Open to the Light

A Sermon Matthew 2: 1-12

Charles J. Tomlin

Second Sunday after Christmas or Epiphany Year C

Flat Rock Zion Baptist Partnership

The text for today takes us back to the Christmas story one last time.   In the most ancient Church, the Orthodox Church, Christmas was not officially over until after “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, which lasted until January 5^th.   You might be ready to move on, but the traditions of the church ask us to reflect upon part of the Christmas story once again: the visit of the wise men.

Before we get to the story of the Wise Men and the Star, I want you to think about some of your earliest star gazing.   Stars are especially bright during the winter months and as a child, we were not a bit afraid to go out in the cold and play.   Especially around Christmastime, when all kinds of cousins were gathered at grandma’s house,  it was a good time to go out and play “freeze tag” or “hide and seek” regardless of the temperature.   As I look back upon it, waiting in the dark while playing games as a small child, was one of the first times I ever looked up into the heavens and considered the vastness of the universe.   It was in one of those brief moments, while waiting there in the dark, that I first began to see light.  It was there that I first wondered who am I in the midst of this vast, endless sea of stars.

Interestingly, there is a great moment in the opening of the movie Amistad, which is about one of the more disturbing parts of our American history.   In the first few minutes of the movie, Cinque, a black man from Africa who has been ambushed and sold into slavery and is on board the ship Amistad.   He has a similar awing response to a starlit night on board that slave ship.  He and his people have just taken over the ship and are attempting to sail back to Africa.   Cinque looks into the starry night and wonders about the vastness of the universe and considers what it means to have all that heavenly light beaming down on such a hostile world, which now looks suddenly bright and different.   The movie goes on to consider how difficult it is for people to see the light of grace and hope, but how wonderful it is when the light finally does come into human condition  (As told by Patrica De Jong in a sermon "Star Light, Star Bright",  Lectionary Homiletics, Jan. 3, 2010).

LIGHT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO RECEIVE, IS IT?   Think how long it took for many in our country and in our world to see the light that all people are created equal, even though the Bible stated it, nature suggested it, and the US constitution was supposed to guarantee it.   The truth is, some people still don’t get it and racism is still alive in many darkened hearts.   Unfortunately, there are those who still prefer to walk in darkness instead of the light.   And even for those upon whom the light of freedom and hope has shined, it has taken a long, hard struggle before the light finally came on for them.

On this day, we want to consider how this light of grace, hope and freedom, shone through the Star the Wise Men followed and the Christ child they visited.  But what I especially want us to consider for a few moments, is how the “light” of truth was and can still be refused and rejected.   That is also a part of the Christmas story: “He came unto his own and his own received him not.”   Here, in the story of the wise men we already see the difficulty one might have in receiving the light of truth into their lives.    As we look at King Herod’s struggle with the light, but also look into a mirror and see some of our own hesitancy in being open to the light of truth in our lives.

If we are honest enough to admit it, we’ve all been there when truth is hard to swallow or when new  ideas are hard to follow.  We are, as humans, for the most part, creatures of habit.   As the movie Amistad reminds us, some of us here in the south still remember struggling with and overcoming our own feelings of racism can’t we?   Though the “truth makes us free”, it can also surprise and alarm, rather than comfort, especially when we are the ones holding the reins of power. 

Unfortunately, even those of us in the church, who are supposed to “walk in the light as he is in the light,”  sometimes come here seeking to be comforted in our darkness rather than being opened to light.  Sometimes we are more like Herod than the Wise men.   A friend of mine was the Interim pastor at a church and it was suggested to him that he might teach on the book of Revelation.   When he made the statement that sincere Christians have differing views of how to interpret the book, over 40 people left the church in shock that there might me more than one way to interpret that book.   They only wanted a church that reinforced their own views instead of looking for truth.  Some people have all the light and truth they want, whether they have all the light and truth they need.

Again, we must reaffirm, that “light” is not always easy to receive.  Isn’t this part of the core message of the gospel?  John’s gospel, though it does not tell us the story of the star, tells us that the light came into the world and that the world prefers darkness rather than light (1: 5).   In the third chapter of John, he is more direct, saying that in Jesus, “judgment has come into the world and people loved darkness rather than light”   Instead of coming to the light, he adds, “all who do evil hate the light because their deeds are evil” (John 3: 19). 

Speaking of evil, this brings us to King Herod the Great.   Herod is not remembered as the kind of guy who is open to much of anything, except his own point of view.    Notice the first response he has when he first hears reports about the birth a promised Messiah from the Wise Men.   Matthew tells us that when Herod “heard this, he was frightened” (2: 3).   It also goes on to add that “all of Jerusalem was “frightened” with him, but we are not sure whether they are frightened because of the child, or frightened because Herod was known to do some crazy things to deal with his fears---like kill all kinds of innocent babies in order to get to one.

Fear is not a natural enemy of the light of truth.   Fear can be a normal, human response to the unknown and the unpredictable.   A certain amount of fear is good for our survival.   We obey the law, because we are afraid of going to jail.   We work, because we are afraid of being fired.  We try be responsible and honest, because we fear God.   There is a certain amount of fear that can be a good thing and a little bit of “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of light of wisdom (Proverbs 1).   But the kind of fear we read about in our text is the kind of fear that can goes beyond the norm and leads to irrational, irresponsible behavior and, as we know from the story, even murder. 

Why is Herod afraid of the birth of a child?   Part of it had to be the very way the Wise Men put the announcement they made.  They did not say, where is this sweet, little Jesus boy, but “where is the child who has been born the king of the Jews?”   Herod is afraid because what the wise men are saying threatens the very kingdom he now holds.  If this child is to be King, what will that mean for him who is now suppose to be the king?   A land can’t have two kings, just like Jesus later himself says, that no one can serve “two masters.”

In middle of Herod’s problem with truth that has suddenly come to light is same kind of fear we all might have with truth:  Truth and new light can change things; and it can change even how we view the things we hold on to dearly.  This kind of radical change is very scary and understandably so.  It is the primary problem people have with seeing, hearing, entertaining or dealing with new ideas, new understandings and new truth.  We are suddenly afraid and become skeptical, not so much being afraid of the truth, as much as we are afraid of what we might lose when the truth comes to light.

Right now in our country, one of the newest “truths” out there that we all know about is the theory of Global Warming.   We all know that most scientist say it is true.   No one can dispute that glaciers and the polar icecaps are melting.   No one can dispute that the earth is warmer than it has been.  What is still unsure is why and what does this mean?   Is it a normal turn of events or is it man induced.    What’s more is what should we do in response to it?    What would it mean if we have to live with new laws and regulations because of Global Warming.  It is still a new truth; in some ways a scary truth, and a truth that can easily be misused or abused by those who would profit by the changes that come, while others stand to lose because of them.   This is the scary nature of truth which helps some and hurts others.  It is the kind of truth that is not always welcomed, even when it is true.

For us in the church the greater problem has been our fear of gaining new theological truth from scholars and scientists.  Whereas in the world of science, there is most often welcome and excitement with the discovery of new, earth-shaking truth, those of us involved in religion are more often suspicious of new truth.  Isn’t  that part of why the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus’ new teachings about the Sabbath?  They were very suspicious that anyone should mess with the Sabbath as they saw it.  The Law said that the Sabbath Day was holy, but if you let Jesus new interpretation stand: “That the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” couldn’t this mean that any human will then have the freedom of interpreting what it means to be holy on the Sabbath?  Shouldn’t this kind of “law” be left up to experts and priests, not to intenerate rabbi?   We all know that Jesus saw that some of the laws had gone too far and told the religious were practically enslaving people with those laws, but on the other hand if the “Sabbath is made for man” and we humans can interpret what Sabbath means in our own hearts, won’t that also lead to abuse?    This kind of new understanding that brings not only new light, but freedom, which can be very risky and that risk results in fear. 

In the same way today, newer understandings in language and the Bible require me to say that we should follow the new light which says, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath,” because we have new understandings and need to be inclusive in our reading of Bible.   But this “change” is exactly the kind of “new light” that still scares people.   Just like the Jews didn’t want Jesus messing with their Sabbath, many don’t want scholars messing with their Bible.   There is a lot of anti-intellectualism  and fear that still raises its head when new ideas are suggested, especially when it comes to gaining new religious or biblical insight.   Who can resist thinking about the life of “fear” and “terror” which many religious radicals are still trying to bring into our world because they themselves are “afraid” of new truth about women, about faith, and about the world. 

There is a second problem with receiving new light.    Look at what Herod does in response to the Wise men’s message.   In verse 7, after hearing that Jesus is to be born in Bethlehem, we read that  “Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star appeared.”    Don’t misunderstand this.  Herod does not really want to go worship Jesus as he says, but he does this “secretly” because he really wants to reject and kill Jesus. 

 “Secrecy” is the next response to new truth that we can see in Herod and we sometimes also see in ourselves.   Somebody comes up with a new idea and some openly reject it right out, but most do not.  Most people go home and begin to talk in secret and often behind the messenger’s back. Instead of confronting and dealing with their fears, worries and questions in the open, many prefer to hide their feelings, deny the issues, and leave the doors of their hearts closed to hearing anything new.

Do you know what hiding and secrecy can do to a church, a marriage, a family or a community?   Psychologist tell us that the healthy personality is also an open, transparent, sharing personality and that people who like to keep everything to themselves and away from others add to their misery and bring untold misery upon others.   The repression of feelings can either lead to depression or aggression.  It always leads to something.   But in contrast to the person to hides in secret is beautiful image in the Bible of a redeemed person who wants to live in the light and vows to leave the dark, hidden, secret places of the world.   It is only in the light that new ideas can be rightly studied, analyzed, studied, and rightly accepted as truth or sometimes even rightly rejected as falsehood.   Truth means dealing with ideas in the light, not hiding and not secrecy.

In my last church I had some real challenges.   I followed a pastor who had founded the church and still lived in the community.   He wanted to make sure the next pastor was just like him.   Every ounce of my experience told me that this would not be long job, but it was one I felt lead to take, even for a short time. 

It wasn’t long, maybe even in the beginning of my second year as pastor, that I saw problems on the horizon.  There were staff problems, people problems, and all kinds of skeletons that had been sweep into the church closet during those 22 years.   I knew that now that the former pastor was gone, I was going to get to deal with all these issues, so I knew that before I could help the church, it needed to see that the problems were already there.   They needed to face them openly and intentionally before they had to face them suddenly and unexpectedly.  

So I invited a church consultant to come and lead the church through a weekend of exploration and study.  It was an eye-opening and revealing weekend for all of us.  Some of the things we learned were good and well received and other things were bad or not so well received.   The good news, at least for me, is that many of the skeletons were exposed and confronted.  There was no way forward until the church learned to be more open with the challenges, the disappointments and the truth.   I’ll never forget, however, what one pastor told me when he heard that we’d had such a weekend of openness and transparency.  “Are you crazy?”   “Don’t you realize what will happen when all that stuff starts churning around?”  

Well, he was right about that and I knew it.  Opening up to the truth can be risky business.  I knew the first day I took that church that my job there was not going to be pleasurable and my time there might be short.   But in those 3 and a half years, I believe my ministry of openness and transparency helped that church actually confront and deal with some of the most difficult issues it had been hiding and didn’t want to face.    We had a few painful moments in those years, but fortunately the leadership held together and we faced the hard issues.   And do you know what?  When we got things out in the open so that everyone could see problems together, they realized it wasn’t about me or them, but it was just a necessary time of change and adjustment.    The great news is that I spoke to one of the deacons last week and now the church is growing and moving forward.   The pastor is free to continue doing some of the same things I implemented, and he’s even doing a few new things, even asking women to lead publically in prayer.   I was attacked because I believed a woman should be able to pray in public, or whatever else God called her to do, but I never actually called on one.   But now that freedom has been won, the hidden issues have been exposed, a couple of difficult people are gone, and new folks are pouring in.  Now the people and procedures I put in place are now helping the church move forward openly and cooperatively.   A new day came, when the church learned not to hide, but to be open to the truth.

It doesn’t just happen in churches, but it happens in every area of life.   We can all get used to hiding from the truth that we know all to well, but won’t admit to ourselves.   Hiding from the truth, living in secrecy are still ways that people get trapped and refuse the light they need.  It can happen in a marriage, in a family.  We need to be open and honest with each other and with our feelings.  This does not mean that we become unkind or we simply blurt out what we think when we know it might hurt people.   I’m not talking about the crazy view of honesty taken in the movie Liar, Liar, when Jim Carrey’s character goes around blurting out the truth without respecting people’s feelings.  What I’m talking about is refusing to resort to secrecy when we know that issues need to be dealt with in fair, honest and open ways so that everybody wins.

The final problem we see in Herod is how fear and secrecy can lead to isolation.  This is the darkest place of all and it is also very sad and can be tragic.   Listen to what Herod says when he is lying to the Wisemen:  “Go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”   What we do not see Herod doing, is just as important here as what we do see.  Herod does not call his people to hear the good news, but he wants to “worship” all by himself.   He wants to decide about Jesus his own way, on his own terms and for his own reasons.   We all know what Herod’s reasons were.  He does not want to join with the Wise men in worshipping, nor does he want to bring his nation to worship the true Messiah, but Herod wants to isolate himself and take care of this matter his own way.  When you want to decide everything alone, you will end up in the loneliest place of all.

So now, let’s quickly review.   In Herod we see the full movement of a soul that rejects the light of new truth in their own heart.  First one decides to give into and live in fear, instead of facing the issues with courage and trust.   Then the person moves toward secrecy, close mindedness instead of transparency, openness and honesty.   Finally, the person back away completely and in isolation lives in its own world which consideration of anyone else except what it wants.    Unfortunately, because of our pioneer culture in our past, we Americans are pretty good at being rugged individuals who have liberty and freedom so we can do what we please.   What we still need to work on, is how we can carry the and bear light with others.   When we resolve to go it alone, we miss the wonderful community of grace, goodness, hope and light, which God wants to build in our world.  

Here is especially where I want to challenge us to walk in the light as we move into this New Year together.   Did you hear my last word: Together.   Isn’t it interesting that part of what made the Wise men “wise” is that went on their journey toward the light together?  That is such a contrast to Herod who lives in fear, keeps his people living in fear, who works in secret and isolates himself in his own little world of his own personal version of truth.   The bad news about living only with your own “personal” truth is that that is all it is.   It is personal in a way that it is not linked up with the eternal light which can shine new light and new hope into our own lives.

So, here is my question to us, as we enter this New Year: How shall we come to the light in this year?   We live in a world where the stars still shine brightly in the night filled with potential, adventure, hope and purpose.  We can still approach the wonder of life filled with childhood energy and excitement which new light can bring, if we trust that God is at work in it all.   At the same time, we live in a world that is still hostile toward the light and still prefers the darkness, not unlike the world Cinque experienced.   I believe that we Christians want to be open to the light, the cries and the needs of the world where there is so much darkness.   I believe that we believe that light can still come into this world and that God has plans to move people out of darkness into his wonderful light.  I believe that some of the most difficult and darkest problems our world now faces can be resolved as the light continues to expose the bad and help us distinguish the good.   We too face our own challenges here in our community, in our churches and in our own lives, if we are willing to stay in the light and not in despair run back into the darkness.  If I didn’t believe the light can make a difference, I wouldn’t stand here and tell you it would. 

A great example of the difference light can make, even in the simplest situation is a brief story about what happen to my wife and I on the way to her colonoscopy procedure.  To make a long story short, we were ready to go and our car would not move.  It was locked in park.  We were only 10 minutes from the Surgical Center, but it would take longer than that to get a taxi.  I called one anyway.  In the next moment, we saw our neighbor, coming out of her driveway.   Now, I need to tell you that we had not always been on the best terms with our neighbors.  The man was an ex-foot ball player and sometimes had a drinking problem.  One night, we had a little confrontation with him when he making loud noises in the middle of the night.  Of course, since he was a right Guard for the Cowboys and Redskins,  Teresa is the one who confronted him.  Our relationship as neighbors hadn’t gone much further than this.

But when Teresa informed the wife of the problem, she was glad to drive Teresa.  Then, she began to open up and share more light.   Her husband had lost his job working for a plastic company in Lenoir.  She told Teresa that her husband was Catholic, but not really practicing anything.   She said she was not Catholic, but was a believing person, but would even go to Mass with her husband if he would go.  She opened up about their struggles and then told Teresa, she’d do anything else for her that day, if we couldn’t get our car started.   When the conversation opened up, the light came in and a new world of care, concern, possibility and prayer also opened up.   Everything became different between us, because now there was light.

Our greatest challenge, however, is not will the light make the difference in our own lives, but will we let the light shine in our hearts together as the people of God who are called to be a community of light and to challenged by Christ himself, “to let our light shine”?   Will we be committed to building the kind of spiritual community of sharing, openness, caring and hope that will keep the lights on?   The Scripture reminds us that when Jesus was the “Word become flesh” that he also “dwelt among us”.   The Hebrew background suggests a word picture of God “pitching his tent among us.”    We too, in order to be a people of the light, must pitch our tents together and cannot forsake the community of light we are called to be.   The light shines best when we open ourselves up to the light together.  We can’t live alone, in fear and in secrecy from each other and bear the light this world needs, but we must also bear the burden of the light as we open our own hearts to it, together.   Just like those wise men, we don’t travel on this journey alone, but we move toward the light as a fellowship, as a communion, as companions, and as a community of people who believe God’s light is still revealing new truth to us, so that we can let our own light shine in the world.

How open will you be to God’s light in your life this year?  How willing are you to help us shine our light together so that more light shines, more truth rules our hearts, and more love breaks through to hungry and hurting souls.     Again, come back to that childhood moment when you were hiding in the darkness in a bush and suddenly somebody cried out, “all-y, all-y, all-y all in free.”  This was the cry for everyone to run back freely out of the darkness and into the light and to freely come home.   That is how God’s grace still calls.   All can come in freely to the light.  There will be no condemnation to those who come in freely to Jesus and his light.  Today the light still shines.  It can shine in your heart too, even in new ways.  It can still shine, that is, if you are still open to the light.  Amen.

© 2010 All rights reserved Charles J. Tomlin, B.A., M.Div. D.Min.