Matthew 2:1-12 “We Follow a Star”

Last year Lisa picked up an advent book in the after Christmas sale. It told the story of a little bear that was following a star on a journey to Bethlehem. Each day there would be another adventure the bear had, another person or creature the bear met, another lesson the bear learned. The people and creatures the bear met were often following the star at their own pace and the little bear would sometimes journey with them for a way before their paths separated. And throughout the journey the bear got closer and closer to Bethlehem so that on Christmas Eve he finally got to his destination, not the star itself, but the thing it was pointing towards, Baby Jesus, lying in a manger.

It was fun reading the book with the kids this year, though sometimes we missed a night or two, we would make up for it another night by reading a couple stories instead of just one. But it was exciting to join the little bear and his friends on this journey as they sought Jesus together, and it is even more exciting to realize that we all are just like that little bear, seeking Jesus ourselves. Perhaps we don’t know that it is Jesus we seek, but he is the one the star points to, the fulfillment of all of our questions and the solution to all of our problems.

Let us open in prayer

I. Magi Journeying

When we look at the story of the Magi, we see the story of each of us as well. They were strange easterners who traveled long distances, sometimes we think of them as kings, other times we see them as exotic foreigners. So often we see them as someone different, someone other, someone set apart. When we look at the Christmas story we like to associate ourselves with the shepherds or even Mary and Joseph. The Magi are there to make the story a bit more exotic. And yet, in some ways, I think we’re more like them than anyone else in the story.

You see, the Magi were looking for something. They were on a journey to find something more than themselves. They were traveling foreign lands looking for a king.

Well, what does that have to do with me, Pastor? You may not have traveled long distances, you may not be in a foreign land, but we all have that longing to search for something more in us. We are all following stars and hoping they will lead us to something great. We just aren’t always sure what it is they are going to lead us to.

The Magi were magicians, they were court advisors, they were seers. They were the prophets and advisors of their day, they were the cabinet members, the scholars. In the Old Testament we see a few of God’s people who went on to be Magi in their own right, The most obvious of these examples are Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. They stood out from the other Magi around them because they didn’t rely on tricks or the stars or smooth talking to sus out the truth, rather they went to God.

But the Magi in our story weren’t necessarily God fearers. Rather, they were studiers of the sky and they saw a great omen in the sky. A star appeared in the east that told them that a great king had been born. And like the man who finds a treasure in a field and sells everything so that he can buy that field and have that treasure, they head out on a great journey to meet this king and welcome him to the world.

Basically, they saw something great in the sky and they felt that they needed to be a part of it. So they headed out on a great journey that took them to Jerusalem. Now it’s interesting to note that the star itself didn’t get them to Jesus, to Bethlehem. They showed up in Jerusalem and went to the palace to see where the king might be. In Jerusalem they were introduced to scripture which told them that the king would be born in Bethlehem. Then they traveled there, and only then saw the star again which confirmed for them the truth. For the Magi, the star wasn’t enough. It got them started on the journey, but it didn’t get them to the destination. I’m convinced that this is an important distinction to make because we are all on journeys, we are all following stars, and we cannot expect that the stars will always lead us to the right answer right away. Sometimes we need to go as far as we can with the stars, but then turn to scripture, then turn to prayer, then turn to God and go the rest of the way.

II. Our Journey

What are the things that we follow? What are the journeys that we begin as we search for something more? What are the stars that we find ourselves chasing after? If we’re really honest with ourselves, we will admit that we do follow stars, and not all of them are healthy. We look for things to give us fulfillment. We look for something to give us meaning. And we put our energy into certain things because we think they’re going to take us someplace special. I’ve talked before about my sister’s wanderlust. She’s constantly on the move, looking for another adventure to go on, another place to travel to. There’s something that she gets from traveling, there’s meaning she finds in going places. But we all have different things that give us that same kind of meaning, that same kind of purpose. Or perhaps it is something that we’re chasing that we hope will give us that meaning, that purpose. I have a pastor friend who’s writing a book. He is somewhat unhappy with what’s going on at his church and the situation he’s in in ministry, but he’s excited about this book he’s writing and is throwing all his energy into it. For my dad, it was always heading down to the garage to work on his classic car. For my mom, it has been collecting Elmos. I believe the whole dating scene is a bit of a star, trying to find the perfect person to complete you and make you happy. For others it is keeping up appearances, making sure that they look good to the people around them. I know others who have addictions, things that are very unhealthy and that rule over them. I know for me, since the kids have been born, I find myself again and again trying to find good and fun things for them, trying to be an awesome dad.

We are all following stars, trying to find purpose, trying to find meaning. Some of the stars lead us in the right direction, others pull us into dangerous places. But when our stars come in contact with God, they will bring us to a place where we can find true fulfillment, true purpose, true peace. You see, the fact that we are following stars in normal. It is not bad in and of itself. Some of the stars we may chase may be bad for us or those around us, and when we get to the point where we obsess about anything too much, it can become dangerous. But following stars isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. These Magi were following the star of astrology that led them to seek after a great king. And they ended up in front of the one true king, Jesus.

You see, I believe that if we are truly seeking after truth, if we are truly seeking after knowledge, if we are truly seeking after what is right, God will find a way to make sure we find it. The star didn’t lead the Magi to Jesus, though that’s the way we like to hear the story. The star got them so far, got them in the general area, and then they turned to the Word of God and found their way the rest of the way there. This is a hopeful message for us, it is a hopeful message for those we know who are lost, who don’t know Jesus. Now I need to be clear, I’m not suggesting that all roads lead to heaven. Far from it. But I am saying that God rewards true seeking after the truth. God put the Magi on the right path and brought them in contact with the true word so they could find Jesus. When we meet someone journeying on the path for truth, when we find someone following a star hoping to find God at the other end, perhaps we can help put them on the right path as well. This doesn’t happen necessarily by arguing with them or trying to explain to them every way they are wrong. Rather, we can encourage their curiosity about truth. We can celebrate their open minds to the wonders of the universe. And we can share with them where the star has led us. We were led to a town on the other side of the world, a little town called Bethlehem where we found a young boy named Jesus. He would grow up to be a great teacher, an amazing healer, a man of wisdom and truth, a man who would sacrifice himself for the world so that all who believe in him might know eternal life and the heavenly peace that passes all human understanding.

The stars we follow may be distractions, they may be false hopes, they may be things that are leading us in circles. But eventually they will intersect with God in some way. The question is how we’re going to respond when they do. The true king is born, and he wants to be born in us as well. Let’s be sure that we don’t miss him and that we find ourselves seeking him ourselves. Amen.

Lack of Updates?

If you're wondering whether I've stopped preaching, I haven't. It's just that my sermon writing style has progressed a bit, and I'm not putting them down on paper in sentence by sentence form anymore, rather I'm writing the sermons as outlines. They are never preached word for word anyways, and this also allows me to move around and away from the pulpit as I don't find myself focusing on saying something in a specific way.

Therefore, I'm not posting sermons here for the time being. If I end up writing a manuscript for a sermon in the future, it will end up here.

Exodus 3:1-15 "A Burning Bush"

This last week all eyes were upon Denver as the Democratic party nominated Barack Obama as their candidate for President. This coming week eyes will turn to Saint Paul as the Republican party does the same for John McCain.

When we look at the leadership that these two candidate offer this country and we look at Moses who we read about this morning and who was the greatest leader in Israel’s history, we see that there is much that is very different than the leadership they promise and the leadership he offered.

Where Obama is known for his wordcraft and ability to speak eloquently about many topics, Moses didn’t want the leadership job precisely because he didn’t feel that he spoke well at all, and he feared that he could not connect with his people. Where McCain has spent years in service to this country, both in the military and then in the senate, Moses spent his life disconnected from the people he would lead, growing up as a part of the Egyptian ruling family that subjugated his people to slavery and without any leadership experience at all.

But there are also things that both candidates have in common with Moses. Moses, like McCain, entered into his leadership at a late age, Moses was 80 when God came to him in the burning bush. And Moses, like Obama, had someone with him who made up for the areas where he seemed inexperienced. Obama has Biden, Moses had his brother Aaron.

These are interesting comparisons and contrasts to make, but we aren’t going to spend our time today looking at present day politics and seeing what Moses has to tell us about them. Rather, we’re going to look at our own lives, our own journeys with God, and see what Moses has to tell us about following God’s guiding in our lives.

I. From Shepherd to Leader

Chapter 3 of Exodus begins with Moses as a shepherd. It is amazing to me how God continues to go to shepherds and give them such important roles in his story. We have Moses, we have David and of course, we have the shepherds who were the first to see baby Jesus. So Moses is a shepherd, and not a young one. He is 80 years old. He had spent the first 40 years of his life growing up as an Egyptian prince. He was adopted by a daughter of the Pharaoh and lived the life of royalty. But then he struck out at an Egyptian who was mistreating an Israelite slave. And he killed this Egyptian. The Israelites feared him and the Egyptians were after him. He ran away to the Sinai Peninsula. In Sinai he married and became a shepherd and spent the next forty years of his life. And now, after having lived two full and very different lives, Moses was probably ready to sit down and retire. He was probably ready to enjoy the last years of his life in peace and quiet. But as he is caring for his sheep he sees something that amazes him. A bush that seems to be on fire, but that doesn’t burn up. And Moses is curious so he goes to check it out. This is where things begin to get weird for him. For he hears a voice call to him from within the bush, and the voice calls him by name, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses responds, “Here I am.” This is the first thing to notice about Moses’ call, it is a call given directly to him. It is a message for him alone. God calls out to him by name. When we are called to serve God it isn’t always as clear as it was for Moses. I don’t think I know one person in any sort of ministry who has seen a burning bush that called to them by name. But putting that aside, it is worth knowing that God does call us specifically. God doesn’t have a bunch of things he wants done in this world and just pick names out of a hat and assign them. It may sometimes feel like that, after all, we often find ourselves doing this sort of calling at church. We need this many Sunday School teachers and so we are just going to ask people until we get enough people to say yes. But this is not the way that God works. No, God prepares us for ministry and prepares our ministries for us. Everything that Moses had done up to that point was preparing him for leading Israel out of bondage. Moses had gone through much and it was all designed very intentionally to make him ready for what would come. The same is true for us. The joys we’ve had, the struggles we’ve faced, all these are there to prepare us for what is to come in our lives. We can think, like Moses, that we’ve already done everything that is important. Instead we need to be prepared to allow God to send us. And we need to be ready to hear God’s call when it comes, and not ignore it but allow it to speak to us, to call us by name. When you get that call from the Christian Education committee or from the Nominating committee, listen to see if God is speaking to you through them. Is God calling you by name? Is God pushing you to continue a ministry you are involved in or move into a new kind of ministry in your life? How are you going to respond to the call?

Moses responds to God’s calling him by name by saying “here I am”. It is a simple response. It is a safe response. He acknowledges that he is there, in God’s presence, but he hasn’t committed to anything yet. Smart.

II. Holy Ground

But then God asks him to do something unusual and strange, something that doesn’t make sense to us: he asks him to take off his shoes because he is standing on holy ground. God doesn’t start right away with asking Moses to do anything crazy, lead the people out of slavery or anything, not God begins by asking Moses to take off his shoes. “Um, okay God, if you say so.”

But there is an important question here, what is it that makes this ground holy? Is it just holy because of where it is? Are there places in this world that by their very nature are holy? Or is there something more to it. Perhaps it is holy because of the bush that is burning on it. Or perhaps it is because it is a place where God is speaking.

Other people have crossed over that spot of earth since Moses. We can be sure of this. And no bush burned and no voice spoke to them. The place wasn’t holy when they passed over that space in the same way it was holy when God spoke to Moses there. I think what made the place holy is that it was a place where a person met with their God and where God gave that person a mission. God gave Moses a purpose. God gave Moses direction. And I believe that this is what made this into a holy place. A holy act was about to happen, and so God created a holy place for it.

We gather in this sanctuary and worship God here. We like to think of this as a holy place. We treat it different than other places we inhabit. No, we don’t take off our shoes as we enter this place, but there are certain unwritten rules that we follow in the sanctuary. They’re different for each of us. For some of us, we show it’s holiness by the way we dress. For others, we act different in church, more subdued. There are certain things that we would never think of doing in this place. The college I went to had originally been owned by the Catholic Church and was a school for Nuns. The chapel in the college was beautiful. When the nuns were ready to sell it there were two interested parties: our college and a police academy. The police academy wanted to take the chapel and turn it into a shooting range. Even though our college offered less money, the nuns sold it to us because we would continue to treat their chapel as a holy place. What is it that makes this place holy to us? Is it holy to us because it was holy to our parents and grandparents before us? Is it holy to us because we are told that it is holy? Or is it holy to us because it is also a place where we meet our God and where we find our mission?

III. God’s Mission and Moses’ Arguments

And now we come to the part in scripture where we see God give Moses his mission, his call. God doesn’t just tell Moses to go do this. He explains the need to Moses and gives Moses the chance to get behind it. He tells Moses about the suffering of the people of Israel and how he has heard this suffering and is going to act on their behalf. When God calls us he prepares us for this by making the need known to us. He gets us excited about making a difference. He fills us with a passion for that which he sends us to. If he is calling us to mission work, he fills us with a passion for the lost. If he is calling us to ministries of compassion and justice, he fills us with a passion for the poor and the weak. If he is calling us to work with children, he fills us with a passion for the young.

Last spring we watched the movie Amazing Grace on a couple Wednesday nights here at church. The movie is about William Wilberforce and his crusade in 18^th century Britain to end the slave trade. William felt that God called him to this mission and he worked at it year after year of failure and frustration. He almost died because the mission he was on made him so sick. And many of those who he worked with including a black former slave minister, Equiano, died before the mission was realized. It makes me wonder, does God call you to something that he won’t equip you for? I don’t believe so. I believe that God does equip us with every good gift we need to fulfill the mission he has called us to. Sometimes we might not see the results of what he is working through us, but at the same time, God doesn’t send us out there on our own just to watch us fail. God gave Moses the things he needed to lead the people of Israel. He gave William Wilberforce what he needed to put an end to the slave trade in Britain. He will give you what you need to do what he asks of you.

But we, like Moses, can argue with him about this. We can make excuses. We’re too old, we’re too young, we don’t know what we’re doing, nobody will take us seriously, we’ve already got too much going on in our lives with work and family, we cannot commit to something else, anyway that’s that pastor’s job, isn’t it? The list of excuses can go on and on. But if God is really calling us to a ministry, the excuses will not last. I have to say that in seminary I talked to a number of second career pastors who talked about having the call to ministry on their lives long before they accepted that call. They again and again talked about fighting that call in their lives. And they again and again talked about how God eventually wore them down and here they were in training for ministry. And their stories were always told as “don’t let this happen to you” stories. There is no pride in their struggle with God. It is not something that they are happy they did. They all wish they had given in to God’s will sooner. They wish they hadn’t spent so much time arguing with God.

Don’t let the fact that they all ended up going to seminary fool you though, for sometimes that is the place that God calls us, and other times God calls us to other ministry opportunities that are quite different. We are all called to ministry within our church; within our community; within our families. This ministry looks different for each of us. What is God calling for you to do? Don’t believe for a second that God is done with you. He still has a use for each of us. And don’t believe that he only calls some of his children to ministry. We are all called to lives of ministry in all we do. So what is God calling you to? How does he want you to serve him? How are you able to serve? Open yourself up to God’s call. Listen to see where he might send you. And when he calls, follow. Moses discovered that he had no option but to go where God led. He discovered that as God called him to ministry, God provided his resources for him in ministry. God will do the same for you. Perhaps God is calling you to full time ministry. If so, answer this call. But more likely, he is calling you to some other ministry in this church, in this community. Are you going to listen? Are you going to answer his call?