When you had your Christmas tree, what did you have on top of it? I think there are two types of people. Some are “star” people and some are “angel” people.
As I look at it, the angel represents those who had been waiting for the Messiah, for a sign from God, like the shepherds. They remembered the old prophecies. They remembered with anticipation.
The star, on the other hand, is for those who are searching, those still unsure, those with questions, those on a quest to find out about this mystery and message from God wrapped up in human flesh and swaddling clothes.
A friend reminded me that God sent both the angel and the star because God always meets us where we are.
God met the shepherds in their fields, doing their duty, watching their sheep — some dozing, some sleeping, all awakened by the Glory that shone around them.
On the other hand, God met the wise men, the travelers and searchers from the east as they searched the stars for answers to the meaning of life. Both the shepherds and the wiseman became witnesses to this newborn Messiah, the Savior of the world because God chose to meet them where they were in their journey of life.
Let us look at the wiseman. Nobody really knows what country the wise men came from. Some commentaries say they were from Arabia or Mesopotamia. Some say they were magicians from Persia (or modern day Iran). Others say they were astrologers from Babylon (or modern day Iraq). Some speculate they were wealthy scholars from Medes, a subjugated tribe within Persia. Some say they were Zoroastrians. All of these are basically conjectures.
Scripture simply says they were wise men from the east. It doesn’t even say there were three of them. There could have been two, there could have been 20. All we know is they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They traveled a long way, following a star, to find this baby who would be King.
What we do know for sure is that God met them in the midst of the circumstances of their life. God met them as they were searching.
The shepherds, on the other hand, were told by the angels about the birth of a baby. The angel’s message to the shepherds had been so compelling that they dropped everything, and went running with haste, eager to see this baby. And when they went back to their flocks, they went back changed, filled with excitement, anticipation, and expectation. They must have said among themselves, “This is the one we have been waiting for.”
Later, most likely, some of them watched the upcoming preachers and rabbis. Maybe they heard about a young boy teaching the elders in the temple, and thought, “No, it can’t be him, it’s only been 12 years.”
Maybe 20 years went by, and they were starting to lose hope, then 30, and they began thinking, surely it was all a dream. And then one day, they heard friends or acquaintances talking about a preacher at the Jordan, baptizing people. Maybe that was him. But then, they went, and John said boldly that he wasn’t the Messiah, just the one getting people ready for the Messiah.
And then they heard about a rabbi in Galilee — of all places. A carpenter who became a preacher — who taught and preached like no one else — one who preached with the Spirit and with authority. And then they knew.
What the angels told them was true. Their lives must have changed, and they took another road.
The wise men from the east came seeking and wondering what was going on. They weren’t sure exactly what they were seeking, just like so many of us. They came seeking the answers to life and the meaning of life.
Maybe they were like some of us. They found that all the stuff money could buy just wasn’t enough. They came to the realization that the empty feeling they had cannot be satisfied by this world. So they went seeking among the stars and in philosophy. And that search led them to Bethlehem, and they found what they were looking for.
But once they found what they were looking for, God would not let them return the same way they came. God warned them, and sent them off on their way back home by “another road.”
God met the wise men where they were, and God didn’t leave them there. God sent them home by “another road”.
We are invited to come to the manger once again with the wise men and the shepherds. But like the wise men, we are invited to go home by “another road”. Like the shepherds, our lives will never be the same again.
We are invited to come to Bethlehem, “the house of bread”, to partake of the “Bread of Life” and to leave by “another road”. We are not only offering bread and wine for the journey, but oil for healing.
I do not know what it is that might be troubling your heart right now. I do not know what you have been seeking when you went to church. Or maybe you were not seeking anything. You just went to church because it has been your normal routine on Sundays, not expecting anything to happen.
But be assured, God will meet you where you are. And God offers what you are seeking. For those who seek, will find. And even if you are not expecting anything, I pray that you will experience the presence of the Bread of Life.
So make that journey of faith like the wise men and the shepherds. Make the journey to the manger with excitement, like the shepherd. And then listen to God as He leads you and takes you home on to “another road”.
Leave what is troubling you behind. Leave the illness that eats at both your heart and your body. Leave the hurt and the pain caused by others. Leave the guilt of your sin. Leave all that behind, and leave by “another road”, the road of forgiveness, the road of healing.
You came by one road seeking something. Listen to God, be fed by God, be touched by God. Start the New Year on a new journey, and leave by “another road”.
I cannot tell you that the year 2013 will be your best yet. But I can tell you this: We are never alone, and the promises of God are sure.
