Extravagant Welcome

Imagine three huge rivers flowing together.  The first river is now over 4000 years old, it flows through the stories of Abraham, through the twelve tribes of Israel, through the Exodus from Egypt and back to Jerusalem, through the Exile in Babylon and back to Jerusalem.  This river flows through the genealogy in Matthew Chapter 1, flowing directly through Jesus into Matthew’s story today.  Then, in Matthew Chapter 2, we are introduced to two more vast rivers.  The second river is the Roman Empire, represented in our passage today by Harod, the head Roman occupying Jerusalem.  Rome has flowed all around the Mediterranean Sea, conquering all the countries and bringing commerce and Roman government to all the “civilized” world.  And finally, the third river of tradition is represented by some wise men who appear in today’s passage.  The Greek word here, magi, means astrologers.  These men are from exotic “other” places.  The Magi personify the “others,” the river of the “other” gentiles. 

And so, here in Matthew Chapter 2, these three very different rivers crash into each other.  Jewish tradition, Roman Imperial power, and all the “others” of the world slam into each other because of one tiny baby.  What an amazing story.

Will you pray with me?  “Dear God of different rivers and stories, teach us to hear and listen to the stories of others with extravagant welcome.  Amen.”

As a savvy politician, Herod knew that Jewish tradition taught a Messiah would come to save Israel politically.  As you can imagine, Harod was always on the lookout for this treasonous Messiah to show up.  And then, when some astrologers come from far away and asked Harod about a “child who is born king of the Jews,” Harod must have been “frightened,” as it says in verse 3.  Imagine Harold’s knee-jerk reaction as he heard this news, “You also know about this child who will be King of the Jews?  How could you foreign astrologers know this?”  So Harod scrambles to gather some information.  Harold asks the scribes and chief priests, “Where will your Messiah be born?” Can you imagine this conversation?  Do you suppose it was casual conversation?  Or under threat and intimidation?  However it occurred, Matthew says the priests tell Harod, “the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.”  So the Magi come knowing when the star appeared, and Harod gets the place from the Jewish priests.  So now Sherlock Harod knows when and where the Messiah was born, and he sends the Magi off to find the actual babe, commanding them to report back to him “so he can pay homage.”  Right.  The Roman Empire and Jesus were not on good terms from the very beginning, it seems.

What is interesting so far about Matthew’s story is that the Jews did not seem to recognize anything special was going on—perhaps because they were not looking for a humble suffering-servant messiah, but rather they expected a powerful military-political messiah.  The Romans certainly did not know anything special was happening, other than a possible threat to Roman rule.  So the only people who saw Jesus as special at this point in the story are some astrologer gentiles from the east and far away.  What is Matthew saying about which people of the world will recognize Jesus?

We often talk about these wise men, or magi or astrologers, but we often forget that they had a belief system that was completely at odds with the Jewish system of thinking about religion and God.  In most places in the Hebrew Testament, magic and astrology are forbidden.  But using their magic and astrology, the Wise Men are led to Harod and then to Jesus.  As all good astrologers, they follow a star to find this important event.  These spiritual men use a very different belief system to locate the truth as revealed in a small child in Bethlehem.  What does this story tell us about other folks who are using other belief systems as they seek the truth?  What do you think this passage teaches about ecumenical and interfaith work in the world?  To me, the wise men seeking the Christ-child remind me that sometimes truth comes from places we may never expect.  As here, sometimes God uses different people and different belief systems to reveal the truth to the world.  And sometimes God raises up a small child because of the loving actions of those outside the system.  These wise men were in tune with their spirituality, and following their own system, a river as long as Israel’s river, they crashed into the traditions of Israel and Rome in the person of Jesus.  The world met together at Jesus’ manger, witnessing the impossible birth of the Prince of Peace through the eyes of the Jewish tradition, the Roman Empire, and these gentile astrologers.  I do not know how Matthew could have written a story that pulled all the known important rivers of the world crashing into one story so dramatically.

This beginning story of Matthew is echoed again in Matthew’s final verse, when the disciples are told by Jesus, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”  This story of ministry of Jesus, acknowledged first by gentile astrologers, is completed by Jesus saying go out to the world with this story to all the nations—to the gentiles.

Now, imagine what Matthew’s mostly Jewish audience would have thought about this declaration.  This story that a Jewish prophet would teach and preach to the outside world must have been very hard for them to hear.  This story that the river of tradition of the Jews was now a story for the entire world would have been startling, new, different, and most likely have felt blasphemous to them.  Matthew carefully set up Jesus’ Jewish-ness in chapter 1, and then closely thereafter in chapter 2 declares the message of this Jewish prophet is now for the entire world.  The faithful Jews of the time must have been very confused.  Or outraged.

The history of Christ since this story was told has continued to challenge those on the inside and empower the little people on the outside.  The message of Christ spread throughout the world in mostly underprivileged churches, empowering the lower classes to claim a spirituality that was classless and not dependant on gifts to the temples of the Roman gods.  Every time this story was read, the new Christ-followers remembered their humble beginnings, and also remembered that it was the outsiders and “others” just like them who were the first to recognize Christ.

This is a story of extravagant welcome.  The astrologers welcomed Jesus by traveling to his birthplace.  They welcomed Jesus with the gifts of frankincense, myrrh and gold.  But they also brought the far greater gift of recognizing Jesus as spiritually important to the whole world.  Also, they did not play into Harold’s hands.  They defied Rome by going home “another way” and snubbing Harod completely.  Do you think Matthew is being subtly anti-Roman here?

Extravagant welcome is a rare thing, either then or now.  Harod appeared to be hospitable to the Wise Men, but he really just wanted information to protect his status quo.  The scribes and chief priests said they offered welcome, but did nothing to greet Jesus.  The wise men followed through with their mission of hospitality, and they kept listening even after they saw Jesus, going home a different way.  God was still speaking to them, and they were still listening.  How many of us can say that we are still listening?

Many Christians and people today are certain that they know what God says—they are certain that how they hear God is the only way God can be heard and understood.  But our God is still speaking, still revealing stars to us, still showing us the way to extravagant hospitality of other belief systems and ideas that are completely different than the ways we know.  Our United Church of Christ continues to listen to God for new revelations in our world today.  Of course, we also listen to the traditional stories, the traditional ways of living Christ into the world.  The message of Christ never excluded the Jews, it merely opened the message of spiritual extravagant hospitality to everyone.  As Christians, we are challenged to remember that traditional interpretations and modern interpretations are both welcome at our table of extravagant hospitality.  The three rivers of the world still crash together in the person of Jesus Christ, and the world still struggles to define exactly what it means to follow Christ on the way.   But whoever you are, and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here, even if you think differently, like, for instance, a magi.  Here, we welcome different views and diverse viewpoints.  Our diversity is held together by love and extravagant hospitality as we make room for everyone’s personal journey at this table.  You are welcome here, just as you are, and whatever you believe.  What is important is not that we all agree, but rather, that we lift high our love and care for God and one another as our primary goal.  We welcome the entire world with extravagant welcome, whether we agree or not.  Love will then find a way.  Everybody is welcome at this table, no matter what belief system brings you here.  We openly affirm even the magi of our world can come to this table today.  We welcome diversity among us.  And we mean that.  Amen.