I want to tell you a Christmas story. It’s about a family – a mother, a father, their three little boys, and a fourth child on the way. Mother was in the final weeks of her pregnancy. On Christmas Eve the family all went to church, and on the way home the mother said to the father, “Oof. This baby is coming tonight.”
So they continued on their way home. They all went in the house, the boys just vibrating with excitement. They weren’t paying any attention to what mother and father were talking about – it was Christmas! They had more important things on their minds.
Suddenly, father announced to everyone, “There are reports that Santa has been seen in the area,” as he points up toward the sky. And the boys’ eyes grew big. They knew what to do. They all scampered upstairs, put on their PJs, and jumped into bed because everyone knows that Santa won’t stop at a house where the kids are still up.
They barely got the lights out and closed their eyes when father came up the stairs and said, “Guys, come on down and see what Santa left you!” and they all hopped out of bed, never questioning any of these slightly odd events. Because it was Christmas.
Everyone went downstairs. Mother half-sat, half-lay on the couch, breathing through her contractions while the kids all opened their new toys. And as soon as everything had been opened, father said, “Alright, kids, let’s get in the car. We’re taking you over to your grandparents’ house.”
Father drove like he was behind the wheel of the getaway car after a bank robbery. They dropped the kids with the grandparents, and then raced to the hospital, where mother delivered a Christmas baby.
The next day, they drove back to the grandparents’ house and introduced the boys to a new baby sister, born on Christmas Eve. The family all drove home and went in the house, which was just exactly as they had left it the night before: all the lights on, the tree lit up, toys, boxes, and wrapping paper strewn everywhere. They were back in the exact same place, but they were not the same.
Some journeys are one-way. Some journeys are round-trip. But every journey you take leaves you different than you were before. Even if we come back to the very same place we left, we are not the same as we were when we left.
As we have journeyed all through the season of Advent and now Christmas, we have been accompanied by others also on a journey: Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the shepherds who watched the flocks at night. And now the last ones, who have been on a very long journey: the magi.
Even though our nativity scenes include the magi at the scene of Jesus’ birth, along with the angels, the shepherds, and all the animals in the stable, the biblical story suggests that they didn’t actually arrive until quite a bit later. Scholars believe by the time they arrived Jesus was already a toddler. They were no longer in the stable, but in a house. Still in Bethlehem.
There is some consensus that these mysterious men came from Persia, which is now Iran. They were probably Zoroastrian priests. They studied the stars looking for divine guidance. And one night they saw what they had been looking for. They made the decision to follow it.
This could not have been a simple decision for them. They traveled a great distance, they gave a lot of their time to this project – presumably several years! They must have had a lot of faith that this was real and trustworthy – and they must have had a great commitment to discovering whatever this journey would show them, and the change it would bring to them.
Of course, a journey this momentous would have to change them. To come and meet the Messiah. To kneel before him and worship him. To offer their precious gifts to him.
We know that it was also a risky trip. Travel in those days was full of dangers – bandit encounters, injuries or illness that could occur. But in this case, we also know of the dangers King Herod presented. When he discovered what was afoot, of course he felt threatened. And such a frightened king will do frightening things.
Herod might have threatened or harmed the magi if he thought that might help him. He didn’t, but he did something even more ghastly. He said to the magi, “Return to me; let me know where this child is so I, too, may pay him homage.” This was a lie, to hide his real intention to eliminate what he saw as a threat to his power.
But the magi were warned in a dream about the dangers of Herod, and so they returned home by another way.
And after that, Joseph was also warned in a dream about the dangers of Herod. And so he took his family to Egypt, where they lived as refugees. They lived there, probably for several years, until Herod died. And then Joseph was given another dream telling him it was safe to return home. And so they did.
The story is full of journeys, all guided by divine wisdom. And perhaps we can see our own journey this season – or any of the journeys of our lives – in a similar way. How is God guiding you? Where do you see or hear the angelic messages?
Maybe this is not the best time to ask questions like this, because we have all been pretty busy. Our lists and duties have kept us focused on much of the material stuff of this world. But when you snatch a quiet moment, think about this: How is God guiding you?
We probably won’t know unless we do take the time. The magi would have been unlikely to see the star unless they were paying attention, looking for something. Their minds and hearts were open, inviting something new. Their spirits were obedient, trusting, ready to follow and see. The magi were ready to be changed in the way God led them.
Joseph and Mary had that same openness, that same trust. The shepherds did as well, on that one night, at least. Elizabeth and Zechariah, too, although Zechariah had to learn it in the moment, sort of a trial-and-error situation.
Herod did not have that trust. He never opened himself to the guidance of the Lord, the possibility of change, and because of that he became a real danger to others.
But the ones who trusted God, they were all on a journey – the kind of journey that leads to change, that never takes you back the same as you were before. All of them went home by a different way.
And all of this was made possible, not only by the angels and the stars, but by the care each gave the others. People on a journey recognize fellow travelers. People on a journey know that in some ways we need one another, if we are to make it.
May you seek to know what you are looking for.
May you seek the divine guidance that will take you on your journey.
May you be a friend to fellow travelers, knowing that nowhere we ever journey are we ever alone.
Photo: ChurchArt.com
