Some of the greatest preachers I have heard have been able to produce sermons of such depth from on some occasions, just one word. I marvel at their inventiveness. One phrase – a sort of throwaway – in Matthew’s gospel comes in chapter 2, verse 12: And because they received divine instructions in a dream not to return to Herod, they returned to their country a different way. The ‘they’ in the quotation is of course the Magi; a word with the same root as for magic. We call them ‘Kings’ or ‘Wise men’, but the text calls them people who followed/understood the stars. There were many people who trusted in those who could read the stars, but the Israelites weren’t among them. So, these men from the East were outsiders who were not easily acceptable for the Jews but clearly saw in Jesus something special. There’s a sermon waiting to be preached. For my article today, I want to focus on the line: they returned…another way. It won’t come as much of a surprise to those who see in Matthew the Exodus narrative (wandering in the wilderness, etc) and Jesus as another Moses figure, that for Matthew, Jesus is a new liberator who seeks to bring people out of slavery. Another great sermon shouts out from the text.
But returning by another, perhaps longer, route – hardly a profound statement – reveals Matthew’s disinterest in these magi. Is there here though something about not going the direct route, a little ‘round the houses’. You could see Moses’ leadership style in this term.
The other day I had to go to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath for a blood test. I decided to catch the bus – but what a journey, I wish I had driven but the last time I did that I spent more time trying to find somewhere to park than the length of my appointment. Still, the bus was fairly empty and the roads were pretty good, but the route was not direct – not direct at all!
Some decades ago, and I’m not sure exactly when, the URC crossed a threshold of sorts. After many successful years, the money from the offertory failed to keep up with the costs of maintaining the building. Churches realising the budget didn’t balance looked at their assets and realised they could get people into their buildings through the week when the church had no use for them and by renting out their property create a new income stream. Some called this venture “Mission”!
Some churches became very professional at this – and very business-like. Who knew mission could be so profitable? I think a lot of us, over the years, have played that game. And it has taken Covid 19 to reveal the lack of clothes the emperor has been wearing. The URC is in trouble because some say 40% of our churches can not survive without that income. And now, with that income falling away, it is becoming clear a rather large percentage of our churches are set to close! The route we’ve been on is heading for a dead end!
A different route – harder to maintain and more complex to see where it might take us – is the exodus way. A time of moving on without a map. Perhaps it says to us, living the Christian life no longer requires a building and may be more than a social club where our first concern is looking after our own in our own way. The church is not part of the service industry, where when you join a church, somehow that means the church will look after you.
Jesus called his disciples not into a life of comfort but one of risk. He constantly challenged people and was a challenge to them himself. Perhaps today, Jesus is calling us to sell our buildings, and all the things that take energy from us but make us feel safe, gather in each other’s homes and share what God has done, is doing, in our lives. The route Jesus set us on was a route to the Cross. Peter was angry that Jesus suggested this for himself – no, no! but Jesus rebuked him. We too prefer the easy life but in everything we are experiencing today, Jesus may be calling us to return by a different way.
