Carols by candlelight - longer version

 The wise men lived at a time when the most intelligent, well-educated people in the world did not understand and could not control their environment.  No one knew why some people became ill, and there were few effective treatments.  People lived at the mercy of the elements – bad weather could destroy a crop, sweep away a village, and there was little they could do to protect themselves.   Perhaps if they could know the future they could try to prepare for it.

The wise men were ‘magi’ – they were seekers after special knowledge which was hidden to most people.  Perhaps they interpreted people’s dreams, advising the rich of the hidden meanings (for a price).  Perhaps people came to them to know their future, to receive visionary messages or hear predictions of things to come.  Perhaps they were magicians, developing special rituals to produce a good harvest.  Whatever else they were, they were almost certainly astrologers – men who studied the night sky and read special meanings in it.  We can imagine them sitting night after night, gazing at the sky, noting strange phenomena.  1600 years before the invention of the telescope, they could tell the difference between the twinkling stars and the five planets they knew which moved across the sky.  Sometimes they saw a comet with a streaming tail, a sign of impending disaster.  Sometimes two or three planets appeared close together in the sky, signalling a major event on earth.  And sometimes a magnificent supernova, briefly outshining all the stars in the galaxy, visible even during the day.  To them this was a ‘new star’, because it was suddenly visible to them, and had some special mysterious meaning.  One night they read a message in the sky so surprising that they set out on a very long journey, seeking to find out more.

God reveals himself to a group of pagan astrologers in the night sky.  He writes a message in the stars which they can read and understand.  And so, in Matthew’s gospel, the first people to worship the Christ child are not Jews, not the chosen people, not the ones who know the right things, have read the scriptures, follow the correct religious practices, but a group of foreigners, Gentiles, non-Jews, astrologers, magicians.  People who are mentioned with disgust every other time they are mentioned in the New Testament.  Learned people who are prepared to go a long way to learn more. 

The star does not tell them everything they need to know.  It tells them of the birth of the king of the Jews, so they travel to Jerusalem, the city of the Jews.  And there they meet a haughty king who is frightened of the message they bring.  And for his own evil reasons, he finds out from the scriptures what they need to know – the place where the messiah will be born – Bethlehem.  And so they travel to Bethlehem, following the star, and they find the baby, and they worship him.  These Gentile astrologers understand what the king does not - that the baby is their Lord and deserves their worship.

God makes himself known to pagan wise men through the pagan practice of astrology.  Isn’t this astonishing?  Perhaps because this story is so famous we sometimes miss what is so startling about it.  God reveals himself to the wise men in a way they can understand.  God goes out of his way.  God reveals himself.  It is not that the wise men “found” God – he found them, and spoke to them in a language they understood.  They were seekers, but he first sought them.  After all, the message in the stars was the news of the birth of Jesus Christ, the human child in whom God revealed himself perfectly.  God doesn’t just send a message – he sends his Son.

God is not a secret to be discovered by a few especially learned or especially religious people – he reveals himself.  He reveals himself in nature, in his creation.  He reveals himself to scientists who study the miracle of organic life, the intricate workings of cells or the vast sweep of deep space.  He reveals himself in charity, in our instinct that it is a good thing to help others, it is good to do justice.  He reveals himself in human relationships, in love between friends and family members, because he is love.

He reveals himself in a pagan festival, originally devised to celebrate the winter solstice, the first day which was noticeably longer, marking the beginning of the end of winter.  A pagan festival which was taken over and adapted by the Christian church, and which these days seems to celebrate consumerism and to present an unrealistic ideal of family harmony.  But through this imperfect festival, God continues to reveal himself.  Through this festival we celebrate the coming into the world of God’s Son, the moment when God revealed himself perfectly.

I pray this Christmas time that we would all hear the voice of God speaking to us.  Speaking words of love and encouragement.  Leading us on to worship the Christ child, the Son of God, His ultimate message to all people.  Because God doesn’t just speak to us, he comes to us in person.  He comes to ALL of us.