Seeking part 2

Last week while showing off my light sabre, I made mention of the assurance that if one was truly seeking a genuine Christian faith journey, it would be found. This week I'd like to go back to that same theme. Traditionally, the Sunday after Christmas is a day to focus on the Wise Men and their part in the Christmas story. Here are some thoughts I shared with my church on Christmas Eve about the Wise Men. Sorry for recycling, but I am on vacation . . . .

Two thousand years ago, a group of learned scholars set out from a country somewhere in the East, probably in the vicinity of ancient Babylon. To best of our estimates based on what we know about history, current scholars estimate that they found what they were looking for approximately two years later. I am talking about the Magi, the Wise Men, who followed a star looking for a king. At the end of their search, they found the child Jesus. I wonder if they ever wondered whether they would find what they were looking for or not.

We do not know with certainty a whole lot about the Magi. Throughout the centuries we have speculated and created a whole set of stories around them. At some point we began calling them the Three Wise Men because there were three gifts. Along the way, someone even gave them names. In modern representations, we have even insured the diversity of their representation as we typically portray them as one man of Asian descent, another of African, and the third of European. They have been worked into our traditional television Christmas specials like The Little Drummer Boy and in historical epics like Ben Hur. But all this is merely speculation.

There are some things we do know about the Magi that can help guide us in our search today. We know they were searching for a king. The child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas came so that he might be our king. He came so that we might give our allegiance to him and let him rule over us in love. This king is not harsh, demanding, or despotic in anyway. He is not absorbed by his power or position. In fact he gave up his position and power so that he might dwell with us. He is the kind of king that all of us would want to serve.

We know that in their search for this king, the Magi got a little off track. They began looking for this king in the obvious place – Jerusalem. When they began to inquire on the whereabouts of this new king, they learned he was probably in lowly Bethlehem. It may not have made sense to them, but they went on anyway. They would not give up the search no matter how long it took.

We know that these Magi were guided by a great light – a star. Even when they got off track and began to look in the unlikely places for the king, the star confirmed when they got back on the right track and went ahead of them, guiding the way. We know that they found what they were looking for. They found this king to be and presented him with precious gifts, worthy of a king.

Tonight as we ponder and celebrate the birth of Jesus, what are we looking for? Are we really looking for a king or are we looking for something that will give us warm fuzzies and make us feel good about what may still be a fractured relationship with our God? I can assure you that the same thing that drew the Magi to Jesus is the same thing that draws us. We call it many things – guilt, unfulfillment, emptiness, desperation. But it all comes down to looking for a great light to shine in our darkness. A great light drew the Magi and guided the Magi. A great light draws us to him, the one who would be our king if we would let him.

Like the Magi, we may get off track in our search for him. We might be looking where we think he should be instead of where he really is. But if we trust in the light he has given us and follow that light, we will find him. You might think you will never find him but I promise you that you will. He came so that he might be found. He has not hidden himself. He has given us a great light so that we might know where he is. You cannot hide in the light.

At Christmas we celebrate his birth. We celebrate the light he brought into the world and the light he shines into our lives. We celebrate the light that guides us in our search for him and the light that continues to guide us into paths with him. We celebrate the unlikely king, found in the unlikely places. We celebrate because he will be found.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!