Jan. 2 Sermon: Turn the Other Way
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Daniel Hart, preaching
Matthew 2:1-12
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Have you ever been unsure which way to go?
Autumn and I returned yesterday from a nice break in Michigan…we went just about everywhere In Michigan and met up with over 30 people between friends and family…
Over the course of our trip we added up that we had spent over 24 hours driving in the car…it was very odd to think about especially if you added in the amount of time we spent going the wrong way…
You see…I always prefer to drive, but I am beyond terrible at directions… even after a very close friend of mine bought me a GPS I still seem to get lost…
I am the only person I know that can pull into a gas station…fill up… and am unsure which way to turn when I get out…
I have become fully dependent on my GPS and even more on Autumn…She would attest to that I am sure…
Part of the problem is that I do not trust myself anymore….I have come to the point where I don’t really believe that I could go the right way even if I tried to guess…
So on this first Sunday of the new year I am prepared for my first resolution…My new years resolution is to go the other way…try a different route…work to believe more fully that I can succeed in going the right way even when I may not have thought I would be able to before…
…To do this I may need a little help and a whole lot of belief…
…And maybe a better understanding of a new path…
…The magi in our story today seemed a little more sure…I should not try to compare myself to them…they had a star…. or some celestial sign…. to guide their way, first to Jerusalem and then finally to the messiah in Bethlehem… Further more, these wise men are thought to be students of the stars…. astrologists…and they probably knew how to use the sky for direction…
The other thing that is different is their belief… as soon as they see the sign in the sky they knew something incredible was upon them and they followed immediately…They went asking about “where is the child who has been born the King of the Jews”…”we saw his star at its rising”… they asked in Jerusalem and caught the attention of a high profile person…
This decree of the king of the Jews was news to Herod and he was not too happy…you see kings are appointed by Rome and only Rome…so this must be a threat…Herod was afraid…not many people can make a elected roman official afraid, but this was a serious threat…
Yet the wise men who went to find the baby were not afraid…interestingly enough these men were not the ones waiting for the messiah…they were gentile men…
For the gospel of Matthew, which is often thought to be written for a more Jewish audience… to make theses gentiles such a prominent part of the story means they had a lot to teach us…
They followed the star…found the Christ Child and brought gifts to this Messiah…the leader of the Jewish people…they give gifts and honored the child…and in this moment they knew they have found the divine presence they sought and their expectations were fulfilled.
It is the next part that has caught my attention lately…they know that Herod is seeking the child in order to end the threat…so in a simply noted move…but bold in it’s own right…they leave Bethlehem and go home another way so they do not alert Herod of the whereabouts of the child…
But why? …they go home a new way…they change their course…they redirect themselves because they know that it will save the life of this divine and yet human being…–.pause—
…their encounter with Christ and the connection to God changes their path…
It might be easy to overlook this simple part of the story…they go home a different way knowing the intentions of Herod…
But maybe this is the part that we are supposed to remember…sometimes in the face of Christ we have to change plans and maybe change direction…we may have to do something different because we are illuminated to the right way that we may not have known before…
The gospels are filled with this idea…some stories are figurative, some are more blatant…
…Jesus calls out to the disciples who have gone back to fishing and tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat…after a day of no fish they are so full they can barely drag the net back into the boat…
…Jesus shows love to Zacheus and Zacheus pledges to change and turn away from wronging others and instead give back all he has stolen…
…The parable of the prodigal son ends joyfully when he is welcomed back after he chooses to comes home
…and how about the way that Jesus turns toward the least and the last when everybody else turns away from them…
It is this idea of a changing direction… a way of moving toward the way of Christ in a moment of Epiphany…of light…
This light…we can see too…just like the magi and the shepherds and Mary and Joseph… in the epiphany of the realization of the Christ child…their lives changed direction…
So what does this light mean for us? ….
A man named Greg Mortenson wrote a book called “Stones into Schools” about his life planting schools in Afghanistan… one of the stories he shares involves one of his newer schools that happened to be in Taliban territory… As would sometimes occur, Greg, an American in this Taliban area, was alerted that a small band of men were coming to inspect his school…Greg and his group of Afghani colleges and co-builders… who were of the village… knew that there was a potential that the Taliban could close the school…destroy the building…Threaten the teachers and the lives of their children…or more truthfully…the young girls whom they did not believe should be educated…
What would you do?
Mortenson and his group got ready by letting down their defenses and preparing to discuss the mission and qualities of the school confident in the value of their efforts. They seemed ready to have a real conversation and treat the men that were coming not as the enemy, but as a partner in dialogue shaping the outcome of the school. This openness to talk ended with them keeping the school open…the conversation ended the way they had hoped for but through a dialogue they could not have foreseen…
…There ability to be open and real even with the scariest and most threatening enemy, showed that they were able to move in a new direction…treating all with respect…
The Taliban came…but the openness of Greg and the community led to something they could not foresee…When the Taliban band of men came to the school…All of the men ran over to the playground that had recently been put in and started to play…it was not until an hour later before any conversation happened…or was it?…The hour long session on the playground had reaffirmed the humanity of these men…Some of these men, maybe robbed of their own childhood moments were left completely vulnerable and real…when they had finished an hour later the only conversation that had occurred orally was that the school could stay open and that Greg Mortenson was allowed to continue to build schools in the Taliban controlled area as long as they put in a playground first…this short oral dialogue was the end to a great conversation of openness and realizing the humanity in one another…
We too have so many opportunities to turn the other way…to see the humanity and Christ in others even when it is easier not to…just like the Magi bowing to a child…
…We can seek to love others the way Christ showed us love through speaking up for those who do not have a voice…by reaching out to the homeless, and for those that lack a true support system…
Speak out for the environment through our actions and education…stand together on issues that have become polarizing for our country by being in dialogue and sharing our stories…
Be hospitable to others and be real in our conversations…even when it takes a moment longer in our busy lives…
We can change our direction…to see how we can be part of the open table that invites all to the table…no exceptions to receive the grace and love of Christ…
It is now that we change directions from the waiting time of expectation during advent to living into all that we believe…
Do you believe in the hope that Christ brings to the world through a new message that shows our greatest power comes in our vulnerability with others…do you believe in the justice that Christ seeks through solidarity with the least and the last and the fight for a sustainable existence and harmony with this world…do you believe in the joy that comes with freedom from oppression and unity in worshiping…Do you believe in the love of Christ which extends the table to all who come to receive it…
Do you believe?
…Christ is in the world today…
…see how Christ looks in your neighbor…in a stranger…in the actions of another…in the way you hug your brother…in the way you love your closest friend…believe that Christ is here…
This year my new years resolution is to go the other way…to go a new way…to be in the light of Christ and believe that there can be a difference made and a new direction towards the light of Christ…
Tags: Dan
