We have all travelled through 2008. Was your journey through the last year a good one? If you are like most people, I expect you had some good times and other times that were not so good. It is also true to say that no two of us had the same journey through the last year. Each of us will have had different experiences. Here we are at the beginning of 2009. Where will your journey through the coming year take you? Will 2009 be a good year for you?
At Christmas, we remembered the journeys various people took to Bethlehem. It seems as though all journeys were heading towards the baby Jesus lying in a manger in Bethlehem.
Of course, those nativity scenes that we so often see are not particularly accurate if they show the shepherds and the magi at the manger together. The truth is that the shepherds came to Bethlehem by one route and at one time, and the magi came by a very different route, and they arrived long after the shepherds had left.
The shepherds were poor people, materially speaking. They were out on a hillside with their sheep on a dark and starry night. These shepherds heard the angels’ message and they acted. Theirs was a journey of simplicity and almost child-like faith. They heard; they believed; they obeyed.
The magi, on the other hand, had a much more complex journey. These were men of great knowledge. They were familiar with science, reason and logic. They were astronomers and would probably have been materially wealthy. They were much more complex characters than those unsophisticated shepherds, and their journey to Bethlehem was much more involved and it took considerably longer.
It is interesting to note that both the shepherds and the magi brought gifts to the child in the manger. God gave to us the gift of his son, Jesus. In response, gifts were brought to the child. The gifts they brought were very different from each other. The shepherds brought sheep for the baby Jesus. The magi brought gold, frankincense and myrrh: gold, signifying the world of commerce, politics and economics; frankincense representing the aesthetic and spiritual side of life; and myrrh, the ointment of death. These gifts signified everything that we are. Whether we identify more with the simplicity of the shepherds or the complexity of the magi, even for us today, we are called to bring our lives and lay them at Jesus’ feet. In the manger was laid the incarnation of God.
The 6th January is known as Epiphany. At Epiphany we remember the magi and their story. They made quite a journey. Their journey was significant, and we still remember it today. What will your journey be like as you travel through 2009?
Rev Nick Lakin Methodist Minister
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