THEY WENT BACK HOME A DIFFERENT WAY


 
Matthew 2:1-12


 I was struck this week that in the middle of Christmastide is New Year's Day, the time we celebrate a new year full of opportunities for change and personal improvement.  It happens during a time when we are celebrating the birth of Christ, who came that we could have new life, new beginnings -- to become, through God's transforming grace, a "new creation." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We follow the Christmas star to the end of Christmastide to Epiphany and the story of the Magi.  We sing "We three kings of orient are ..." and name the gifts they brought.  What stands out to me in this familiar story is Matthew 2:12.  "And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road."  They went back home a different way.

The Magi were committed, I have to say.  It took them approximately two years to make the journey.  It couldn't have been an easy journey, following the star across desserts, through rocky wilderness, and winding their way through canyons and mountains.  There were bandits along the way, so they probably traveled with a company of armed soldiers to protect them and the kingly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh they carried with them.  It was a rough road and a long journey full of discomfort and perils.

When they arrived they bowed down and worshipped Jesus, who was now a toddler.  They acknowledged his authority, his power and his right to rule humankind.  They honored him with heir presence and offered them the very best and most precious of objects they possessed.  And then, with the guidance of God, they choose to ignore the earthly ruler, Herod, and instead of returning to report in to the king, they went back home a different way.

They went a different way.  Isn't that what repentance is?

Like the Magi, we humble ourselves before the pure light of Christ, admitting our sin and acknowledging that Christ has the power and the authority to wash us clean of sin and set us on a new path, a different way back to living as citizens of the Kingdom of God as we experience the transforming grace of Christ in our lives.  Grace that has the power to:

  • Help us change unhealthy, personal habits, like overeating;
  • Change us from being self-focused to being God-focused so we have purpose and direction;
  • Free us from bondage to money, debt, drugs, alcohol and self and free us to experience the fullness of life and through Christ, make a difference in the lives of others.
  • Experience the joy, power, and support of being united  to one another in Christ and in ministry to all the world.
That's what being a new creation in Christ is all about!

Like the Magi, we need to be committed to travel the road of discipleship.  For me, it means that everyday I choose to follow Christ and to engage with the transforming grace of God by surrendering all that I am and all that I have in obedience to Christ.  

I've found it is a long journey and it can be a tough one as each day I am faced with the choice of whose disciple I will be.  Will I be a disciple of a culture of self-gratification and consumerism, addicted to acquisition and busyness?  Or will I be a disciple of Christ, choosing to live according to the values of the culture of the Kingdom of God, to live free to be the person God has created me to be?

But I know that I do not travel the road alone.  We travel it together -- together with Christ.


On New Year's Day, one of the public radio programs I listened to asked people to share their New Year traditions.  One woman drags an empty suit case around the block to symbolize the hope that the new year will bring new adventures and travel opportunities.

In this season of the new beginnings and celebration of the transforming, life-changing grace of Christ, we may want to ask what is in our suitcases as we begin down the road of the new year.  What do we need to toss out so there's more room for God.  What needs to left behind so we can travel freely into the future God has for us, so we can travel the road that leads a different way home?

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