship, persevere, proclaim, seek, serve, love, strive, and respect.

 

Now, brothers and sisters, let us stand and renew the solemn promises and vows that we made at our Holy Baptism when we first renounced Satan and all his works and then turned to God and promised to serve God faithfully.

 

 

 

Year B - Christmas 2 - January 3, 2021

The Rev. Ken Saunders
St. James Episcopal Church

Greeneville, TN

Year B - Christmas 2 - January 3, 2021

• Jeremiah 31:7-14
• Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a
• Matthew 2:1-12
• Psalm 84 or 84:1-8

Here we are, it’s the 10th day of Christmas and we pick up the story of the nativity of Jesus this morning with a visit from eastern strangers. The reading calls them “wise men.” Some translations call them Magi – from which we get the word Magic. They are speculated to be from as far east - as far as the orient, or from as near east as near as Persia (which is modern-day Iran).

We don’t exactly know how wise they were, but we do know that they knew something that the rest of the world hadn’t figured out yet. They were scholars who studied the stars in the western sky and decided to take a chance... take a chance that one particular star they saw might lead them to something significant.

The Jewish world at the time was looking for and waiting for a messiah (a savior). A special “anointed one” of God that was promised by the prophets that would come and heal and restore Israel. A promise much like the ones we heard from Jeremiah, about a scattered and forgotten people being gathered together – The blind and lame being healed and led back into a right relationship with God. 

Led back to a rejoicing community where there will be singing and praises of joy and gladness because the people were redeemed and delivered from the hands of their oppressors. The people of Israel knew what they were looking for, they knew what they were praying for and they got it, but they didn’t even realize it.

What is significant to the story is that these different people came from a different land, a foreign land. And even though they were not Jews, they knew that this child was special and they came to pay their respects and worship him.

When King Herod heard about the strangers and what they were doing, he was terrified - afraid that his political life was over, and that he and the Herodian Kingdom would be overthrown. Afraid that somehow the Davidic Kingdom was being restored right before his eyes. 

We know that Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus. Herod wanted to kill Jesus and selfishly protect his own power. We can only imagine how everyone in the house felt when those eastern strangers showed up knocking on doors. Strangers asking questions, wondering where the baby was who was born to be “King of the Jews.” 

They finally find Jesus in a house in Bethlehem, and they knelt down and worshipped him. These strangers from a strange land. And these wise eastern strangers brought with them gifts to present to the child... Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.

There’s an old joke going around, that we know these were wise MEN, because if they were wise WOMEN, they would have brought more practical gifts. However, there are some interesting things about this story that we probably need to pay some closer attention to. The first thing is not readily noticed. Probably because the song has more lore in it than scriptural fact.

It is the number of these strangers. The scripture doesn’t really say how many there were. We know that there was more than one and that in itself is significant. This wasn’t a random act of one confused traveler. This was an intentional journey. For these strangers, this journey was a pilgrimage of discovery and hope. Hope in a restored Israel with a righteous King, and hope in a renewed and restored world.

We do know that these strangers brought 3 gifts with them. Maybe that’s where they got the three from. Because it wouldn’t be hospitable to show up empty-handed. Over the years, theologians and scholars have thought that these gifts were significant to who these eastern strangers thought Jesus was.

They say that Gold is important because it was associated with wealth and power it is associated with Kings and kingship. Herod certainly had his share of Gold. It would only be natural for someone regarded as a king to be presented with Gold.

Frankincense is the incense used in worship. It is a high-quality resin with a sweet smell. Thousands of years later, incense is still used in worship. Originally, we can imagine it was used to ward off the stench of the carcasses of dead animals that were sacrificed and in the middle ages possibly the bodily odors of others. But it’s so much more than that. The burning of incense is highly symbolic of our prayers and offerings going to God as the smoke rises to the heavens. With it, we know and are reminded that God is there to hear us and receive our prayers and in return, God always shows us grace and favor. So it would be natural to give incense to someone who was thought to be righteous and faithful. 

The third gift, Myrrh, is a precious perfumed oil that is used to anoint a dead body. Care for the deceased is a sacred act in almost every culture. Some scholars speculate that the gift of Myrrh is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ tragic death.

We don’t know the reason for the gifts, the scripture doesn’t say we just know what they are. We can only speculate why these eastern strangers brought them and presented them to Jesus. These eastern strangers - the magi - the wise men, who may have been wiser than we actually realize.

Wise enough to look for God and follow the signs that they recognized in order to find the perfect manifestation of God’s self in the person of Jesus the Anointed one – the Christ. Wise enough to seek God out amid the struggles and stresses of the journey of life. They didn’t come because it was convenient. They came from far away. They made that difficult long journey just to have an opportunity to kneel for a minute and worship this newborn righteous King. Wise enough to honor God with gifts of wealth and symbols of worship and honor and respect... Representations of human livelihood and vitality.

We don’t know who these Eastern Strangers were. The scriptures leave it very vague. Their only appearance is in the Gospel according to Matthew, and it is still somewhat a mystery. A mystery that shows us that the reign of the living God is much bigger than just the nation of Israel. A mystery that shows us that strangers; those that don’t look like us or act like us, sometimes know more about what’s going on than we do. A mystery that allows us to have hope; have hope and rejoice in the possibility of a renewed and restored world.

It’s amazing how a simple story of 12 sentences can reveal to us a God who not only loves us but will make everything right that we have made wrong. It’s the part of the Christmas story that the modern church has done a disservice by lumping it in with the Shepherds and the stable instead of letting it stand in its own respected place as it relates to the mystery of the incarnation. 

I have a friend from seminary that is on social media. I remember her as super creative, and I loved what she a couple years ago with her posts, so I thought I would share it with you. She called it “magi on the move.” Since Christmas that year, she was posting a group of figurines representing the magi, much like the figures we have here in our crèche. The fun part is that there weren’t just 3 of them nor were any of them the same. In one picture there had to be 10 or 14 big and tall, short and small, of many shapes, sizes, and colors in different positions.

She takes pictures of these magi figures and they can be seen at different places on their journey; even at a visitor’s center asking for directions of where they might find Jesus. Searching for the one who is to be the ruler and shepherd of God’s people. Probably much like we know that those wise men did so long ago in search of a child they knew would deliver Israel and restore the world.

My friend was pretty wise herself. And, in this fun expressive way, came up with a method to remind us what we all seem to have forgotten. That like those eastern strangers of old, we need to be wise again. We have forgotten how to search for God. We need to be wise enough to keep seeking and searching for God. And we need to let God show up in those unexpected places.

We need to wise enough to let God into this dysfunctional and broken world and let God restore it with equity, truth, and peace. We need to be wise enough to give of our resources in order to help continue the mission of restoration, so that not only us, but future generations will benefit from knowing God’s love.

We are called to be wise ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, bringing about restoration in our own lives. But not just our own lives... We need to be about the loving work God has given us to do and help restore the lives of others. So that the WHOLE human race will be restored and will know the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.