A reflection on the lectionary readings for the second Sunday after Christmas. (There are three options for the Gospel reading for today, I’m using Matthew 2:1-12.)
Throughout the stories we have in the Old Testament, God often enables those who would be considered outsiders to further God’s purposes. In many of Jesus’ parables, it is the outsiders who demonstrate grace and compassion. And in Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ earliest days, it is the outsiders who can see the light.
These wise men, most likely astrologers or even Zoroastrian priests, came from the east. In the Old Testament writings, to go East symbolized moving away from God, exile, and judgement. Cain went East of Eden after murdering his brother. The Israelites were exiled East to Babylon. To come from the East means moving back toward God, redemption, and hope. The sun rises in the East. The second coming of Christ is to be from the East. The wise men came from the East following a star, a sign in the heavens of something awesome.
Apparently, though, this star didn’t alert everyone. The shepherds near Bethlehem saw it. But Herod or any of his court didn’t seem to take any notice, until he heard of these foreigners who were going around asking about the birth of the King of the Jews. This is what got Herod’s attention. Not some sign from the heavens that something awesome was happening but a rumor that threatened his power.
These men were very wise. They listened to Herod and then discerned what they should actually do. They knew that Herod didn’t really want to pay this child homage but saw this vulnerable infant as a threat to all that he holds dear – power, wealth, and prestige. And so, after honoring this tiny baby born to a poor family in a small town with gifts for royalty, they went home by another road. These men, these foreigners/outsiders, knew the road that led to Herod was the wrong road.
Jump forward in time a few thousand years and we are in a culture that still tries to tell us that outsiders are bad, evil, out to get us. And we don’t even have to look outside our country’s borders to see it. Whatever political tribe we align ourselves with, those who aren’t part of our tribe, those we label outsider, are bad, evil, out to get us. Those who live in a different part of town. Those who look different or sound different. Those who have money. Those who don’t have much money. Those who worship in a different church. Our culture is conditioning us to see “others” as no good.
And yet, we have this story of a group of men who represent all that God’s people should think is bad because of where they are from and the religion they practice are the ones who, along with the poor shepherds (definitely outsiders), see the sign of God’s love. And they don’t just see it, they act on it. They travel vast distances to honor what the light has told them is happening, even if they don’t fully understand it. When they discover the baby they are seeking in a small, poor home rather than a palace, they don’t decide to keep their gifts. They give them and honor the baby and family. It was Herod, one who ‘belonged,’ who literally had the title ‘king of the Jews’ who sought to do harm. The outsiders honored the God whom they didn’t even worship.
This plot line isn’t unique in scripture. We see it over and over again in the stories of our faith ancestors. So often those who consider themselves on the ‘inside’ are blind to the true power and awesomeness of God – the Power of Love – because they are blinded by their own desire for the coercive and controlling power that keeps them on top. God continues to work God’s redemptive purposes through who those on top would label ‘others’.
God chose to make himself known through a particular family and people group but God never intended for love and mercy and grace and justice to be offered only to those of that people group. The mission of God’s people is to share all of God’s blessings to the whole world. Labeling any human being as ‘the other’ and blindly assigning all of the bigoted baggage that goes with such a label is not God’s Way or God’s Plan.
God’s love has always been an open invitation to everyone. To follow Jesus means that we have been adopted into God’s family, joint heirs to the riches of the life that is guided by love, mercy, and justice. Our mission, our purpose is to invite others in, not determine who we should keep out. Any form of ‘Jesus following’ that defines itself by who they keep out isn’t following Jesus at all. Any form of ‘Jesus following’ that spends energy teaching others who they should hate and fear isn’t following Jesus at all.
The story of the wise men and Herod is the perfect illustration of what Jesus would do throughout his ministry on earth. Jesus spent his ministry showing where those ‘on the inside’ were defying God’s invitation. Those whom we need to wisely discern their motives, Jesus shows us, are those who hold power over us. Do they really want to honor God or are they only interested in maintaining their own power?
Like the men from the east, we too, need to be wise when others try to coerce us with ‘othering’ and we need to take a different road. We need to keep our eyes on God’s light that illuminates the Way of Love so that those who walk in darkness can see the path and join us on the journey into God’s Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven. This is how we live the divine life of following Jesus. Amen.
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