Camels: $500. Gold: $150. Frankincense: $100. Myrrh $200. Finding the Son of God, priceless. There are some things money can’t buy, but for everything else, well you know the rest of the commercial. For the wise men in the Gospel, I don’t know what their true expenses were, but they knew there were going to be expenses during their journey. A journey where they would follow a star to find the Son of God. It sounds a little bizarre, follow a star and find the son of God. What made God choose wise men to follow a star to find Jesus? Would God instruct anybody to follow a star to find Jesus? Was it all a coincidence?
So what made the wise men so special? When reading a commentary about this particular passage, I learned that wise men, were also referred to as Magi. The word Magi stood for several things during that time. It was a Persian priestly caste, it was short for the word magicians, and finally Magi also referred to individuals who were astrologers. And as astrologers they had the gift to read the stars. This was what made them wise. Since they understood the science of the stars, they had the skills to map out a journey simply using the night sky, they could follow a star to find the new born king. This was their God given gift
Prepared to begin their journey, they were first summoned by King Herod. And they were summon by the King because he was frightened. His understanding was apparently, “a child has been born king of the Jews”, a king to rule over all kings, which meant he wasn’t going to be King much longer. To prevent this new King from taking his throne, he called together all the scribes and all chief priests to understand exactly what he was up against. And from the gospel reading it says they explained what the prophet had written, “‘[from Bethlehem] shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” This meant King Herod needed to find that child and do all in his power to prevent him from being King. And since these wise men from the East were on a journey to find this new born king, he would use them to find the child and stop him from becoming King.
He ordered the wise men, to send back the location of the child, and then Herod himself could stop the child from becoming King. Brilliant plan, but what King Herod didn’t know was that the wise men weren’t going to follow his orders, they were warned in a dream not to.
So to answer the initial question, was it simply a coincidence? I don’t think so. The ability to understand the stars was a God given gift. God reached out to the wise men, to use skills that were particular to them, and they were able to find the son of God. Yes, it was a challenge to use the stars as a map, but God gave the wise men those skills. Most importantly, the wise men weren’t following the word of King Herod, they were following God’s instructions.
What does this look like for us today? How do we better listen to God to learn what are gifts are? And most importantly, who are we following? We, like the wise men, are on a journey. A journey to serve God by loving each other and to use the gifts God gave us to serve others. To understand what are gifts are, I think we must understand how we best serve others. For the wise men it was being able to read the stars, for those that are teachers it’s teaching, for those that are consolers it’s consoling, and for those that are doctors it’s treating illnesses. Ultimately, this shows us that God meets us where we are. God meets us where we are. God gives each of us gifts to serve others, but when we listen and follow God’s instructions we can perform wondrous ministries.
It is the beginning of a new year, which means for us it is the beginning of another journey to live out God’s mission for us. If we listen and serve God through our individual gifts we can begin to serve others better and love more. It’s won’t always easy, and there will be expenses along the way, but how bad can they really be? Reading the bible: $0, praying: $0, listening and loving others: $0. Serving God through our gifts: priceless.
