The King and I(19Dec10)
Series: Advent 2010
Advent M3: Sermon Notes (10 12 19)
Speaker: Ken Shigematsu
Title: The King and I
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
BIG IDEA: We can either resist or submit to the Messiah.
Perhaps you have heard the story of the twin boys who looked identical, but their personalities were so different. One of the twins tended to be gloomy and saw things in a negative light. The other boy was much more hopeful and saw the good in things. As Christmas approached, their father was curious as to how they might respond to the very different gifts he would give them.
Early on Christmas morning he quietly loaded the gloomy boy’s room full of amazing toys and games. He loaded the other boy’s room full of horse manure. About an hour after the boys had woken up, the father walked by the gloomy son’s room and found him surrounded by this new toys crying. “Why are you crying?” asked the father. “Well, now that I have all these toys my friends are going to be very jealous of me. I’ll soon have to replace the batteries on them. And one day all of my toys will get broken.” The father went to his other son’s room and he found him frolicking for joy in the manure pile. “Why are you so happy?” asked the father. “I know there has got to be a pony in here somewhere!” his son answered.
We all know of people who respond very differently to their experiences—even when those experiences are similar or even the same.
We have seen people who have experienced a financial windfall, and in some cases they become more materialistic, superficial and greedy. In other cases, people become radically generous with what they have.
We have seen people who have experienced personal tragedy in their lives, perhaps the loss life of a loved one. Mysteriously, for reasons we don’t fully understand, some become bitter and hardened with their lot. Others deepen, become wiser and more graceful as a result of their pain.
This morning as we look again at Matthew 2 we are going to look at two very different responses to the one who has been born king of the Jews and king of the world. We are going to look at the Magi again, but today we will contrast their response to Jesus with King Herod’s.
If you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 2:1-12.
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Tradition has cast the Magi as the three wise men. We don’t really know whether there were three or more. Some of the oldest traditions say there were twelve Magi, but we don’t know for certain. It is not likely they were kings themselves, as tradition also suggests, but more likely advisors to the kings. The Magi were specialists at decoding the messages in the stars and would have likely helped the kings interpret the signs in the heavens. It is likely however that they came from some kind of royal or priestly lineage. We know that they travelled from Persia, modern day Iran, on a journey that would have taken six months to a year. In all likelihood, they had an elaborate entourage. They would have come in a caravan of camels and servants and supplies necessary for their long journey.
They had seen the star rise announcing the birth of the king of the Jews. And that star guided them to Jerusalem, but they did not know how to proceed from there. So when they made their way into the market in Jerusalem, and they began to ask people, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw a star announcing his birth, and we have come to worship him.” Word gets back to King Herod that the Magi from Persia have announced that they have seen a star which has proclaimed the birth of the king of the Jews. This was at a time that people believed the birth of great kings was announced by a star.
King Herod was threatened by this news. After all, he was not a Jew, nor was he a Roman. He was an Edomite. So he called together the chief priests, or the senior pastors, the teachers of the law, the long-time Bible believers. He asked them, “Where is your messiah going to be born?” They responded by saying, “In Bethlehem.” They quote the prophet Micah to him:
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod secretly summoned the Magi and then offers Scripture that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. He told them, “Go and look very hard for the child, and when you find him, come back and tell me where he is.” When the Magi had finished their audience with King Herod, they left. The star reappeared and moved ahead of them until it came over the place where the child Christ lay. They felt this deep profound joy. When they came to the house and saw the baby Jesus with Mary his mother, they fell down on their faces and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
At this time, contrary to church tradition, Jesus is likely no longer in a stable, but in a house. He is likely closer to being one year old than a newborn. The star that the Magi saw likely announced Jesus birth, and then they travelled about a year from Persia to find him, to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem.
They open their treasure gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What do these gifts symbolize? We know that gold then as now is precious treasure. A gift fit for a king. Frankincense was an ingredient for sacred incense. (According to the book of Leviticus, it was used in worship.) Myrrh was a holy fragrant oil also used in incense. The gifts of frankincense and myrrh are gifts fitting not only for a king, but for a god. The Magi falling on their faces prostrate before Jesus Christ, as a one-year-old, and then offering their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh symbolized their loyalty and submission to this new king.
King Herod’s response to the one who has been born king of the Jews is markedly different. King Herod also receives the gospel or the good news. He hears directly from the Magi the news that a star has announced the birth of a great king. This was at a time that people believed that stars announced the birth of the great king. He has heard from the senior pastors and the Bible teachers that, according to the Scriptures and specifically the book of the prophet Micah, this great king, this Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem.
So Herod receives news of the star. He hears God’s Word in Scripture. Herod, like the Magi, received the invitation to the birthday party of Christ, God’s Son, but he does not receive this news with joy or gratitude, but as a threat.
Herod becomes intensely anxious about the threat of this new-born king. As I said, Herod was not a Jew after all, nor even a Roman. He was an Edomite, with a record of killing members of his own family out of fear that they posed a threat to his power. He tells the Magi to go and look really hard for the child. (Herod can’t bring himself to call him a king. He refers to Jesus simply as “the child.”) “When you find him,” he said, “come back and find me so that I too may come and worship him.” But Herod doesn’t want to worship him. Herod wants to kill him.
(Let me say in parenthesis Herod does not have to respond like this. He too can receive the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life from this new King. Though Herod’s sins have been great--he was notorious for his lavish, extravagant life style, his setting up of idols and shrines to all the gods, and his murderous impulses, because he lived in fear of being overthrown. At this point in history, he had already killed his wife, three of his sons, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, his uncle, and many others. But despite his great sins he was not beyond God’s grace and mercy. If he had received direction from the star, the Scripture, the guidance to Bethlehem and like the Magi bow down before the King and surrendered to him, he would have received God’s mercy, forgiveness and new beginning. But Herod doesn’t do that. Instead he does all he can to murder this new king.)
We read in Matthew 2:16 that when Herod became aware that he had been tricked by the Magi (the Magi were not going to tell him where Jesus was), he was furious and commanded that all the infants in Bethlehem, and the whole surrounding region, who were two years old and under, to be slaughtered. (Some of you here just returned from our mission in Cambodia, and you have been confronted with the genocide that occurred there under the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Part of what the Gospel of Matthew tells us is that long before Jesus had the opportunity to die for anyone, a whole village of babies in effect died for him. So Christ knows what it is to be confronted with the suffering of genocide. He suffers with the slaughter of the innocent.)
I know that this example of Herod’s response to the Christ is extreme, but there is some of Herod in me, as well. Like Herod, there is a part of me that recognizes I cannot sit on the throne of my life and have Jesus on the throne at the same time. I cannot rule over my life and have Jesus ruling over it, as well. It is one or the other. In our hearts we can say “you can have leadership over these areas, but not those areas of my life.”
Many of us here likely have great respect and admiration for Jesus, but there are also many of us here who are hesitant about utterly surrendering like the Magi to the Christ, falling on our faces, offering up our gifts, which indicate the submission of our lives to the King. Unlike Herod, none of us wants to kill the Christ, but like Herod many of us prefer to occupy the throne of our heart, rather than Christ; or to use language that may be a little more current, to occupy the driver’s seat of our car.
Some years ago I met a pastor from the San Francisco Bay area while we were teaching together at a conference. This pastor, named John, gave a picture of his own life which illustrates how we like to be in control.
John has shared about how he and his wife Nancy were in a part of the country they had never been before.
He said, “We were going to be driving on obscure back roads, so we got a rental car, and the guy at the counter said to me, ‘Along with this car, if you want, you can also get a GPS system’." John said, "No. That is going to cost something. I don't need that. I can find where I'm going without that." His wife said, "Get the GPS." They got the GPS.
John continued, “At one point when we were driving in this car, I was quite sure the lady (the GPS voice) was wrong. She said to go left, and I didn't go left. I went right, because I knew she was wrong. Then as an interesting response, she said, ‘Recalculating route. When safe to do so, execute a U-turn.’ I knew she was wrong, so I unplugged her. That's the beauty of that little box. You can unplug her.
I got lost as a goose. My wife enjoyed that immensely.
So we plugged that GPS back in, and you know what the lady said? ‘You idiot.’ (not really). She said, ‘Recalculating route. When safe to do so, execute a U-turn’."
Like John we resist anyone, including God, directing us.
Pastor John says,
As soon as you're ready to listen, as soon as you're ready to surrender, God will say, "Here is the way home. Execute a U-turn." That's repentance. "I'll bring you home." That is grace. That's Jesus. He is the only one with authoritative wisdom about how to live. He is the only one who brings about the possibility of forgiveness for your sin and mine. He is the only one to give any kind of realistic hope of conquering death, of life beyond the grave.
Jesus does not present himself as a good, spiritual teacher to be admired from a distance. He is a King, one to be followed, obeyed, and worshipped.
Do you admire Jesus, or do you follow him?
Will you let him take the wheel of your life, surrendering to him? I know it takes a great deal of faith, but to live the Christian life only works if you are willing to surrender.
I mentioned one Sunday that I am interested in doing a triathlon one day and have been taking some swimming lessons. I don’t know if you recall learning how to swim for the first time when you were a child. It is counter-intuitive. If you are on your back and your swimming instructor tells you to relax, and surrender to water, and take deep breaths, your instinct is to grab on to something, to take control. But it turns out if you try to be in control, you find yourself sinking. It is as you surrender to the water…relax…breathe deeply…that you will find yourself floating.
And so it is in our relationship with God, it is when we surrender to God that we find ourselves floating in that relationship. The irony, as in swimming so with God, we find ourselves most free and most fully ourselves when we surrender.
Denise Levertov in her wonderful poem the Avowal writes:
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
This fall we encouraged members of our community to grow in their trust of God by becoming part of the practicing the presence movement and committing to regularly meeting Jesus in Scripture and prayer. It is our hope this will not only be a time when we gain more knowledge about God and wisdom and peace, but an opportunity for us to express our desire to submit to God…to float in the Spirit’s embrace.
Here at Tenth we encourage people to offer their talents up to God. And it is our hope that we will do that, not just as a way to develop our talents (though that will happen); not just as a way to experience fulfillment in the exercise of our gifts (that will likely happen as well); but also as a way for us to offer our submission to God.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked briefly before the offering about trusting God through tithing, offering the first tenth of our income. It is our hope this practice is not just a means of securing God’s blessing on our finances (though God invites us in Malachi to do just that), but as a way to express our surrender to God. If we offer these things to God, if we offer our educational path, or our careers to God, if we offer our love life to God, our families to God, every part of us we will find ourselves floating in God and most free and most truly ourselves.
But would we do it? Why would we, like the Magi, offer our submission to Christ? Unlike Herod, we may not want to kill Christ, but we may think it is entirely more rational to maintain control of our lives, to be on the throne, to be in the driver’s seat of our lives.
I am more willing to submit to God than I would be otherwise because God became a human being in Jesus Christ. He left his throne and gave up control so that we might be forgiven, free, adopted into his family as sons and daughters.
That first Christmas the infinite one became a baby again: he gave up the ability to talk, to eat solid food and control his bladder. The Maker of all things became a helpless, dependent newborn.
Then 33 years later God, in Jesus Christ, allows himself to be stripped naked, have his arms stretched out and nailed to this wooden beam, utterly surrendering himself—why? So that he would serve as a sacrifice for our sins and so we would experience the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life—God’s life right now.
In a sense God submitted to us, in a sense he surrendered his control… so we are set free, we can surrender to God and experience freedom…
Liz Curtis Higgs was a famous disc jockey life with a wild lifestyle. In fact, Howard Stern was the A.M. show, and Liz Curtis Higgs was the P.M. show. And one day Howard Stern said to Liz, “You know, you need to clean up your act.”
And because Liz had been burned by so many men, and her heart had been broken so many times…she understandably became a militant feminist.
She had a Christian girlfriend who kept inviting her to church. So one day after a long, long time, she said, “Okay, I will go to church one time and one time only.”
So she went to church one time with her friend. And that week, her friend’s pastor just happened to be teaching on the Bible verse that says, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands.” Not exactly a good verse to start for Liz (very inflammatory especially if you are not aware of cultural context that Paul is speaking into). Liz got understandably angry, but she continued to listen, and she actually heard the second part of the verse.… which says, “And husbands—you sacrifice yourself; you give yourself for your wives just as Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the church and died for her.” Who is asked to give their life up? The husband.
When Liz heard that part, she leaned over to her friend and said cynically, “I’d gladly give myself to any man if I knew he would die for me.” And her friend leaned over and said, “Liz, there is man who loved you enough to die for you. His name is Jesus Christ. That’s how much he loves you.” And it was not long after that that Liz, surrendered her life to God in love, and became a follower of Jesus.
Surrender tends to be a very negative term. We don’t like to surrender and most of the time we probably shouldn’t surrender. But there are rare instances when it is a very good thing for us.
To put the story I’m about to tell in context, I am not an American. I am a Canadian citizen, born in Japan. Growing up, my parents, who are Japanese, talked about how good it was that the Japanese surrendered to the Allied Powers.
On September 2, 1945 in Tokyo World War II officially ended. Signing on behalf of Emperor Hirohito, Japan’s foreign minister unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Powers. As result of that surrender, Japan emerged from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and experienced a rebirth of of its economy, some Japanese learned how to play baseball (without the surrender you don’t get an Ichiro), and some, of course, were exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There were lots of atrocities on all sides of the war. I don’t mean to justify or minimize what happened.
All I am saying is that even the Japanese would tell you today in the case of World War II surrendering worked in their favour.
So it is with Christ. When we surrender to the Christ, ironically it works in our favour.
Like Magi we experience deep, profound joy, life, more energy to give, more wonder.
Will you be like Herod and try to retain control of your world?
Or will you be like the Magi?
Will you bow down?
Will you offer your very best gifts?
Will you offer all of you to the Christ?
And in losing your life, you will find it in the end?
Prayer:
Do you sense God saying to you:
"Come home. Execute a U-turn."
Perhaps there’s been a part of you that is afraid to surrender to God.
Perhaps you think that if you did surrender, you’d miss out—or that God would send you to Cambodia.
God loves you more than you know.
Liz’s friend whispered, “There is man who loved you enough to die for you.”
So, if you want to come home to God.
Pray this prayer:
God,
I offer you my life.
Like the Magi, I surrender.
Forgive my sins and give me a new beginning.
Guide my life from here forward.
(As an expression of their desire to surrender the Magi fall face down before God. I am not going to ask you do that. But, I will ask you to do something. If you prayed that prayer, as an outward expression of your desire to surrender to God, please quietly raise your hand. As way to say to God and yourself, “I’m yours, God,” quietly raise your hand.)
Advent M3: Sermon Notes (10 12 19)
Speaker: Ken Shigematsu
Title: The King and I
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
BIG IDEA: We can either resist or submit to the Messiah.
Perhaps you have heard the story of the twin boys who looked identical, but their personalities were so different. One of the twins tended to be gloomy and saw things in a negative light. The other boy was much more hopeful and saw the good in things. As Christmas approached, their father was curious as to how they might respond to the very different gifts he would give them.
Early on Christmas morning he quietly loaded the gloomy boy’s room full of amazing toys and games. He loaded the other boy’s room full of horse manure. About an hour after the boys had woken up, the father walked by the gloomy son’s room and found him surrounded by this new toys crying. “Why are you crying?” asked the father. “Well, now that I have all these toys my friends are going to be very jealous of me. I’ll soon have to replace the batteries on them. And one day all of my toys will get broken.” The father went to his other son’s room and he found him frolicking for joy in the manure pile. “Why are you so happy?” asked the father. “I know there has got to be a pony in here somewhere!” his son answered.
We all know of people who respond very differently to their experiences—even when those experiences are similar or even the same.
We have seen people who have experienced a financial windfall, and in some cases they become more materialistic, superficial and greedy. In other cases, people become radically generous with what they have.
We have seen people who have experienced personal tragedy in their lives, perhaps the loss life of a loved one. Mysteriously, for reasons we don’t fully understand, some become bitter and hardened with their lot. Others deepen, become wiser and more graceful as a result of their pain.
This morning as we look again at Matthew 2 we are going to look at two very different responses to the one who has been born king of the Jews and king of the world. We are going to look at the Magi again, but today we will contrast their response to Jesus with King Herod’s.
If you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 2:1-12.
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Tradition has cast the Magi as the three wise men. We don’t really know whether there were three or more. Some of the oldest traditions say there were twelve Magi, but we don’t know for certain. It is not likely they were kings themselves, as tradition also suggests, but more likely advisors to the kings. The Magi were specialists at decoding the messages in the stars and would have likely helped the kings interpret the signs in the heavens. It is likely however that they came from some kind of royal or priestly lineage. We know that they travelled from Persia, modern day Iran, on a journey that would have taken six months to a year. In all likelihood, they had an elaborate entourage. They would have come in a caravan of camels and servants and supplies necessary for their long journey.
They had seen the star rise announcing the birth of the king of the Jews. And that star guided them to Jerusalem, but they did not know how to proceed from there. So when they made their way into the market in Jerusalem, and they began to ask people, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw a star announcing his birth, and we have come to worship him.” Word gets back to King Herod that the Magi from Persia have announced that they have seen a star which has proclaimed the birth of the king of the Jews. This was at a time that people believed the birth of great kings was announced by a star.
King Herod was threatened by this news. After all, he was not a Jew, nor was he a Roman. He was an Edomite. So he called together the chief priests, or the senior pastors, the teachers of the law, the long-time Bible believers. He asked them, “Where is your messiah going to be born?” They responded by saying, “In Bethlehem.” They quote the prophet Micah to him:
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod secretly summoned the Magi and then offers Scripture that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. He told them, “Go and look very hard for the child, and when you find him, come back and tell me where he is.” When the Magi had finished their audience with King Herod, they left. The star reappeared and moved ahead of them until it came over the place where the child Christ lay. They felt this deep profound joy. When they came to the house and saw the baby Jesus with Mary his mother, they fell down on their faces and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and brought him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
At this time, contrary to church tradition, Jesus is likely no longer in a stable, but in a house. He is likely closer to being one year old than a newborn. The star that the Magi saw likely announced Jesus birth, and then they travelled about a year from Persia to find him, to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem.
They open their treasure gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What do these gifts symbolize? We know that gold then as now is precious treasure. A gift fit for a king. Frankincense was an ingredient for sacred incense. (According to the book of Leviticus, it was used in worship.) Myrrh was a holy fragrant oil also used in incense. The gifts of frankincense and myrrh are gifts fitting not only for a king, but for a god. The Magi falling on their faces prostrate before Jesus Christ, as a one-year-old, and then offering their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh symbolized their loyalty and submission to this new king.
King Herod’s response to the one who has been born king of the Jews is markedly different. King Herod also receives the gospel or the good news. He hears directly from the Magi the news that a star has announced the birth of a great king. This was at a time that people believed that stars announced the birth of the great king. He has heard from the senior pastors and the Bible teachers that, according to the Scriptures and specifically the book of the prophet Micah, this great king, this Messiah, would be born in Bethlehem.
So Herod receives news of the star. He hears God’s Word in Scripture. Herod, like the Magi, received the invitation to the birthday party of Christ, God’s Son, but he does not receive this news with joy or gratitude, but as a threat.
Herod becomes intensely anxious about the threat of this new-born king. As I said, Herod was not a Jew after all, nor even a Roman. He was an Edomite, with a record of killing members of his own family out of fear that they posed a threat to his power. He tells the Magi to go and look really hard for the child. (Herod can’t bring himself to call him a king. He refers to Jesus simply as “the child.”) “When you find him,” he said, “come back and find me so that I too may come and worship him.” But Herod doesn’t want to worship him. Herod wants to kill him.
(Let me say in parenthesis Herod does not have to respond like this. He too can receive the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life from this new King. Though Herod’s sins have been great--he was notorious for his lavish, extravagant life style, his setting up of idols and shrines to all the gods, and his murderous impulses, because he lived in fear of being overthrown. At this point in history, he had already killed his wife, three of his sons, his mother-in-law, his brother-in-law, his uncle, and many others. But despite his great sins he was not beyond God’s grace and mercy. If he had received direction from the star, the Scripture, the guidance to Bethlehem and like the Magi bow down before the King and surrendered to him, he would have received God’s mercy, forgiveness and new beginning. But Herod doesn’t do that. Instead he does all he can to murder this new king.)
We read in Matthew 2:16 that when Herod became aware that he had been tricked by the Magi (the Magi were not going to tell him where Jesus was), he was furious and commanded that all the infants in Bethlehem, and the whole surrounding region, who were two years old and under, to be slaughtered. (Some of you here just returned from our mission in Cambodia, and you have been confronted with the genocide that occurred there under the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Part of what the Gospel of Matthew tells us is that long before Jesus had the opportunity to die for anyone, a whole village of babies in effect died for him. So Christ knows what it is to be confronted with the suffering of genocide. He suffers with the slaughter of the innocent.)
I know that this example of Herod’s response to the Christ is extreme, but there is some of Herod in me, as well. Like Herod, there is a part of me that recognizes I cannot sit on the throne of my life and have Jesus on the throne at the same time. I cannot rule over my life and have Jesus ruling over it, as well. It is one or the other. In our hearts we can say “you can have leadership over these areas, but not those areas of my life.”
Many of us here likely have great respect and admiration for Jesus, but there are also many of us here who are hesitant about utterly surrendering like the Magi to the Christ, falling on our faces, offering up our gifts, which indicate the submission of our lives to the King. Unlike Herod, none of us wants to kill the Christ, but like Herod many of us prefer to occupy the throne of our heart, rather than Christ; or to use language that may be a little more current, to occupy the driver’s seat of our car.
Some years ago I met a pastor from the San Francisco Bay area while we were teaching together at a conference. This pastor, named John, gave a picture of his own life which illustrates how we like to be in control.
John has shared about how he and his wife Nancy were in a part of the country they had never been before.
He said, “We were going to be driving on obscure back roads, so we got a rental car, and the guy at the counter said to me, ‘Along with this car, if you want, you can also get a GPS system’." John said, "No. That is going to cost something. I don't need that. I can find where I'm going without that." His wife said, "Get the GPS." They got the GPS.
John continued, “At one point when we were driving in this car, I was quite sure the lady (the GPS voice) was wrong. She said to go left, and I didn't go left. I went right, because I knew she was wrong. Then as an interesting response, she said, ‘Recalculating route. When safe to do so, execute a U-turn.’ I knew she was wrong, so I unplugged her. That's the beauty of that little box. You can unplug her.
I got lost as a goose. My wife enjoyed that immensely.
So we plugged that GPS back in, and you know what the lady said? ‘You idiot.’ (not really). She said, ‘Recalculating route. When safe to do so, execute a U-turn’."
Like John we resist anyone, including God, directing us.
Pastor John says,
As soon as you're ready to listen, as soon as you're ready to surrender, God will say, "Here is the way home. Execute a U-turn." That's repentance. "I'll bring you home." That is grace. That's Jesus. He is the only one with authoritative wisdom about how to live. He is the only one who brings about the possibility of forgiveness for your sin and mine. He is the only one to give any kind of realistic hope of conquering death, of life beyond the grave.
Jesus does not present himself as a good, spiritual teacher to be admired from a distance. He is a King, one to be followed, obeyed, and worshipped.
Do you admire Jesus, or do you follow him?
Will you let him take the wheel of your life, surrendering to him? I know it takes a great deal of faith, but to live the Christian life only works if you are willing to surrender.
I mentioned one Sunday that I am interested in doing a triathlon one day and have been taking some swimming lessons. I don’t know if you recall learning how to swim for the first time when you were a child. It is counter-intuitive. If you are on your back and your swimming instructor tells you to relax, and surrender to water, and take deep breaths, your instinct is to grab on to something, to take control. But it turns out if you try to be in control, you find yourself sinking. It is as you surrender to the water…relax…breathe deeply…that you will find yourself floating.
And so it is in our relationship with God, it is when we surrender to God that we find ourselves floating in that relationship. The irony, as in swimming so with God, we find ourselves most free and most fully ourselves when we surrender.
Denise Levertov in her wonderful poem the Avowal writes:
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.
This fall we encouraged members of our community to grow in their trust of God by becoming part of the practicing the presence movement and committing to regularly meeting Jesus in Scripture and prayer. It is our hope this will not only be a time when we gain more knowledge about God and wisdom and peace, but an opportunity for us to express our desire to submit to God…to float in the Spirit’s embrace.
Here at Tenth we encourage people to offer their talents up to God. And it is our hope that we will do that, not just as a way to develop our talents (though that will happen); not just as a way to experience fulfillment in the exercise of our gifts (that will likely happen as well); but also as a way for us to offer our submission to God.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked briefly before the offering about trusting God through tithing, offering the first tenth of our income. It is our hope this practice is not just a means of securing God’s blessing on our finances (though God invites us in Malachi to do just that), but as a way to express our surrender to God. If we offer these things to God, if we offer our educational path, or our careers to God, if we offer our love life to God, our families to God, every part of us we will find ourselves floating in God and most free and most truly ourselves.
But would we do it? Why would we, like the Magi, offer our submission to Christ? Unlike Herod, we may not want to kill Christ, but we may think it is entirely more rational to maintain control of our lives, to be on the throne, to be in the driver’s seat of our lives.
I am more willing to submit to God than I would be otherwise because God became a human being in Jesus Christ. He left his throne and gave up control so that we might be forgiven, free, adopted into his family as sons and daughters.
That first Christmas the infinite one became a baby again: he gave up the ability to talk, to eat solid food and control his bladder. The Maker of all things became a helpless, dependent newborn.
Then 33 years later God, in Jesus Christ, allows himself to be stripped naked, have his arms stretched out and nailed to this wooden beam, utterly surrendering himself—why? So that he would serve as a sacrifice for our sins and so we would experience the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life—God’s life right now.
In a sense God submitted to us, in a sense he surrendered his control… so we are set free, we can surrender to God and experience freedom…
Liz Curtis Higgs was a famous disc jockey life with a wild lifestyle. In fact, Howard Stern was the A.M. show, and Liz Curtis Higgs was the P.M. show. And one day Howard Stern said to Liz, “You know, you need to clean up your act.”
And because Liz had been burned by so many men, and her heart had been broken so many times…she understandably became a militant feminist.
She had a Christian girlfriend who kept inviting her to church. So one day after a long, long time, she said, “Okay, I will go to church one time and one time only.”
So she went to church one time with her friend. And that week, her friend’s pastor just happened to be teaching on the Bible verse that says, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands.” Not exactly a good verse to start for Liz (very inflammatory especially if you are not aware of cultural context that Paul is speaking into). Liz got understandably angry, but she continued to listen, and she actually heard the second part of the verse.… which says, “And husbands—you sacrifice yourself; you give yourself for your wives just as Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the church and died for her.” Who is asked to give their life up? The husband.
When Liz heard that part, she leaned over to her friend and said cynically, “I’d gladly give myself to any man if I knew he would die for me.” And her friend leaned over and said, “Liz, there is man who loved you enough to die for you. His name is Jesus Christ. That’s how much he loves you.” And it was not long after that that Liz, surrendered her life to God in love, and became a follower of Jesus.
Surrender tends to be a very negative term. We don’t like to surrender and most of the time we probably shouldn’t surrender. But there are rare instances when it is a very good thing for us.
To put the story I’m about to tell in context, I am not an American. I am a Canadian citizen, born in Japan. Growing up, my parents, who are Japanese, talked about how good it was that the Japanese surrendered to the Allied Powers.
On September 2, 1945 in Tokyo World War II officially ended. Signing on behalf of Emperor Hirohito, Japan’s foreign minister unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Powers. As result of that surrender, Japan emerged from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and experienced a rebirth of of its economy, some Japanese learned how to play baseball (without the surrender you don’t get an Ichiro), and some, of course, were exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There were lots of atrocities on all sides of the war. I don’t mean to justify or minimize what happened.
All I am saying is that even the Japanese would tell you today in the case of World War II surrendering worked in their favour.
So it is with Christ. When we surrender to the Christ, ironically it works in our favour.
Like Magi we experience deep, profound joy, life, more energy to give, more wonder.
Will you be like Herod and try to retain control of your world?
Or will you be like the Magi?
Will you bow down?
Will you offer your very best gifts?
Will you offer all of you to the Christ?
And in losing your life, you will find it in the end?
Prayer:
Do you sense God saying to you:
"Come home. Execute a U-turn."
Perhaps there’s been a part of you that is afraid to surrender to God.
Perhaps you think that if you did surrender, you’d miss out—or that God would send you to Cambodia.
God loves you more than you know.
Liz’s friend whispered, “There is man who loved you enough to die for you.”
So, if you want to come home to God.
Pray this prayer:
God,
I offer you my life.
Like the Magi, I surrender.
Forgive my sins and give me a new beginning.
Guide my life from here forward.
(As an expression of their desire to surrender the Magi fall face down before God. I am not going to ask you do that. But, I will ask you to do something. If you prayed that prayer, as an outward expression of your desire to surrender to God, please quietly raise your hand. As way to say to God and yourself, “I’m yours, God,” quietly raise your hand.)
posted by Shigematsu at 10:21 AM
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