WEBVTT 00:00:04.790 --> 00:00:09.369 The Greek says it, knock to your knees with joy. 00:00:17.969 --> 00:00:21.809 We're in the middle of the story. Sunday we stood 00:00:21.809 --> 00:00:24.589 in Jerusalem where power smiles while sharpening 00:00:24.589 --> 00:00:27.629 knives. And scripture is quoted without being 00:00:27.629 --> 00:00:31.179 believed. This coming Sunday, we'll kneel in 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:34.460 Bethlehem where joy is dusty and worship costs 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:37.799 something. But tonight, tonight we're on the 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:41.479 road between them. The road where obedience begins 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:44.479 before clarity does. The road where the light 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:48.280 shines but doesn't explain itself. Welcome to 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.619 Midweek Bible Study. The fellowship hall still 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:54.119 smells like potluck, grace, and the folding chairs 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:56.840 haven't quite cooled from the bodies that carried 00:00:56.840 --> 00:00:59.850 stories to the table. We've broken bread, swapped 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:02.350 laughter, and now we opened the word. We're not 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:05.109 here for a performance. We're here for something 00:01:05.109 --> 00:01:08.689 quieter, something deeper. A chance to see ourselves 00:01:08.689 --> 00:01:11.750 in Scripture and maybe catch a glimpse of God 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:15.870 walking just ahead. This is The Star Didn't Wait, 00:01:16.069 --> 00:01:23.939 and I'll see you on the other side. This is a 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:28.140 very pedantic reason why ministers have no business 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:32.620 trying to be psychiatrists. Or counselors. I 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:35.519 mean, I'm serious, right? Like, I will come talk 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.379 to you about the Bible. I'll tell you what the 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:42.439 Bible says. But when it comes to, I mean, leave 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.439 that stuff to real professionals, man. Plumbing 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:48.959 and electricity. Just have to, that's on y 'all. 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:52.480 Okay. So I am going to go ahead and begin here, 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.519 and I do want to write off the – oh, I almost 00:01:55.519 --> 00:02:01.700 forgot. Thumbs up. I do want to just paragraph 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:05.079 here real quick because if you do come, you come 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:07.200 on Wednesday nights, you come on Sundays, you 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:10.020 probably are aware that we – well, we just had 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:14.379 Epiphany and Epiphany Sunday coming up. Epiphany 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:18.159 is the three wise men story and the gold, the 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:21.979 frankincense, and the myrrh. And we've actually 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:24.699 had that kind of Sunday after Christmas, but 00:02:24.699 --> 00:02:27.819 before Epiphany last Sunday and tonight, and 00:02:27.819 --> 00:02:30.979 then Epiphany Sunday. And so I, what I've been 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:34.939 doing is actually honing in on the Epiphany story, 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:40.219 because if you are, I love, I. hate whenever 00:02:40.219 --> 00:02:43.500 someone starts off a statement like this. I guarantee 00:02:43.500 --> 00:02:46.300 you start out a statement like this, 99 % of 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:47.840 the time, I'm already going to hate it before 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:49.639 you finish what you're going to say. But when 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:52.120 people say stuff like, if you are a Christian, 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:57.219 dot, dot, dot, because it usually what follows, 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:02.509 if you are a Christian is nonsense. But if you 00:03:02.509 --> 00:03:05.969 are a Christian that believes that the Bible 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:10.490 is one long story about God and his people, and 00:03:10.490 --> 00:03:13.430 Jesus comes about two -thirds of the way through, 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:17.129 but Jesus flips the whole thing and actually 00:03:17.129 --> 00:03:20.870 fulfills all of the promises God made in the 00:03:20.870 --> 00:03:25.530 first two -thirds, right? If you believe the 00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:29.669 Bible is that long, continuous story about... 00:03:29.789 --> 00:03:34.370 how we started from a garden to a man, Abraham, 00:03:34.550 --> 00:03:39.949 to a family and tribes, to a nation, and then 00:03:39.949 --> 00:03:44.030 to the world. That hinge to how that took place, 00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:48.370 how Christianity went global, happens in the 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:52.050 epiphany moment. And so I've kind of been trying 00:03:52.050 --> 00:03:56.169 to take this overall story. and look at it from 00:03:56.169 --> 00:03:58.530 some different perspectives because this is a 00:03:58.530 --> 00:04:00.990 really important part to get when you're trying 00:04:00.990 --> 00:04:05.150 to understand the bigger picture. So let us first 00:04:05.150 --> 00:04:08.289 locate ourselves in a moment. Now I mentioned 00:04:08.289 --> 00:04:11.330 Sunday, we stood in Jerusalem and we stood in 00:04:11.330 --> 00:04:14.810 power and we stood in fear dressed as authority. 00:04:15.490 --> 00:04:18.829 The tribe, the scribes and the priests, right? 00:04:18.949 --> 00:04:22.470 We stood with Herod who knew how to smile while 00:04:22.470 --> 00:04:26.420 sharpening knives. And we stood with those scribes. 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:29.399 They could quote Micah without missing a syllable 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:33.240 and still couldn't bring themselves to walk five 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:37.420 miles down the road and see. This coming Sunday, 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:40.360 we're going to kneel back in Bethlehem and we're 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:42.600 going to talk about these outsiders and about 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:45.959 joy and about gifts laid down in the dust, about 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:50.839 worship that counts more than words. But tonight, 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:53.620 We're not in either place. Tonight, we're on 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:57.779 the road in between the two. The place where 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:02.680 obedience starts before clarity arrives. The 00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:05.860 place where faith has to walk without knowing 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:08.399 for sure how the story is going to eventually 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:14.100 end. The place where light shines, yes, but doesn't 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:19.410 yet explain itself. And if we're honest, That 00:05:19.410 --> 00:05:23.750 is where most of us live our lives with God. 00:05:23.850 --> 00:05:27.149 That's where most of our life with God actually 00:05:27.149 --> 00:05:33.170 happens. Not in the dramatic moments. Not in 00:05:33.170 --> 00:05:37.610 the clear revelations that we've had. But in 00:05:37.610 --> 00:05:41.730 the long middle. Where you heard something true 00:05:41.730 --> 00:05:44.170 on Sunday, but you're still trying to figure 00:05:44.170 --> 00:05:48.449 out what it means on Tuesday. Where you felt 00:05:48.449 --> 00:05:51.730 God move, and now you're wondering if maybe you 00:05:51.730 --> 00:05:56.250 didn't just imagine it. Where the star is still 00:05:56.250 --> 00:06:00.149 shining, but the road is dark. And you're not 00:06:00.149 --> 00:06:04.389 entirely sure you packed enough water. That's 00:06:04.389 --> 00:06:09.389 where we live. And that, friends, is where tonight's 00:06:09.389 --> 00:06:14.170 text meets us. Imagine it, no choir, no angels 00:06:14.170 --> 00:06:17.850 singing now, just camels shifting their weight, 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:22.410 leather creaking, sand underfoot. Palace gate 00:06:22.410 --> 00:06:27.430 closes behind these wise men. Gold still clinks 00:06:27.430 --> 00:06:30.370 in the saddlebags, frankincense still smells 00:06:30.370 --> 00:06:34.310 like prayer, and myrrh still carries that sharp 00:06:34.310 --> 00:06:38.990 edge of grief, even if they don't know why yet. 00:06:40.189 --> 00:06:43.850 Behind them, a king who asked questions a little 00:06:43.850 --> 00:06:47.970 too carefully. Smile that didn't reach his eyes. 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:51.810 Promises that felt like traps that they couldn't 00:06:51.810 --> 00:06:55.509 quite put their finger on. And ahead of them, 00:06:55.569 --> 00:07:01.009 nothing but road and sky. And then the light 00:07:01.009 --> 00:07:05.529 moves. Not brighter, not louder, just forward. 00:07:06.170 --> 00:07:11.100 And that's enough. That has to be enough, because 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:16.639 when God moves, you have two choices. You can 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:20.779 stay safe where you are, or you can follow into 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:26.279 what you can't yet see. Magi, they choose the 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:31.000 road. And roads, friends, they always ask something 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.160 of you. My dearest, attune your ears, not your 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:41.279 words. to the account according to the evangelist 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.740 Matthew. Second chapter, beginning with verse 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:48.759 seven. And Herod secretly called for the wise 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.079 men and learned from them the exact time when 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:54.420 the star had appeared. Then he said to them, 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.439 to Bethlehem, go and search diligently for the 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:02.439 child. And when you have found him, bring me 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:07.720 word so that I may also go and pay homage. When 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.259 they heard the king, they set out, and there 00:08:10.259 --> 00:08:12.939 ahead of them went the star that they had seen 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:16.139 in its rising, till it had stopped over a place 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:19.100 where the child was. And when they saw the star 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:22.519 had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:27.259 On entering the house, they saw the child with 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:29.740 Mary, his mother, and they knelt down and paid 00:08:29.740 --> 00:08:33.230 him homage. Then, opening the treasure chests, 00:08:33.490 --> 00:08:36.250 they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, 00:08:36.250 --> 00:08:38.830 and myrrh, and having been warned in a dream 00:08:38.830 --> 00:08:43.090 not to return to Herod, they left for their own 00:08:43.090 --> 00:08:47.070 country by another road. Thus ends the reading 00:08:47.070 --> 00:08:51.870 of the word. Matthew tells us that Herod called 00:08:51.870 --> 00:08:56.950 the wise men secretly, not publicly, not with 00:08:56.950 --> 00:09:01.169 the scribes present, not with witnesses. Matthew 00:09:01.169 --> 00:09:08.490 says, secretly. That word, seems like, should 00:09:08.490 --> 00:09:12.690 make our skin crawl. Because when power operates 00:09:12.690 --> 00:09:16.429 in secret, it's usually because it's up to something 00:09:16.429 --> 00:09:20.830 you can't say out loud. Herod wants information 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:24.889 the exact time that star appeared. Not approximately, 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:30.019 not a while back, exactly. Because Herod is already 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:34.700 doing the math in his head. He's calculating 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:41.139 age, calculating threat, calculating how many 00:09:41.139 --> 00:09:44.639 baby boys he'll need to kill to make sure he 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:50.740 gets the right one. And the Magi don't know any 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:54.940 of this yet. They're still operating in good 00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:58.450 faith. They're still thinking this king is curious. 00:09:58.809 --> 00:10:02.250 They're still believing that power wants to worship 00:10:02.250 --> 00:10:07.450 right alongside them. So when Herod says, go 00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:09.529 and search diligently for the child, and when 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:12.190 you have found him, bring me words so that I 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:16.509 may also go and pay him homage, they believed 00:10:16.509 --> 00:10:21.730 him. Why wouldn't they? And here's where the 00:10:21.730 --> 00:10:25.690 text gets uncomfortable for those of us. who 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:28.970 like to think we can see evil coming a mile away. 00:10:30.909 --> 00:10:35.029 Magi are wise. They read the stars. They know 00:10:35.029 --> 00:10:39.070 the texts. They've traveled hundreds of miles 00:10:39.070 --> 00:10:43.409 based on celestial signs. But they don't see 00:10:43.409 --> 00:10:46.269 the lie standing right in front of them. Not 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:52.230 yet. Because deception dressed in religious language 00:10:52.230 --> 00:10:56.779 is often the hardest kind to spot. When they 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:00.820 heard the king, they set out. No hesitation is 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:04.039 recorded, no second guessing, no stopping to 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.279 counsel each other about whether, does this feel 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:11.000 right, guys? No, they just go. And here's the 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.419 mercy hiding in the sentence. There ahead of 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:17.080 them went the star they had seen in its rising. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.940 Star doesn't wait for them to figure out Herod. 00:11:22.509 --> 00:11:25.929 Star doesn't pause long enough until they have 00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:30.610 perceived and processed danger. The star just 00:11:30.610 --> 00:11:36.049 goes ahead of them. And that phrase matters more 00:11:36.049 --> 00:11:40.269 than we usually let it. Because it means God's 00:11:40.269 --> 00:11:43.230 guidance doesn't depend on our full understanding. 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:49.409 The light keeps moving even when we are half 00:11:49.409 --> 00:11:53.610 fooled. The light keeps moving even when we're 00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:57.350 making decisions. We will later realize we're 00:11:57.350 --> 00:12:01.110 much riskier than we thought. God doesn't wait 00:12:01.110 --> 00:12:04.669 around for us to be perfectly discerning before 00:12:04.669 --> 00:12:12.190 he leads us towards Jesus. He just leads. And 00:12:12.190 --> 00:12:14.470 that should give us some kind of hope tonight. 00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:20.549 Let me ask you something quietly. Have you ever 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:22.870 done the right thing with incomplete information? 00:12:23.009 --> 00:12:26.909 Not because you were reckless. Not because you 00:12:26.909 --> 00:12:29.750 didn't think it through. Because something in 00:12:29.750 --> 00:12:34.149 you just knew it was time to move. I mean, you 00:12:34.149 --> 00:12:35.929 didn't have it all figured out, but you just 00:12:35.929 --> 00:12:40.809 knew the right thing to do here is to move. Maybe 00:12:40.809 --> 00:12:43.570 you left a job before you had the next one lined 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:47.769 up. But you knew staying was killing something 00:12:47.769 --> 00:12:52.480 inside you. Maybe you had a conversation you've 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:55.440 been avoiding for years and you still don't know 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.539 if you said it right. But you knew the silence 00:12:58.539 --> 00:13:02.279 was just costing you too much. Maybe you forgave 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:06.399 someone even though they never apologized. Because 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:09.360 carrying that weight was breaking your back. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:14.580 That's not foolishness, friends. That's faith. 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:19.570 And that's where the Magi are. They don't know 00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:23.909 Herod's lying. They don't know that Bethlehem 00:13:23.909 --> 00:13:28.049 will soon echo with the sound of Rachel weeping 00:13:28.049 --> 00:13:32.690 for her children. They don't know. A dream is 00:13:32.690 --> 00:13:36.250 coming that will reroute their entire journey 00:13:36.250 --> 00:13:40.110 back home. And here's the part that makes this 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:44.690 even more complicated. Magi, they're not heroes 00:13:44.690 --> 00:13:49.529 in the story. They're honest. Honest enough to 00:13:49.529 --> 00:13:53.190 move when the light moves, but not discerning 00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:55.389 enough to spot the lie standing right in front 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:59.470 of them wearing a crown. They're about to walk 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:02.809 out of that throne room carrying exactly the 00:14:02.809 --> 00:14:07.169 information Herod needed to calculate mass murder. 00:14:09.070 --> 00:14:14.730 They are cooperating with power's agenda even 00:14:14.730 --> 00:14:21.750 without meaning to. That's not stupidity. That's 00:14:21.750 --> 00:14:25.289 just what it looks like when finite people try 00:14:25.289 --> 00:14:29.250 to navigate a world where evil knows very well 00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:34.889 how to smile. And here is the mercy hidden in 00:14:34.889 --> 00:14:37.870 verse 12. And we need to name this out loud. 00:14:37.970 --> 00:14:40.529 God doesn't abandon them halfway through their 00:14:40.529 --> 00:14:44.970 obedience. God sends a dream. God interrupts. 00:14:44.970 --> 00:14:52.090 God says, Don't go back that way. Because sometimes 00:14:52.090 --> 00:14:56.610 the only thing that saves us is that God course 00:14:56.610 --> 00:14:59.929 corrects us before our faithfulness can turn 00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:05.690 into complicity. All they know right now is the 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:10.350 light moved. So they did. And here's the truth 00:15:10.350 --> 00:15:14.610 I keep coming back to. Sometimes obedience feels 00:15:14.610 --> 00:15:20.070 like stumbling forward in the half dark. Sometimes, 00:15:20.070 --> 00:15:23.690 following Jesus means you're learning the dangers 00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:29.649 as you walk, not before. Sometimes, you do the 00:15:29.649 --> 00:15:32.570 right things for reasons you don't fully understand, 00:15:32.690 --> 00:15:36.509 and then God still has to reroute you mid -journey. 00:15:36.669 --> 00:15:40.269 And that's not failure, that's faith, operating 00:15:40.269 --> 00:15:44.850 the way faith actually works in a broken world. 00:15:46.429 --> 00:15:50.710 God seems... Far more interested, in my opinion, 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:55.250 in forming people who trust the next step and 00:15:55.250 --> 00:16:00.129 people who demand the whole map. But, and I think 00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:04.950 this matters, partial light doesn't mean blind 00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:07.529 obedience. It doesn't mean you surrender your 00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:11.210 brain, right, to anyone who claims to speak for 00:16:11.210 --> 00:16:15.539 God. It means you stay open to course correction 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:19.860 from Scripture, from community, from the Spirit 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.740 who warns you in dreams when you are about to 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:27.460 walk back into danger. Magi needed that dream 00:16:27.460 --> 00:16:30.519 because their discernment wasn't sharp enough 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:34.159 on the front end, and God gave it to them. That's 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:38.419 not condemnation. That's protection. And let 00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:42.059 me put these three groups side by side by side. 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:47.139 Herod describes Magi. Herod has power. He knows 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:50.000 how to manipulate religious language. He knows 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.440 how to sound sincere while plotting murder so 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.840 that I may go and pay him homage. That's not 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.220 ignorance on his part. That's just performance. 00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:03.080 The scribes, we talked about this on Sunday, 00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:08.109 they had the scripture. They quote Micah 5 and 00:17:08.109 --> 00:17:13.529 2 without hesitation in Bethlehem of Judea, for 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:17.970 so it has been written by the prophet. Perfect 00:17:17.970 --> 00:17:23.970 recall, perfect theology, perfect indifference. 00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:29.250 But neither Herod nor the scribes move. They 00:17:29.250 --> 00:17:32.289 know, they analyze, they calculate the risk, 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:38.079 and they decide. To stay comfortable. Magi, on 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.180 the other hand, didn't have what Israel had. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.200 They don't have Torah. They don't have covenant 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:48.140 history. They don't have the prophets memorized. 00:17:49.339 --> 00:17:55.039 But they have movement. And here is an uncomfortable 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.339 truth, I think, that hides like a rock in our 00:17:58.339 --> 00:18:06.279 boot. Knowledge without movement. can look faithful 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:14.779 and still miss Jesus completely. Meanwhile, movement 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:19.559 without knowledge can feel dangerous and still 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:25.359 lead to him. And that should slow us down. Because 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.799 churches are usually built for scribes. We reward 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:32.519 people who can quote chapter and verse. We give 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:36.150 leadership. to people who know doctrine, who 00:18:36.150 --> 00:18:41.009 trust people who sound certain. But the gospel 00:18:41.009 --> 00:18:46.650 keeps finding magi. It keeps finding people who 00:18:46.650 --> 00:18:49.210 don't have all of the answers, but are willing 00:18:49.210 --> 00:18:53.130 to follow the light they've been given. It keeps 00:18:53.130 --> 00:18:56.170 finding people who'd rather walk towards mystery 00:18:56.170 --> 00:18:59.849 than stay safe in certainty. And if we're honest, 00:19:02.059 --> 00:19:05.240 Man, that makes a lot of us feel uncomfortable. 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:11.839 Because we like to believe that knowing about 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:16.500 God is the same thing as following him. But the 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:21.480 text doesn't let us off that easy. Scribes knew 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.500 where the Messiah was to be born. It just didn't 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:29.369 care enough to go find out if it was true. Knowledge 00:19:29.369 --> 00:19:34.589 became insulation against encounter. And in all 00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:38.509 fairness, before we get too judgmental about 00:19:38.509 --> 00:19:41.710 these ancient religious leaders, we should ask 00:19:41.710 --> 00:19:46.849 ourselves, how many times have we used theological 00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:51.329 certainty? Two big words put together. How long 00:19:51.329 --> 00:19:54.970 have we used what we think the Bible says or 00:19:54.970 --> 00:19:59.769 means? How about that? As a way to maybe avoid 00:19:59.769 --> 00:20:04.049 risky work following Jesus into places that scare 00:20:04.049 --> 00:20:07.589 us. How many times have we quoted scripture instead 00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:11.789 of just simply obeying it? How many times have 00:20:11.789 --> 00:20:15.630 we been busy so being right that we missed being 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:20.809 present? Magi, they didn't have any of the luxury 00:20:20.809 --> 00:20:24.730 of avoidance. They're foreigners. They're outsiders. 00:20:25.009 --> 00:20:29.809 They're working with incomplete revelation. So 00:20:29.809 --> 00:20:35.730 all that they can really do is follow. And somehow, 00:20:35.789 --> 00:20:39.730 that's exactly what God ends up offering. And 00:20:39.730 --> 00:20:41.609 here's what's crazy. Remember how I talked about 00:20:41.609 --> 00:20:43.750 book from one end to the other? This isn't a 00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:47.670 one -off moment. This is how God has always worked. 00:20:48.549 --> 00:20:51.809 Abraham doesn't get a destination. Genesis 12 00:20:51.809 --> 00:20:55.759 and 1. He gets a call to leave. Go from your 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.279 country and your kindred and your father's house 00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:02.579 to the land I will show you. Notice what's missing? 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:09.240 The address. God says, leave everything you know 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:14.319 and go to a place I'll show you when you get 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:21.359 there. Let's set a GPS route. That's faith operating 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.059 on partial light. And that's always been enough 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:31.720 for the people who God calls. The psalmist understood 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.279 this. He doesn't say God's word is a spotlight 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:40.200 illuminating the future. Psalm 119 verse 105 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:46.559 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet, light to 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:52.990 my path. A lamp. shows you the next step. Maybe 00:21:52.990 --> 00:21:58.170 two? Not the whole road. Not even the next mile. 00:21:58.190 --> 00:22:01.430 Just enough light to keep you from stumbling 00:22:01.430 --> 00:22:07.750 into the ditch. And if that feels frustrating, 00:22:08.089 --> 00:22:15.799 welcome to the way God forms trust. Because here 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:18.640 is what I've learned after 53 years of walking 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.700 with Jesus in 12 years, trying to pastor people 00:22:21.700 --> 00:22:24.599 through the exact same journey, God is far more 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:28.000 interested in forming trust and satisfying curiosity. 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:33.079 He is far, far more interested in building people 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:36.960 who can walk into the dark and people who need 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:40.579 all the lights on before they can move. And that's 00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:44.400 not cruelty, that's formation. Because if we 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.980 only moved when everything was bright and clear, 00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:53.359 we'd never move at all. We'd stand still forever, 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:59.279 waiting for certainty that's never coming. Meanwhile, 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:06.220 Jesus walks ahead of us. Simply trusting will 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:10.539 follow. And the Magi, they don't yet know. They'll 00:23:10.539 --> 00:23:12.809 need another home. They don't. yet know that 00:23:12.809 --> 00:23:14.730 dreams will interrupt their sleep with divine 00:23:14.730 --> 00:23:18.450 warnings. They don't yet know that worship will 00:23:18.450 --> 00:23:23.009 turn into resistance. They don't yet know that 00:23:23.009 --> 00:23:26.009 going back the way they came would mean becoming 00:23:26.009 --> 00:23:31.769 accomplices to murder. All they know right now 00:23:31.769 --> 00:23:35.769 is the light has stopped. But before we get to 00:23:35.769 --> 00:23:38.289 the joy, and that's really more of a Sunday topic, 00:23:38.470 --> 00:23:40.730 I want to talk about the dream because verse 00:23:40.730 --> 00:23:43.670 12 is doing something here we cannot skip past. 00:23:44.029 --> 00:23:46.609 Having been warned in a dream not to return to 00:23:46.609 --> 00:23:49.690 Herod, they left for their own country for another 00:23:49.690 --> 00:23:53.609 road. That dream is God's intervention. It's 00:23:53.609 --> 00:23:56.269 God saying your obedience was good. Your movement 00:23:56.269 --> 00:24:00.390 towards me was right. But you are about to walk 00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:03.390 back into danger because you didn't see the lie 00:24:03.390 --> 00:24:06.109 clearly enough the first time. So I'm giving 00:24:06.109 --> 00:24:12.549 you another road. Again, that's protection. Because 00:24:12.549 --> 00:24:16.630 God doesn't just honor movement in us. He protects 00:24:16.630 --> 00:24:21.210 it. Even when we're halfway fooled. Even when 00:24:21.210 --> 00:24:26.000 our discernment isn't sharp enough. Even. When 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.400 we are one bad decision away from becoming accomplices 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:34.720 to murder without even meaning to be. This dream 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:38.400 is proof that God finishes what we start in faith. 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.279 Partial light becomes divine course correction 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:47.220 and it equals safe passage home. And maybe that's 00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:51.299 the real mercy we need to name tonight. Because 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:56.119 some of us might be sitting here thinking, I 00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:58.680 made the right move, but I almost walked into 00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:03.440 something terrible. I trusted the wrong person. 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:08.519 I believed a lie dressed up in religious language. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:13.500 I cooperated with something I didn't fully understand, 00:25:13.579 --> 00:25:19.039 and it could have destroyed me. God is saying 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.079 the same thing to you tonight that he said to 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:24.950 the Magi in that dream. I've got another road 00:25:24.950 --> 00:25:28.250 for you. You don't have to go back the way you 00:25:28.250 --> 00:25:31.970 came. Now, the joy quickly, until it stopped 00:25:31.970 --> 00:25:34.569 over the place where the child was. When they 00:25:34.569 --> 00:25:36.509 saw the star, it stopped. They were overwhelmed 00:25:36.509 --> 00:25:41.049 with joy. Not mild satisfaction. Not, well, that's 00:25:41.049 --> 00:25:44.150 nice. Overwhelmed. The Greek phrase there, I'm 00:25:44.150 --> 00:25:48.369 not doing it. I looked this up. Because of the 00:25:48.369 --> 00:25:51.710 word exceedingly and joy, they rejoice with exceedingly 00:25:51.710 --> 00:25:54.470 great joy. That just kind of, I want to see what 00:25:54.470 --> 00:25:56.109 that, what's the, what do those words really 00:25:56.109 --> 00:26:00.230 mean? It's joy that knocks you sideways, like 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:04.569 off your balance. Joy that makes grown men weep. 00:26:05.710 --> 00:26:08.549 Joy that feels like every hard mile is worth 00:26:08.549 --> 00:26:12.089 it. Because the journey led exactly where it 00:26:12.089 --> 00:26:15.009 was supposed to be. Not to a palace, to a house. 00:26:15.210 --> 00:26:19.930 Not to a throne, but a child. Not to power, to 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:23.849 vulnerability wrapped in flesh. And that's where 00:26:23.849 --> 00:26:27.470 they kneel. And I'll stop there, because Sunday 00:26:27.470 --> 00:26:30.450 we're going to talk more about those gifts. But 00:26:30.450 --> 00:26:33.869 here's the question for tonight. Where has the 00:26:33.869 --> 00:26:38.769 light moved, but you haven't yet? Not because 00:26:38.769 --> 00:26:41.150 you're stubborn, not because you don't love God. 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:44.559 But because you feel like you need the whole 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:48.940 picture first. I don't know. Well, let me name 00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:52.420 some actual ground. Because abstract questions 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:55.519 are easy to nod to and never actually answer. 00:26:57.099 --> 00:26:59.900 Maybe it's that conversation across the political 00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:02.440 divide you've been avoiding because it's easier 00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:06.660 to stay angry than risk reconciliation. Maybe 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:09.319 it's economic solidarity with people in the margins, 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:12.279 the kind that cost you something. Not the kind 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:14.119 you can afford. Maybe it's forgiving someone 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:19.240 who does not deserve it. Because you're tired 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:21.940 of carrying the weight and no bitterness is killing 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:25.700 something inside of you. Maybe it's a calling 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:28.160 you felt for years, but you've been waiting for 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:32.059 the time to be perfect. Maybe it's a step of 00:27:32.059 --> 00:27:37.779 obedience feels risky. And you keep telling yourself 00:27:37.779 --> 00:27:40.849 you'll move. When you have just a little more 00:27:40.849 --> 00:27:45.529 clarity. But what if clarity doesn't come before 00:27:45.529 --> 00:27:51.269 obedience? What if clarity comes through obedience? 00:27:52.890 --> 00:27:55.809 What if the next step is the only light you're 00:27:55.809 --> 00:28:00.049 going to get right now? And that has to be enough. 00:28:01.609 --> 00:28:05.039 Because, friends, the gospel... keeps whispering 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:08.720 the same truth. God does not abandon people halfway 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:13.140 through obedience. The star doesn't vanish mid 00:28:13.140 --> 00:28:16.359 -journey. It keeps going. The light moved and 00:28:16.359 --> 00:28:19.420 they trusted again. And when it stopped, joy 00:28:19.420 --> 00:28:23.799 was waiting. Not because the road was easy, but 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:29.420 because the road led home. Friends, may you trust 00:28:29.420 --> 00:28:31.960 the lamp in your hand more than the darkness 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:35.880 ahead. May you walk even when the road feels 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:39.779 unfinished. May you discover that God is already 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:42.319 waiting further down the path, and the light 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.660 you thought was too small to follow was exactly 00:28:45.660 --> 00:28:49.500 enough to get you there. And when the light moves, 00:28:49.980 --> 00:28:53.619 may you have the courage to move with it, even 00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:56.200 if you don't know where it's going, even if the 00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:59.460 road feels dangerous, even if all you have is 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:05.119 just that next step. Because Jesus is worth the 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:09.779 risk of the journey. And the star, star never 00:29:09.779 --> 00:29:23.039 lies. Amen? Amen. Thanks, guys. Sometimes the 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.400 road is darker than we expect it. Sometimes the 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:30.279 star moves before we're ready. The good news 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:34.670 is this. God never asks us to follow light that 00:29:34.670 --> 00:29:38.130 isn't already leading. The Magi didn't know everything. 00:29:38.269 --> 00:29:41.950 They made mistakes, but they moved and God met 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:44.990 them. Not just with a child and a house, but 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:47.450 protection for the journey home. So wherever 00:29:47.450 --> 00:29:49.750 you are on the road tonight, if you're still 00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:52.609 discerning, still stumbling, still wondering 00:29:52.609 --> 00:29:56.269 if you heard right, take heart. Star didn't wait 00:29:56.269 --> 00:29:59.170 and neither did God. Grace goes ahead of you. 00:29:59.950 --> 00:30:03.150 If this message met you tonight, consider tossing 00:30:03.150 --> 00:30:05.450 your like in the offering plate. Share this with 00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:08.029 someone else who might be walking in the half 00:30:08.029 --> 00:30:11.430 dark and needs to know they're not alone. And 00:30:11.430 --> 00:30:13.569 if you'd like to journey with us into the new 00:30:13.569 --> 00:30:16.789 year, every time we gather, every time we open 00:30:16.789 --> 00:30:19.750 the word, all you have to do is tithe your subscribe. 00:30:20.450 --> 00:30:22.690 That way you'll hear the bells when they ring. 00:30:22.930 --> 00:30:26.430 Till then, keep walking, keep watching, and may 00:30:26.430 --> 00:30:28.950 you always have just enough light to take that 00:30:28.950 --> 00:30:32.460 next step. Until then, be blessed.