Be Aware. Be Wise.

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew the 2nd Chapter

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

What makes someone wise?  Wise, I think, is different than smart.  Wise people aren’t always smart and smart people aren’t always wise.  You can be smart and know that where I grew up in Northern Florida there a fifty different species of snakes and six of them are venomous.  You can be smart and know all the facts about those 50 species… their scientific names, their colorings, patterns, habitats and favorite foods, but you don't have to know all those facts to be WISE enough to watch where you walk, taking care when you step over a fallen log.  Smart people know that Water Moccasins swim, WISE people put someone on watch while the rest take a dip in the pond.  The smart person will know the difference between a Coral snake and a King snake… Red on black, a friend of Jack.  Red on yellow, kill a fellow!  A wise person gives both plenty of space just in case you’re rhyming and timing are off that day.   Smart is good, don’t get me wrong.  I love smart, I love the facts, raw knowledge feels great, but… to be WISE you need to not be so swallowed up by finding out the facts that you don’t take some time to look up from the books, phones, screens, facts and information and actually SEE what’s going on around you.  

I think it is being aware… noticing things… and allowing the things you notice to be simply and only what they really are... that makes a person WISE.  It’s paying attention… close attention… detailed attention… vigilant attention that makes a person wise.  The Wise Men in this story were probably smart too, but they are remembered for being wise!  They were wise because they paid attention and didn’t allow their preconceived notions, hopes or desires to cloud or dismiss what they actually saw and encountered along the way.  

First they noticed a star… a star that signaled the birth of the King of the Jews.  That is what they saw and they traveled far from their homes to honor this new king.  They followed the star to the point where it stopped.  Now, a smart person may have looked at the hovel of a home over which the star came to rest and said, “This just can't be true!  No king would live here!  This star needs to keep moving.  We need to give it more time.  We need to squint or tilt our heads so it points to a house that makes sense for housing a king."   

After all, the smart thing would probably be to look at that little house with a teenaged mother and a baby born in a barn and conclude that logically, “this can’t be the house of a king” but those astrologers from the East weren’t just smart, they were WISE, and being wise means trusting what you see, even if it isn’t the thing or the place or the child they expected to see, or maybe even WANTED to see when they set off from a far off country, across the desert following a star.  

That was them being wise at the beginning of the story, but at the end of this little story there is one little throw away line that almost always gets forgotten, that shows them being WISE again.  “Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by a different road.”  Again, the SMART thing would be not to snub the king, to show up for the command performance that had been given by the king.  The smart thing would have been NOT to make life plans based on what a late night burrito does to your dreams.  But being WISE meant they listened.  They didn't let that dream fade in those moments between first waking up and your feet hitting the floor.  Being wise meant paying close attention and then having the courage to do the hard thing the dream advised and let go of the smart plans they had carefully crafted for their return trip.  

Being wise opened these astrologers up to seeing God do a new thing in an unexpected place.  Being wise, allowed them to see that God was indeed bringing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords into the world in a broken down home, to a teen aged, unwed mother.  

What this lesson has asked me all week is, “What new and unexpected thing is God doing right now?  What wonder is God trying to point me to, with a sign so bright and clear, that if it was a snake, it would have bitten me?  What am I not seeing that God is trying to show me because I’m too busy trying to be smart that I've forgotten to be WISE and look up and really see?  

My problem, and perhaps you struggle with this too, is not that God hasn’t given me something bright and obvious to see and follow.  The light shines in the darkness, after all, and the darkness could not overcome it.  There’s that light there, shining in the Christ candle pointing us to the Font where we are bathed in God’s love, claimed and named children of God.  There’s Christ shining brightly at the Table in the bread and the wine.  My problem isn’t that there is nothing bright to follow, my problem is that I too often forget that those Sacraments are somehow BOTH complete AND just the tip of the iceberg!  God’s love, grace, compassion and generosity is most clearly and fully found in them, but I too often forget that God’s love goes deep, deep beneath as well.  God’s love doesn't stop there!  It continues deep in, with and under every molecule of all of creation.  My problem is not that I need to be smart and seek out a place to be in God’s presence.  My problem is that I’m often not WISE enough to look up in my everyday life and really and honestly SEE that I’ve been swimming in God’s loving presence, like a fish swims in water, every single moment of my life! 

It's a new calendar year for us all and we too are following a star to who knows where.  Not much can be guaranteed, but I’d bet that the way things look today will be different than how they look one year from now.   Therefore, may we all be smart enough, as we continue this journey, to follow the light that shines in the darkness.  May we be smart enough to run, not walk, but run over and over again to God’s Table to sustain us with God’s love and grace for the journey ahead.  

BUT may we ALSO be WISE enough this year to remember that regardless of the paths this journey takes us on, regardless of the comings and goings, ups and down, hopes and fears we will inevitably find along the way… may we be WISE enough to look up and honestly and genuinely see what is happening around us and trust that God’s love and grace surrounds us and holds us whether things go the way we hoped and planned OR if somewhere along the way we are given a dream to travel by a different road.  Amen.