Reflection on Mark 1:21-28

 

The woman ran up to me in a hall of the hospital, gave a quick hug, stepped back and excitedly said, “I finally feel like I am free.  I finally have a life of my own!” 

By outward appearances, she looked no more remarkable than any other hospital employee.  She wore scrubs and sneakers.  But, the fact that she was there at all was a testament to the freedom that Jesus Christ is able to provide.

In last week’s story of Jesus’ call to the disciples, where the disciples leave their nets (and yes, even a father) in order to follow Jesus, we learn that freedom in Jesus Christ sometimes means leaving something or even someone behind.  But, this woman needed so much more than simply turning around and walking away from something that was holding her back in life.  She had been infested with an unclean spirit.  It was a spirit that went everywhere she went and robbed her of joy by whispering things like, “You aren’t good enough.”  “You aren’t smart enough.”  “You will fail.” 

Sometimes the unclean voices infesting her head were those of her parents from years before who made it clear that they never believed in her.  “You just are not the type of person who is going to make a big difference in the world,” her parents told her to her face.  Who does that?  That is evil. 

Other days, the unclean voice in her head was that of her abusive husband who regularly screamed in a drunken state, “You can’t do anything right can you?”  She put a fork the wrong direction in the dishwasher to deserve that one.

This unclean spirit of empty self-worth left her in a place in life where, when her husband left her for another woman, she did not even know how to do the simplest of things like writing a check.  She was a grown woman who did not know how to pump gas.  The unclean spirit had rendered her helpless. 

This woman needed something much more than simply leaving something behind in order to find freedom in Jesus Christ.  She needed an exorcism.  She needed these insidious voices of helplessness, spawned by evil, to be replaced with words of hope found in the kingdom of God.

In the movies we see unclean spirits depicted as demons flying around that infest anyone walking along the sidewalk.  But, in the ancient world it was thought that demons and unclean spirits did not come and possess you, rather you took possession of them.  What I mean by that is that there is always some weakness, some crack in your character that invites evil in.  Without that crack, evil can do nothing. 

But, I dare you to just try to seal up all the cracks.  Good luck.  The human state is one of sealing a crack by stealing the putty from another.  We are constantly cracked and broken, and we constantly invite unclean spirits into our lives whether we like to or not.

The scriptures tell us, however, that Jesus, the Son of God, was impervious to the taunting of evil.  Remember, Jesus was once tested in the desert by the evil one, and no crack opened in his character; no invitation for evil to enter was issued. 

Rather than having a weakness that lets evil in, in this reading from Mark we see that Jesus has the ability and authority to cast evil out.  He is able to take a state of being unclean and infested with evil voices, and cast it away so that the kingdom of God might take its place. 

You want to see it happening?  Right in the beginning of Mark we read that “a man with an unclean spirit,” cried out.  He shouts, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

I want you to take just a moment to slow down and appreciate what just happened.  Right in this story you hear the same breath of God, the Holy Spirit that hovered over the formless void at the outset of creation, the very voice that spoke life into being, breathing out of Jesus Christ.  And just as that breath of God made order out of a chaotic universe in the beginning of time, that same breath rings out through Jesus’ voice causing the inner demons to be silenced and cast away.  Jesus has powerful words.

And we, like those in the synagogue that day, are amazed at the power of Jesus to cast away all that is unclean and festering inside. 

So, finding freedom in Jesus has something to do with trusting that he can cast out everything inside us that is unclean.  And, trust is the right word here.  We trust Jesus to speak these saving words because, let us be honest, we all have cracks in our character that invite the unclean spirits in. 

The woman I talked to in the hospital, earlier in her life, could not have possibly seen the gift that God had created her to be.  Thus, the unclean spirits, the thoughts of worthlessness, came rushing in. 

Others of us have an unforgiving spirit.  And, that evil spirit which refuses to forgive invites evil thoughts and actions that we would never want to see in our own children, yet it exists within. 

How about those of us who are insecure within ourselves, so we invite the need to put down the accomplishments of others, or invite the need to elevate the failures of others so that we feel better about ourselves? 

How about the crack in character that invited us to focus only on ourselves?  “You are important.”  “You should focus on you.” Granted, sometimes those who forget themselves totally for the sake of others need to hear these words.  But, evil is insidious and with hearing these words we can forget that a whole world of other people is out there; a world of people filled with their own struggles and needs.  The voices convince me that me, myself, and I are all that is important.  It is a wide crack that allows all sorts of evil to overtake all we do.  After-all, when we do not care, no one is cared for.  

And, please never forget the evil that can enter in through those who claim to be religious and good.  How many unbelievers have you talked to who have been outcast by their churches, and hurt by a lack of Christ-like grace. 

As an honest student of the Bible, I just want to point out that this scene with this man suffering unclean spirits happens within a house of faith.  The author of Mark is not being obtuse here.  He is very obviously pointing out that some of the deepest sources of infection by unclean spirits can come right from the community that is supposed to be a place of healing and refuge and freedom. 

“You don’t have enough money,” the glance says. 

“You smell terrible,” the face portrays. 

“You don’t wear the right clothes,” the condemnation is whispered. 

“You aren’t a good enough person for us,” the cold shoulder states. 

“We don’t appreciate your ideas,” the ignoring says clearly. 

“You don’t act Christian,” the admonition clearly rings out.

These are not the words of Jesus Christ.  These are not words of saving grace.  These are not words that clear the way to eternal life. These are not words that make straight a path for God. 

These are all words of unclean spirits that easily enter into the cracks of our insecurities.  They claim that we are trapped by our shortcomings. In fact, they condemn our shortcomings rather than redeem them.  They are unclean spirits; but Jesus comes into the walls of faith, with divine authority to cast all of them out.

And, cast them out he does!  That is good news!  But, before we go there, read your Bible close and notice that Jesus’ first action is to silence them.  He silences the unclean spirits that hound our thoughts.  He silences the unclean spirits that hold us hostage and cause us to falter and fail. 

“You aren’t good enough.  You aren’t smart en…..”

“Be silent,” Jesus says, with authority.

The gift of silence from Jesus is a great thing.  It allows us to see and recognize the evil and unclean voices for what they are: evil and unclean.  Silence allows us the space to hear something new and life giving…”thy kingdom come.”

The first time that the woman talked to me, she was in tears about the hopelessness of her life.  She did not know what to do with her life or even how to do it once her husband had left.  I told her that Jesus desired that she be set free.  After a long silence the woman asked, “Can you please teach me how to write a check?” 

That simple request was the first step in becoming the person that God created her to be.  Somehow, that simple request allowed Jesus Christ to set her on a course toward a new life in the medical field. 

Christ’s gift of silence allowed her to clear the clutter from her mind and see the unclean spirit.  The gift of silence allowed her to hope that the voices feeding her helplessness could be cast away.  After that, she would finally be free to do something and to be someone.  And, the silence allowed her the courage to reach out in the direction of hope.  “Can you please teach me how to write a check?”  The question was proof that Jesus Christ had begun to set her free from the unclean voices.

And, Jesus Christ has set you free.  “Be silent!” he commands the unclean voices that haunt you.  “Come out,” he commands the unclean spirits that taint your thoughts. 

You do not need to take possession of those voices.  You do not need to let them into your life.  You do not need to allow their words to affect you.  After-all, you have been cleansed by Jesus Christ and are free to have a soul that is clean and open to the grace of the kingdom of God. 

In Jesus Christ, we are set free from our demons.

Reflection on Mark 1:14-20

I have a truth for you this morning.  It is a truth of which you might not be fully convinced, but that does not mean that it is any less true. 

Christ has set you free. 

I know, I know…sometimes we feel anything but free in life.  Situations seem to dictate our decisions.  Health concerns limit us in ways we wish they would not.  The world is does not seem to be on our side.  Sometimes we do not feel very free.

I know of a young woman who had a vision for her future that excited her and provided her with endless joy just thinking about it.  It was a career in the military, serving in the medical field. 

As honorable of an ambition as that seems to many of us, she suffered from an intense feeling of entrapment caused by her parents.  They told her point blank that they would never support her serving in the military.  They threatened to withdraw money from her medical education.  They told her she would have to find someplace else to visit during holidays. 

They sound like terrible parents, but that would not be the whole truth.  These parents were extremely concerned for their lovely little girl, and they were willing to use any and every leverage they had to keep the young woman safe from harm.  But, the young woman felt trapped, never feeling truly free to be the person that God created her to be.

To those of us who feel trapped; trapped in our situations, trapped by our own vices, trapped by things out of our power to control, Jesus preaches a sermon to us.  In fact, this sermon consists of Jesus’ first words in the gospel of Mark; important words.  First words are always important.  They serve as a mission statement.  First words serve as a key to unlocking everything else that follows.  And, Jesus desperately wants a trapped world to hear that “the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

You, who are trapped by circumstance, “the kingdom of God,” the time when God will take charge of the world, is almost here.  Repent.  In ancient Greek that means, “Change your minds.”  Change your focus in life and shift your focus to trusting in the good news of Jesus.  Cling to the saving news of Jesus Christ who sets us free.

Do you remember what the last day of school felt like?  Do you remember the sort of freedom that you felt when you stepped off of the school bus and knew that you would not have to go back for months?  I would run across the yard, shouting at the top of my lungs.  I would throw my backpack on the floor of my bedroom, flop on my bed, and just revel in the fact that I could let go of the concerns of school and focus on something else for a change. 

Christ hopes that we can enjoy that sort of freedom.  Not that school is bad, I am not saying that at all; but Jesus wants us to experience that feeling of letting go of one thing and being free to fully invest in another. 

Repent.  Jesus encourages us.  In other words, change your focus in life.  Put your trust in the saving news of Jesus Christ, and invest your life in Christ’s saving work.  In the church we say that we are set free by Jesus Christ to be the people that God created us to be.

Those are not just nice words.  Living a life of freedom in Jesus Christ quite often means that we will have to leave something behind; even something that we love; maybe, even someone we love. 

Look at the first two disciples: Simon, and Andrew.  When Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” the scriptures say that they “immediately they left their nets and followed him.  In other words, they left what was familiar and comfortable for something that was likely outside of their comfort zone.  But, they were compelled by Jesus to do it anyway.  There was something about Jesus and his ministry of freedom that drew them to follow.

James, and John were called by Jesus in much the same way; but did you notice that the scriptures preach that not only did James and John leave their nets to follow Jesus, they also left their father to pursue this ministry of freedom?  One could even propose that they were set free from their father in order to truly follow something and someone much more important. 

I do not preach this lightly.  Remember, that in the ancient world, fathers were everything.  Anything good that a family member did out in the community primarily reflected well on the father of the family.  You did well in school?  Everyone would look at what a wonderful father you had who was able to raise such a learned child.  Conversely, something bad committed by a child did not reflect badly on the child, but rather reflected badly on the Father.  Fathers are supposed to rear good children after-all. 

As I said, the Father was everything in the ancient world, so it is not insignificant that James and John left their nets and left their father.  Rather, it is a huge thing.

Being set free in Jesus Christ sometimes means that you leave something or someone behind. 

Now, this makes a lot of sense when that something that is being left behind is destructive to yourself or to others.  Plenty of people have left behind their drugs or alcohol.  They have thrown those things to the ground as if they were torn, useless fishing nets.  They then change their focus in life, and instead focused on the saving news of Jesus Christ.  But, what if that something or someone that you need to leave is something or someone you love? 

When entering High School I had to choose between singing in the choir and playing my French horn in the band.  It was a hard choice, but sometimes to excel in one thing you have to leave something you love in order to focus on that one thing.  Therefore, I do not currently own a French Horn.

But, that is trivial compared to when the young woman chose to leave her family, and leave behind their wishes for her life.  She entered into the military in order to do what she knew she was created by God to do; to heal the desperately wounded and to sit peacefully with the dying in the fields of war. 

She wanted to join Jesus as a light in a dark place.  She wanted to join Jesus in his ministry of healing.  She was set free by Jesus, but it meant leaving behind some people she loved: her parents. 

Now, her parents did eventually except her calling from God and did not pull away from her forever, but that is what Jesus healed afterward.  Jesus reconciled the family after the fact.  But, in the moment, the young woman had to leave two people behind, even though they were beloved.

In the same way, Jesus still calls us today.  “Follow me” he says to us.  “Change your mind.”  “Change your focus.”  “Leave the old ways behind.” 

I wonder what is it that is holding you back?  What do you need to leave?  What is holding you back from being the disciple that God has made you to be?

Yes, it is hard to let go.  Even when it is something destructive like drugs, it is hard to let go.  But, if it is something you love, it is so incredibly difficult.  But, do not forget that a life of freedom in Christ is so good!

And, the goodness has a lot to do with fishing.  Is not fishing always a good thing?

Indeed, in this life of freedom with Jesus Christ, we are called by Jesus to “fish for people.”  There is nothing better than to be asked to go fishing.  This calling goes much deeper and is so much more life fulfilling than you may think. 

“Fishing for people” is so much more than just asking people to come to church.  So dig deep in the Bible with me for a second to explore this idea. 

If you open your scriptures to the very beginning, the book of Genesis, you will see that from the very beginning water represents chaos and destruction.  It reads, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”  If you continue to read you will see that very soon God immediately starts to put order to these chaotic waters.  Light and life emerge from the chaos and destruction of the waters.  When God shapes the chaos, light and life thrives. 

Now, you are supposed to have all of this in mind when you think about these waters out of which you are going to fish for people. 

People are trapped in all sorts of chaos and destruction in this life.  And, when you repent, when you change your mind and start to care about the things that Jesus cares about, like saving the trapped, then you will look into the waters and see your purpose. 

You will look into the chaotic waters and see the addicted.  You will see the depressed.  You will see the unemployed.  You will see the hated and forgotten of our culture.  You see those who are forced to do the things they know they should not.  You will see the sick and the suffering.  You will see the hurt children.  You will see them all struggling in the waters and love will drive you to fish for them and pull them free.

After-all, it is that sort of love for us that drove Jesus Christ all the way to the cross.  Death on a cross is how far Jesus would go for us.  Burial in a tomb is how far Jesus would go just so that he could to pull us up from the darkness. 

Another way to put it, Jesus is fishing for us and Jesus pulls us from the chaos and destruction of the waters in order to set us free.  And, you were created to be a part of that saving work.

Yes, it is true that sometimes following the saving news of Jesus Christ means leaving something behind; even if it is cherished and familiar.  Sometimes, following the good news is the hardest thing you will do in your life. 

But, I will remind you that you are free.  Christ Jesus, through his death on the cross, has made you free to be the person that God has made you to be. 

You are free to leave behind all that holds you down.  You are free from the burden it poses.  You are free to follow Jesus in his ministry of setting creation free. 

You are set free so that you can look into the dark waters and see the sick and suffering with love in your eyes.  You are free to follow Jesus, reaching down into the waters of chaos and destruction, and pulling on one hand while Jesus pulls on the other those who need to be brought up; those who need a breath of fresh air; those who need to be free.

After-all, freedom is always from something, and it is always to something.  Freedom in Christ is allowing yourself to be drawn up by Christ from all that holds you down, and from all that holds you back; and it is freedom to join Jesus in his task of setting the world free from sin, death, and the devil. 

You are truly free, O people of God.

Reflection on John 1:43-51

 

 

You See Through

by Celia Whitler and Thad Beaty

 

You see through my insecurities

You see through the one I pretend to be

You see through,

you see right through me

And you love

You love what you see

 

All those times I hold back from you

You pull me close, you touch my soul

You search for me, until you find.

To all my failures, you are blind

 

 © 1999 Celia Whitler and Thad Beaty

Dog Not Included Music, Bouleetos Music

 

Jesus already knows you, and Jesus already loves you.

Jesus is kind of like my son Isaac.  The other day when we were playing a three year old version of hide and go seek.  It was a simple game, Isaac would count to 10 or 15, depending on how high he wanted to count, I would hide, and then he would search for me. 

Normally, how this plays out is that I go hide in a relatively easy spot, like standing in the middle of the bathroom, and just as he is about to turn the corner to find me, I jump out and say “Boo!”  He shrieks and giggles.  The little guy loves being scared…and I mean he loves it.  This game between he and I can go on for hours if I would let it, even if I am simply hiding in the same spot each time. 

But, the other day he changed up the game a bit.  While he buried his face in the cushion of the recliner to count, I ran off to hide.  I changed my mind a couple of times, first hiding in the middle of the bathroom, then beside the bed, and finally I decided to go to the closet.  This turned out to be a mistake, because when I finally did back into the darkness of the closet, set to jump out at the little guy, I heard this high pitched “Boo!” from right behind me.

I jumped out of my skin and had to quickly put it back on.  Up to that point, I was quite certain nothing lived in the closet!  Nervously, I turned around to see what was going on.  There was Isaac, bent over, giggling uncontrollably.  The little twerp somehow got the best of me. 

Apparently, while I hid beside the bed, he snuck past and hid in the closet.  Who knew that having a smart child would lead to an early heart attack! 

I say smart, because somehow Isaac already knew where I would end up, so it was no surprise to him when he found me. 

And, that seems to be what is going on with Jesus as we study the start of his ministry in the gospel of John.  Jesus already knows.  Jesus already knows where we are going, so when we arrive Jesus is more than prepared to “find” us when we show up.

I want to stop right there and just reflect on that thought: Jesus finds us.  Even though we Christians sing it all the time; “I once was lost, but now am found,” I’m not sure that we necessarily think about what that exactly means. 

You see, Christians talk all the time about “finding Jesus.”  “When did you find Jesus?”  “She is searching for God.”  “That was the day I found my Lord and Savior and accepted him in to my life.” 

We Christians talk all the time about searching for God and finding Jesus, and accepting him into our lives, but John seems to be telling us that we have this all wrong.  Jesus finds us and accepts us, not the other way around.  He is already standing there in the closet when we run there to hide.

You want proof of this divine truth?  The scriptures are dying to preach it to you.  Just look right at John 1:43, it reads, “The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”  There it is, clear as day, Jesus “found Philip.”  It is not the other way around.

Jesus already knew Philip, and already loved Philip, calling on him to follow.  Like I said before, Jesus already knows you and Jesus already loves you.

But, Jesus knows more than your location.  Jesus knows you.  I mean to say that he gets you.  He knows your thoughts.  He understands your motivations.  He knows you.  And, even though he knows the truth of all of that, he calls you to follow him anyway. 

Psalm 139:1-4 straight up preaches this truth right to us: 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.

As the story in John continues, we find that Jesus knew Nathanael.  Even though it was Philip (the one who was “found” by Jesus) who ran to Nathanael and told him to “Come and see,” Jesus makes it clearly known that he already knows Nathanael very well.  Before Nathanael even stops walking toward Jesus, Jesus shouts out, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”  Jesus knows Nathanael.  Jesus not only saw him sitting under a fig tree just moments earlier; he knew him. 

And, very soon in the Gospel of John, a woman drawing water from a well will hear how Jesus knows her, and her entire life…including the sordid parts which have to do with her husbands and boyfriends…things that she would prefer not to air in public. 

Jesus knows everything that we hide and hold back; good, bad, and boring.  Yet, despite all that the Lord knows, to Nathanael he extends a hand as a trusted follower, and to the woman he engages in deep conversation reserved only for other esteemed men. 

Jesus already knows us, and Jesus already loves us.

My grandma died when I was a freshman in college.  You will see where this is going in a second.  After she died, I suddenly had this sinking feeling of dread.  She was in heaven with God.  I knew that, and I never doubted that.  So, that meant that she now knew everything.

Now, I do not know if you did anything as a freshman in college that you would not necessarily want your grandma to know about, but it hit me that my grandma now knew.  She knew it all.  I will let you guess at what “it all” contained; certainly it is not too much different from what “it all” contains in your life.  But, the point is that it was no longer hidden.  And, the fact that everything that I had hidden was all laid out on display for my grandma to see rocked me to my core.

And then, one day while I was in the catwalks of the college theatre, focusing lights and contemplating how one would survive a fall from such a height…my mind was wandering…it hit me out of nowhere that all of that stuff that I did not want anyone, especially my grandma, to know was never hidden in the first place.  None of it was ever hidden.  God knew it all along.  Jesus knew it all along. 

In fact, it is particularly the hidden stuff that Jesus knows about, takes on his shoulders, and drags to the cross.  Jesus had to know it all because he died to free us from the weight of all of that hidden, secret stuff. 

That is a pretty good revelation for a lighting technician up in the dark catwalks of a college theatre.  But, it was a deep revelation: Jesus already knew me…he truly knew me…and Jesus chose to love me anyway.

And, it is true for you too.  Jesus already knows you, and Jesus already loves you.  Jesus already knows the heights of your triumphs and the depths of your failures.  Jesus knows the persistence of sin on your life.  Jesus knows how you have failed to overcome.  Jesus knows it all. 

And, Jesus forgives you seventy times seven times.  And, Jesus calls out for you to follow.  And, when you are asked to come and see him, Jesus is already there, ready to let you know that he is there, even in the dark closet.  Fortunately for you, Jesus tends not to try to scare us half to death like a giggling, three year old rug rat.  Instead, Jesus is there to lead you out of the darkness and into the light of God. 

And, he does it because Jesus already knows you, and Jesus already loves you.

Reflection on Matthew 2:1-12

God provided an angel and God provided a star. 

Do not forget that God provided a star to the Wiseman, to lead them to Jesus.  I am going to repeat this again and again to myself, as a reminder in these dark days.  God provided an angel and God provided a star.

Now, I will tell you straight up that I had every intention of preaching something very different in the beginning of the week.  I had every intention of focusing on anything but the darkness of our world.  I wanted to provide a word from the scriptures that would allow us to escape from the craziness of the world for a while, and would allow us to imagine the world that could be; a world ruled by the grace of Jesus Christ. 

The sermon was well underway, taking form when Wednesday happened, and we all watched and listened to national media as people attempted to use force to overtake our nation’s seat of power. 

The corrupt world always has a way of breaking into what we would hope to be a comfortable and joyous week, and comfortable and joyous life. 

Take Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.  They hardly are able to breathe in the fresh scents of the frankincense and myrrh that the Wisemen provide as gifts to the Christ child before, in the very next story, an insecure ruler King Herod seeks to kill the child. 

Talk about whiplash: being brought from a high of adoration as the newborn king, to a new low of being a refugee and asylum seeker, forced to escape home.  Kind of like the whiplash of a joyous New Year’s Eve, dreaming of new possibilities, and dropping down to the culture shaking events of January 7th.

But, God provided an angel and God provided a star. 

I bring that to mind, again and again.  God provided an angel to Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus.  And, that angel led them safety to Egypt, away from the violent and murderous ranting of King Herod. 

And, to the Wisemen who sought the truth of the world by looking to the skies, God provided a star.  And, that star led them to the way, the truth, and the life: Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches this lesson, again and again: that when evil turns its ugly head, God provides an angel, or a star, or a friend, or a community.  Whenever evil turns its ugly head, God provides. 

1 Corinthian 10:13 reminds us:  “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and God will not let you-all be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing God will also provide the way out so that you-all may be able to endure it.”  And, we see that truth playing out right here is this Epiphany story.  God provides an angel, and God provides a star.

But, do not mistake this star for a wishing star.  It is not the kind of star that you pray to in order to get what you desire: a boyfriend, a new car, a new house, cleaned out rain gutters, a free subscription to cable TV, a life-time supply of Reese Peanut Butter Cups…you know, some of our deepest desires.  Christians are not people who to pray to stars or angels or rulers or anything else that is less than God.  But, Christians are people who will follow a star if it leads to Jesus.

God provides an angel and God provides a star, and they lead us to the safety and grace of Jesus. 

You know what is amazing about the Wisemen’s story?  It is that the Wisemen are not members of God’s holy people.  They are astrologers.  They are like today’s tarot card readers.  They are similar to today’s horoscope writers.  They seek answers in the stars.  They seek answers from places other than God. They are definitely not the people of God.  They would be considered as pagans and sinners.  Yet, God provides a star.

Do you see what God is doing here?  God does not hate the Wisemen for their lack of devotion.  God does not hate the Wisemen because they are different or believe different.  Instead, God provides a star.  God provides them something that they understand, in order to lead them to Jesus.   

And, follow the star to Jesus they did.  And, fall down before Jesus they did.  God led these wise ones to the savior of the world. 

Leaders like Herod kill the innocent for their own gain, and destroy those who are not loyal, but God leads through grace and God saves.  In fact, the gift of myrrh that Jesus smells in early childhood is the very scent that is likely present in his death and burial.  This burial spice is what he will smell over thirty years later as he stands up in the grave and saves the whole world by raising it to new life.

The stars and the angels lead us to Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy of thanks and praise.  It is this servant of love, Jesus, this servant of others, Jesus, who is worthy of praising and emulating until life’s end.  When we start to stray into the dark, God provides an angel, and God provides a star.

For a few years now our church has had the tradition of handing out Epiphany stars.  These are stars that have words written on them like “love” and “joy” and “patience” and “peace.”  The intention of these stars is that they will lead us closer to Jesus, just like that first star.  They have words, chosen by God for us, that will shape us through the year and lead us closer to Jesus. 

Now, I do not know why you receive the word that you do written on your star.  Is it a confirmation of your faith?  Is it a challenge for you to overcome?  Is it a new direction in faith that you had never considered?  The answer to those questions will be between you and God.  But, I do hope that maybe, as we try to figure out life in these dark days, our star will lead us to a deep understanding and faith.  After-all, God provides an angel, and God provides a star. 

A couple of years ago, my young daughter grabbed the star that read, “Courage.”  That was a trait that she lacked in her life.  It makes sense because she was a late walker and was unstable on her feet for a long, long time.  But, the star, which she kept at the dinner table and looked at during every meal, led her into the depths of courage. 

One day at the pool, she overcame her fear and started jumping into the waters on her own.  This was a particularly strong fear which had previously left her on the edge of the pool, and left her out of a lot of family fun.  But, the guidance of the star led her in ways of courage. 

Not only is she swimming around in pools without a lifejacket now, but this essential element of faith has also has the side-effect of providing her the courage to stick her neck out for other kids.  Maybe, the fearless swimming is the side-effect.  Either way, she is now a person of courage.  She does not fear showing others love and grace when they dearly need it. 

Does that sound like Jesus?  It all started with a star.

God provides an angel, and God provides a star.  Especially in these dark times, God provides the guidance that we need as the people of God.  Look up in the sky and see the star.  It is a sign of God’s love.