Introduction: Lee Strobel, in his excellent book A Case for Faith, asks Dr. Bill Craig, a Research Professor of Philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology, a question that gets at the heart of what I believe many people ask. The question was, "How can a modern and rational person still believe in babies being born from virgins, people walking on water, and cadavers emerging alive from tombs?" (Case for Faith, p. 60). Craig responded, "You don’t need to have all your questions answered to come to faith. You just have to say, ‘The weight of evidence seems to show this is true, so even though I don’t have answers to all my questions, I’m going to believe and hope for answers in the long run…If there is a Creator who designed and brought the universe into being, who sustains its existence moment by moment, who is responsible for the very natural laws that govern the physical world, then certainly it’s rational to believe the miraculous is possible." (Case for Faith, p. 61)

That question and its answer is for many of you irrelevant. You have always believed without question or doubt in the miraculous events described in the Bible. You come to Christmas not with an underlying doubt as to the reality of these events but to their certainty. Others, however, are not as convinced. They hear the skeptics of our faith say that having faith is nothing more than making "yourself believe that there is a god without regard to evidence." (Case for Faith, p. 74). They cannot seem to cross over the gulf of doubt and questions and seeming contradictions to modern science in order to believe fully that a baby born 2000 years ago can transform their life now and forever.

I believe when you come to the story of the wise men found in our text for today that you are seeing individuals who have determined that the evidence for the reality of Christ outweighed the uncertainty. I see here individuals whose scientific calculations and spiritual concerns led them to a total belief in the absolute lordship of the person of Jesus Christ in their lives. I also believe that there are some of you who have never crossed the bridge of evidence from doubt to trust. You have gone through Christmas after Christmas and have satisfied yourself that since your doubt is sincere that your sincerity is accepted as enough. When will you stop pretending that all of this means something to you when it actually is as empty as a Christmas wrapped box in a storefront window? Isn’t it time you quit pretending?

Today I hope you and all of us will find some answers in our story for this morning. To think what Mary must have seen and thought at the appearance of the Wise Men at their home in Bethlehem has always intrigued me. The legends surrounding the wise men’s appearance are many and their sources for their knowledge of the birth of Christ are mysteries to us. What I want us to see as we listen to these voices is that the most invaluable gift we can offer God is our absolute trust in Him.

This morning we visit the event of the Wise Men’s visit through the eyes of Melchior, an older wiser magi and his young apprentice Arioch. They are standing on the roof of their home in the area known in biblical times as Arabia. The night is clear and the sky is illuminated by the countless numbers of stars that have revealed themselves in the blackness. Let’s listen to their conversation.

"Well, done, Arioch! Your calculations of the journey of the constellation Orion, the hunter, are exact. You were correct in plotting its course. It is east of Taurus. The bull. I agree the stars in his belt are especially bright this night. The sky is always clearer in the crisp winter air. Stars, my son, remind us of a world that is beyond this world. They travel across the sky on their endless journey always as a testimony of the power of the one true God, the God of the universe who came to Bethlehem.

"Yes, I know it troubles you to hear me speak again of that place—Bethlehem. You are I are much the same, my son. You have learned your craft well as I did and our fathers before us but never voice your doubts a loud. The other magi continue to look to their incantations and read the entrails of sheep to determine the purposes of the gods. I see you as you join their rituals. I have watched you almost laugh at their appeals to Ahura Mazda—the one true ‘god’—they say. You wonder, my son, if it is all real. If there is any hope. If there is truly one out there who knows what you are like in here. I know, Arioch, for I wondered as well until that night well over thirty-three years ago. That night I gave up my search when I gave up myself to the Son of the One True God, Jesus the Christ of God.

"Look closely at the stars, Arioch. Our fathers have charted their journeys for thousands of years. Yes, from time to time one will disappear from our maps but they are always there, my son. They cannot be extinguished. They burn as a reminder that beyond this world there is an inextinguishable hope of life that doesn’t end and cannot be put out. But you don’t believe that, do you? But you wonder. I wondered, too, Arioch, until I saw the baby and his mother that starlit night.

"It began with a night not unlike this one. There had been rumors among the other magicians of some coming wonder in the skies. The Romans themselves were watching anxiously for some type of sign in the heavens. All the world, at least among the magicians and priests, believed that the events of the cosmos would mark the birth of a king. I believed also. Oh, not because of some wizards’ musing or the conjunction of stars but because of a promise from the Hebrew magi named Daniel. Daniel was one of the Hebrews who ruled our people during reign of the kings of old. He taught our magi of the God of his people. It was Daniel who taught our fathers of the promises of the Hebrew God. This God promised His people that a child would be born who would be the king of the Jews. Somehow that promise had found its way into our books of wisdom and its hope had found its way into my heart.

"Each night the magi and I looked upward, knowing how the stars chased themselves across the sky. For weeks there was nothing unusual, then one night a star unlike any we had seen before began its trek from low in our western sky. That star appeared to have about it a brightness, a brilliance almost a color of red and yellow. It resembled a lamp in a darkened doorway. More than its color was its call. The moment it was seen the other magi and I began to sense something unusual. The star had an effect on me that I could not describe. Each day as the sun would eclipse its light I wondered if it would return. Yet night after night it called to us.

"I know that you think I am senseless. I tell you, Arioch, that the star said something, something of a different world and a different life. We began to search the scrolls of the Ancient Ones. The magi Daniel had spoken of an ancient promise from his people that, "A star will rise out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17). What spoke to me in ways too deep for words was that as I looked at the star in the west the promise from the Hebrews began to call me to follow. I could not believe it. My mind told me that the stars were the stars and the writings of the ancient ones were stories and fables. Somehow, though, the star defied all of this.

"The star, Arioch, did not appear accidentally. I began to see that somehow there could only be one source for not only this star but for all that had shown itself in the universe. It said to me that in all of the complexity of the universe that this star was not accidental, that the hand of a designer was also at work. I determined that night, Arioch, that the source and the designer of the universe and all that it contained was the Hebrew God, the one Daniel had spoken of to our fathers. That night I heard all that this star said but knew there was so much more. I knew there was more to this life and this world. I knew that there was for me a purpose that was not in the hands of the stars and their journey but that the stars were in the hands of another. This star called me and I answered in my heart that I would find this king that the star announced.

"I soon discovered I was not alone in listening to the star’s voice. There were others, not many, but others who as well had heard and were determined to find this king. We prepared for weeks for the journey. Finally we loaded our camels and set out to the west to follow the star and find the king. For months and weeks we traveled. The deserts burned our faces in the day and each night we shivered in the chill of the darkness. As each night approached we wondered if we would still see the star, if somehow we were wrong about it’s message and it’s presence. Yet, each night its brilliance seemed to illuminate the sky around it and each day we followed the course the star had determined.

"Our journey at last led us to Jerusalem, the city of the Hebrew God and the place of the throne of the kings of the Hebrews. We expected that the city would be alive with celebration at the announcement of a king’s birth. Instead, when we asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to give him honor." There reactions to our questions astounded us. It was as if they knew nothing of this birth or this king! Instead, when we asked the Jewish officials they appeared terrified at the thought! They fled in fear at our question rather than join our anticipation.

"It was not long before our question received the attention of Herod who called himself ‘king of the Jews.’ Herod was no king! He was a pawn in the hands of the Romans, vile, evil and ruthless in his quest to secure his power! His jealousy knew no bounds! He had murdered his wife, his mother and three of his sons out of fear that someone would steal his throne. I was somewhat delighted to see him tremble like a leaf in the wind! Well, he summoned all of his priests and teachers of their laws to find the answers to our question. When he had the answer he called us back into his court secretly.

"He asked us for the specific time that the star had made its appearance. We told him it was exactly fourteen months. He then told us that the teachers had found in the writings of Micah, one of the Hebrew prophets, a promise that his child and his king would be born in the tiny village of Bethlehem. He added, ‘Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him too!’ (Matt. 2:8 NLT) We listened with our ears but sensed the shadow of evil each time he spoke. I questioned then that if this man had murdered his family, then murdering an infant who threatened his throne was of little concern. That concern was answered after we had found the child for Herod ordered the slaughter of all the little boys in the village who were near the child’s age. We grieved that our journey had caused such cruelty. We knew not to return to this man with any information.

"As we left Herod’s court we were troubled, yet determined. It was just as darkness took its turn in the heavens that we saw the star once again. This time, Arioch, it was closer than any time before. We heard its call again to follow so we traveled to the south and east out of the city to Bethlehem. For months this star and its voice called us. Now within a short distance we would know if our journey was insane or invaluable. With each step of the camels’ feet we knew we were closer to the end of our journey.

"The closer we came to the city the nearer the star became. It seemed, my friend, to do more than call us; it now moved with us. We thought our hearts would burst with joy! We watched and moved quietly down the narrow corridors of the streets until the star seemed almost to stop over one small house. There were no lights in the windows. I slipped out of the saddle of my camel and with anxious anticipation knocked upon the rough wooden door. I could hear voices being awakened from their sleep. A man’s voice cried out, ‘Who is it? We are in bed.’ I said, ‘We are Magi from the East and have come to honor the child who is promised as king of the Jews!’ We heard whispers and soon lamps had been lit, spilling their light into the night.

"Slowly the door opened and the man motioned for us to come inside. I told him my name was Melchior and the names of those who had journeyed with me. He told us he was Joseph and that his wife was Mary. The home was one small room. A curtain divided the room from where they slept from where they ate. He told us that Mary was waking the child and that his name was Jesus. Mary silently slipped out from the curtain, holding the child. Her face was tender in the soft light of the lamp held by her husband. Her hair was dark and long, falling like a cloak over her shoulders. In her arms was the child, a boy of not quite two years, stirring quietly, nuzzling his head under her neck, wanting to sleep, yet curious as to who these were who had invaded his rest for the night.

"When we saw the child suddenly everything made sense. The promises, the journey, the star—all of it held together that in this One was the answer to all of life’s riddles. In this One my search was finished. All of this came pouring in on me and I dropped on my knees in absolute submission and honor to this one who was not only the promise but also a king. As I fell before this mother and the child the others with me bowed on their faces before him. I said to the mother, ‘We have brought gifts for the child. May we give them to you?’ Slowly we took from within our robes the objects to honor this child king—gold coins, frankincense and myrrh. The coins of gold shown in the light of the lamp and the fragrance of the frankincense and myrrh filled the room with its pungent sweet aroma. As we brought them out Mary gasped for she had never seen such gifts of value in her life. In turn we each laid the gifts at her feet as we did I sensed that I was doing more than honoring a king. I was instead offering myself to God. She promised us without asking that they would be used for her son.

Mary and Joseph told to us the stories of angels announcing this child’s birth and how on the night of his birth of sheperds coming to offer their praise and their wonder. We listened to their stories and knew that the voice of the star had spoken to us the truth of this child. Perhaps of all that the mother said was that the meaning of the child’s name. She said Jesus in their tongue meant "God saves". She said that the angel told her that the child was called Jesus because it is he who would save his people from their sins. The mother invited us to stay the night but we excused ourselves and returned to our company to make our journey home.

"Arioch, I gave gold to the Son that night but the gold was only a symbol for what was my greatest possession—myself. Long had I dreamed of finding and knowing the way to know God, not just in my mind but also fully in my heart. When I placed before the child my gold I also placed before him myself. I had always felt distant from God, as distant as the stars from this earth. I knew that the distance was not because of Him but because of me—it was what I had done that separated us. I had disappointed Him. But in this child I knew, I knew, that if I gave him myself then I was giving to him what he wanted most. And I did. I gave myself to God by giving myself to the Son. You see, Arioch, no longer could I withhold anything from the Son. I chose, for myself, to believe and to give what was before invaluable to me—all that I am. And to think it all began with a star.

"You continue your calculations, Arioch. You continue in your doubt. Yet let the stars voice to you their own wonder of a world and a life yet to be lived. You must weigh the evidence yourself, my son. Place into the scales what you have seen in the skies, what you have seen and heard from me and what you have seen for yourself. I believe that in you, as there was in me, is a desire, a will, to believe that the One who designed the stars we measure is the One who was born in Bethlehem. It is your choice, my son. How much longer will you wait to answer the voice calling to you from the stars and within your heart? There is no greater gift to offer the Son than to do as I did that night and offer yourself. By offering your most valuable gift he gives to you the most invaluable gift of all-the gift of Himself.

Sunday, December 23, 2001

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org