“Wise Men and Wild Goose Chases” 3 January 2010

Pastor Shelley Cunningham Matthew 2:1-12

Back in the mid-90s some my cousins from Green Bay came to visit. We went out to dinner near Rosedale Mall. On our way out of the restaurant, my uncle saw a swinging light dancing in the clouds. It was one of those giant spots that car dealerships or circuses use to get people’s attention. He suggested we follow the reflection to see if we could find its source, just for kicks. Let’s just say, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But every time we thought the light was getting brighter and we were getting closer, it would disappear in the clouds. After more than an hour of wandering around some sketchy parts of north Minneapolis, we gave up. It felt like we were on a wild goose chase … and the goose was definitely winning.

That was the day I developed a distinct appreciation for the wise men. Not because they were more adept at reading lights in the sky, but because they stuck with their wild goose chase. They didn’t get deterred by one-way streets or misleading shadows or bad neighborhoods. They kept pressing onward. I began to realize just how hard it is to keep following something when you’re not quite sure where it’s taking you.

When’s the last time you experienced that feeling, that mix of fear and excitement and anxiety and curiosity that comes when you’re facing a path of which you cannot see the ending? It might come when you’re leaving home for the first time, or standing at the altar, or starting up a business, or deciding to become a parent, or facing retirement. If you’re lucky, you have some star to follow, something to give you confidence that you’re going in the right direction – love or companionship or hope or a sense of adventure. But more often than not, somewhere along the way the road gets rocky. You start to feel lost. And you begin to wonder if you should have chosen a different star to follow. So how do you keep pressing onward when the star you’re following ends up at a stable?

The wise men thought they were heading to a palace. All the signs pointed to something big, the birth of a king who would change the world. They didn’t know exactly what they were looking for, or where, but it was clear there was a path for them to follow. The stars said so. And so they set out, trading the comforts of home for the blazing days and frigid nights of the desert. For who knows how many weeks they traveled, checking and rechecking the star’s position in the heavens. And when its light seemed blindingly bright, somewhere over Jerusalem, they went straight to the biggest house in town to offer their gifts. Surely the new king would be here, right? But there was no child to be found in Herod’s house. Indeed, King Herod seemed as surprised as anyone by the news that a rival to the throne might be out there. Could they have misread the signs?

I wonder if the wise men considered giving up at that point, taking their camels and their gifts and heading back to Persia. And if not then, surely when they reached the humble shack in Bethlehem where a young man sat whittling a walking stick and a teenage mother stirred a stew in the fire. Do you think the wise men looked at each other and thought, how did we end up here? This isn’t what we expected. We followed a star and wound up at a stable. Now what?

In the movie Up In The Air George Clooney plays a man whose job it is to fire people. His character, Ryan Bingham, has a practiced spiel that is supposed to make the bad news a little softer: “Any person,” he gently tells the poor fellow he’s about to can, “any person who ever built an empire or changed the world once sat where you are sitting. They took this setback as a chance to follow their dreams. Don’t you have dreams that you haven’t been able to follow because you’ve been working for this company? Now you have the chance to chase those dreams. This might be the greatest opportunity of your life.” Ryan Bingham is peddling hope. And most of the people he’s talking to don’t buy it for one minute. They’re stuck thinking about where they’ve ended up now: with no star to guide them and no place to go.

Yet let’s face it: the fact is, most of the stars we follow in life won’t lead us to the palace. The joy of being independent brings the reality of dirty dishes to wash and bills to pay. Dream jobs still include boring meetings and tedious assignments. The most careful investor can pick the wrong place to shelter a nest egg. And even the happiest couples have their share of disagreements and disappointments. Every day we face countless bumps in the road that can make us feel like we’re on a wild goose chase for happiness, security, comfort, joy. And sometimes those bumps threaten to make us give up the journey for good.

The prophet Elijah hit one of those bumps. He’d made enemies with the queen and then publicly humiliated her holy advisers. She’d sworn her revenge. He’d run away. And now he was hiding in a cave in the desert, cold and hungry and wishing he’d become a goat farmer instead of God’s prophet. He was convinced he had nothing to live for, no star to follow, not even a stable to rest his head in. But just when he’s wondering how in the world did my life end up here, God shows up – not in the awesome power of fire or thunder or wind, but in the most unremarkable sound of silence.

That’s what God does, you see – shows up in the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected places. Not in the palace, but in the barn. Not on the throne, but on the cross. God shows up and reminds us that we aren’t traveling life’s journey alone, even when we lose sight of the star and can’t imagine we can take one more step, God is there to guide us. It happens when we stop focusing on where God isn’t and start seeing where God is – in the common, everyday things around us, like a good meal of bread and wine, a word from a friend, a smile of a stranger, a hug from a child, a dream that renews our sense of possibility and peace. And when we can see God in our world we begin to understand why the wise men knelt and adored the toddler playing by the hearth in Bethlehem. Because if God is your guide you will find just what you are looking for – even if you don’t end up in a place you expect.

Remember the spiel from the movie? “Any person who ever built and empire or changed the world once sat where you are sitting.” There is one guy who pays attention to Ryan Bingham’s speech. And when Ryan asks him about his unfulfilled dreams, he can come up with an answer. He’s found something to hope for, something to help him face another day.

You know, sometimes it is all we can do to keep pressing onward. Some days the light of the star seems pretty dim, the road pretty rocky. Sometimes it seems as if the geese are winning the chase. But my friends, we have been to the cradle. We have seen the newborn king. God has come to us and will continue to be with us. And sometimes even when life’s path ends up in a stable, God helps us find a way to kneel and adore him. May God lead you to whatever it is that you are seeking – joy, security, acceptance, confidence, inspiration, comfort, peace. Amen.

GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL: GATHERING • GROWING • GIVING