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Scripture for us. The word of God.
So I am going to be reading some verses out of Matthew 2. So the word
of God for us this morning. (Matthew 2:1-12)
In the time of King Herod after
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the east came to
Jerusalem asking, “where is the child who has been born King of the
Jews. For we have observed his star at its rising and have come to pay
him homage.” Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from
them the exact time when the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem
saying, “Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have
found him bring me word so that I may go and pay him homage as well.”
When they had heard the king, they set out and there ahead of them went
the star that they had seen at its rising until it stopped over the
place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped,
they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house they saw the
child with Mary his mother and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then opening their treasure chests they offered him gifts of
frankincense, gold and myrrh.
This is the word of God for us this
morning.
Let’s pray.
Lord we pray that today the words of
my mouth, the thoughts of our hearts, will bring you glory. So we hold
that before you this day. In your name. Amen.
Well today I want to tell a story, a
story of the fourth wise man. The fourth wise man’s name was Artiban.
Artiban was a tall man with a dark complexion and he had brilliant
eyes. He wore a beautiful full-length pure white wool robe and under it
he wore a pure silk tunic. He wore a round hat with a point on it and
he was wearing the clothes of the priesthood of the Magi. One December
evening he was with his friends and he was talking about how he was
looking for a star to appear in the east. He said, “I have been
watching for it with my friends in Babylon.” And he said, “When that
star appears we are going to travel because the star will be a sign.
It’ll be a sign that the King of Israel has been born.” So he said,
“I’m preparing and I’ve sold all that I have to bring gifts worthy of a
king,” at which point he reached into his tunic and he pulled out three
magnificent jewels. There was a sapphire that was as blue as the
midnight sky. Then there was a ruby that burned like the sun at
sunrise. Then there was a magnificent white luminous pearl that was as
white as any snow-capped mountain. He said “These are for the king” and
as he was talking with his friends, they noticed off in the distance
there was a blue streak in the sky. It was almost as if the jewels had
come together and had gone into the sky, it was so bright and so
brilliant. And he said “Look, that is the sign that we’ve been looking
for. The child king has been born. So I am going to travel to Babylon
and when I get there I will join my other three Magi and we will travel
to bring worship to the king.” So he set off that night and it was ten
day journey. He knew he had ten days to get to Babylon. As he was
traveling on the night of the tenth day, his horse stopped suddenly in
the road. Artiban tried to peer off onto the road to figure out why the
horse had stopped, and before him, what looked like the outline of a man
lying on the road. As he saw and realized what it was, his heart leapt
into his throat. He thought “Oh Lord, what am I to do? If I take care
of this man I will miss rendezvousing with the other Magi and I will not
be able to worship the king.” And he prayed, he said “Lord give me
wisdom; give me understanding as to what I should do.” And he got off
his horse and he picked up the man. He took him to the road side,
propped him up under the tree and he began to care for him, to nurse him
back to strength. He was there for many hours. When finally the man’s
strength had returned, he said to Artiban, he said “I have nothing to
give you;, but I can tell you this, that I am a Jew and our prophets
have told us that the child that you are seeking will not be born in
Jerusalem but will be born in Bethlehem. So if you seek to worship him
that is where you need to travel. Artiban thought, he said “I’ve missed
traveling with my companions and if I’m going to worship the king I am
going to have to travel on my own. I will need provisions and a train of
camels. So he pulled out the sapphire and he used it to purchase things
that he would need to travel. He set off across the desert.
Well he arrived in Bethlehem just
three days after his friends the Magi had visited the Christ child. He
walked into a small little cottage and there was a woman there holding a
little child, singing it to sleep. He inquired of the mother where the
Christ child might be found. She said “Well Joseph the father had taken
the child and the mother Mary and had taken off at night.” And just
then there was a great commotion in the street. There was a man running
down the street that said “Herod’s soldiers are coming. They’re killing
our children.” At which point the women pulled the child closer to her
chest and backed into the darkest corner in the cottage. Artiban stood
up and stood in the doorway just as the captain of the guard arrived
with blood dripping on his hands. Artiban said to him “There is no one
in here that you seek, and I am looking for a prudent captain that would
leave us at our peace.” And he reached in and pulled out the ruby. He
showed it to the captain. The captain took it and he said to his men
“There is no one here. Move on.” And they took off. As the soldiers
were leaving, Artiban kind of sunk down. Once again he said “Lord, I’ve
used two of my treasures that were meant for you for humans. Forgive me
Lord. Will I ever be able to see you face to face?” Then he turned
back to the mother that was quivering in the corner. She was weeping
and said “Thank you for saving my child.” Then she said to Artiban “May
the Lord bless you; the Lord keep you; the Lord be kind and gracious to
you; the Lord make his face shine upon you, and give you peace.”
So Artiban traveled on. He went
from country to country trying to find this child who was born King of
the Jews. He went to many countries but he never found anyone that was
worthy of worship of a king. He did however find many people that were
in need, and as he found them, those who were hungry, he fed. Those who
were in need of clothing, he provided clothing for them. Those that
needed comfort or companionship or those who were in prison, he came
alongside and encouraged. He traveled for thirty-three years and in the
process became an old man. As he was traveling into Jerusalem one last
time, he was traveling in and there was a great commotion in the city.
As he entered the city gates a man came up to him and said “Haven’t you
heard what is happening?” He said “No.” He said “Well they are
crucifying Jesus of Nazareth who is called King of the Jews.” And
Artiban’s heart beat feebly within him as he was getting excited that
perhaps this was one last chance for him to present something worthy to
the king. That perhaps the one last jewel could be a ransom that would
save him. And just then there came a group of soldiers dragging a young
girl down the street. She was kicking and screaming and trying to get
away and finally broke loose and fell at Artiban’s feet. She said “Save
me, they’re making me a slave. Help me.” Artiban thought that this was
a cruel joke. One last time that a human would take a gift that was
meant for a king. He reached in and pulled out the one last jewel, the
pearl. It was more luminous than ever. He gave it to the young woman
and said “Here is your freedom.” Just then there were clouds that were
building in Jerusalem and there was an earthquake. In the course of the
earthquake, a tile fell off of one of the buildings and hit Artiban, and
knocked him to the ground. The woman bent over to see how he was doing;
and, as she did, there was a voice that almost seemed like distant
thunder that came. And she didn’t know what it was or where it came
from. She kind of looked behind her to see if it came from one of the
buildings behind her. But as she turned back to Artiban, she could see
Artiban’s lips barely moving. She heard him kind of say under his
breath “But Lord, when did I see you naked, and clothe you. When did I
see you hungry and feed you? When did I take care of you or visit
you?” And again the thunder appeared in the distance, only this time
the woman could almost make out what the voice said. It said “What you
have done to the least of my brethren, you have done to me.” At that
point there was a peace that came over Artiban and you could see joy
kind of becoming into his face. He took one last deep breath, exhaled,
and then he died. He died but he had met his king.
This is a great story. It has so
many things that you can pull from it, so many applications for us. I
love just a couple of them. One of the things I think about is the
notion of the inconvenience of service. Don’t you love that? I mean
for most of us it’s really hard to serve someone else, to put their
needs above ours. But there are also times, I think, when we are
focused on trying to accomplish something and some kind of service is
almost thrust upon us, as a way to almost sidetrack us from what we are
trying to accomplish. At that time it frustrates us at the minimum; but
perhaps it also changes our attitude many times to the point of saying
“Man I just want to get this thing done, get it behind me, so I can get
back to the things that I deem are more important, are of more value.
But we don’t see that with Artiban, do we? Artiban very much gave of
himself. He gave of his service with no thought of how it
inconvenienced him.
I also love this story because it
talks about the power of compassion. We see that throughout the story.
Artiban was one who, when he looked on the people that he came across in
his life after the star had appeared, he cared for them. You know, we
think about sorrow and compassion as this notion of feeling bad about
them, feeling sorry when we see someone suffering. But compassion takes
it to the next step and it says not only do I feel that way, but I also
act on it as well. So it is almost as if Artiban is moving from “I feel
sorry for you” to “I will help you.” That is a wonderful notion for us
as well, I think.
I think the story also talks about
the strength of persistence. Artiban knew what he wanted to do, didn’t
he? He wanted to go and worship the king. That was his goal throughout
his life. He sold everything that he had. He spent all of his life
from the moment that star appeared pursuing that goal. There is this
idea that persistence is this continued application of doing what is
appropriate until it is no longer needed. And that’s what we see with
Artiban, isn’t it? We see that he stayed the course. He did the things
that were necessary in repeated fashion until he didn’t need to do it
anymore, until he finally met the king, even on his deathbed.
And as we think about this story of
service, of compassion, and of persistence, they’re great from the
story; but I think that in and of themselves they are good character
qualities, but when they come together, I think there is this idea that
just as the jewels that Artiban had as they came together, they take on
greater power. For when these are together I think they become a gift
of immeasurable worth. We see this gift lived out in our Savior Jesus.
Jesus was a man of service. He was a man of compassion. He was a man
of persistence. I think that is his call for us. For as we look at
Jesus, I think of the notion of service; and I think of the words of
Jesus when he said, “I came to serve not to be served.” And for
compassion, I think of Jesus’ word when he says, “Come to me all you who
are weary, all you who are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you
rest. I will give you the rest you desire.” And then of persistence,
Jesus knew why he came to earth; he knew what it was about. We see that
most clearly as he is praying to the Father in the garden where he says,
“Not my will be done but yours.” Jesus lived out these values in his
life. And he calls all of his followers to live out those same values.
So on this Christmas day it is a
time of giving gifts. It is a wonderful thing to give. I think for all
of us this day, particularly if you have children, but it is for all of
us, but for parents consider this: the greatest gift you can give your
child this Christmas is to allow them to see you living out a life of
service, a life of compassion, a life of persistence. For when you live
that out in front of them, they will absorb that. They will take it
upon themselves and that will be a part of who they are. And I don’t
think there can be a greater gift you can give your child or your
children. And for the rest of us, just by living that way we become
light and salt of the world. So I invite you to consider that this day.
And to that end I wish all of you a
Merry Christmas and may God bless you.
Let me pray for us.
Mighty and holy God, thank you.
Thank you that you are here and that you are ever in our presence.
Thank you for the way that you lived your life. And Lord may we seek to
live a life that reflects you in everything we do. Lord we ask that
because you are Lord, you are King, you are our Savior. Amen.
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