Were there three kings, three scholars, fity magi or twelve merchants who went to visit Jesus? Was it at the manger as we usually see it or was it a completely different place?

More than any other characters in the Christmas story the three wise men have been the subject of much humor —the story comes to mind of the little boy who was setting up a manger scene in the corner of the school room and, puzzled for a moment about what to do, he called out to the teacher - "And where shall I put the three wise guys..."

We really know very little about the wise men despite the story we tell in plays and songs around Christmas time.

The problem is that the gospels do not confirm the often-told story of the "three kings." What we do know is different:

(1) the three kings were not kings at all, but rather they were magi, wise men, professional scholars in fact, schooled in the science of astrology.
(2) we do not know if there were three of them or thirty, we only know that there were three gifts given.
(3) there is no mention of the manger in the story of the wise men. The story states that the wise men entered into a house.

What can we learn from this story we perhaps know too well?

First

The wise men set forth on a long journey which would take them to new places.

Faith by definition involves the idea of making a journey—of venturing forth—of risking one’s self. God cannot be found by proxy. That was Herod’s mistake - he wanted the magi to go in his place and search for the Christ child. By contrast the magi had to travel from a far land in search of wisdom and truth. They did not know where the star would lead them, how long it would take, or what the end result would be. They only knew that they could not refuse to follow.

This may well be the most important truth for us in the Epiphany story. What it means to be a human being is to be on a journey commissioned by God. Clinging tightly to the status quo, longing for things to settle into comfortable predictability, is finally death.

Kelsey and I took a week to go down and visit my father and grandmother a few days back. We drove because we wanted the journey—the getting there—to be just as important as the being there. I enjoyed seeing all the scenery, talking to the people, watching the accents become more and more southern the further south we went.

As we put ourselves in different places, we become more open to becoming different people. As we journey and open to becoming different people, we become more interesting to ourselves and to God. It’s the journey that works the magic of the magi. Each of us has a star, beckoning us to the places and experiences created by God, but it takes lots of discernment—sometimes even a lifetime—to see it.

Second

The wise men were seekers, which meant taking some genuine risks.

The magi knew that the star that they followed was no ordinary star. They had apparently been searching the heavens for years for a divine word. They were open to new wisdom and truth—more than this—they searched for it. They were not simply content with what they already knew.

The wise men gained their wisdom because they were seekers—they were looking for new things, new insights, new signs. They read their manuals, they searched the heavens for signs and wonders. We can imagine a robust conversation among them. Once they talked it through, they acted, even putting their lives on the line.

Third

The wise men sought assistance from other people as they journeyed.

Now if the couples here are like Cheryl and I, and if I am doing the driving, and we need some kind of assistance, I try to angle the vehicle so that she is closer to the door of the gas station so she will see the beauty of asking the question. A typical male, I’d rather have her ask for the assistance.

The magi were smarter than I am normally. The Bible says they consulted with the people in Jerusalem. Because they asked—they received. The meek may inherit the earth but it is the ones who ask questions who will find what they are looking for.

This is what a community of faith is. We journey, we gather, we rely upon each other to grapple with questions along the way. We could just as easily stay home and look for God out the window or on the television—we could do as Herod did. If Herod had had CNN, he would have watched hours a day for the answer to his question to appear! But Herod came away empty-handed.

Fourth

The wise men made their gifts to Jesus and didn’t complain whether further testing came their way.

The story ends rather abruptly and on a seemingly unhappy note. They are still in danger and are warned not to go back to Herod. Calling on the name of Jesus does not protect us from the ways of the world is but does give us wisdom in navigating its perils. The Christ child shows the way and in the humanity of the child we can recognize ourselves and sense God is at work in our lives.

Fifth

The wise men saw what most would take to be completely ordinary but they saw the extraordinary presence of God.

I want to tell you story told about a man who lived just west of Hastings who disliked Christmas and thought it very unlikely that Christianity could be true. The idea of God becoming a human being made no sense to his well-trained mind. But more happily, he was sometimes called "the bird man of Hastings." He loved to feed the birds, especially in the winter time. In fact, his wife made him a large bird outfit one time so he could play the part of the bird in the high school play.

It was late Christmas Eve, but in spite of his wife's pleas, he would not accompany her to church. He stood watching the heavy snow at his picture window as his wife drove off in her car. He could see the glow of the refinery in the distance. He thought of the birds and wondered if they would find the seeds he had put out for them. It was snowing hard enough that the seed holders were quickly covered. He turned on the backyard lights, but both the birds and the seed were lost in the falling snow. Putting on his heavy coat, he went outside and opened his big barn door. Then he spread bird seed just inside the barn, hoping that the birds would see it. They just didn't see it. Still hoping to help these little starving desperately to shoo the little birds toward the light of his open barn—but only succeeded in frightening them away. Here they were only inches away from the food and water they needed, and he was helpless. “If only I were a bird", he thought to himself, "I would show them the way to that life-giving food.”

Then he realized something he had never realized before. He went and put on his bird outfit and strutted his best bird strut in front of all the birds. Then he slowly walked inside and they followed, one or two at first, then the entire flock, inside the barn where the seed was. As he sat watching his birds eat with great pleasure he thought of his wife viewing the manger scene at church, and the claim that God became human in order to show us the way.

We may have this idea that God does not, or should not, appear to us in the ordinary aspects of our life. We do not expect to see God in the colleague at work, in a child or parent, or in the neighbor across town who is not doing well. We have a hard time too considering that God's word of encouragement and salvation can be found in writings in a worn book on the coffee table, or on the lips of our employees or our friends, or that a dream we have had during a long and troubled night is, in fact, of God.

The wisdom of the wise men was this:

* they were willing to journey in faith to discover a gift from God
* they sought to be fully human by seeking wisdom
* they did not hesitate to ask for help and to accept risk
* they made their gifts to Jesus but didn’t expect the world to become risk-free
* The wise men found a baby, perhaps the most common of human experiences, and discerned in that ordinary event the disclosure of God

That’s who we are: we see in what seems to be the ordinary the most extraordinary gifts of God. And our lives are never the same.
Amen