Pastor’s Page Volume 7 Week 51 December 23, 2001

I Want Them To Say About Me,

"He Was A Wise Man. He Followed!"

When I’m gone, I want them to say, "He was a wise man." I’m often accused of being a wiseguy, but I have set my goal to grow in wisdom, to be more like Christ. I want to be like the Wise Men from the east who traveled to see Jesus. (Their story is in the opening verses of Matthew 2.) Here’s what I mean.

There have been times in my life when I’ve sensed the Lord’s calling, when I’ve seen the star, and followed. There are times when I have not. My life has been full and rich when I am open to the Lord’s leading. My life has been boring, aimless and empty when I am not. I prefer full.

God is leading all the time. I’m just not as good at following as I’d like to be. It amazes me that the Wise Men saw the star and followed. These were not people with their eyes on the ground, dragged down by the mundane and ordinary. These were people with their eyes u, looking and searching for messages, for leadings, for insights into the nature of the universe.

They wanted, for some reason we are not sure of, to find the "one who has been born king of the Jews."

I do too. Paul prayed for the Church that they might, "have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

I’ve tried a lot of things to fill me. Nothing does like the experience of the love of Christ. The Wise Men were very wise. I also want to seek Jesus.

When they got as far as Jerusalem, the Wise Men hit a roadblock. They stopped for directions. (I guess I could learn that lesson, too!) And when the people of Jerusalem, (who should have had a ready answer but didn’t,) got all flustered about their request, and did not understand why they were seeking this child, and must have thought them crazy or misguided or overly religious or freaky, they waited patiently and then moved on.

I’m going to heaven someday. I have no doubt about my eternal salvation. I have been saved by the grace of God, claimed in baptism, sealed by the Holy Spirit. But I still seek Jesus. I want to know him better. I want to talk to him each day and know he hears. I want the comfort of his love, the wisdom of his Spirit, the strength of his character, the enormity of his heart.

It would be easy to sit complacently on the faith he has given me, but the reward of seeking him and knowing him better and better is too great, and so I want to press on and I pray that God will help me. This journey is so much fun. At every obstacle and through every dry period in my spiritual growth, I know that God is with me and he has surprises around every corner. I won’t let the obstacles stand in my way. I want to see him face to face. And I press on.

God gave the Wise Men a sign in the heavens. Me too. I can tell that God is out there somewhere just by looking around me at the things I see in life, in nature, in the eyes of other people. But when it came to meeting the King face to face, the Wise Men sought the counsel and direction of God’s Holy Word. The teachers in Jerusalem told them of the promise in Micah 5, "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6).

Jesus told us that the Scriptures tell us of him. I want to know Jesus. That’s why I read the Scriptures. Martin Luther said that the Bible is a manger. When we look inside, we see the Christ, just as the Wise Men did.

And when they heard the word of the Lord’s promise, the believed it and responded to it. For the Wise Men, the Bible was not a fascinating story, but a guide to life. The Bible said Bethlehem. They went to Bethlehem.

I want to know God’s word to me. I want to follow where he teaches me to go. I know I will see Jesus along the way, and at the final destination.

On the same day they heard the truth of God’s promise about Bethlehem, the Wise Men heard the lies of the evil King Herod. "I too wish to go and worship him." They didn’t fall for it, but went home another way.

I’m bombarded with lies every day. The devil and this world I live in try to tell me dozens of times every day where to find my worth, my direction, my purpose, my joy and my fulfillment. I want to be like the Wise Men and be able to sort out the lies from the truth, to avoid the temptation to follow on the easy path. I want to be true to my calling as a child of God, as a disciple of Jesus, as a husband, as a father and also as a pastor. I want to walk the path that God has laid out for me. It may be the more narrow way, but it’s the way I want to go.

When they met Jesus, "they bowed down and worshiped him" (Matthew 2:11).

I don’t think it was a Sunday. I’m sure there were no scheduled services. There was no organ music, no hymnbooks, no bulletin and no choir. They simply saw Jesus and did what they were supposed to do, what came most naturally. They bowed down and worshiped him.

I want to live a life of worship. I want to see Jesus in every moment of every day, in every circumstance, to be reminded of his presence and his love and to offer a song of praise in my heart that never ends. I want to be like the Wise Men and worship Jesus any time, any place.

"They opened their treasures and presented him with gifts" (Matthew 2:11). I’ve spent money in ways I have regretted lots of times. I’ve opened my wallet and kissed some good money goodbye. But I have never regretted a single sent of the money we have laid at Jesus’ feet. Carol and I constantly look for ways we can be more generous than we are. I want to be like the Wise Men, who, when seeing Jesus, the King of the Jews, knew that the appropriate thing to do was to open up the treasure chests and lavish extraordinarily generous gifts at his feet. I know they did not miss one bit of it.

After their visit with Jesus, the Wise Men received a message from the Lord in a dream. You would think that after following the star and completing their journey to Bethlehem there wouldn’t be much more from the Lord. There’s always something more form the Lord.

I never want to get to the place in my walk with Jesus where I think I’ve seen it all or know it all. I always want to be open to one more leading, one more adventure, on more lesson, one more challenge.

I want to be a wise man. Teach me, Lord, and lead me.

Blessed Christmas. Follow the star.