Rise within us like the star
And make us restless
Till we journey on
To seek our peace in you
Song "We Three Kings of Orient are". https://youtu.be/jBwL3y-Wlms
Jesus says "I am the Way", and so we come to follow Christ.
Jesus says "I am the Truth", and so we come to dwell in the light of
that Truth.
Jesus says "I am the Light", and so we come, leaving all else
behind, to which we cling. Amen.
Song “Every star shall sing a Carol” https://youtu.be/O_XES6MwVbA
Reflection Mathew 2v1-12
Epiphany (the season now), begins with the story of the visit of the magi. They are astrologers, who predict events from the stars. Christians are often condemning astrology! But here they are in our nativity story, astrologers from the East, probably Persia (Iran) visiting the baby Jewish Messiah because their stargazing has told them it was a very significant birth. Astrologers were important people in Persia!
They embark on a long and dangerous journey to find the reason for this large star. Google will tell you there were planetary alignments of Jupiter and Saturn on June 17th in 2BC which could have caused the star. The magi believed that the star told them of the birth of the Jewish Messiah. They went to the palace to find the king-because kings live in palaces. But jealousy and rivalry are as old as the hills and Herod is troubled greatly by the arrival of the magi. But he pretends that he is interested and encourages them on their way to Bethlehem, to where the prophet Micah has foretold that the Messiah will come from.
The magi give the infant Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and pay homage to him: Myrrh for a kings anointing, gold symbolising costly worship and frankincense for prayer. And they departed another way having been warned in a dream of impending trouble, if they went back to Herod. The importance of dreams in the gospel stories of the nativity are striking. Do we take notice of our dreams?
Sometimes we forget, that the arrival of Jesus was not celebrated by everyone. Herod the Great ordered the killing of every single male infant in Bethlehem under two years old. Herod died in 1BC so that dates our story. Imagine the grief. How did Mary and Joseph feel when they heard the news? They fled to escape the tyranny as many do today. The event is recorded in a 5th Century account of Macrobius. We continue to see power abused, as the powerless, children are slaughtered by the powerful.
How was it that Jesus, a Palestinian Jewish baby born into a poor family could cause such disruption? How could someone seemingly so powerless threaten someone so powerful?
We live in a world where leaders project strength by attacking the most vulnerable, babies. These merciless acts go against everything Jesus teaches about power. His teachings are a challenge to the powerful. This is Jesus’ story, but it is also the story of many families across the world, Syrians, Ukrainians, Afghans, Iranians and Palestinians to name a few.
These travelers were foreigners, from a different culture. Rich with servants travelling in a caravan across the desert wastes.
They were people of another faith, so convinced by their astrology that they, non-Jews, went to find the star and the baby Jewish Messiah.
They travelled hundreds of miles to follow their beliefs. They had to leave behind the safety of their homes, their occupations, and in great danger follow their hunch.
And they gave expensive gifts to the new king.
And they listened to their dreams.
Can you imagine that journey today through Israel?
If the wise men turned up today on UK borders they would be arrested and sent to a detention centre!
The importance of dreams and angels in the gospel stories of Jesus are striking. Do we take notice of our dreams? Without a vision, a dream, we become as dead people. Gods Spirit is at its most powerful when it inspires our imaginations and dreams and drives us to think and act in ways that can change us and those around us and our world.
What will drive us like the magi?
Real lasting satisfaction comes when we listen to our dreams, our intuitions.
So any resolutions we make for the coming year should be fired with real belly felt dreams. Gods Spirit is at its most powerful in what inspires our imaginations and our dreams.
It may involve a leaving behind and moving into dangerous territory and the giving of what is costly. Some of you have already travelled a long way for a dream. What about the rest of us?
That’s the journey we are on following Jesus.
Of such stuff are dreams made of and of such stuff is the journey we are on. Amen
Song ”Longing for Light ” https://youtu.be/kt3Qc04ulOM
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry and release the prisoner.
