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Matthew 2:7-11
Then Herod
summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on
which the star had appeared and sent them on to Bethlehem with the words, 'Go
and find out all about the child, and when you have found him, let me know, so
that I too may go and do him homage.' Having listened to what the king had to
say, they set out. And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and
halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them
with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary,
and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures,
they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Reflection
I have always thought the wise men were older, in their 50s
or 60s, maybe older still. The story offers no hints other than to suggest they
were learned in ancient arts of astronomy. That took time.
As a child, older people, grandmas and grandpas seemed to know
things the rest of us didn’t. They looked at the world through eyes less driven
by ego and the need to prove something.
They seemed more secure and relaxed with themselves and
didn’t always feel the need to speak. They had less to protect or prove and
could hear better.
Not all of them, but enough to make me think that had I met
the wise men they would have reminded me of some of those older people I knew
growing up.
I wanted to be like them. They were less about themselves
and more open to receive life as it came them. They were also less concerned
with making a name for themselves and more interested in my name.
Here lies some of the difference between Herod and the wise
men. Herod was a driven, suspicious man, constantly on guard to protect his power
and position. He saw threats everywhere and had no compunction against
brutality stomping them out.
The wise men were protecting nothing. They came to see and
receive, surrendering their bodies to the risk of a long journey. They risked
their minds, too. Not knowing what they might find at the end of their search,
their considered understandings of the world might be shattered by what they
discovered.
Or they might find nothing at all and discover they had been
fools for setting on the journey in the first place.
At the end of the journey, they found delight that their
lives had been guided by a force beyond their own minds and decisions. They had
been led to something, someone worthy of worship and fell on their knees.
They gave their gifts, of course, but their wisdom lies
elsewhere. They received the gift to which the mystery of God had led them, and
they worshiped.
Each new day comes, a gift from the One who leads us, too,
even though we may know nothing of it. Somewhere today I want to receive the
gift of this day to which I am led … and worship with delight.
Pr. David L. Miller
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