Reflection on John 1:35-51

 

Congratulations, you have made it halfway through our exploration of our values as a people of faith.  The first value as you may recall was “Christ Centered Worship” or “Jesus Centered Worship.”  In other words, we are people of faith only because of the grace and love of Jesus Christ, and we gather together to worship because of all that Jesus has done.  We do not come to church because the pastor is great, or because we offer the best music around.  We gather together because Jesus has been so, so good. 

The second value we explored together was “Accepting Relationships” or “Real, Caring Relationships.”  Jesus said that he came not to help the righteous, but rather the sinner.  Therefore, we are a people who offer that same sort of welcome and grace to both those who seem righteous and put together, and also those who are obviously anything but put together.  In reality, we all need the grace of Jesus Christ and the healing and forgiveness found in his name.  We strive to love others and develop the same sort of “accepting relationships,” or “real, caring relationships” that Jesus developed with us.

I do not know if you have put two and two together yet, but these values are in no way random, and they certainly are not just the whim and demand of the pastor standing in front of you.  They are deeply biblical.

Straight from the gospel of Matthew, we hear about how a Pharisee was chosen to test Jesus.  He was chose because he was trained well in the law; and this Pharisee asked Jesus a question to test him. 

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 

[Jesus] said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40).

Jesus, of course, answered correctly by saying that it all comes down to loving God and neighbor, and he was not caught in their trap.  But, more to the point for us is that our first two values are precisely the two most important values that Jesus lays out for us.  “Christ Centered Worship” or “Jesus Centered Worship” and “Accepting Relationships” or “Real, Caring Relationships” are just today’s ways of speaking a couple of old, old truths: “love God and love neighbor.”

Now, that sort of amazing, unconditional love cannot stay put and cannot stay pushed down.  That sort of love for the world cannot stay hidden under baskets or under beds.  It is the sort of love that needs to shine from the top of lamp stands and shine into dark places.  It is the sort of love that breaks rocks and pushes its way out of tombs.  It is a love whose power comes from being shared.  Love only has power within relationships.  Love only has power when it is shared with someone else. 

Given all that, the sharing of the love of Jesus Christ is an active value in and of itself.  And, it is a value that Jesus desires you to make a part of your own life.  “Go and make disciples of all nations” Jesus commands his disciples.  The sharing of the faith with all people is the final value that Jesus gives to us as he departs this world and goes up to heaven.  And, if it is the last value he declares, then it is probably nearly as important as the first two.  In fact, “inviting” and “sharing” are just the spreading of the first two values to more people.

Being “Intentionally Invitational” or “Sharing Faith” is what love does.

If you have found a stash of gold coins, more than you could possibly ever need, and you have a friend in desperate need, would you not share the location with that person and the both of you dig it up? 

If you and your group are hopelessly lost while driving in a blizzard, and you finally see a sign through the falling snow directing you to safety, would you not call back to the rest of the group and tell them which direction to go?  What if you have found the one who can make sense of all the mess of this thing that we call life and by following this one you and others will discover a depth of love and understanding that you have never known before?

“Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see” (John 1:43-46).

“Come and see.”  This is actually one of my all time favorite three words in all of scripture; “Come and see.”  I love it because it is the perfect answer to the question of “Why church?”  “Why be a part of the church?”  “Why follow Christ?”  “Come and see.”

Where some people answer the question of “Why church?” with answers like, “The pastor’s a great preacher!” or “The people are so nice!” or “The coffee is really, really good!” the first biblical invitations to be a part of what Jesus is up to is “Come and see.”  As much as I too appreciate really good preaching; as much as I too appreciate connecting with really great people like all of you; and as much as I like a really good, nutty fresh roasted coffee, these have nothing to do with Jesus and his love.  These are not an invitation to meet with Jesus.  These are not sharing our faith, unless our motto is in coffee we trust!  With four kids to get ready in the morning, I think that is my motto some mornings.  But, “Come and see” is all about sharing Jesus.  “Come and see” is all about inviting people to experience Jesus for themselves.  The words “Come and see” promise nothing, but they do draw us in none-the less.

Nathaniel quips, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” the little backwater town that was full of interesting characters at the crossroads of international trade.  The assumption is that nothing good can come out of Nazareth, and as tempting as it might have been for Philip to give some sort of explanation about how we should not make assumptions about a whole area based on just a few, or about how Jesus was different from all those other people, Philip merely answers, “Come and see.”

It is so perfect of a response; “Come and see.”  It invites us to find out for ourselves.  It removes the one inviting from needing to know all the answers.  Like, when your kid asks you, “Why did God create mosquitoes?”  Um…why don’t you ask the pastor.  “Come and see!” 

More than about answering mosquito questions, “Come and see” is an invitation to experience Jesus himself.  And, is that not what faith is all about?  Being “intentionally invitational” is about inviting people to follow Jesus so that they can learn to trust him.  “Sharing the faith” is about inviting people to follow Jesus Christ and his ways of love so that Jesus can fill them with the trust that leads to eternal life.

People will ask, “What about someone like me?  Jesus will certainly make the ceiling fall if I come into the church.”  And, you will answer, “Come and see.”

People will ask, “Do you think Jesus will forgive someone who even does ___ (And, they will fill in the blank.)?  And, you will look at them with compassion and answer, “Come and see.”

People will ask, “Do I have to believe in a virgin birth, or the existence of a red guy with a pitchfork, or the damnation of souls?”  And, you will answer, “I don’t know, but Jesus does.  Come and see.”

After-all, it is not about having the correct belief, or having a spectacularly uplifting moral past, or being perfect before you enter the presence of Jesus.  It is about Jesus having the chance to give us a new life and a new birth.  It is about Jesus. 

“Come and see.”  It is the perfect answer.  It is a faithful answer.  And, it is deeply biblical.  And, on the days when you are not certain that you have figured out this whole thing called having faith, someone who is intentionally invitational, someone who desires to share the faith will turn to you and say, “Come and see.”  Jesus desires nothing more than draw you close.  Jesus desires nothing more than to wrap you with grace and love.  “Come and see,” and follow Jesus. 

Reflection on Matthew 5:38-48

 

He was not going to be a part of my church.  The class bully was a terrible, terrible person.  He shoved people into their lockers.  He spit food in your face at lunch.  And, the insulting names that he was able to create cut to the bone.  He was enemy number one, and I was utterly in shock when (after our pastor challenged us to invite a friend to church) my friend inexplicably chose the last person on earth that I wanted to be near me in church: the class bully.

“What were you thinking?” I asked after school on the bus.

“The pastor said that church was for sinners, and I couldn’t think of a worse sinner,” my friend replied.

It was time to go into battle mode.

I sacrificed myself and risked a potential tongue lashing or punch to the gut, in order to talk to the bully and persuade him not to show up.  I informed the bully about how boring the pastor’s sermons were.  In reality, the guy was a wonderful preacher.  He was able to speak to the heart of preteens and adults alike…a rare gift.  But, I was not going to let the bully know that.  I also let him know how terrible the other adults were in church, though they were not.  And, to top it off, I mentioned how the homemade mac and cheese at the church suppers tasted like dirty feet, which the delicious and creamy stuff did not.

It worked.  The bully never set foot through the doors of the church.  Actually, as I think about it now, he probably would not have come in the first place.  It is not like his family would have suddenly changed their weekend schedule because a preteen boy told them to. 

No matter, I was relieved that “my church” was safe and that I could continue to have a space that was free from sinners like the bully.  I was happy to have a church that limited relationships, limited the opportunity for sinners to turn around their lives, and limited the grace of God from spreading through our community.  It was “my” church after-all, and I was happy with “my” church the way it was thank you very much. 

None of this had to do with the Bible.  None of this had to do with Jesus’ message of repentance and grace.  None of this had to do with following Jesus.

Jesus was the one who said, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”  Jesus was the one who said, “If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well.”  Jesus was the one who said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”  Jesus was the one who said, “Give to everyone who begs from you.”  Jesus is the one who reminded us, “For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).

Jesus was quite the opposite of preteen me.  Not only did Jesus turn his face to allow the other side to be slapped, he went to the cross to die out of love for those who struck him.  That is an amazing sort of love and relationship. 

Whenever confronted by people who desired to take all he had to offer, he gave in abundance.  Think of the feeding of the 5,000 men, besides women and children.  That is an amazing sort of love and relationship. 

He gave up his cloak.  He walked the second mile.  He gave to sinners, whether they deserved it or not.  He created an accepting sort of relationship with those whom he encountered. 

And, I truly do mean relationship.  All of the people that Jesus encountered were created through him, God’s word.  No matter how rotten or misguided or sinful they may have become, they are all related to Jesus.  And though they may have forgotten this relationship, Jesus has not forgotten them.  Jesus desires them to have so much more than the misguided life of sin into which they have fallen. 

Loving them, he turns the other cheek, so that they might be shocked by their extra slap.  So that they may be confronted by their willingness to provide more abuse than they intended. 

Maybe they would wake up and turn their lives. 

Loving them, he gives up all of his clothes as he is stripped naked to hang on a cross. 

Maybe, seeing him stripped bare, they may wake up to their lives of aggression and turn their lives around. 

Loving them, Jesus went to the cross, willing to die for his enemies, so that they too might find a new way of life and be saved from the darkness of their souls.  After-all, Jesus’ has no enemies.  Those who we would view as his enemies are actually people created through his own breath.  He spoke their bodies and souls into existence.  The hairs of their head are all counted as Matthew 10:30 reminds us. 

They are people who need a doctor.  They are people who need to be saved.  They are people who need someone who is willing to give them a chance…someone who is willing to take the time to develop an accepting kind of relationship with them which does not first require them to be perfect.  It is a relationship that meets them where they are, out of love, so that they can be healed.

This sort of love…this sort of accepting relationship is amazing, and filled with grace, and filled with danger, and is hard for most of us to grasp.  Loving your enemies is hard.  Developing an accepting relationship with someone whom we might consider an enemy is difficult.  It is as hard as putting your hand in the mouth of a crocodile in order to fix its tooth.  It is as hard as putting your fingers in the way of the fast moving sowing needle in order to keep the cloth straight.  It is as hard as inviting your enemy (a class bully) to church. 

But, my friend did.  My boneheaded friend invited the class bully to church because he understood something very basic about Jesus that somehow I was unable to grasp, Jesus wants a relationship even with our enemies.  Jesus wants a relationship with sinners.  Jesus loves them as much as he loves us.  They are people created by him, worthy of love.

Everyone in the world loves people who love them back.  Even murderers love those close to them, right?  As Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”  The followers of Jesus Christ do not stand out in the world because they love their family and friends.  No, people take notice of us when we follow the lead of our Lord, and love our enemies and pray for those who cause us trouble and hate us.  We stand out because we create accepting relationships with our enemies, just like Jesus did, and just like Jesus instructed us to.

I know, in your mind you likely have that one person floating there that you are asking, “Even them?”  They are the people who you would rather leave and go to another room before encountering them.  They are the people who you would rather leave and go to another church entirely rather than worship in the same space as them.  They are the people whom God is using to test us, to see if we are really serious about this following Jesus stuff, or if we are just paying it lip service because we actually care more about our own comfort.

“There is no way I can love them.”  I hear it already.  The thought goes through my own head.  “How can I possibly feel any affection for someone I actively hate?”

It is probably true.  No matter how hard you try, you are not going to be able to conjure up some good feelings for that person.  But, the Bible does not ask you to.  Jesus does not ask you to.  The word for “love” used in the Bible here is not the feel good type.  The word for love here, agape, has a literal translation of “to welcome” or “to entertain.”  It is an active sort of love that does good to the another person, whether there are nice, warm, fuzzy feelings or not. 

Love means, “to welcome” or “to entertain.”  

“So, I just welcome them to my table to eat with me?” you ask. 

As stupid as that seems, I have seen it work again and again.  I have seen Jesus take a simple act of connection with an enemy and transform it into something beautiful. 

I know of two enemies who hated each other at work for years and years.  One of the two was the boss and was labeled as evil.  It was probably true, the evil part.  Years and years later, even the boss admitted to being intentionally cruel, because it got results. 

Back to the story, one Sunday the boss suddenly started coming to church and haphazardly sat in the same pew as their enemy.  It was an uncomfortable Sunday filling the space with a thick air of contention, but a brief smile was shared.  After that, it happened again and again, Sunday after Sunday, both of them being too stubborn to sit elsewhere.  Then the illness happened, and a dish was made and brought to the house.  Then they talked before worship and shared common struggles.  Then they started doing projects together.  Then Jesus smiled because love always wins.  And, it all started with a simple connection.  It started, not with a passionate, friendly relationship, but with a deeply holy accepting relationship that started with simply welcoming each other as they sat together.

Do you know what helps as we strive to make accepting relationships a part of who we are?  Prayer.  Jesus instructs, “Pray for those who persecute you.”  Jesus himself prays, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” as the soldiers nail him to a cross and steal his clothes, dividing it among themselves.  Somehow in some way, Jesus saw praying for his enemy as the solution to those who would do him harm. 

Pray for your enemies.  For God loves them too.  God desires them to be in the kingdom too.  Jesus wants nothing more than to have a deep, grace-filled relationship with them.  And, that is why “Accepting Relationships” is an essential value of the people who follow Jesus Christ.

Reflection on Matthew 28:16-20

 

“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Those are the last words in Matthew’s good news to you.  The very last thing that Matthew wants to linger in your mind as you go about your life is this promise from Jesus, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

When you are at work or at school, it sings in your ears, “I am with you.”

When you are relaxing by the fire, embers crackling in the warmth, it sings in your ears, “I am with you.”

When you are stressed, wondering how you are going to get it all done, it sings in your ears, “I am with you.”

When the tears make it impossible to see, it sings in your ears, “I am with you.”

When you celebrate at the tiny new life held in your arms, it sings in your ears, “I am with you.”

“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Why do we come to church?  Why do we sit and listen to Jesus’ words?  Why do we sing songs of thanks to Jesus Christ?  I have a feeling that it has to do with this final promise right from Jesus’ lips, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

But, before we get to that, I want to explore the question of why we come to church. 

The Pew Research Center asks this question of United States citizens regularly, and I have some recent answers right here.  So, in the style of the family feud, there are ten answers on the board.  Name the top ten reasons that people go to church.

10. To please me family, spouse or partner.

9.  To meet new people/socialize.

8.  I feel a religious obligation to go.

7.  To continue family’s religious traditions.

6.  To be part of a community of faith.

5.  I find the sermons valuable.

4.  For comfort in times of trouble/sorrow.

3.  To make me a better person.

2.  So children will have a moral foundation.

1.  To become closer to God.

I am actually very happy to hear that the number one answer was, “to become closer to God,” because when I do my informal surveys of why people come to church, the first reason a lot of people give is, “to make me a better person.”  And, though I am certain that Jesus has no problem with you becoming a better person, that is not the reason he went to the cross and died for you.  He died to save you because you cannot get your life all together.  He died because you and I are not always better people.  How many of you still struggle with the same sin that you struggled with three years ago?  My guess is that most of struggle with the same sort of sins over and over again, and that we need Christ’s grace and forgiveness over and over again.  Jesus tells you to forgive seventy times seven times because that is how often he forgives you.  More than wanting you to be a great person, Jesus just wants you.  Jesus just wants you to be close to him.

There is this grandmother whose grandson stole her wedding ring in order to buy drugs.  As he talked to her through the glass of the jail, through the tears he cried, I promise I will find it and buy it back.  As soon as I am out of here I will get it back for you.  The grandmother looked at him and said, “I don’t want my ring back, I want my grandson back.  I want you.”

Jesus just wants you.  Jesus just wants you to be close to him.

And, that is what worship is about, right?  Worship is about being close to God.  Worship is about being a sibling with Jesus Christ and following him around like a three year old glued to an older sibling.  

It should be no surprise that church’s first value then is Christ centered worship, or Jesus centered worship.  For us, it is all about Jesus Christ.  It is about worshiping him and following him. 

It is not about figuring out how to be a great person, though no one is against that!  It is not about just making someone happy, so you show up to church.  It is not even about getting to hear your pastor’s amazing, inspirational, and eternally engaging sermons!  It also is not about the fifteen minutes of precious sleep that you get during that amazing, inspirational, and eternally engaging sermon.  It is all about worshiping Jesus Christ and following him.  We are gathered here to join in Christ centered worship, or Jesus centered worship. 

Like the disciples at the end of Matthew who climb up the mountain to be with Jesus and fall down to worship and listen to him, we too fall down to worship and listen to the risen Lord.  And, what is it that the Lord wants us to hear?  What message does the Lord want spread to all the nations as we baptize in Jesus’ name and teach his ways?  What is it that Jesus Christ cared most about?

Most people answers range from “teaching us his ways” to “caring about the poor” to “loving others, even our enemies.”  These are all great answers, they truly are.  Jesus cared about all of these things; there is no doubt about that.  But, did you know that Jesus actually tells us what he cares most about? 

Right in the beginning of Matthew’s telling of the Jesus Story, right after Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and after John the Baptist was arrested, the Bible says “From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matthew 4:17).  You hear it again and again throughout the gospels, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  “Change your mind; see things in a different way, for the time when God will take charge is right here.”  It is Jesus’ primary message.  And, it certainly has to do with love and doing good things toward the lowly, but more to the point, it is actually the fulfillment of something that the Lord has been trying to do for a long, long time.

Back in the beginning of creation, when the first two humans were placed in the garden of Eden, God was able to walk with the humans through the garden as the evening breeze blew gentle by.  It was a time when God walked with humans and humans trusted in God.  It was a beautiful time that ended way too soon when humans were tempted to trust in themselves rather than God.

And, ever since that beginning, God has been trying to find some way, any way, to allow us to walk alongside and trust the Lord once again.  “Maybe they will trust me in the desert?”  They do not trust God in the desert.  “Maybe they will make a kingdom for us by following my laws?”  They fail to follow God’s laws.  Maybe they will create a nation where they can trust me?  They keep following others gods.  God tries and tries to recreate this wonderful world where God walks with us and we trust God.

And, then Jesus comes.  Jesus comes and asks us to turn our minds and our hearts toward him, because he has arrived.  If we cannot figure out how to climb our way back up to God, then I guess that God will just have to come down to us.

This is the very thing that we pray for day in and day out.  When struggle arrives, we ask, “Jesus come and bring your peace.”  When health begins to tank we cry out, “Jesus come and bring your healing!”  When the world seems to fall apart around us we cry out, “Jesus come and make it all whole again.”  “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done.”   

Matthew is here to proclaim to you, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”  Jesus has come near.  “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When the man lost his wife and his kids, and then the house and the truck…yes this very much sounds like the start of a country western song…when he lost it all a friend came in his time of need. 

“You look like you’ve lost it all.”

“I have.”

“You look like you don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t.”

“You look like you might have lost your faith in God.”

“I have not.”

“How is that possible?  You have lost everything that you have ever cared about, including your truck.  It was such a nice truck.”

“It was a nice truck.”

“Then, give up on God!  What has God done for you?  God hasn’t given you another truck, or family.  It is time to just let God go!”

The man looked right into his friend’s eyes and answered, “Trucks come and trucks go.  People come and people go.  Jesus is the only one who promised to be with me no matter what.  If I give up on that promise, I guess I truly have nothing.  He’s here.  Don’t worry, he’s here.”

“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  It is a promise from Jesus’ lips that sounds a lot like, “I never give up.”  It is like Jesus is saying, “I will never give up on you.”  “I will forgive you again and again.”  “I will rebuild your life, again and again.”  “I will fill your life with love, again and again.”  “I was raised from the dead, I can raise you too.”  “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And, that is why we value Christ centered and Jesus centered worship.  It is all about the one who chooses to remember us to the end of the age.  It is all about the one who comes down to make things right.  It is all about Jesus Christ.  To him belong all the praise and all the glory.  Amen.

Reflection on Matthew 2:1-12

 

Matthew 2:1-12

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;  

for from you shall come a ruler 

who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,  “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

 

God sent a star.  Into a dark world where a ruler like King Herod would conspire to find and murder a baby, God sent light.  God sent a star.  Into a world where children are forced to leave their homes, take dangerous journeys with their parents, and find refuge in foreign lands the same way that Jesus was forced to flee with his family to Egypt, God sent light.  God sent a star.  Into a dark world where children two years and younger are killed because of the insecurities of adults, God sent light.  God sent a star.  Into a dark world that hopes beyond hope that God will finally step in and make things right; where God will finally send a savior to deliver them from the darkness, God sent light.  God sent a start.  Into a dark world that would condemn and exclude foreigners of a different race and religion, God sent light.  God sent a star.

Have you ever stopped and looked at what the Bible is trying to teach you about these magi…these wisemen?  Have you ever considered that God deliberatively chose to send a light, a star of hope, to these magi who were not Israelites and who did not follow the God of Israel.  These magi could rightly be considered a “them.” 

You know, “them.”  “They” are different from us.  “They” are not faithful like us.  “They” just might come and corrupt us.  “They” should be held at arm’s length, away from “us.”

We have all heard the religious people who are more than happy to condemn “them.”  So often, otherwise good and faithful people get fixated on how terrible “they” are; whoever “they” is.  And, these otherwise good and faithful people, who will normally give the shirt off of their backs, will go out of their way to make certain that “they,” the ungodly, the heathen, the sinner, have a rough time in life.  

But, what the Bible wants to make abundantly clear to us through the good news of Matthew is that in the heart of Jesus Christ there is no “they.”  If you read the beginning of Matthew, which many of you have already done since you are following along in the Bible with me as you undertake “A Year With Jesus;” if you read that long and boring genealogy at the beginning of Matthew you will see that Jesus’ ancestors, Jesus’ own family, includes a lot of ungodly people who are heathens and sinners.  Jesus’ family includes Tamar, who is forced into prostitution.  Jesus’ family includes Rahab who is a prostitute by trade.  Jesus’ family includes Ruth, an outsider who is not an Israelite.  Jesus’ family includes David who murders a good man in order to get a wife.  Jesus’ family includes Jechoniah, a failed king, a cursed man, whose downfall leads to the destruction of Judah and all the people he was sworn to protect.  Jesus’ own family includes all of these faulty and failed people, but somehow God uses each of these people to eventually bring to us Jesus, the savior of this dark world.  In the heart of Jesus Christ there is no “they.”

So, it should be no surprise that the Bible teaches us that some of the first people to give Jesus honor and praise and their own gifts are these unlikely outsiders.  To them, (the magi) God gives light.  To them, God gives a star.  And, if God shines a light on all of them and uses each and every one of these unlikely people in the Bible, then it seems that God will shine a light on you also, as faulty, failed, faithless, and dark as you might be.  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5 declares.  God sends a light.  God sends a star.

I do not know if you have ever seen this, but often one of the three wisemen is depicted in art as having dark skin.  Of course, the original text of the Bible does not specify the magi’s race, nor does it specify that their group only consisted of men, nor does it specify that there were three.  It just says that these magi, these astrologers, came to worship the newborn king, for God had sent to them a star.

I suppose none of this really matters, but to the kid whose skin matched the dark complexion of the Magi in the picture that he held in front of his eyes, it mattered.  You see, when he looked down at his skin, all he saw was what everyone else told him he should see: someone who is dark, someone who is to be feared, someone whose soul matches the darkness of his skin.  In his light skinned world, he was a “they.”  He was excluded.  He was not trusted.  And, anytime he slipped up in life, he seemed to prove the point to the world.  He was convinced that he was darkness.

But, when he stared at that picture, he saw that God had given that dark man a star.  God had given that dark man a holy task.  God had set that foreign man apart for a special and holy task.  And, the boy thought, “If God can send that man a star and give him a holy task, maybe God can send me a star too.  Maybe, God has a holy task for me also.”

The picture of that dark skinned wiseman following the star which led to Jesus, did the very thing that for that boy that it portrayed.  The boy saw the star in the picture, and it led him to Jesus.

You see, Jesus did not come into this world in order “to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).  Jesus came into this world so that “they” might be welcomed as “us.”  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” Jesus teaches. 

Jesus came into this world so that “they” might see the God’s light.  Jesus came into this world so that “they” might be wrapped in the love of his undying light.  A light that cannot even be snuffed out by a cross and grave.  Jesus came into this world so that “they” might find hope, and life, and purpose in Jesus Christ.  Jesus came into this world to shine a light on “them” and on “you.” 

God has shined a light of grace on you.  God has sent you a star, to give you hope, and life, and purpose, especially when you or your world is dark…especially when you or your world is dark. 

“They [the magi] set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy” (Matthew 2:9-10).

The Lord shine his light on you and shine his light on your dark places; the Lord lead you to Jesus by the guiding of a star; and like the magi, the Lord overwhelm you with joy.