This sermon was preached on January 7, 2024 at Pomaria Lutheran Church in Pomaria, SC, and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Irmo. I was there to install their new pastor, the Rev. Michele Fischer, in both congregations. St. John’s shared this worship on Facebook at: https://fb.watch/qFMIZzHIPi

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
 ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
  are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
 for from you shall come a ruler
  who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
 ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

So I found out recently that I’m old. I don’t particularly feel old. As far as the years go, I hope to have a lot more of them left. But according to my ten-year-old daughter, I am ancient.

How does she know that I am older than dirt? Because I remember when all pictures came on film. I remember when phones plugged into the wall. And I remember when you had to know where you were going and how to get there before you got in the car. Back when I learned to drive, we didn’t even have Mapquest. You had to, you know, read maps and plan ahead. Sometimes you had to remember landmarks. It was rough back in the 90’s.

Think about that for a minute. What if the wise men had had a mapping app on their phones? They wouldn’t have stopped by Jerusalem to see Herod. Maybe they wouldn’t have been watching the stars at all. Who knows?

The wise men are unlikely heroes in this story. They come from out of nowhere and we don’t know much about them. We don’t know how many of them there were, though tradition has given us numbers and names. What we guess is that they’re from Persia, now Iran, and that they were Zoroastrians. They certainly weren’t Jewish. Zoroastrians were waiting for a savior to be born of a virgin, so they were looking for someone like Jesus. They didn’t know where they were going. They had to get to the right area and then check in in the capital city because they didn’t have the right religious texts to tell them where the Messiah would be born. The star only led them to Bethlehem when they’d done their homework.

Bethlehem was a small village. Everyone was related even before Caesar Augustus told the whole world to go to their hometowns and be registered. Imagine these foreigners showing up, not looking like they belong there, talking with accents or translators, and with enough rich gifts and fancy clothes that you know they came straight from Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. These guys are asking about a baby? Oh boy.

We can make fun of those travelers if we want, but the truth is that they were courageous. They read the signs of the times. For them, it was written in the stars. Then, they set out to see what this world was up to. They didn’t know that it was the God of Israel who set them on their path. They just knew it was the next right step. They got as far as they could, and checked in with the Scriptures and the religious authorities to go further. When they arrived where they were going, they got to see the Lord of the Universe, Maker of all Things, made flesh and curled up in his mother’s arms. That’s bravery, right there, and it was rewarded.

Think about Herod, on the other hand. His life path was really different. His family wasn’t originally Jewish; they had converted a few generations before him. He used that connection and his ethnic background to make himself into a power player. You know, he went to the right schools, knew the right people, made the right business deals and marriage connections. Herod played the political game. It looked like he’d won, too, with his palace and all. Maybe he called himself a king, but he was a go between. He was middle management, running this Jewish province in the great Roman Empire. Herod was constantly in fear. It was so bad that he was scared of a baby. A baby. Herod knew where he wanted to go in this life. His thirst for political power led him to anxiety and violence.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to think more like Herod, if I’m being honest. I want to know where we’re going. I’d like to have my life mapped out. But the pattern we get, again and again in the Bible, is like these wise men. In chapter 6 of Genesis, waaaay back in the beginning, God tells Noah to build a giant boat and then tells him why. God sends Abraham and Sarah traveling to a land he has promised them, but he doesn’t deliver on that promise right away. God takes the people of Israel on a 40 year journey through the wilderness, leading them one day and one stage at a time until they are ready to enter the Promised Land. The disciples don’t get an itinerary of what they’re going to do while following Jesus, and Paul certainly doesn’t know what God has in store for him when he heads to Damascus to persecute Christians. God keeps doing this. God keeps sending people on journeys where they only know the first step.

How do we know where to go? Well, Abraham and Sarah had messengers and late night conversations with the Almighty. Paul had a vision. The disciples had Jesus in person. But the magi? They had to pay attention to the subtler things. God came to them in astrology of all things! God know that the zodiac is what they were paying attention to and God used it to speak truth to them. God sent them a dream along the way to warn them not to trust Herod, and they believed it. The wise men knew when to listen. There are times when I have physically felt God tugging on me. I have friends who have heard voice. But most of the time, I think we get God’s message to us in those quieter ways.

Sometimes, God speaks to us by not letting things work out the way we had expected or hoped. I have thanked God later for not letting me get jobs that I really wanted when I applied for them. Most people I know can rejoice that God saved them from marrying someone they thought they were in love with.

Sometimes, God speaks to us in our Bible reading. A verse jumps out like it’s just for us on that day. Sometimes, God speaks to us in the things around us. A poster on the wall, a friend’s comment, a song playing at the right time. God is speaking to us far more often than we notice.

That’s what makes these men wise. The wise men weren’t Jewish. They weren’t Christian. They didn’t know what they were looking for, but because they listened and followed, they found grace and truth.

Today is a big day in the life of this congregation. You’ve done a lot of work to get here. You’ve listened for God and followed what you heard. You’ve prayed and talked. You’ve compromised and planned. You’ve had disappointments and long waits. Our bishop and her staff—me included—have walked with you along this way. We were there to help form this new partnership. We worked hard for things that didn’t pan out. We’ve spent time on the phone and here with you, getting to know you, dreaming of what God had in store, and smoothing the way for things to go well. Today, we get to celebrate!

Your partnership between Pomaria and St. John’s has called a pastor—a good and caring pastor. You’ve got creativity and energy. You have diligence and faithfulness, a history that binds you and equips you to share God’s good news with this generation.

I don’t know that anyone 20 or 50 years ago would have expected 2024 to look quite the way it does. But one step at a time, one sermon, one Bible Study, one council meeting at a time, God has brought us to this place. What a blessing. One prayer, one meeting, one step at a time, God will continue to move here, to bring people who don’t know God to more love than they can believe, to strengthen your community and families as you listen and work together. What a blessing!

Like the wise men who followed dreams and stars, we can follow God’s nudges and signs. We can take one step when we can’t see what comes after it. We can trust that God’s Holy Spirit is at work in us, calling us, encouraging us, making a way where we didn’t know one had been before. God is calling all people to himself. God is making this world new. We may not have all the details, but we get to be a part of the big story, one page at a time.