The Journey that God chose
Robyn Black • January 10, 2021
Matthew 2:1-7
What a week huh? Brisbane is in a hard lockdown – people as far as Maroochydore stripped the supermarket shelves bare in panic buying on Friday, ahead of 3 days at home. I went out to Corrimal Court and Warrawong this week and was really impressed – everyone I saw had a mask on. How good is the Illawarra?? But it has been very inconvenient for some. My friend, who is a Franciscan Friar, was meant to move to Adelaide to live a week ago, and still doesn’t have permission to travel across the state border yet.
So today’s story - people travelling from afar – nay, another land to see Jesus. I thought, just as well it didn’t happen nowadays. Those wise people would never have made it across the borders to Jesus! But travel across borders they did! They travelled across geographic borders, cultural borders, racial borders, language borders and spiritual borders. The term Magi is a Greek term for Zoroastrian priests, which was the official religion of Persia.
We imagine there were many in the party, even though there were only 3 gifts mentioned. They would have travelled from Persia, with cooks and animal handlers, and servants – a great moving band of people who spoke Persian and did not worship Yahweh or God. And yet, here they were following a star (that had actually shone however many light years earlier for them to see it), to find Jesus.
There is such a lot in this well-known story that is fascinating. For instance, the Persian priests follow the star as far as Jerusalem, and then very sensibly ask for directions. Herod, who was appointed as the Jewish King heard about this. Herod was Jewish but his family had converted, they didn’t go back for generations in Judaism. Also he had a fairly decadent and spent lavish sums of money on himself. And he was aggressive and a tyrant and even murdered his own wife and some of his sons. So though Herod was technically the King, the Jewish people knew he wasn’t for real. They knew that his lineage wasn’t right and his heart wasn’t right. So when the Magi start asking questions about this newborn King of the Jews, Herod is very interested. He’s willing to kill his own flesh and blood to retain power – killing a baby of poor villagers, that is Mary and Joseph, would have been nothing to him.
It fascinates me that Herod consults the leading Jewish teachers, the chief priests and head scribes, to ask them where the promised Messiah would be born. And they tell him “Bethlehem”. These guys knew. They had all the head knowledge of all the prophets, they knew the scriptures back to front. In fact, they even believed the scriptures. But they just never went to Bethlehem themselves!
Finding Jesus and following Jesus is NEVER just about head knowledge. Plenty of people can study scripture and know all the stories, but never actually do anything about it that impacts their life. Imagine if those Jewish teachers and priests had thought for one minute…maybe, just maybe we should check this out. Maybe it’s more than a coincidence that scripture talks about the Messiah being born in Bethlehem and these guys have followed a star here.
I’ve often recounted that I grew up learning all the stories about Jesus. I went to Sunday school and heard about Jesus. I went to Sunday school every week. but it wasn’t until I was 14 years old that I heard for the first time that I could proactively seek Jesus with everything I have, give my heart to him, follow him, give my life to him. And I found a new life!
This week I thought a lot about people who have hung around church for a long time on and off, who have a knowledge of God, but never really make a commitment. You may feel like that, like you’re on the outside looking in when it comes to Christianity, even though you’ve kind of hung around for years. And it seems to me at least, that when we do that, we’re missing out on the best bit!! Whole hearted commitment to God is life at its best…forgiven, trusting God, becoming part of his family, having a purpose. Knowing you’re never alone, knowing that God himself is within you. The best.
My first point today is - Being a Jesus follower has NEVER been just about head knowledge…you can know all the stories like those Jewish teachers but unless you make a commitment to God, it won’t impact your life.
Secondly, the Magi didn’t have all the answers. They weren’t sure at all when they started out where they were going. But they went anyway. And they moved with what they knew.
I think sometimes God’s plans for us unfolds little by little. For those of us who are older, think of all the ways and places that you have served God and others. And each time, you could never have guessed where God would take you next or what you would be doing.
I often think about me being asked to play the piano at Sunday school when I was a teenager…oh I was SO nervous. But I kept going back every week, and eventually I played for the youth group – again so nervous. But I kept going back every week, and then I started playing for church. Sometimes before we’d start I’d think, ‘what happens if I go out there and look at the music and the little black notes on the page don’t’ mean anything…like they don’t compute!’ But God is faithful – sure I’ve had big mistakes, some here. But I always wanted to say yes to God if it meant if would mean his people could worship. It was not about my ego or my embarrassment .
I know many of you here over the years have said yes to God to teach Sunday school, or minister to people in aged care, or shake hands at the front door, or make morning tea (when we could do that!), or do a sermon, or lead a bible study or to feed people. And each time you could never have imagined where God would lead you next. But lead us, he does. Just like those Persian Priests. Bit by bit, not knowing where our journey will lead, but moving where God seems to direct us. We’ll never know all the details, but we need to keep moving with God.
So following Jesus has never been just about head knowledge, and we’ll never know all the details but we need to move with God on what we know.
Finally, the Persian persist didn’t let any barriers stand in their way. They were from another country, culture and religion. Language could have been a barrier, cultural and racial differences could have been a barrier. But they overcame every barrier because they were focussed on their goal of worshipping Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 says “Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
You may have lots of barriers to following Jesus, being the person he wants you to be, doing what he wants you to do. Maybe family barriers, it’s all too difficult with family resistance. You may feel there’s educational barriers – if only id gone to bible college. You may feel there’s age barriers – im too young or too old for God to follow God wholeheartedly.
I acknowledge, some barriers are real and hard to overcome. But keep your eyes on Jesus. The Magi just kept focussed on their desire to worship Jesus, and didn’t let anything get in the way. What are your barriers to deeper commitment to God?
Hebrews says it so clearly…how can we keep on with what God wants us to do? There’s so many distractions, so many things that could prevent us, so many things that are a barrier to following Jesus daily…but the answer is, keep focussed on Jesus.
Following Jesus has never been just about head knowledge, we’ll never know all the details but we need to move with God on what we know. Keep focussed on Jesus to overcome barriers along the way. We’ll listen to, Yet not I but through Christ in me.
Sermons For The Moment
Do not be afraid - Matthew 1:18-21
Luke 2: 4- 15
Luke 1: 26-33
This is a subtitle for your new post
Ruth Chapter 4
Ruth 3
Ruth 2
Commitment from Love, Ruth 1: 1-18
This is an interesting Psalm – another psalm of ascent. We spoke about these Psalms of Ascent a few weeks ago. They were songs the Jewish people sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to go to the temple, through the forest, along the tracks, camping by the roads. And I believe songs like this kept them focussed and kept their spirits up. I can imagine days of walking together, tiring, boring, hot and dusty. And singing some of these Psalms keep them focussed on the faithfulness of God. Much better then eye spy for the kids. Journeys are not all their cracked up to be even if the destination is worth it. As you know, when I was growing up we always holidayed at Bawley Point past Ulladulla, and in those days it was about a 4 hour drive from Sydney. We always left later than we meant to…and the last 20 mins was on a dirt road. One year when I was probably about 4 years old it was dark by the time we got to the dirt road, and half way along the dirt road, was a dodgy wooden bridge over a river. I think part of the bridge had been damaged and we had to wait a bit in the pitch black darkness before we could proceed. Dad was out with a torch ensuring the bridge was safe to drive on and mum and us 4 kids were sitting in the darkness – no street lights, no moonlight. Of course, you might be able to guess what I said to mum in that car, with fearful crying…you’ve probably heard it from kids before. I said ‘I want to go home’. Mum said to me, ‘we can’t go home Robyn, we’re almost there’. In truth, after the bridge we had the last 10 minutes of a 4 hours journey left. We safely crossed the bridge and we were OK. But I remember it. I remember the feeling of being scarred in the darkness. I remember not liking this journey at all. Even though I always loved the destination. Well this psalm celebrates the end of the journey and the arrival at the destination. Psalm 126:1-3, “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” Before we can understand the laughter and joy of the Israelites, we have to understand their journey. This Psalm looks back to when they arrived back in Jerusalem after 70 long years in Babylon. The captives had experienced great sorrow and mourning in exile. We read these heartbreaking words in Psalm 137: “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). Their tormentors demanded they sing joyfully, but they were like – that’s impossible, it doesn’t come from our heart. So they just sat by the waters of Babylon and wept. But now by an amazing work of God they were suddenly back in Jerusalem. And so their joy came from their heart. The wait was over, the journey was complete. “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.” The journey is the hard bit though isn’t it? I was reminded of this, this week. An Officer couple I was speaking to, said that their teenager said some very hurtful things to them. Stuff like, ‘you make my life worse’. As they spoke to me, I did very little but listen and pray with them. They do have other supports in their life as well, already seeing a psychologist. But what I was thinking in my head as they were speaking was ‘oh the teenage years, I’d forgotten them’. Though we have 2 wonderful young adults in P and K, they were times when it was more than tense. K wears her heart on her sleeve, and to this day apologises for some of the things she said to me. And P, you wouldn’t know what he was thinking, and then all of a sudden all his thoughts and feelings for the last 3 years would come out like molten lava everywhere. A few days later I checked in to see how the couple and their teenager were going. I mentioned in passing about teenage years and very briefly about our experiences. I didn’t want to make it all about me. But I said teenage years can be painful and those years can really hurt everyone in the family. Teenager included. They know that we have a good relationship with P and K and they said to me, you know, this is helpful. It gives us hope. I was like, yep, this too shall pass. Because when you’re in the midst of the journey of pain and sorrow, you sometimes wonder if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If you’ll laugh again or experience joy again. You begin to wonder, “Is this all that God has for me? Will I ever be happy again?” And here’s the promise in Psalm 126:4-6, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” When you are going through a time of deep sorrow, Psalm 126 is strong medicine for your soul. It carries a powerful message of hope. It tells you that times of trouble and sorrow do not last. It tells you that God will turn your sorrow to joy and your tears to laughter. If you are going through a challenging time right now, I pray that this psalm will speak to your heart this morning. Let me tell you right up front, whatever you’re going through, it will get better. God will change your tears to joy. This week I found something I wrote about 10 years ago. I had written it on a piece of paper and there was a whole reflection about my life. At the time we had my mum living with us, she had dementia, and mostly I remember the good times and the fun times with her. I was also the Corps Officer at Glebe and Bob was the manager at William Booth House. After a page of writing I had written something like this “I’m often anxious, I’m usually stressed, I have eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth. I always feel pressed.” I went out to Bob in the lounge room and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth’, often anxious, usually stressed. The thing is, my life feels a long way from that now, and I’d forgotten what that part of my journey felt like. I’m sure when I was there I couldn’t look ahead and see a time of joy…but the truth is that “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” This too shall pass. ‘Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!’ says verse 3. God is faithful – he does the healing, the restoring, he brings the streams in the desert that renews and brings fruitfulness. I don’t need to tell you – it takes time. Today, I’m praying for a work of healing in your life, a gradual restoration of joy, of laughter. Like me as a kid, sometimes we don’t like parts of this journey at all. Even though we know our destination is good. And ultimately, we have a destination like no other and that’s the promise of God. A home in heaven made possible through Jesus. May God bless you this week as you look to Him, listen to Him, find your hope in Him and find courage and healing in your journey.
Jesus speaking to the disciples says, ‘Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. The Thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John is a high velocity chapter, in my opinion. Headline after headline, The Last Supper is the feature article we know best, but then, there is Jesus washing the feet of the disciples to very mixed emotions. Then comes Jesus teaching regarding sacramental service and how he anticipates the disciples proper treatment of others. Iscariot’s predicted betrayal was mentioned, then Jesus speaks of The New Commandment followed closely on the same evening by Jesus warning and prediction of Peter’s denial of Jesus. A big night around the dinner table for everyone there, and a momentous series of events to unfold within the following few days. A lifetime of indelible memories for the disciples as the plans and purposes of God are revealed in the next few days. For the crowds who were present to witness this occasion many people must have found it mind blowing simply too hard to grasp…..all the events were miraculous, certainly, other worldly, certainly, and still today a full comprehension still eludes us without the exercise of a simple faith. I may not completely understand the ways of God…but I do trust God to be God. I’m okay with that and so is God! Earlier this week the media was full of conversation and speculation about how people were going to celebrate ‘freedom day’ (Monday 11th) the stroke of midnight was overwhelmed by pictures of mobs going to licensed premises to make pigs of themselves at the bar, the pokies and other gaming tables and screens. I’m afraid for me seeing the behaviors of people within the first twenty-four hours of so called freedom day was just a concentration of many days in the past 5 to 18 months. We saw many distorted ways for people to tell others how bad off they are and how tough their life has been at the hands of an uncaring and indifferent Government be it State or Commonwealth. The elusive quality many should be turning their attention to is their lack of ‘insight’. I find it sad even tragic when so many fail to recognise within themselves widespread disregard, disrespect and even indifference for human life, who are being driven by fear and selfishness. The restrictions introduced Internationally we call ‘lock down’ or stay at home directions, work from home, home schooling, click and collect, shopping on line for anything and everything on a shelf or in a shop. GP’s consultations on line, pharmacy requirement, prescriptions on line and chemists delivering. Most of what we needed and wanted was accessible one way or another with one important exception in my case….haircuts! Robyn offered…several times….and so did my daughter Keren. Freedom week got me a seat at the hairdresser on Thursday following several visits and several hours in a queue. The last haircut was just before the hairdresser went on maternity leave, she was back at work this week, her child is learning to drive now….its been a while. All four of my grandparents had died by the time I was in my twenties with only one of them really known by us and she was amazingly patient, durable, gracious, kind, and very warm and loving. A grandfather had served in both world wars and with some of his family migrated from a poor place to Australia during the Great Depression for a better life, and got it. There’s nothing unique about my family and nothing peculiar to Australia, this story of overcoming hardship, grinding poverty, widespread sickness and misery was known to millions upon millions over the world. You and I do not hail from the hordes of angels, we hail from the ordinary everyday variety of people who have populated the earth, not from those who live a charmed life. We however have a nature and a soul bestowed upon us by God the Creator of All, capable of kindness, compassionate and loving service. If you haven’t seen the real unspoiled nature of humanity at work, seek out the stories of your family, if you have grandparents, great grandparents, uncles and aunties who were born before the 1950’s talk and research and discover the strength and fiber of your inherited humanity. This does come with a warning however, be prepared for a surprise. The old expression, ‘I am today, what all my yesterdays have made me’, carries a great truth, but at best it can only convey part of your story. We are human with all the accompanying peculiarities……BUT we are more, much more. We are reading from the Gospel of John today, and I must admit, this is the Gospel I always turn to first. John 8:12 ‘when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Please take some time to ponder these words and how they are directed to you, this is personal. If you don’t think Jesus words are directed to you today…..then who is He speaking to? We have a guide to lead us so we can find our way. Our wisdom is to look to Him, and absorb His Spirit and apply that to all our circumstance of life. **We do have a guide for life and life for us each would be not only more **harmonious but we would be more fulfilled, we would truly know from **personal experience what Jesus means by applying the bowl of water and **towel in the Sacrament of Service. With such a sure guide in the world in does seem odd to me why many, many more people don’t follow the light of God. Humanity might have made greater progress faster than we have. Let’s get back to John 13: 21 before someone pulls the Zoom plug out of the wall. Before going in to hospital, I decided to help myself a bit by sorting and packing our books (700). However, there is one shelf still crammed full. No prize for guessing, they are cook books also I watch cooking shows on TV, UTube etc. Cooks often ask the guests on the show about their favorite meal, even what would they ask for if they knew this was to be the last meal. Two surprises, Ice Cream is a biggy, a multitude of flavors and trimmings. The second surprise has been simple meals like mum or grandma used to cook. This is when you discover food is a lot more than for just eating. I’ve never heard of anyone asking for Brussel sprouts or Kale. During these conversations about favorite foods we often hear about the significant people in their life, who were their great influences, those that bough much joy and kindness, those who were able to console, challenge and encourage even those who inspired love and gently directed people on to life in its fullness. Rarely do we hear about those who instilled fear or humiliation, distrust or dislike. Generally, we don’t gather people to the table who broke our hearts or spirit, crushed our dreams or betrayed our trust. Just before Jesus went to a garden to plead with His Father for another way out of His looming death, He invited 12 of His closest friends to join Him for Dinner, one last time. As the wine was being passed around the table Jesus dropped a bomb by announcing to them all, He knew one sitting at the table would betray Him and another would deny Him. What a stir, what a turmoil within each one as they declared their innocence, they all said it wasn’t them. Jesus knew in a few short hours He would be handed over to be crucified. A final meal together and Jesus could have chosen others but He chose the group closest to Him, including the ones He knew would soon betray and hurt Him. My last meal. Your last meal. Who would be on the invitation list? Why Jesus? What does this mean? This is what love does.