The Body Language of Advent - Standing (Matthew 1:1-12) 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯

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This week I want to look at the body language of the Magi: the Wise Men. Very often in artwork, we see them standing tall. Standing straight. Their heads held high, their shoulders square. Their feet planted firmly and with stability on the ground. Holding in front of them the gift that they have to give.  

Standing in that way, their posture reminds us that sometimes this journey of faith requires of us... courage. Boldness. It requires us to stand and to say “Here I am. I am not hiding. You want to find me? You can find me. I am going to do and be who God has called me to be.” 

It may be that at times during their experience with Jesus their knees were shaking just a little bit. That their ankles felt a little bit wobbly. That they had that sense of “flight or fight?” 

But whatever they encountered, they stood. They drew the line and didn’t back down.  

So what did they do?  

• They went. 
• They showed up,  
• They worshipped. 
• They defied the powers.  

______

First, they went.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem...

They set out from, probably, the city of Babylon heading toward the city of Jerusalem, a journey of about 900 km. It would have taken them five or six months just for the journey, let alone preparation time. This was a journey that required some courage, some gumption.  

They had to travel up the valley of the Euphrates river, which was the border between two battling empires: Parthian and Roman. On that land, hostages might be taken and exchanged. Not a particularly nice place to be travelling.  

Then they travelled up and across the top of the Arabian desert with the dry desert wind on the backs of their necks, watching for bands of thieves who would have been quite happy to relieve them of their treasures, their camels, and their lives. 

Then the route would have taken them down into Israel, to Jerusalem where they expected to find a new king. 

It would have been a lot easier to stay home, to stay safe. To sip tea and keep looking at the sky, watching for news up there. To sit back and see how the heavens reported the unfolding of the story.  

Instead, they chose to get up and go. To accept the invitation that God had given them in the sky.  

This journey took courage. Standing takes courage, and they had the courage to go. 

Second, they showed up. 

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.

After journeying for 5 or 6 months, they arrived in Jerusalem. They would have set up on the outskirts of town: a big caravan, with tents, and animals.  

They would have sent their people to start asking around... they've come to give gifts to the new king and it's going to be great! But in Jerusalem, nobody has a clue what they're talking about. “What new king? We've already got one. Have you met Herod? One's enough, thank you very much. We got a new king? I'm really glad it's not me. Whatever you do, don't tell Herod.” 

Herod murdered his favourite wife. He murdered his own eldest son because he was the heir to the throne. (Oh, look, that's what happens to new kings.)  

Emperor Augustus, the Caesar of the Roman empire, said this about Herod:  

It's better to be Herod's pig than his son. 

Josephus, a Jewish writer of history and culture, wrote: 

[Herod] was evil in nature, relentless in punishment and unsurpassing in action against the objects of his hatred.  

If you were the ‘new king,’ you did not want Herod to know.  

But he heard the rumours. Heard that foreigners were looking for the new king, and Herod was not happy. If Herod ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. So he commanded the chief priests and the scribes to come and to tell him what was going on. 

“What. New. King.” 

The scribes and priests wouldn’t have needed to look it up. They would have had this passage memorized. They would have known that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem.  

Now Herod knew where. He just didn't know when or who.  

So Herod got an idea. He got an awful idea. Herod got a wonderful, awful idea. (Apologies to Dr. Seuss). 

He put on his best, company’s-coming manners, his nicest smile, and he sent a quiet little message to the Magi. One day, the Magi woke, opened up their phones, and looked at Messenger©. They had a DM from @therealHerodjHerod (verified account).  An ‘invitation.’ ‘Hey, guys. Come tell me what's going on. I want to know more. Maybe I can help.’ 

If the Magi had been paying attention, if they knew anything about the man... They must have been scared. This was not an invitation that you wanted to get.  

But they showed up. They gathered up their courage. They walked onto Herod's turf. They listened to what he had to say. They told him the truth.  

They were in over their heads. Nothing was what they expected. Nothing was playing out the way it should have. They didn't—they couldn't—understand what was going on. All they could do was have the courage to show up. To stand.  

Third, they worshiped. When they arrived at the house in Bethlehem, they knelt down before this new king because even though they were strong—even though they were courageous, even though they had their feet firmly planted in the world and they were going to do what they needed to do no matter what—they understood something that Mary also understood: it takes courage to kneel.  

They came to the house. They saw the child with his mother, Mary, and the text says: 

They fell down and worshipped him.  

Worshipping the new king had always been the plan; kneeling, offering a gift, bowing your head and recognizing the importance and the status of this new king had always been the plan, but Matthew adds this extra detail: they fell down and worshipped him.  

That word in the original language doesn't just mean to kneel, it means to collapse. It's the same word used when someone falls in battle. They collapsed in front of the child and they worshipped him because there was something going on. 

We can't really put ourselves in their headspace but... This is a king?  

There were signs in the sky. There's a prophecy in the ancient texts of the Jewish faith. Those huge things have led the Magi here to this town out in the middle of nowhere. There's this very young mum and this very young baby, and this child is what all that was about? The stars in the sky were speaking of this child? 

They've met kings. They’ve met Herod. We’re not told that they bowed to him. But on meeting this child... The Magi, found within themselves the courage to allow themselves to fall in battle. To drop their weapons of understanding, of insight and cleverness. The courage to allow themselves to be taken hostage by this child.  

They had the courage to worship.  

Finally, they defied the powers.  

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.

A dream came to the Magi, telling them to go a different way. Go straight home. Don’t--do NOT!—tell Herod where this child is, just don't! Go around the other direction. Go the long way. Don't care how you do it. Sneak out of town out one at a time if you have to. Leave the camels behind. Put on a costume. But do not tell Herod where this child is.  

You may know that I'm a Doctor Who fan. This week I watched an episode where the Doctor has a big decision to make. He says: 

There is good and there is evil. By any analysis, according to any logic, evil should always win. Good is not a practical survival strategy. Good requires loyalty, self sacrifice and love. Why does good prevail? Is there some kind of logic? Is there some mysterious force? (Twice Upon a Time)

The Magi had met Herod, and the Magi had met Jesus. They again found themselves travelling the borderline between two empires. Between the evil and the good.  

That battle is not going to last forever. One will conquer the other.  

On one hand, Herod is the more “practical survival strategy.” We can see Herod. He does what he wants. He gets results. In siding with Herod (giving him what he wanted, shoring up his kingship for a few more days, a few more years) they probably would have been given safe escort home (the quicker the better). They would have scored points in some pretty high political circles. They would have gained some influence, made powerful friends. 

On the other hand, there was a child. A dream. Some stars.  

So they defied the logic. They defied the evidence of their eyes. Defied the powers.  

They stood. 

They defied the demands of political expedience, and they chose good. They defied the demands of personal safety and convenience, and they chose what was right. They defied the demands of ambition, and they chose the right. They chose the hard road because it was the right road.  

They stood together. They said no to what the world demanded. They said yes to “loyalty, self sacrifice, and love.” They chose a side, and they had the courage to take a stand.  

______ 

So my question earlier was, “Are you ready for Christmas?” 

I think maybe more to the point, the question should be, “Are you ready to Christmas?” ('Christmas' is a verb now.)  

Are you ready to Christmas?  

To Christmas well is to live well in our world. To respond well to the one who made our world.  

Are you ready to Christmas?  

Are you ready to Christmas the way Mary did? With a kneeling heart, filled with humility and trust in the God who called her to do something hard.  

Are you ready to Christmas the way Joseph did? With a leaning strength, full of faith and faithfulness, leaning on the strength that is greater than your own, and lending your strength to those who need you? 

Are you ready to Christmas the way the angels and shepherds did? With leaping feet and leaping voices, carrying the great and good news of the truth about Christ. Doing what needs to be done.  

Are you ready to Christmas the way the Magi did? With a courageous stand, admitting that of course we don't understand all of it! But standing face to face with the unexpected, the unimagined, the can't-make-this-stuff-up King of Kings, and seeing the choices you have to make, and knowing which ones are good.  

Are you allowing Christmas to prepare you for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow? 

Because yes, Christmas is a party. Yes, Christmas is a celebration. Yes, Christmas is fun. Christmas is a family reunion. Christmas is voices and laughter and feasting and presents. Christmas is a candlelight service with carols and organ music and story and scripture and the voices of the people filling the room singing those wonderful songs.  

Yes, Christmas is all of those things... but it is so much more.  

When we Christmas well—with humility and trust, with faith and faithfulness, with joy and the readiness to respond, when we Christmas with courage—we live the way the King calls us to live. 

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