Who are you looking for?

Matthew 2:1-12

Have you ever stopped to think about how confused all the main players in Matthew’s telling of Jesus birth were?  Herod, on hearing that there was going to be a king born to the Jews, rounded up the troops, called out the guard, and prepared to do battle with this king that he thought would be a threat to his throne.  Herod’s misunderstanding of Jesus’ person and purpose is revealed in the paranoia and punishment that he meted out and inspired in the lives of his people in the wake of Jesus’ birth.  As Matthew tells us in verse 3, “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” 

Even the 3 Kings whose part in the story we celebrate this morning came looking for someone entirely different from the baby Jesus that they discovered in Bethlehem.  The confusion that they experienced is expressed in the choice of gifts that they brought to his side.  Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.  They brought precious and expensive gifts to this newborn king that they no doubt expected to find living in a beautiful palace, born in the lap of luxury.

But each one of them had it all wrong.  Jesus was neither a military threat, nor a pompous and pampered earthly king reigning over his people.   Jesus, the Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords was an innocent child born to common parents in a filthy animal pen in a hick town that was so out of the way that it’s only claim to fame was the well known saying, “can anything good come out of Bethlehem?”  And those who asked this rhetorical question were no doubt certain that the answer was a resounding “no.”

It seems that pretty much everyone was a bit confused about just who and what they were looking for on that first Christmas.  But then when I stop to think about it, I don’t suppose that we are doing too much better today.  Even now, some 2,000 years later we still have trouble getting the story right.  A perfect example is right here behind me this morning. 

I’m going to ask Kerry and Jasen if they can get a close up of our nativity scene up on the screen behind me.  OK, now take a look at what you see there and tell me what’s wrong with this picture, when it is compared to the story of Jesus birth as we find it in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.    Well, for starters, the stable where Jesus was born would have looked nothing like this.  Cattle stalls at the time of Jesus birth were little more than filthy caves carved out of the rocks that surrounded the little town of Bethlehem.  Far from a fairly clean little barn, Jesus was born in a manure filled cave. 

OK, what else do you see?  What about the gathering of guests that we find in our traditional crèche?   According to Luke’s Gospel, the shepherds were the only visitors to Jesus birthplace on that first Christmas.   The 3 kings didn’t show up until at least a couple of months later where, as we read this morning, “they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.” Vs. 11.  Not only were the 3 kings not there on Christmas night, Mary and Joseph had moved into a house by the time that they arrived.

And what of their identity?  We refer to them as the 3 kings, yet neither is correct.  Matthew refers to them as Maji or Wise Men, not kings at all.  They were in all likelihood, astrologers from ancient Persia, and their number is never even mentioned.  Our tradition of 3 wise men has simply risen in our version of the Christmas story based on Matthew’s reporting that they brought 3 gifts. 

And so you see, we aren’t all that different from those ancient travelers and their confusion in our own misunderstanding of the person and the story of Jesus and his birth.  For not only have we messed up the story of his birth, but continually we fall prey to expecting Jesus to be a person quite different from the one that he is.

Turn on your television on any given Sunday morning and you will hear preachers who share a “health and wealth,” gospel promising that if we give money to their ministry, then Jesus will bless us with riches untold.  In their interpretation of Jesus, his person, his ministry and his will, it’s all good news.  And if you really believe in Christ, then nothing will ever go wrong in your life.  On the other hand, if you listen to the ranting and raving of some of your friends and neighbors you will hear them describe a Jesus who is big on punishment, and short on grace.  They talk about a savior who can’t wait to see the wicked receive their just reward.  They describe a Jesus whose lifeblood is “thou shall not” and who dares anyone to find even the tiniest shred of enjoyment in their lives.

But that’s not the Jesus that I know and read of in God’s word.  And so this morning, as you arrive at the doorstep of that house in Bethlehem with those worshipful, but surprised wise men by your side, I encourage you to be careful about who you come looking for. 

Because if you’re looking for a Santa Clause that’s going to bring you every material blessing that your heart could desire, you can just keep looking.  If you’re looking for a heavenly magician who will wave his magic wand and make all of your troubles go away.  You’re looking in the wrong place.  If you’re looking for a divine policeman who will punish all the people who have hurt you and made you angry, then you would probably be better off just going out and hiring a hit man.

However, if you are looking for a forgiving and humble Lord, you’re in the right place.  If you are looking for someone who has the answers to even the most difficult of life’s questions, sometimes providing answers that you’d prefer not to hear.  Then you’ve got the right guy.  If you are looking for someone who can by word and example teach you how to live a life of such blatant unselfishness that you can turn the world upside down. Then get in line. If you are looking for someone who has the strength to help you carry even the most difficult of life’s burdens, then step right up. If you are looking for someone who can offer you a kind of love that can heal the most broken of hearts. Then welcome home.  If you are looking for someone who will always believe in the best that you can be and forgive you of all the wrong that you have ever done, and expect you to do the same for others, then come on in, because there’s plenty of room at the side of that tiny baby born in Bethlehem that we might see and receive the peace, love, and joy of God.

Who are you looking for?  “This, this is Christ the king whom shepherds guard and angels sing.  Haste, haste to bring Him laud, the Babe, the son of Mary.”
Amen.