Calvin Synod Herald, 2013 (114. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2013-11-01 / 11-12. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 7 The Wise Still Seek Him After some 2000 years hearing the Christmas Story we may have heard the different aspects of what happened on the night Christ was born. Today I would like to share with you the story of the wise men visiting the Christ child. Their story I hope will not only intrigue you, but also prompt you to know “That Wise Men Still Seek Him.” These men began a long trip to the land of the Jews simply, because a particular star was in the sky, alerting them to the birth of the king of the Jews. 1 believe their story is more than just a story meant to entertain us, it is meant to teach us something today, about seeking the Christ child. We read first of these wise men who when they arrived in Jerusalem asked, "Where is the one who has been bom king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." The wise men were on a mission, to find the newborn king of the Jews and worship him. What is fascinating about these men is what they have to teach us about God, that God makes every effort to reach every person no matter how far away they are from him. First, we have to remember these wise men were likely Gentiles, and not Jews who had come seeking the king of the Jews. The Jews thought the promised Messiah was for the Jews, not the Gentiles. In fact, all the first followers of Christ were almost exclusively Jewish. The Christ was supposed to deliver them from their sins. He was supposed to deliver them from their oppressors, and yet the signal to the wise men was that God was calling everyone, regardless of their national or religious background.. What this tells us is that God never abandons anyone. God never gives up on anyone and he uses whatever means he can to help lead them to Christ. In this case God sent them a message using an astronomical event, a star, to signal to them that they needed to search for the child born as king of the Jews. Even though God said astrology is wrong, he still used the star to bring the wise men to Christ. God used a language they understood. Perhaps if an angel had appeared to them like to the shepherds, it would have been misinterpreted, but God knew the best way to reach these men through language they understood, a star. I think the second thing the Wise Men teach is that God wants us to diligently seek him. By that I mean we must seek out a relationship with Christ, or God through Christ. The danger we fall into is thinking that by knowing about Jesus is enough. The truth is we can have all the knowledge of the Bible, we can follow God’s commandments, and still miss what the Christian faith is all about, seeking until we find Christ himself. On the other hand we see the religious community in Jerusalem. The people with a firm grasp on the Bible, people who lived out the letter of the law as written in Scripture. They did all of the ritual and followed all of the commandments. They knew about God from their Holy Scriptures. Yet, when the Wise Men show up, both Herod and the religious leaders were stunned to find out the Messiah had been bom. In fact the scriptures tell us that they were “disturbed,” or “troubled”. They had either not seen the star in the sky, or were unable to interpret its meaning. They had no clue their king had been bom, and it had to take some pagan, Gentile, astrologers to tell them about the Messiah. Unlike the wise men who have traveled hundreds of miles to worship the Christ, the religious leaders couldn’t even travel a short distance from Jerusalem to seek out and worship the Christ. King Herod even sends the Wise Men off to find the Christ child in his place so they can report back to him. Why would God tell these men about the Christ and not the religious authorities? Maybe because they were more concerned about laws and rituals than they were about a relationship with God, and concerned with where his heart was. When we go to church, when we live good lives is it because our primary focus is on seeking Christ, to search for him to try draw nearer to him? Or are we like the religious leaders in Jesus day who think that doing our religious duty is enough, following God’s commandments, being at church, maybe even knowing the Bible really well? The wise men offered valuable gifts, but above all they teach us the need to worship. They bowed down and worshipped. They presented an offering. Three gifts were presented to Jesus as a sign of worship. Remember to worship also means to offering something. We worship when we give our offering, we worship by giving our time, we worship by offering ourselves to God. We worship by offering that which is valuable to us. There is no doubt in my mind that the gifts which the Magi brought were very valuable, they were given at great cost to themselves. The Christ deserved a gift worthy of his kingship. The first gifts was gold, a treasure deserving of a king. The second gift was frankincense, a fragrant scent offered up to God during sacrificial worship, it could only be offered to God by a priest. Lastly, myrrh was used as an oil to prepare a body for burial. In fact we know that Jesus’ body was anointed with myrrh when he died. It was a gift symbolizing the preservation of life after death. It was a gift for a Savior who would die for us all. The question today, or at least this coming Christmas will be: What do we bring/offer Christ which is costly to us? What do we lay at his feet? I will let that question be answered by You, remember, “Wise Men Still Seek Him!” SMT "His greatest purpose while on this earth, Was to carry our sin from the time of His birth, For all of us, our souls to save, God sent Jesus to beat the grave." Excerpt from the Poem of Laura Jae Marcin "Bom to Die"
