Morning Prayer: Shannon Cook Choral Amen Carol of Epiphany *What Child Is This* Witness of Scripture: Matthew 2: 1-12 Anthem *Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree* Elizabeth Poston. Chancel Choir Sermon *Loving Quest* David Spain
Recorded on January 5, 2025
We began our journey, perhaps we could even call it a sacred journey, on June 6, 2000.When we gathered to worship on June 11th, it was Pentecost Sunday—a Spirit-infused day and thanks be to God there have been many Spirit-infused days since. Now 24 years and 7 months later we conclude our journey on the 12th day of Christmas, at the advent of Epiphany, that continuing sacred journey taken by the Magi long ago and still taken by each of us, because the life of faith and if we really have our eyes open, life itself is a God-graced sacred journey.
Our family came to Norman, accepting this generous call to First Christian Church, following the magnificent 31½ year ministry of Hugh and Barbara Wilson. As on that first Sunday, so on this Sunday it is right and good to thank you for your ongoing encouragement, support, and wisdom. We all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us—this is God’s good design and life’s best way, for which we are always humbly grateful. Upon coming to First Christian, several people expressed hope that we would stay 31 years also, which is a remarkably encouraging statement and a deep value of this church. It reflects the deep care this church shares with its ministers. We did not quite make 31 years—so I guess our time has been an extended interim! And yet, First Christian Church, Norman has had two Senior Ministers since 1968, a fine testimony of the church’s stability and health. If this transition feels big, it may in part be because we simply haven’t had to do this very often, and that is a good thing. This is a vibrant, loving, healthy church and you will move through this transition well; in fact, you already are.
Someone asked last week, “How many sermons have you preached here?” That is not something I have tabulated, but a rough estimate is about 1,150—not counting weddings and funerals and other speaking events. When I shared that number, the person responded, “How that is incredible…I only remember 3 of the sermons!” That is 2 more than I remember! Perhaps the content of any particular sermon is seldom the most important thing; perhaps most important is the tone and tenor of whatever words are spoken in the context of worship. Not only what we say, but how we say what we say give feet to this sacred journey that is life and faith.
Perhaps the larger story of all our lives is that every one of us is graced with an interim ministry—a span of time that, thanks be to God, we are all given to live on God’s good earth. The question therefore is, “How do we live this time God grants to us?”Fortunately, we are not left alone to answer this question, for we all stand on the shoulders of those who have journeyed before us. Matthew gives us a picture of that sacred journey. Luke, as we know, has given us the story of all those who are living ‘in that region’—Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna, shepherds and innkeepers. Matthew expands the story to the Magi, to the Gentiles which is to say all of us who do not live in that region. Jesus’ birth is good news for the whole world, and we ride camelback with the Magi to the manger. It is a good thing we do, for if we cannot find our place at the manger, then the manger cannot find its place in us. Our port of entry into the manger comes on the shoulders of the Magi.
And what an entrance it is! Perhaps no part of the Christmas story captures our imagination quite like the journey of the Magi. Poets like T. S. Eliot have inked beautiful verses on it, artists like Tissot have painted striking images of it, authors like O Henry have written touching stories about it, musicians both ancient and modern have sung their haunting melodies stirred by this ‘star of wonder, star of light.’ Perhaps no other story has been supplied with as much detail as the journey of the Magi. Christian tradition says there were three of them, but Matthew only gives us three gifts, not three Magi; Longfellow was good enough to name them Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar which sounds about right; they have been called Persian kings or astrologers and who knows if that is precise. It’s not that the facts don’t matter—they do; it’s just that what matters more is that everyone who has ever lived knows somewhere deep inside that quest of finding out what matters most in life, a quest that is always taken amidst competing voices.
Matthew is a wise and wonderful guide for this sacred journey. He does not come with a GPS system and voice telling us precisely where to turn; instead, he offers markers along the way that tell us the landscape of life. When it comes to God with us, which is what Christmas proclaims, we know there will always be those who would just as soon God stay safely sequestered in heaven; those either sacred or secular who believe they are the way, truth, and life so the world needs no other way of ruling. Matthew lets us know from the start of this story there will be a conflict, for Jesus is born in the time of King Herod. Ah, oh, trouble is brewing—it doesn’t have to, but Herod’s mix of paranoia, fear, and sword renders him a pathetic, yet real threat.More than just Herod though, he represents any force that powers through life championing the right of might rather than the might of right. Lisa A. Smith has written, “Matthew sets up two diverging roads when contrasting Herod with the Magi…Herod is fearful, the Magi are faithful; Herod deceives to cling to power, the Magi bow before the young Jesus; Herod cannot find Jesus who is right under his nose, the Magi locate him from afar through a heavenly sign; Herod is Rome’s client king, the Magi seek the true king.”(The Christian Century, January 2025, p. 24) That is life isn’t it—conflicting voices, or enticing pictures, or fear mongering that seek to lay claim to our allegiances, voices that say here is what matters most, here is the good life.
Matthew gives us the Magi, and any inclination to call them wise men vanishes when they gain entry to Herod’s court and ask where the new king is who will be replacing him. Herod, who cares little about anything other than keeping all the power and getting rid of anyone who opposes him, expresses interest in this new king but lies about why he is interested. Herod reminds us that the powerful can sound very convincing—they can even quote scripture.Shakespeare reminded us, “the Devil can cite scripture for his purpose.” (The Merchant of Venice) The question is never, ‘Can you quote Scripture?’ The question is, “Does Scripture shape our faith into a loving quest?’ If and when it does not, then Herod gets his way.
Happily for the Magi, and for the rest of the world, that star sign is not under Herod’s control. That is the Good News we cling to today, the Good News that lodges deep within us.God abides, even and especially in those places where there is room enough for Love to live in and through whoever abides there. Matthew reminds us that God can show up in the most ordinary and surprising ways. After discharging the most impractical gifts ever given to a baby, the Magi worship the One who rules not by loveless power but reigns with powerful love. They came to understand in that moment on their knees before that makeshift cradle in a modest home, that their loving quest—which is really the only way to find Jesus—they came to understand that they were not the first to make that loving quest. Thanks be to God, the Creator of the stars at night had already made the ultimate loving quest toward the world in the birth of Christ. That star still shines, that Love still reigns, that quest still beckons us.It is as much God’s wish and will for us all these years later as it was for those Magi however many of them there were all those years ago. We are forever called on a reverent, thoughtful, loving quest for what matters most.
Matthew ends this part of his story with perhaps the best line of all when he wrote that the Magi returned home by another road, or as it is also translated by another way, which is to say that whenever and wherever we might happen to meet Christ along life’s way, our lives are forever changed, forever reshaped by all those gifts Christ discharges to us—peace, mercy, justice, kindness, forgiveness, hope, reconciliation, joy, wonder, laughter, compassion. In the 24 years and 7 months we have travelled these roads together, you have shown that Christ to me and to so many others and it is what makes all the difference.So, in closing, what surely comes as no surprise to you, we hear from one of the Magi whose shoulders I have stood on over the years, as Frederick Buechner writes, “There are some things I would be willing to bet even my life on. That life is grace, for instance—the givenness of it, the fathomlessness of it, the endless possibilities of its becoming transparent to something extraordinary beyond itself. That—as I picked up somewhere in Jung and whittled into the ash stick I use for tramping around through the woods sometimes—Vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit—which I take to mean that in the long run, whether you call on God or don’t call on God, God is present with you. That if we really had our eyes open, we would see that all moments are key moments. That whoever does not love remains in death; that Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwells among us full of grace and truth…that here and there even in our world, and now and then even in ourselves, we catch glimpses of the New Creation, which fleeting as those glimpses are apt to be, give us hope both for this life and for whatever life may await us later on.” (Now and Then, p. 108 – 109)
And one more thing. Back in the summer, when the Paris Olympics were on, the nightly coverage would end showing one of the American athletes who won gold that day, standing on the podium as the National Anthem played. I thought at the time that must be one of the greatest feelings a person could ever have—to have dedicated your life so deeply to something and then stand there as the anthem plays. But, I was wrong thinking that, completely wrong. For not just one shining moment, but for over 24 years you have allowed me to stand on this podium and try to say something that honors God and reflects Christ. That has been one of the greatest feelings a person could ever have, and if I lived to be a thousand years old and thanked you every day, it still would not tap the deep well of gratitude I have for you. So thank you, and thanks be to God.