DELIBERATELY DIVERSE | The Rev. Terry Pierce
Deliberately Diverse represents the opinions of a group of Taylor friends who never completely agree about anything but enjoy diverse discussions.
The Twelve Days of Christmas is the period between Christ’s birth and the coming of the Magi, the wise men from the east searching for Jesus. It’s a period long enough to entangle two kings and the Magi.
One king is Herod — powerful, recognized by the Roman Empire as king of the Jews and despised by the Jews of Judea for his decadence and cruelty. The other is Jesus the Christ, the Messiah clothed in swaddling, worshipped by shepherds come in from the fields in their muddy, smelly glory, vulnerable as only a newborn is.
This sets the stage for an earthly king and the newborn who is the king of creation, bound together by the Magi.
The Magi, sometimes called the three Kings from the East, are a different sort: astrologers or magicians, traipsing across the desert on camels chasing a star.
Strangers. Three crazy Gentiles following a light in the sky.
So now we have two Jewish kings and three crazy Gentiles.
Herod was no servant king in the tradition of the Israelite kings. Jesus’ own followers struggled to figure out who and what he was.
Three Crazy Gentiles led by a star brought the news that this child, born in a barn, opened the kingdom of heaven to all comers. There’s a place in this parade for me, one might proclaim.
The Magi — three crazy magicians, or maybe one or maybe five. They didn’t look like shepherds or the innkeeper. Different skin color. Different clothing. Different accents and habits ... following a star to find a king lying in a manger, a king with no armies or protectors.
That king is Jesus, born with no mark to declare his kingdom but this star.
Here we are, then … shepherds and wise men, rich and poor, followers and each one a seeker of life, light and the glory of God. And Herod rose, disturbed.
He recognized that this baby vulnerable in a barn threatened his kingdom as it had never been threatened before.
When you see the star overhead, will you follow? When the angels in their fearful majesty plunk themselves down in your backyard, will you listen? When Jesus calls you to do something you never considered, something as crazy as following a star, will you listen before you say no?
I want to go with the Magi to find the baby Jesus. I want to follow that star across the desert that my life sometimes becomes. I want to settle down in the hay with the wise men and the shepherds. I want to celebrate this moment that was and is always — when God was born human so that I might be borne to God.
Will you go with me?
Pierce is vicar of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Taylor and can be reached by email at ministry@ stjamestaylor.org.
