Loving Your Enemies by Martin Luther King, Jr.

On January 20, 2013 The Sandwich Federated Church read excerpts from this sermon by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Here is the text and a link to where the original audio may be found:

Loving Your Enemies

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

public domain sermon

Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

Montgomery, Alabama, 17 November 1957.

I am forced to preach under something of a handicap this morning. In fact, I had the doctor before coming to church. And he said that it would be best for me to stay in the bed this morning. And I insisted that I would have to come to preach. So he allowed me to come out with one stipulation, and that is that I would not come in the pulpit until time to preach, and that after, that I would immediately go back home and get in the bed. So I’m going to try to follow his instructions from that point on.

I want to use as a subject from which to preach this morning a very familiar subject, and it is familiar to you because I have preached from this subject twice before to my knowing in this pulpit. I try to make it a, something of a custom or tradition to preach from this passage of Scripture at least once a year, adding new insights that I develop along the way out of new experiences as I give these messages. Although the content is, the basic content is the same, new insights and new experiences naturally make for new illustrations.

So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.

Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.

Now first let us deal with this question, which is the practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems strange to you, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.

Now, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you, not because of something you have done to them, but they just won’t like you. I’m quite aware of that. Some people aren’t going to like the way you walk; some people aren’t going to like the way you talk. Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your job better than they can do theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because other people like you, and because you’re popular, and because you’re well-liked, they aren’t going to like you. Some people aren’t going to like you because your hair is a little shorter than theirs or your hair is a little longer than theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little brighter than theirs; and others aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like you. They’re going to dislike you, not because of something that you’ve done to them, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so prevalent in human nature.

But after looking at these things and admitting these things, we must face the fact that an individual might dislike us because of something that we’ve done deep down in the past, some personality attribute that we possess, something that we’ve done deep down in the past and we’ve forgotten about it; but it was that something that aroused the hate response within the individual. That is why I say, begin with yourself. There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual.

This is true in our international struggle. We look at the struggle, the ideological struggle between communism on the one hand and democracy on the other, and we see the struggle between America and Russia. Now certainly, we can never give our allegiance to the Russian way of life, to the communistic way of life, because communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept. When we look at the methods of communism, a philosophy where somehow the end justifies the means, we cannot accept that because we believe as Christians that the end is pre-existent in the means. But in spite of all of the weaknesses and evils inherent in communism, we must at the same time see the weaknesses and evils within democracy.

Democracy is the greatest form of government to my mind that man has ever conceived, but the weakness is that we have never touched it. Isn’t it true that we have often taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes? Isn’t it true that we have often in our democracy trampled over individuals and races with the iron feet of oppression? Isn’t it true that through our Western powers we have perpetuated colonialism and imperialism? And all of these things must be taken under consideration as we look at Russia. We must face the fact that the rhythmic beat of the deep rumblings of discontent from Asia and Africa is at bottom a revolt against the imperialism and colonialism perpetuated by Western civilization all these many years. The success of communism in the world today is due to the failure of democracy to live up to the noble ideals and principles inherent in its system.

And this is what Jesus means when he said: "How is it that you can see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the beam in your own eye?" Or to put it in Moffatt’s translation: "How is it that you see the splinter in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?" And this is one of the tragedies of human nature. So we begin to love our enemies and love those persons that hate us whether in collective life or individual life by looking at ourselves.

A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and everytime you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.

I’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid, the Latin poet, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do." There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions. There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe, "There is enough stuff in me to make both a gentleman and a rogue." There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do."

So somehow the "isness" of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.

Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must not do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.

The Greek language, as I’ve said so often before, is very powerful at this point. It comes to our aid beautifully in giving us the real meaning and depth of the whole philosophy of love. And I think it is quite apropos at this point, for you see the Greek language has three words for love, interestingly enough. It talks about love as eros. That’s one word for love. Eros is a sort of, aesthetic love. Plato talks about it a great deal in his dialogues, a sort of yearning of the soul for the realm of the gods. And it’s come to us to be a sort of romantic love, though it’s a beautiful love. Everybody has experienced eros in all of its beauty when you find some individual that is attractive to you and that you pour out all of your like and your love on that individual. That is eros, you see, and it’s a powerful, beautiful love that is given to us through all of the beauty of literature; we read about it.

Then the Greek language talks about philia, and that’s another type of love that’s also beautiful. It is a sort of intimate affection between personal friends. And this is the type of love that you have for those persons that you’re friendly with, your intimate friends, or people that you call on the telephone and you go by to have dinner with, and your roommate in college and that type of thing. It’s a sort of reciprocal love. On this level, you like a person because that person likes you. You love on this level, because you are loved. You love on this level, because there’s something about the person you love that is likeable to you. This too is a beautiful love. You can communicate with a person; you have certain things in common; you like to do things together. This is philia.

The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the word agape. And agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia; agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person you’ve ever seen.

And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he says, "Love your enemy." And it’s significant that he does not say, "Like your enemy." Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it.

Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. [tapping on pulpit] It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.

I think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: "I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power." And I looked at him right quick and said: "Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway."

Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction. It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights. And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.

There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. And this is why Jesus says hate [recording interrupted]

. . . that you want to be integrated with yourself, and the way to be integrated with yourself is be sure that you meet every situation of life with an abounding love. Never hate, because it ends up in tragic, neurotic responses. Psychologists and psychiatrists are telling us today that the more we hate, the more we develop guilt feelings and we begin to subconsciously repress or consciously suppress certain emotions, and they all stack up in our subconscious selves and make for tragic, neurotic responses. And may this not be the neuroses of many individuals as they confront life that that is an element of hate there. And modern psychology is calling on us now to love. But long before modern psychology came into being, the world’s greatest psychologist who walked around the hills of Galilee told us to love. He looked at men and said: "Love your enemies; don’t hate anybody." It’s not enough for us to hate your friends because—to to love your friends—because when you start hating anybody, it destroys the very center of your creative response to life and the universe; so love everybody. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life. So Jesus says love, because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.

Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.

I think of one of the best examples of this. We all remember the great president of this United States, Abraham Lincoln—these United States rather. You remember when Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln, a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks, saying, "You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States." He went on and on and on and went around with that type of attitude and wrote about it. Finally, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. And if you read the great biography of Lincoln, if you read the great works about him, you will discover that as every president comes to the point, he came to the point of having to choose a Cabinet. And then came the time for him to choose a Secretary of War. He looked across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact, they said to him: "Mr. Lincoln, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he has done, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?" Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors around him and said: "Oh yes, I know about it; I read about it; I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for the job."

Mr. Stanton did become Secretary of War, and a few months later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made by, about Abraham Lincoln was made about this man Stanton. And as Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and said: "Now he belongs to the ages." And he made a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of this man. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton.

That’s it. There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, "This isn’t the way."

And oh this morning, as I think of the fact that our world is in transition now. Our whole world is facing a revolution. Our nation is facing a revolution, our nation. One of the things that concerns me most is that in the midst of the revolution of the world and the midst of the revolution of this nation, that we will discover the meaning of Jesus’ words.

History unfortunately leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors. And there are three ways that individuals who are oppressed can deal with their oppression. One of them is to rise up against their oppressors with physical violence and corroding hatred. But oh this isn’t the way. For the danger and the weakness of this method is its futility. Violence creates many more social problems than it solves. And I’ve said, in so many instances, that as the Negro, in particular, and colored peoples all over the world struggle for freedom, if they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Violence isn’t the way.

Another way is to acquiesce and to give in, to resign yourself to the oppression. Some people do that. They discover the difficulties of the wilderness moving into the promised land, and they would rather go back to the despots of Egypt because it’s difficult to get in the promised land. And so they resign themselves to the fate of oppression; they somehow acquiesce to this thing. But that too isn’t the way because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.

But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way. Jesus discovered that.

Not only did Jesus discover it, even great military leaders discover that. One day as Napoleon came toward the end of his career and looked back across the years—the great Napoleon that at a very early age had all but conquered the world. He was not stopped until he became, till he moved out to the battle of Leipzig and then to Waterloo. But that same Napoleon one day stood back and looked across the years, and said: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have built great empires. But upon what did they depend? They depended upon force. But long ago Jesus started an empire that depended on love, and even to this day millions will die for him."

Yes, I can see Jesus walking around the hills and the valleys of Palestine. And I can see him looking out at the Roman Empire with all of her fascinating and intricate military machinery. But in the midst of that, I can hear him saying: "I will not use this method. Neither will I hate the Roman Empire." [Radio Announcer:] (WRMA, Montgomery, Alabama. Due to the fact of the delay this morning, we are going over with the sermon.) [several words inaudible] . . . and just start marching.

And I’m proud to stand here in Dexter this morning and say that that army is still marching. It grew up from a group of eleven or twelve men to more than seven hundred million today. Because of the power and influence of the personality of this Christ, he was able to split history into a.d. and b.c. Because of his power, he was able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. And all around the world this morning, we can hear the glad echo of heaven ring:

Jesus shall reign wherever sun,

Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom spreads from shore to shore,

Till moon shall wane and wax no more.

We can hear another chorus singing: "All hail the power of Jesus name!"

We can hear another chorus singing: "Hallelujah, hallelujah! He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah, hallelujah!"

We can hear another choir singing:

In Christ there is no East or West.

In Him no North or South,

But one great Fellowship of Love

Throughout the whole wide world.

This is the only way.

And our civilization must discover that. Individuals must discover that as they deal with other individuals. There is a little tree planted on a little hill and on that tree hangs the most influential character that ever came in this world. But never feel that that tree is a meaningless drama that took place on the stages of history. Oh no, it is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity, and see the love of God breaking forth into time. It is an eternal reminder to a power-drunk generation that love is the only way. It is an eternal reminder to a generation depending on nuclear and atomic energy, a generation depending on physical violence, that love is the only creative, redemptive, transforming power in the universe.

So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, "I love you. I would rather die than hate you." And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies, to bless those persons that cursed us, to even decide to be good to those persons who hated us, and we even prayed for those persons who despitefully used us.

Oh God, help us in our lives and in all of our attitudes, to work out this controlling force of love, this controlling power that can solve every problem that we confront in all areas. Oh, we talk about politics; we talk about the problems facing our atomic civilization. Grant that all men will come together and discover that as we solve the crisis and solve these problems—the international problems, the problems of atomic energy, the problems of nuclear energy, and yes, even the race problem—let us join together in a great fellowship of love and bow down at the feet of Jesus. Give us this strong determination. In the name and spirit of this Christ, we pray. Amen.

http://www.ipoet.com/ARCHIVE/BEYOND/King-Jr/Loving-Your-Enemies.html

Wedding Sign

 Delivered January 20, 2013

John 2:1-11

Our Gospel lesson this morning is the famous story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding. To begin our study of this passage, I need to answer some basic questions in order to understand the historical backdrop of the story. This wedding takes place in Cana, which is a town in northern Galilee not far from Nazareth (Jesus hometown) and Capernaum (the hometown of several of Jesus’ disciples and Jesus’ Galilean base of operations.) So it is in Jesus’ neighborhood. Whose wedding is this? We are not told. There has been wild speculation on this point. One is the idea that this is Jesus’ wedding. You may have heard of the tiny 4^th century papyrus fragment written in Coptic recently discovered that mentions Jesus’ wife. It is being called "The Gospel of Jesus' Wife." The most recent update on that is that we can’t conclude anything from that tiny fragment. We don’t know if it is a forgery or how old the fragment is or anything about it. It is being evaluated by biblical scholars at this point. An even crazier idea about the Cana wedding is that this is not only Jesus’ wedding but he was marrying Mary Magdalene, who was from Magdala, a nearby town. That is not what is happening here. There is no evidence whatever that Jesus was married. It clearly says that Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding; they were not in the wedding. It is likely though that either the bride or groom was a relative of Jesus, because Jesus’ mother Mary seems to be involved in the preparation. So this was likely a family wedding in the next town which Jesus was attending.

While at the wedding Jesus does a miracle; he turns water into wine. Different gospels use different words for miracle. The Gospel of John uses the word sign. It says in verse 11 “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” The Gospel of John actually has seven signs, starting with this one and increasing in importance and dramatic intensity until culminating in the seventh sign of raising Lazarus from the dead. These seven signs prepare the reader for the greatest sign in the gospel which is the resurrection of Jesus.

The use of the word sign for miracle in the Gospel of John is significant. A sign points to something beyond itself. A lot of people get caught up in the supernatural aspect of it – struggling whether such a thing can really happen or not – and they miss the whole point. A sign points to something beyond itself. It is like people debating the true nature of a road sign whereas they need to follow the sign to where it points. That is what is important. Words, ideas, doctrines, stories are signs that point beyond themselves. This sign – like all the signs in John’s Gospel – points to Christ, so that people might come to believe in Him. “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” So don’t get sidetracked with trivialities in this or any of the miracle stories. They are meant to teach us something about Christ. What does this story teach us? Where does the sign point us?

1. First, it points us to spontaneous spirituality. Jesus demonstrates spontaneity in this story. Jesus goes to the wedding simply expecting to be a guest and nothing more. Then his mom comes up to him and tells him they have run out of wine. Jesus in effect replies, ‘What does this have to do with me, mom?”   The text literally says, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” You can’t miss the tone of irritation in Jesus’ voice. Some commentators and preachers try to explain this tone away. It doesn’t seem worthy of Christ to act like this. But we have to remember that Jesus was human too. He got irritated sometimes. He got irritated with his mom sometimes. I know none of you here have ever gotten irritated with your mothers, but Jesus did on occasion. And this is one of those times.

Mary wants Jesus to do something to fix the problem. The problem was loss of face, which was a serious thing – and remains a serious thing – in the Middle East. A person’s sense of self-respect and dignity was very important in that culture and time. You might remember a story in the news in early December. Two Australian radio broadcasters made a crank call to the hospital in London where Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was hospitalized for severe morning sickness. They pretended to be Queen Elizabeth. There was no switchboard receptionist on duty that early in the morning (5:30am), so the call was answered by a nurse, Jacintha Saldanha. Saldanha transferred the call to the nurse treating the Duchess, and there was a lengthy conversation. Later on the call was revealed to be a hoax, which was broadcast on the radio and went viral on the internet. Later on the nurse in anguish and remorse took her own life. Why would she kill herself over this? It wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t intentional; she was fooled. She mentions why she killed herself in her suicide note. Even though there were some other issues, this radio prank was the precipitating event that prompted her suicide. Part of this was the fact that this woman was an Indian, born in India. She had a very different cultural standard of what was culturally acceptable and what was not. This event was so mortifying for her that she ended up taking her own life.

 Back in Galilee in Jesus’ day, it would have been mortifying - extremely embarrassing - for the host family at a wedding to run out of wine. It might not seem to be that big a deal in our culture, but it was very different in that culture. The person in charge would feel like they could never forget nor forgive himself or herself. It would have been a family disgrace. Because this was likely a wedding of someone in Jesus’ extended family, it would have meant loss of face – loss of respect and social standing and dignity – to the family. It was a big deal. Big enough for Jesus to feel like he had to something. He didn’t want to intervene. He tells his mother that his time had not yet come, which simply means that it wasn’t the time to start doing miracles and thereby calling attention to himself. But after responding to his mother in this brusque manner, Jesus gave it a second thought; he decided it was time to let the world know who he really was after all. So he provided wine in in a very unique manner.

Jesus is our example in this, as in all things. Not by turning water to wine but in acting in a spontaneous manner. God called Jesus to do this at this time. Jesus had to be open to the leading of God, and not do his own will, but God’s will. The same is true for us. Too much of our lives – and especially religious life - can be planned. Churches and Christians are famous for that. The spiritual life in many respects cannot be planned. It is by nature spontaneous, a living expression of the Holy Spirit working in and through our lives. This sign points us to a spiritually spontaneous way of living, transcending our pre-planned mentality, overcoming our natural reluctance to do things the way they have always been done, and being open to God mixing things up whenever he wants.

2. Second, this sign points us to the celebration of spiritual cleansing. Verse 6 says, “Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.” These were huge ceremonial pots used for ritual cleansing. Jesus transforms ritual containers into wine dispensers. That is a very symbolic act. Ritual purification was very important in the Jewish religion of the time. Jews were continually ritually cleaning their hands and ritually cleaning their bodies, which all symbolized the cleansing of the soul. Christianity is also about the cleansing of the soul. We talk about cleansing from sin. We understand Jesus’ death as accomplishing a sacrificial cleansing and forgiveness. We understand that all the ritual sacrifices and purifications of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That is what this sign is pointing to.

We move beyond ritual cleansing, to spiritual celebration. Once Jesus filled these waterpots with wine, they could no longer be used for the ritual. Jesus was saying that something new was happening here. Elsewhere he talks about his gospel being new wine put into new wineskins. In reading this story we might not realize what a radical thing Jesus did. By transforming these ceramic pots from ritualistic containers to wine dispensers, Jesus made it impossible for the wedding guests to any longer use them for the washing ritual. He was making an old pattern obsolete by reinterpreting it and using it for something new. He does the same thing with the Passover Meal later at the Last Supper, turning it into the Lord’s Supper. Specifically at that meal he reinterpreted the wine of the Passover to mean his blood, which was cleansing in a way that the blood of Passover lambs could never be.

As Christians we don’t have to keep going through ritual or sacrificial cleansing any more. We have been made whole and made holy by Christ. The Lord’s Supper that we celebrate each month is not a resacrificing of Christ; it is a remembrance of the once for all time sacrifice on the Cross. The confession of sin that we do in prayer corporately each week and privately in personal prayer is not a plea for forgiveness over and over again. It is a celebration that our sins have been once and for all forgiven. A lot of people have the misconception that Christianity is about carrying around a burden of sinfulness and guilt. It is not. It is just the opposite. It is the end of sin and guilt. We never have to feel guilty again. As believers in Christ, we celebrate freedom from guilt and sin. The burden is lifted and we never have to take it on again. 

3. Third, this sign points us to extraordinary living in Christ. Jesus turns the water into wine and instructs that a sample of the wine be taken to chief steward, also called “the master of the feast.”  The steward takes a taste of the new wine that Jesus made, and turns to the father of the groom, who is footing the bill for the wedding, and says: “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” In the same way Jesus transforms our lives from the ordinary to the extraordinary. When Jesus makes something, it is never inferior.

Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon may be the place where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." And we might think our children or grandchildren fit that description. Mine are certainly all above average! But when we assess our own lives, might not feel that way. But that is because we are looking at our lives from a human perspective. We must remember that when Jesus makes something, it is never ordinary.  We were made by God in the image of God. That is extraordinary! We are remade into a new creation by Christ; that is extraordinary. As the saying goes, ”God don’t make no junk.” God does all things well. God made this glorious creation out of nothing. Genesis says that God made humans from dirt and formed us in his own image. He recreated us and redeemed us in Christ to be extraordinary vessels of his glory and grace. 

Furthermore he saves the best till last, just like in this story. As we get older some people think they are not as good as when they were younger. Perhaps our bodies are not as strong as they once were, and maybe our memories are not as sharp as they once were. But in other ways we are better than ever. Remember that wine gets better with age. When Jesus gave the teaching about new wine in new wineskins, he said,  “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” But then he also added these words, “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”  Old wine is better. The wine that Jesus served at this wedding tasted like old wine, which is the best wine. When people get older, they get better. I know we live in a youth obsessed culture, were youth is celebrated and aging is a decline. But historically in all cultures age has been valued and celebrated as the best. God does great things in our lives at all ages and especially true in the later age. At least that is what I am counting on!

4. Fourth, this sign of an earthly wedding points to points to a heavenly wedding. The image of a wedding is used repeatedly by Jesus in the Gospels as well as in the Epistles and Revelation. The significance of this story of the wedding in Cana goes far beyond the marriage of a Galilean couple. Jesus may not be the earthly bridegroom in this Gospel story, but he is the heavenly bridegroom elsewhere in the NT. In that same passage in Luke 5 that I quoted about the new wine and old wine, Jesus says, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”  Jesus is referring to himself. It is the same in his parable of the ten bridesmaids. He sees himself as a groom. The apostle Paul compares the union of Christ and the church to that of husband and wife. John describes the church as the Bride of Christ. Revelation describes the wedding supper of the Lamb (who is Christ) at the end of history.

This whole story of turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana points to a bigger story, a cosmic story. It is about a greater transformation than the chemical composition of H2O into fermented grape juice. The great hymn says, “From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her and for her life he died.” That is what this story is really about on a symbolic level. It is not just about the transformation of water. It is about the transformation of our lives and the transformation of the whole universe by Jesus Christ. Just like Jesus transformed the water into wine, so does he transform us. And he transforms the heaven and earth into a new heaven and new earth. This Gospel story is not just a magic trick done by Jesus at a wedding. This is a symbolic transformation. Our lives become something entirely new and different in the hands of the Savior. Our lives are remade by the love of Jesus Christ for us and for the world. May this transformation be a living reality in our experience. 

Baptism by Fire and Spirit

Luke 3:15-22

Today we look at the passage of scripture where Jesus was baptized. Baptism is an important rite in the Christian church. It is done differently in various Christian traditions. We have a lot of different denominational backgrounds represented in the Federated Church. Officially we are related to Methodists and Baptists, but we have just as many Congregationalists and Presbyterians here. You are  also Lutherans and Episcopalians and just about every other mainline denomination we can think of. Most the Protestant traditions baptize infants. If you were baptized as an infant you don’t remember your baptism. It was something done on your behalf by your parents, and sometime later you confirmed that baptism for yourself later in life. Baptists, on the other hand, baptize only those old enough to make a decision for themselves to be baptized. Also Baptists baptize by immersion. We baptize both ways in this Federated Church. In our gospel lesson for today we see Jesus baptized as an adult by John the Baptist.

Jesus’ baptism at the age of thirty was a very important event in his life. In all four gospels it is recorded as the beginning of his public ministry. As I read the story of Jesus’ baptism, I try to get into the head and heart of Jesus. I think that his baptism was a very powerful experience for Jesus. It completely transformed his life from that of an ordinary carpenter in the sleepy town of Nazareth in Galilee into one of a powerful preacher in Israel. And this was the moment in his life when Jesus’ life changed. Jesus fully realized who he was at this point. I am sure he had some understanding of his identity previously. We see it some in the story of Jesus at the age of 12 in the temple talking with the teachers (which I preached on a couple of weeks ago.) We see there the beginnings of his emerging self-awareness as the Son of God. But it was not yet complete. I think that over the years Jesus while he was in this teens and his twenties he gradually understood who he was as the Son of God. His baptism was the culmination of this process. I am tempted to call it his conversion, but he did not need to be converted in the way that we do. But it was still a very powerful spiritual experience for Jesus, and it transformed his life. Let’s look at Jesus’ baptism and our baptism this morning.

I. First our passage talks about baptism in water. In the simplest respect baptism is an outward ritual. For some people it does not mean much. I have met a lot of people during my ministry who were baptized when they were little, and it means nothing to them now. Some people even resent being baptized. I read about a debaptizing ceremony conducted by some atheists these days where people ceremonially undo their baptism. They use a hair-dryer and a ritual to symbolically undo what was done to them without their permission when they were infants. Even Baptists can reject their baptism which may have happened when they were 10, 11, 12 or 13 years old. They look back on it and say that they really didn’t know what they were doing at that age, or they just went through the motions for the sake of their parents. Or they were just going along with it because all their peers were going through it. I know that was true of confirmation for me when I was 13 years old in the Congregational Church. I didn’t believe any of it. Everybody in my Sunday School class was going through it, and I was expected by my parents to go through it. And so I was confirmed and joined the Maple Street Congregational Church and Danvers, Mass. But I did not believe in Jesus. I am not even sure I believed in God.

People can go through religious rites and rituals and not believe in their meaning. People can partake of communion each month and not believe. We can be members of a church and not believe. It can be just an outward observance without the inward meaning. That is why John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He stressed the need to make it personal. He stressed how each individual who came to him had to genuinely repent. This is the prerequisite of Christian baptism as well. There needs to be the intention that things will be different. But Christians understand Jesus’ baptism to be a bit different because Jesus is understood to be sinless and not in need of repentance. The Letter to the Hebrews says Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Yet we are not sinless. No matter how good our intentions, we know we fall short. I read recently that 50% of all New Year’s resolutions are broken by the end of January and 80% will not make it past February. Good intentions are not enough. The outward ritual, even if accompanied by the best of intentions is not enough. That is why more is needed. John himself saw that more was needed than his baptism by water. John says in our passage in verse 16 “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

II. This brings me to my second point, which is baptism in fire. John said he could not administer baptism in fire. All he could do was water baptism and hope that the people who came to him for baptism were coming with the right intention. That is all that any preacher can do. That is all that I can do. I do not have any control of the sincerity of the people in this church or in any church I have ever served. I have no control over what goes on in your inner spiritual life. That is entirely up to you and God. I can preach and teach and exhort and counsel and advise and try to set an example, but when it comes down to it, it is up to you. You spiritual life and your relationship to God is in your hands. No one really knows what is going on in your heart and soul but you. John also knew that his baptism was, in the end, just water. More was needed. The Messiah and his transforming power was needed. John says that the Messiah “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” I will get to the Holy Spirit later, but now let me focus on the other aspects.

John speaks about winnowing. “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”   Threshing is the process of separating the edible grain or seeds from the inedible husks and straw. It was done on a threshing floor, which was a flat stony area usually located in an elevated place. It is interesting, and symbolically significant, that the high spot in Jerusalem where Solomon built the temple was originally a threshing floor, the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite procured by David. Threshing floors were often located on hills so there would be a breeze available for the next step in the process, which was the winnowing. The grain was threshed - loosened from the stalks by beating them with a flail on the threshing floor. After the grain was loosened from the stalks, then winnowing removed the chaff from the grain. The most basic form of winnowing in the first century was simply throwing the material up in the air using a winnowing fan or winnowing fork, which was a like a wide basket or a rake. People would throw the mixture in the air and the wind would blow away the lighter chaff off to one side while the heavier grain would fall to the ground. This throwing upwards of the grain and chaff would be done over and over again until only the pure grain remained. The grain would be collected and stored in barns. Then the threshing floor would be swept, and all the worthless chaff collected and burned.

This is John’s metaphor for the baptism that Jesus baptizes us with. It means that our lives have to undergo purification by Christ. Human lives are a mixture of good and bad. We all can see that in our own lives and other people’s lives. In some people there is a lot of good, and in some people a lot of bad, but every life has both. And the bad infects the whole like a rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. Good and evil needs to be separated in our lives. Good and evil needs to be identified. That means we must call sin what it is. There is right and wrong, good and evil, sin and righteousness. It is important that we are clear in this matter and not downplay the presence and power of sin in our lives. What if a farmer refused to distinguish between wheat and chaff? What if he said it was too judgmental to make that type of distinction? What if the flour we bought at Heath’s Supermarket was filled with the husks and stalks? Nothing good can be made of that type of product. It is the same in our lives. We have to differentiate between the two. Then the two have to be separated. The worthless stuff in our lives needs to be collected and disposed of. This is what Christ does. That is the baptism of fire that Christ baptizes us with. He does in us what we cannot do for ourselves. He will separate the wheat from the chaff. He will winnow our lives. He will use the good for his purposes and burn up the chaff. That is Jesus’ baptism by fire. It is not an outward ritual; it is the internal spiritual work of Jesus Christ in our hearts and souls.

III. The third type of baptism mentioned in this passage is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Some interpreters combine fire and Spirit as referring to the same thing, referring to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostle in tongues of fire. I am distinguishing between fire and Spirit. John said, ““I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The passage goes on to describe Jesus’ baptism, which is an example of this baptism of the Holy Spirit but not fire. Jesus was baptized in water by John, but he was also baptized in the Holy Spirit by his Heavenly Father. The story says, “it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

There are several elements in these verses that need to be mentioned. The first is prayer. “it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed…” The baptism of the Holy Spirit begins with prayer. Prayer is an inner intention to connect with God. It can take different forms, from thanksgiving to petition to praise to thanksgiving and confession and many other types of prayer. But what they all have in common is a personal inner intent to connect with God. We have to desire and ask the Holy Spirit to consume and fill our lives. God will not force himself on us. If we do not want God to control of our lives, then God honors that choice. And our lives will exhibit the consequences. But if we want to be immersed in the Spirit of God, like we are immersed in water when we go swimming in Squam Lake, then we have to ask. Jesus prayed.

Then it says that heaven opened, “while He prayed, the heaven was opened.” Heaven descended to earth in the Holy Spirit in the baptism of Jesus. After a thunderstorm we sometimes see clouds part and rays of light break through. If we are driving on the highway or live on a hill with a nice view of the mountains, this parting of the clouds and rays of sun breaking through can be a dramatic sight. That is what happened in Jesus’ baptism. Except we are talking about spiritual heaven and not a physical one. Heaven is not up in the sky somewhere beyond the solar system of the Milky Way. Heaven is an omnipresent spiritual realm. The Kingdom of God is right here right now. But we are closed to it. We are unaware of its presence. At his baptism Jesus was powerfully aware of the opening of heaven in that spot. In the OT there is the famous story of Jacob’s ladder. Jacob was alone in the wilderness and fell asleep using a rock as a pillow – not very comfortable. He had a dream of heaven opening and a ladder erected between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending the stairway. When he awoke he declared, “Surely God is in this place and I did not know it! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven!” That is what happened at Jesus’ baptism.

Heaven opens in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God is seen as present here and now. Not somewhere in outer space or simply something experienced after we die (although that is true also.) But wherever the Holy Spirit is present, there is God. There is eternal life. There is eternity now. There are Pentecostal and charismatic churches and denominations that will say the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience of speaking in tongues or falling to the ground (slain in the Spirit, they call it). I don’t hold to that view. I think that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is being immersed in the Holy Spirit of God, an awareness of God present in us, through us, around us.

In the story of Jesus’ baptism it says that the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove. The dove is a symbol of gentle peace. This baptism was both a powerful and also a gentle experience for Jesus. Some people want a dramatic emotional spiritual experiences to confirm their faith. That is not necessary. Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit was a gentle awakening to the presence of God. This is an awareness that is open not only to Jesus but to every one of us who follows Jesus. God is just as presence here and now as he was at the Jordan River two thousand years ago. God has not changed. Christ has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Kingdom of God is powerfully present here today in this place, just as it was present during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit here today is the same Spirit. The only difference is whether we are open to the Spirit.

The final part of Jesus’ baptism is the voice. Verse 22 says, “And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” This is an expression of Jesus’ self-awareness as the Son of God. And a proclamation to others of Jesus unique status as God’s Son. We are not divine Sons or Daughters of God like Jesus was and is. He was the only begotten Son of God. But we can become children of God. John’s gospel says, “12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The apostle Paul says that we are adopted into God’s family through faith in Jesus was the Son of God. That is what baptism means. It means that by faith in this one who was baptized in water by John and in the Spirit by the Father, we also are spiritually baptized. A baptism of fire of the cleansing from sin and guilt. A baptism in Spirit as we open our hearts and souls unreservedly to God’s Holy Spirit to have control of our lives. And a baptism in water as an outward sign to represent that inner transformation. Baptism in water, in fire, and in the Holy Spirit. 

Returning Home Another Way

Matthew 2:1-12

Today is Epiphany, which is the day on the Christian calendar when we read the story of the wise men coming to visit the Christ child. Most churches normally include this account at Christmas also, but when we read the gospel story carefully we discover that these magi did not arrive on Christmas. In the traditional manger scenes the wise men are tucked right in there with the shepherds and angels, but that is not the way it is in the Bible story. The wise men visited later. We don’t know how much later, but possibly up to two years later. We know this because when King Herod wanted to assassinate the new Messiah he killed all the children in Bethlehem age two and under according to the time the wise men said the star appeared. That means that Jesus could have been born up to two years before the wise men arrived in Bethlehem.

Furthermore the word used for the Christ child in the text is not the word for newborn infant used in the gospel of Luke’s Christmas account. It is the word for a child up to the age of a toddler. So this visit of the Magi probably happened sometime after Christmas, but how long after Christmas we are not sure. But if the magi came later, then this raises other questions concerning this account. If this is much later, what is Jesus and family still doing in Bethlehem?  It says that Jesus and family are in a house in Bethlehem. Whose house? So there are a number of questions about this passage that we cannot answer. In any case this changes our thinking about the Christmas story. The visit of the wise men is quite an extraordinary event, and we are going to look at why that is the case this morning.

1. First, it is extraordinary because of who these wise men were. The Bible is mostly about the Jews as God’s chosen people. A few Gentiles appear here and there in the Biblical narrative, but they always fit into the Jewish religion somehow. But these wise men were different. Who were they? We don’t really know who they are except that they came from the East. How far East is the question. Most scholars would contend that they are Persians from what is present day Iran. There are other possibilities, among them is that they are Arabs or Nabataeans from northern Arabia. Some theories even suggest the Far East - India or China. But because of the use of the word magi in the text most think they are the members of the priestly ruling caste of ancient Persia. Their royal connection gave rise to the idea that they were kings. If they were Persian Magi then this means that they were Zoroastrians, adherents of a monotheistic (some would say dualistic) religion founded on the teachings of their prophet named Zoroaster or Zarathustra. These are the leaders of a non-Jewish religion paying homage to the Messiah of the Jewish religion.

They also seem to be astrologers. They studied the heavens, which is how they discovered the Star of Bethlehem. I am not going to try to identify the star in this message, but its location among the constellations obviously meant to the Magi that a Jewish king was born. Astrology was looked down upon by the Jews. In fact it was forbidden to be practiced by Hebrews in the OT. Astrology is still popular today. Indian society runs on astrology. Many Americans read their horoscope daily and believe that the location of stars in the sky affect their lives. Personally I think it is superstition with no scientific basis. Even though it was forbidden by the Old Testament, many Jews practiced it in the first century. Here we have some Zoroastrian astrologers appearing the gospel narrative and apparently using their astrology to find their way to the Christ child. Extraordinary!

I think the primary reason that these Magi were included in the accounts of Jesus’ birth is to illustrate that this Jewish Messiah was for all peoples. Religion back then was a very provincial matter. Each nation and people had its gods and religion. But the Jews believed in one God who ruled all the nations. They envisioned a time when all nations would stream to Jerusalem to worship the one God. The prophet Isaiah foresaw that day:

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days

That the mountain of the Lord’s house

Shall be established on the top of the mountains,

And shall be exalted above the hills;

And all nations shall flow to it.

³ Many people shall come and say,

“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

To the house of the God of Jacob;

He will teach us His ways,

And we shall walk in His paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

⁴ He shall judge between the nations,

And rebuke many people;

They shall beat their swords into plowshares,

And their spears into pruning hooks;

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

Neither shall they learn war anymore.”

            I think that the magi’s visit is a foreshadowing of that day when, as Isaiah says elsewhere, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.” As our OT passage of Isaiah 60 explains “The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”

            2. I want to move on to my second point now. The second extraordinary thing is the reaction of Jerusalem to the arrival of the Magi and the news they brought. It is extraordinary that the chief priests and scribes of the Hebrew religion missed the birth of the Messiah whereas these foreigners got it. It would be embarrassing to have something happening in your backyard and not know it, but have to be informed by people who have traveled hundreds of miles. Even more disturbing is the reaction to the news. You would think that the population of Jerusalem they would rejoice. Hooray! The long awaited Messiah is born! But instead it says, that Herod was troubled, “and all Jerusalem with him.” This included the chief priests and scribes. You would think that the religious leaders would be most excited and insist on going with the magi the six miles to Bethlehem to worship the Messiah. But they don’t!

I see the same type of reaction to Jesus these days. You would think that the celebration of the birth of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, would bring all people to worship him at Christmas. We had a good attendance at our Christmas Eve service – a full house here with people in the balcony - and our outdoor Live Nativity service had over 100 people. But both services combined had nowhere near the 1400 residents of Sandwich. I don’t know what we would do if even a quarter of the population of our town ever decided to come to worship at the same time. I would like to have that problem, but I am not thinking it is likely to happen. If all Jerusalem heard the news that the Messiah, the King of the Jews, had been born in Bethlehem I don’t know why thousands of people did not stream out of the city to the little town of Bethlehem. But they didn’t. Which lead me to think things haven’t changed in 2000 years.

The king, religious leaders, and people of Jerusalem did not go because to do so would have completely changed their lives. Imagine how it would have changed King Herod’s life. Can you imagine if in the Christmas story King Herod went and worshiped the Christ child and not just feign an interest in doing so? If that one man – that one king of Jerusalem - had (with the other three kings – of there were really three and if they were really kings) got on his knees before the Christ child and worshipped him, how different the Bible story would be! But Herod didn’t go, and the chief priests didn’t go, and the scribes didn’t go, and the people of Jerusalem didn’t go. Why didn’t they? Because they would have to change. If there is one thing that I have noticed after being a pastor for 38 years is that most people do not change. People change only when forced to change, only when they have no other choice. Almost all people find a reason not to change. To acknowledge and worship the Christ completely changes your life. I have found that only God working in a person can change a life.

3. The third extraordinary thing about this visit of the Magi is the star. I don’t have the time in this message to give you all the possibilities about the identity and meaning of the Star of Bethlehem. That would take a whole sermon. I have preached such a sermon before and I will probably preach it again, but not today. I do want to at least acknowledge the extraordinary nature of the star. You have possibly seen television specials about the Star of Bethlehem or read articles about it. Planetariums around the country do shows about it during the holiday season. But for all of the talk, the truth is we don’t really know what the Star of Bethlehem was or even when it was. There are many possibilities from supernovas to conjunctions of planets, but none of them fit the biblical description exactly. Especially how a star could go before them and then how it “came and stood over where the young Child was.” That does not sound like any star in the sky that I have ever seen! But I don’t lose any sleep over it. Because for me it is not about what and when and where it was; it is about what it means.

It is a symbol of light illuminating the darkness. It is a symbol guiding earnest seekers looking for a newborn king. It was a sign that this earthly birth had heavenly significance. For me I am more interested in how the magi responded to the star than I am about the star itself. Something about this star caught the attention of these men. They dropped everything and went on a journey. I just finished reading a novel entitled “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” by Rachel Joyce. It is a very good book and very well written. A lot of fiction written these days has so much violence, immorality and foul language that they are not enjoyable to read. This book is different. It is about a sixty-five year old recently retired man who lives in the south of England. One day he gets a letter from an old friend – a co-worker who had moved away years before. She is dying of cancer in a hospice in the north. He writes a letter back to her and goes to mail it at the postbox on the corner. But instead of mailing the letter, he decides to just keep on walking. On the spur of the moment, without packing anything or even putting on some decent walking shoes, he decides to walk all the way to Berwick 500 miles to the north to see his friend. It becomes a sort of religious pilgrimage for him. The book is about how he changed and the people he meets along the way.

The story of the Magi in the Bible is really about how they changed. We do not know what prompted these men – traditionally three of them although the Bible doesn’t tell us how many – to start the journey or what happened along the way. But just the fact that they took the journey at all is extraordinary. The spiritual life is like that. What makes our lives extraordinary is that we take the journey. You are taking that spiritual journey. You would not be here if you were not on a spiritual journey. A lot of people do not start a spiritual journey. Many start the journey and quit somewhere along the way. A lot of people get sidetracked and turn aside into spiritual dead-ends. But some persist in the journey, walking the road less traveled by. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

In the story of the Magi the end of the journey is Jesus. In another sense we can say that the journey is Jesus as well. Jesus said that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. In fact he said he was the only way. The word Way that he used means road. He is the road, path. Jesus is the journey as much as he is the destination of the journey. The spiritual life is about walking with Christ.

4. Another extraordinary thing about the story of the Magi is the gifts. I am not going to talk long about that either. That also is a whole sermon exploring the symbolism of the three gifts. But I can’t tell this story of the magi without at least mentioning their gifts briefly. There are three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. God is traditionally understood as the gift for a king. It also is the symbol of eternity and immortality. Frankincense is a gift for a priest. These magi were likely themselves priests of their Persian religion, but more important was that it pointed to the High Priesthood of Jesus. The third is myrrh which is the spice used for embalming. It is a gift given to one who is to die. Three gifts pointing to three aspects of the person, ministry and destiny of Jesus Christ.

5. The final point I want to make this morning is about the Magi’s return trip. The scripture story says “Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.” In one sense “another way” simply means that they did not go back through Jerusalem, and therefore did not tell King Herod exactly where the Christ child was. But I think it has a deeper meaning. That think it means that they returned changed. As I said a moment ago, the spiritual journey changes you. I am not the person I would have been if I had not started out on a spiritual journey when I was a college aged man. I am not the same person I would have been if I had not decided to go to seminary or not decided to enter Christian ministry or decided not to pastor various churches. I would not be the same person if I had not come to Sandwich and years later return to Sandwich. The journey changes us. Meeting Christ changes us. Kneeling before Christ changes us. Serving Christ changes us. It changed Mary when she said Yes to being the mother of the Messiah. It changed Joseph when he said yes to being the earthly father. It changed the Magi when they heeded the call and took the long trip home.

We don’t know what happened to the wise men. There are legends about them, of course. That is how we got the idea that there were three of them and that they were kings. Legends even gave them names. Legends say that they told their story about Jesus to their countrymen, and that they preached the one Jewish God and his Messiah to the Persians, preparing the way for the church to be planted there later. There is a legend that one of the twelve apostles, Simon the Zealot, preached in Persia and found the disciples of the Magi waiting to hear from the disciples of the baby visited by the Magi in Bethlehem. Simon later is said to have been martyred by crucifixion in the Persian city of Suanir for preaching the gospel and was buried in the family tomb of one of the Magi.

But these are legends and we have no idea how much, if any fact lies beneath them. But one thing is for sure. Meeting Christ changes us. The journey changes us. Worshipping the Christ changes us. Every Sunday when we worship him it changes us, and we return to our homes by another way. Walking differently because we have been in the presence of Christ and walked in the footsteps of the Magi.