Fulfillment, Purpose, Peace, Joy
Posted on in Sermons by The Rev. David Marshall
Epiphany
Matthew 2:1-12
Today we celebrate the Epiphany. You all know the story. Three wise men from the East looked at the stars and determined that a new king had been born. They packed up gifts and provisions and traveled to Jerusalem to find this new king and to offer him gifts. This is a story of wonder and of searching, and the story makes me wonder too.
Why do you suppose they were studying the stars anyway? Why do you suppose, having agreed that a new king had been born to the Jews, that they traveled all the way to Jerusalem seeking this Jewish king?
This story is full of questions. You could even argue that this story is about questions, or at least about curiosity and wonder. Here we have three wealthy men who were studying the stars, looking for something. We don’t know exactly what they were seeking, but whatever they set out to learn, they decided that a new king had been born. This king was important enough that they decided to travel to Israel to give honor and gifts to this new king.
On the one hand, this is a remarkable story. Travel was not taken lightly in those times. There were many dangers, some natural and some human. There would also be many hardships, even for apparently wealthy men such as these. These seekers must have been driven by a great desire to see the king, the messiah to the Jews.
On the other hand, this story is not that unusual. Here were three people who were following their search for the truth, wherever that search might lead them. I would argue that every one of us knows something of the curiosity of the wise men. Isn’t that, in some way, what brings us together on this Sunday morning?
There are lots of different ways we could describe our motivations for being here. Like the three wise men from the East, we are on a spiritual journey. Like these three wise men, we are seeking something we know we want, or something we suspect we need. We might not all describe what we are seeking in the same way but we are on a common path.
Some seek fulfillment. Perhaps you sense that your life has a purpose. If you can understand that purpose, you have a better chance of fulfilling that purpose. So, how do you find your purpose? How can you know fulfillment?
Others seek peace. In the midst of the struggle and suffering of life, we hope to experience peace. Perhaps you suspect that the lack of peace in your life is caused by something that is missing. So how do we find that missing ingredient to our lives?
Others seek relief from a loneliness that cannot be lifted in any of the usual ways. Another party or another game or even another cause will not seem to fill the empty feeling of this loneliness. How will we find the company, the relationships that will fill that emptiness?
Some search for happiness or joy. Most people that search for happiness learn, sooner or later, that happiness is not found by seeking happiness. This seems a cruel irony, but history is littered with sad lives burnt out in a desperate search for happiness. In fact, many of the happiest people we will ever meet or even hear about are people who have none of the usual trappings of a happy life. How can we find true happiness?
Some seek relief from grief or loss. The emptiness of grief and loss is tangible, concrete and real. How can we live meaningful lives when we are burdened by grief and loss? Is there meaning, peace or joy to be found after such pain?
Some people will use more explicitly spiritual language to describe their search. They may speak of a desire to know God, or a desire to experience God’s love.
If any of these descriptions is familiar to you, you are in the right place. If you are seeking fulfillment in life, or if you hunger to know the purpose of your life, or if you long for peace, or if you have a loneliness that leaves you feeling restless, or if you hunger to know a joy more lasting than momentary happiness, you are in the right place. Not because all the answers are here, but because here you have found a community of seekers who share your hunger, your curiosity and your desire.
Like those three wise men, we are on a journey to find Jesus. Where they followed the light of a star, we follow the scriptures and the Traditions of the Church. Not blindly or irrationally, but consciously and faithfully. Together we ask the hard questions about life and about God, and together, in dialogue, study, worship, and prayer, we find ever-deeper answers.
Again, I don’t mean to imply that we have all the answers here. No human institution can honestly claim to have all the answers. What we have is a shared hunger, a shared desire to find the answers. We also have a shared experience that somehow, in the Church, in our mission and outreach work, in our reading and studying the stories of scripture, in our worship, and in our prayers, we are moving ever closer to the ultimate good, the ultimate purpose, and the fulfillment of our lives.
The value of the institution of the Church is that the experience and learning of generations past guides us as we seek to know God in our own time. The value of a congregation, like this one, is that here we have a community of seekers who can support us in our search. Here, in this church and in this worship and in our work together we put ourselves on the path towards God. We surround ourselves with others who are also seeking fulfillment, purpose, peace and joy. In this good company we learn to recognize the subtle signs of God’s love. In this good company we learn to give and to receive love.
Maybe those wise men were willing to make that perilous journey because they knew, or they at least hoped, that the king they found would offer something more than the kings they already knew. Those wise men looked to the stars for enlightenment. They were looking for answers to spiritual questions and they found Jesus. The Jesus that the wise men found by following a star, we find through our worship, our care for one another, and our care for those in need. We find Jesus in our prayers, our study, and our fellowship.
The Rev. David Marshall
St. Dunstan’s Church, Shoreline WA
January 8th, 2012
