A Sermon Preached in the Duke University Chapel by The Reverend Dr. Thor Hall Assistant Professor of Preaching and Theology The Divinity School

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1 SHEPHERDS AND WISE MEN A Sermon Preached in the Duke University Chapel by The Reverend Dr. Thor Hall Assistant Professor of Preaching and Theology The Divinity School Sunday Morning~ Scripture Lesson: Matthew 2:1-11 December 27, 1964, Eleven O'Clock (Distributed by the Duke University Young Men's Christian Association.) The story of our Saviorts birth, as we have it in the New Testament, contains many striking contrasts and brings together some very obvious extremes. There is the song of the angels, and there is the baaing of the sheep. There is the glory of God shining, and there is the dirt and dust of the stable... And there is no wonder that there are contrasts in this story. The writers who penned it were attempting to express, in common and understandable images, the meaning which their faith had come to see in the events taking place before their eyes, particularly in the life and teachings and death of this Jesus of Janareth, whom they confessed to be the Christ. And this meaning could only be expressed by way of sharp contrasts. For it was the story of the coming together of heaven and earth, of God and man -- and not so as if the very highest of man reached up and touched the very lowest of the heavens. No, here it was the very highest of heaven that stooped down and touched the very lowest of the earth. God came down to where the sinner was. Only thus could God save man, only this way could heaven become real to earth. The symbolism of the contrasts included in the Christmas story expresses, indeed, a very central Christian truth. When you look at the story of the nativity, there is another pair of contrasts that are brought together in it in a beautiful way. I am thinking of the shepherds and the wise men. On the one hand simple, poor, honest working men; on the other sophisticated, well recognized, highly educated men of learning. They came from different backgrounds and contrasting circumstances. They were as different as one can imagine in almost every way -- as different as we are, all we who gather around the memory of the manger here and everywhere around the world. Yes, they had one thing in common: They came, both shepherds and wise men, to see the same little God-child and to worship him. And in coming and seeing and worshipping him, they were made one -- in spite of all their contrasts and differences.

2 -2- There is great meaning hidden within the symbolism of this story. It seems obvious that the writers from whose pen these stories come, not only wanted to proclaim that in this Christ-event heaven and earth had come together. They also wanted to intimate that here, in response to this revelation of God, mankind had also been brought together and made one, East and West, high and low, rich and poor, wise and simple... There is great meaning in this, even for us. For in our time, the contrasts between men are threatening to overcome our unities; the differences between us have come to loom so large that our oneness is not recognized. Status separates between us. Class divides us up. Nationality creates barriers among us. Race splits us apart. Viewpoints set us in opposition to each other. Creeds hold us from accepting each other. Tradition makes us strangers. We find that culturally and socially, educationally and economically, politically and religiously there are walls built up between us. We may well ask where our unity is to be found in all this estrangement. How can we ever come together and be one? It is here that the sharp contrasts in the Christmas story express their meaning and become significant. It is the good and glad message of Christmas that in the God-child, God has proclaimed himself one with man, in spite of the infinite distinction which is fixed between us and our Creator. And more: In this God-child, God has proclaimed all men to be one, one in him, in spite of the many finite distinctions which separate us from each other. In the worship of Christ we find a communion with God and a unity with our brother which overcome all our separateness and estrangement! Is this not the real meaning of the angelic anthem: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased"? This is not a romantic dream of a day when men will find within their own hearts the good will on which to build a new order of things. It is in God's good will toward us that we find the basis for our meeting each other in unity. But the story of the shepherds and the wise men tells us more. Its emphasis is not only on our unity. It speaks also of differences that are not reconciled, contrasts that are Q2! broken down. And so-rt can teach us something of how, within the unity we have found in Christ, we are to understand the differences and distinctions between us which yet remain. Let me try to bring this out by holding together the descriptions we have of the shepherds and the wise men. And first, they each received their own specific call. The wise men saw a new star in the sky. The shepherds had a vision of angels.

3 . -3- We are, of course, immediately tempted to discuss which of these calls is the right and genuine one, but the Christmas story does not perpetrate such a choice. Instead, it tells of God calling each of these people in ways which are strikin~ly appropriate. We can easily imagine how it would have been if it was the other way around: The wise men would probably have taken the rousing vision of angels for a silly dream. The shepherds would hardly have understood the silent language of a starry sky. But as it was, or as the story has it, they received their call, shepherds and wise men, each in a form which they had abilities to understand. The wise men of the East had long been known to read the stars and grasp their secrets of meaning, and the shepherds of Bethlehem were simple, pious and godly souls to whom angels were as real as next door neighbors. There is a principle which seems to be emerging from this story: God does not communicate with us in one way only. He has not only one access to our soul. He calls in ways that we are capable of understanding. Perhaps we might even say that God calls us in every way; it is up to us to awaken to it and to respond. Perhaps this is why we speak so differently about God's call. There are those of us who hear it in the roar of thunder and the blaze of lightning, and there are those of us for whom God is most near in the gentle breeze of summer and the silent stretching of the grass toward the light. To some He comes in the lonely wake of the night; to some He speaks in the rushing streams of life. Some He calls in music, color and beauty; some He draws in suffering, tragedy and sorrow. We need not choose between these ways, define the one and only way God approaches us. He calls us in all these ways and more, and we will hear Him, and in our heart know it is He who calls when we come in response to worship His Christ. May I suggest that this is a very appropriate word for us who are gathered here, who are often tempted to meet with rejection the claim of the claim of the simple-minded that they 'heard God speak' or 'saw Him in a vision'? It may even be a word of comfort for those among us who have doubts as to our own call, since we have heard no such voice nor seen any such vision. Let us take this truth from the Christmas story: God speaks in many ways, and whoever responds in faith and finds his way to Christ is called of God. There is a second contrast between the shepherds and the wise men pointed out in the Christmas story: Each had their own specific motivation for coming. The wise men came to find the new king who had come to reign in Israel. The shepherds came to see the Savior whose birth had been announced to them.

4 -4- We may want to discuss these various motivations and evaluate which is the deepest and most proper, but the Christmas story doesn't do that. It only shows us some honest seekers from out of the East who follow a new star and come to the king's palace desiring to honor a newborn king, only to find that they had gone wrong and had to look for the child in much humbler circumstances. And it tells of some honest shepherds of Judah who came because the angels had been singing of a Savior, and who in sheer excitement over this thing that had been announced, found their way to the crib. They all come, shepherds and wise men, as they see it, and they worship the one Christ, Lord ~ Savior, King and Servant. Again a principle seems to emerge: God does not recognize only one motivation for coming to Him. There are many, worthy motivations for seeking the Christ. Some come as broken sinners, crushed, guilty, with a deep consciousness of sin. Others come as God's own children, loved and loving, desiring only to express in grateful recognition their awareness of dependence upon God. Which is the proper spirit? The Scriptures do not say. Some turn to God in times of trouble; others come more readily in times of joy. Some of us come because of new responsibilities; some from a sense of frustration. Some come as a result of study and seeking the t~th; others come as a consequence of a shattering blow seeking help. But all of these and many more are worthy motivations for coming to Christ. There is no way to force the issue and make God accessible only to some of those who come. All who will can come, and all who seek shall find. That is the blessed gospel of Christmas. There may be a truth here, even for us, we who are tempted to scorn the 'sick' yearning of the simple sinner, in whose agony of soul we see little but the vestiges of primitive fears. There may even be a word of encouragement to those of us who feel judged in our very soul by those who have had a radical transformation of their, while we have had no such dramatic experiences of our own. God speaks of us here in the Christmas story, and His word is peace. We are all acceptable to Him, whoever we are, whatever our motivation for coming, when we come to His Christ. A third contrast that appears in this story is that the shepherds and the wise men had different ways to go. The shepherds came brom the fields near town. The wise men had a longer road to travel. In this respect it was true that all roads led to the manger, the trade routes through the desert from the East, the sheep's path to the barn from the pasture. We may want to define which of these is the best way, the right and acceptable road to Christ, but our story will have none of this. It merely describes those wise men travelling far and wide, through days and nights, following a star, and those home town shepherds who came straight to the stable, knowinb the way, and finding the Christ.

5 -5- Perhaps it is always like this. Perhaps the wise men of the world shall always have to travel the long road to God~ for they have problems and prides that the simple do not have. Perhaps the shepherds of the world shall always have the shorter way, easier to find, clearer to follow. We shall never know. But for all of us there is a principle hidden in this story: Many ways, all ways may lead us to the Christ; and each one of us, whoever we are, shall have to find his own way. We shall have to find it and walk it, be it long and dry and dreary~ or be it short and quick and easy. And for all of us, however we come, whichever way we come, it is true to say that the road we travel does not really matter. What matters is that we come, and that we find Him, the Christ of God. Again I can see a message here for us, we who belong to this community of learning, who are hesitant to accept the easy ways by which the simple enter unto the faith, and who tend to think that no man who has not come through the desert of intellectual difficulties ought to bow down and worship. Perhaps there is a word here even to those of us who have been disenchanted with the long and stoney road we have to travel before we find the Christ. Shall we listen when the Christmas gospel proclaims that there is a way which is direct and simple for those who are simple and come directly? There is a final contrast in this story which follows closely upon this: The shepherds and the wise men worshiped Christ in different ways. The shepherds came and saw Him. The wise men fell down and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasures and brought Him gifts. The Shepherds had no gifts to offer except words of prophecy for the mother to keep in her heart. It is easy for us to fall into an argument over the proper worship of God, the forms of piety and the patterns of personal life appropriate for expressing true devotion to Christ. There is no disagreement in the Christmas story about this. We see only honest souls, rich and poor, wise and humble, who bring to the Christ-child honor and adoration in the manner that is theirs. And again there emerges a principle from the story: All forms of worship are acceptable to God as long as we worship in spirit and in truth. We may worship, some in silent and sacred awe, some in solemn and selected words. We may come before Him, some with gifts of silver and gold, some with nothing but our strong and willing hands. The Christmas story affirms that whichever form our worship takes, whatever expression our soul may seek, our worship is accepted as it is, when it is true in spirit.

6 -6- And here again there is a truth for us who have our place of worship in this beautiful sanctuary. Who may have come to think that this undisturbed liturgical perfection is ~he only way to worship, and who have no patience with the crudities of the country chapel and the oddities of the prayer meeting. Perhaps there is truth here even for those among us who are uncertain of the reality of our own worship within these solemn forms. The Christmas story affirms that all worship is valid, when it is the expression of a heart's adoration for the Christ. Yes, contrasts are gathered at the manger. It is so in the Christmas story, it is so in reality. Heaven and earth come together there. Different men meet there. High and low meet there. Rich and poor meet there. Wise and simple meet there. East and West meet there. Black and white meet there. Slave and free meet there. Young and old meet there. Men and women meet there. The burdened and the joyful meet there. The sick and the well meet there. And you and Imeet there, with everyone else who has heard the call, willed to come, found his way, and worship Him. We come out of differing circumstances. We have heard the call in different ways. Our motivations are not all the same. Neither is the way we have to go, or the manner in which we worship Him and receive Him. But we are one in one thing: We have found the Christ and we worship Him. Let me add this exhortation here at the end. If it is true that the wise men and the shepherds actually met at the manger and worshiped together there, is it very difficult to imagine that they accepted each other and opened up their hearts to one another? However this may be, let us hope that we whose eyes have rested together on the Savior should 11ft our eyes from the child in the manger and see our brother, he who worshiped with us, and know that since we are one in worshiping the God-child all our differences are of less importance than our unity. Let us pray. Accept, 0 Lord, our grateful sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, for thy love and acceptance of all men, even us. Teach us that whoever comes to Thy Christ and believes on His name, receives in that very faith the right to become the child of God, be He wise or simple, high or low, rich or poor. Amen.

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