Spiritual GIFs: "We Three Kings"
Sermon from New Year's Day, 2023.
Today’s sermon is about three wise men.
No, not those guys.
Nope, not them either. Wise men. Magi. Astrologers from Persia. And, we don’t know there were three of them. Bible just uses plurals for them, so we know there are at least 2.
Shocking, I know. But they wanted to come and worship the newborn King of the Jews.
So they visit King Herod and tell him and the teachers of the law that they saw a star and know that there is a newborn King and they want to worship him. And Herod is all like
But the teachers? They knew where to find the Messiah but didn’t go with them. Can you believe that?
Neither can I. And neither did they. So the only ones who believed that the Messiah was born were Gentile astrologers and a client-king of Caesar. The Jewish teachers did not believe.
Yes, it is, Alanis, yes it is. Unlike anything you were singing about. But anyway, The message of the story is that God is more inclusive than we may want him to be. By inviting foreign astrologers, God is announcing the kingdom is open to anyone!
But it’s also more exclusive than we may want to believe. The teachers thought they were in the club. But God was changing the qualifications for membership.
The Kingdom is only for people who do what the Magi did: drop everything and worship King Jesus. So while it is exclusive to those who trust Jesus, membership is still open,
Jesus’ birth tells the world that those who used to be outside God’s family are now invited in, and those who thought they were insiders may in fact be outsiders. Now, it’s all about how you respond to the news about Jesus. Will you ignore him, like the teachers of the law?
Will you protect your earthly power and status, like Herod?
Or will you seek to worship him, like the Magi?
