KNEELING for a KING
Ephesians 3: 7-12
MATTHEW 2: 1-12
January 7, 2024
We three kings … friends, do you consider yourself one of those individuals who would pay attention to the angels? You know … a person willing to follow where God leads even when your neighbors or friends or family members are saying ‘don’t waste your time on God or Christ or church?” Are you someone who would gather up something you considered to be very valuable to give it away for God’s sake, to leave your home, and follow a star … or perhaps follow Bruce Springsteen because he’s a New Jersey star.
I actually know someone who I used to work with at Social Security who has followed Springsteen across the country for years. Bob is a private pilot who lives up near Bruce’s home in Monmouth County. So, he would get in his plane and go to concerts in almost every state. I hate to think of how much he has spent on tickets … not quite a groupie but a super fan for sure! He regularly spotted Bruce and Patty at their favorite diner. Never asking for an autograph but always there with a quick ‘Good Morning Bruce … how are you doing Patty.” Anyhow Bob followed that particular star.
But today we are reminded on Epiphany Sunday of the journey of those wise people who decided to seek out Jesus. We call them kings but also magi, which is what Matthew calls them and we are pretty sure there were more than three individuals who travelled together following the star of God … we have discovered that the leaders of the group, the three magi or wisemen were Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. Later histories say Gaspar came from India, Melchior from Persia and Balthazar from Arabia but regardless of their names, no matter how many people travelled with them … they came to see Jesus. They were willing to get up … get in their cars and vans forgo binging the latest TV shows … and head WEST because they had seen the star in the EAST where they lived. The star leading to Jesus. They knew that seeing and worshiping Jesus mattered … it was to be an essential part of who they were supposed to be in this life.
They had to tell their friends they were going to follow the star of God; get someone to watch their pets and take in the mail or Amazon packages … I am sure some of their friends tried to tell them to stay home and watch the football games on TV with them.
Following God and Jesus was not a real popular thing to do then nor now but still they went … choosing to go against what others were doing with their lives and they even had to deal with an evil leader named Herod who tried to get them to follow his evil plans but just as in today’s world God warned the magi to avoid EVIL LEADERS and not do what they say. But today’s message has to do with the actions of the magi in the presence of Jesus Christ … my message on this first Sunday of 2024 will reverberate throughout this year with other sermons because it is an essential message about choices … choices for the faithful versus choices for those who align away from God and Jesus Christ.
First, and to me this is so important … HOW DID THOSE traveling men and their entourage FEEL when they saw the star leading them to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What was their emotional state in coming to worship? No one who has heard me preach for more than a couple of weeks should be surprised but, on their way, to worshiping Jesus with friends and colleagues … when once again they saw the star shining over the place where together they would find Jesus we hear from Matthew, “The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star … THEY WERE FILLED WITH JOY!”
Absolutely “Joy to the world the Lord has come!” “Rejoice always in the Lord!” “[1]Celebrate GOOD TIMES COME ON … A CELEBRATION TO LAST THROUGHOUT THE YEARS …”. Oops the last one wasn’t from the Bible it was from Kool and the Gang but still same message or it should be when it comes to our connection with Christ … our love of God and our desire and need to worship … “CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON … there’s a worship party going on here!!” And those magi knew they were “[2]in for something good” to paraphrase Carol King’s song sung by Peter Noone with Herman’s Hermits.
So, as the new year starts … an opportunity for a new commitment to God begins … JOY is the operative word … JOY is the key word and when it comes to the magi coming to see Jesus, I don’t think they would have travelled all those miles if they didn’t find JOY in their connection with God. And, as we look to make our faith lives come alive … perhaps for the first time in a long time I want all of us who gather together at this church called St. Paul’s to realize that when we push the world aside just like the magi pushed Herod aside … when we focus on the light of Jesus Christ just as they looked to the star in the sky … that we too can and will find joy in our days. JOY in our world!
I can tell you … when I was lying in that hospital bed wondering whether I had days left … the one truth that kept me focused was realizing that no matter what … God was with me. I am one of the fortunate ones who has discovered Jesus Christ … I have joy in my heart because I know one day, I’ll be with God so even on the dark days there’s reason to celebrate God’s reality … God’s saving grace through Jesus and that’s why Communion is so essential to me because in this meal of faith, our Sacrament, Jesus reminds us of who we are and how we have been rescued and forgiven by God. JOY FRIENDS!
Obviously, Ruth Schultz has been on my mind a lot this last week. And friends if you close your eyes most of you here can probably imagine Ruth here in this church … you will remember her joy. Her smile … her commitment to God and Christ but she always was smiling. Whether she was singing up here with the choir … sitting in the pews … working as Outreach Chairperson in the office … feeding the hungry at the Food Pantry … JOY … well done faithful servant of God … RUTH SCHULTZ who knew that when you connect yourself with God you should let the joy flow outward … let the world see it … let your friends and family know the reason for it … one of her granddaughters told me that the ONLY REASON she has become a person of faith was by witnessing her grandmother’s joy in worshiping God.
We can be the joy-filled … we can let the world know that there’s a party going on in here because we worship God … we believe in Jesus Christ … we know the rescuing God offers … God who restores our souls … God who is ready to be with us each day through this life and into eternity if only … if only we push the world aside and truly BELIEVE … take on Jesus Christ … allow the Holy Spirit some working room …CHANGE.
And, the joy will come …
But back to that BELIEVE part. I was given this PEANUTS calendar for Christmas and when I turned to today’s date the message that came up was from the first chapter of Ephesians, “I THINK OF YOU and GIVE THANKS.” Thinking of God … giving thanks … being a good and faithful servant of God. Paul mentions being a servant of God in our first reading today he wrote, “I became a servant of the Gospel because of the grace the God showed me through the EXERCISE of GOD’s power.”
GOD’s POWER! As 21st century people we don’t want to bow down to anyone or anything … we want to be in control and not servants under any circumstance but boy oh boy I wish we had kneelers in church; we need to kneel before God so badly. I think we need to remember to bow down to God with regularity.
I clearly read the concise description of what the magi did once they saw Jesus … THEY FELL to THEIR KNEES!! Paul writes about becoming how he became a servant because he understood God’s power … do we understand God’s power? Are we ready to actually treat God as God? Would you fall to your knees in the presence of the Holy? Are you willing to listen to God’s call to you? Except God’s expectations for living?
Scripture from its beginning to its finale in Revelation offers us insight into God. And, it is pretty clear that God wants us to be in a relationship with God but it is one where we worship God as our true god not as a painting on a ceiling God ingrained into history by the painter’s brush strokes … God wants us to genuinely love God, which means including God in our lives unlike the distant cousin who you may or may not remember to send an occasional Christmas card to at least every other year or so but you still say you love that cousin. But God also wants us to remember that we are not the gods … that God is the God … and you and I need to reflect whether we are ready to bow down before God … kneel before God … be servants of God in this life’s journey so we are prepared for eternity.
On my Instagram recently an old video of Ringo Starr being knighted showed up. There was this multimillionaire music icon bowing before British royalty. He knelt before the Queen … he showed his respect for royalty in his home nation … how much easier should it be for us to bow down and worship God as the ultimate leader for our lives?
Paul wrote, “God’s purpose is to show rulers and powers in heaven His wisdom. This was consistent with the plan God had that was accomplished through Christ Jesus our Lord. In Christ we have access to God through faith in Christ.”
So, come to the Table of the Lord with joy …. Come to the table of the Lord respecting and loving God for who God is. Be willing to follow Jesus and bow down before God because God is God.
And, join in the lesson from my calendar for today always ready to state … God, “I think of you and give thanks!” Frankly friends, I cannot imagine life without God and there’s no place I would rather be than worshiping God with all of you with joy and celebration in my heart! AMEN