Sermon Tone Analysis

Please turn to the book of Matthew, chapter 2 verse 1.

See if you can fill in the blank: perhaps the biggest and most controversial area to discuss in a conversation today with anyone is ____________ (what)

A. politics

B. politics

C. politics

Politics!

And we are in our Christmas series in Matthew and Luke called SCANDALOUS HOPE.

in the list of some of our country’s greatest scandals, we read of things like Watergate, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Iran-Contra (took place during Reagan’s term).

my goal is not to focus on any of those OUT THERE—but to put a spotlight with today’s Christmas text with how you and I think about power and politics IN HERE.

with how we think about the kingdom of man vs. the kingdom of God.

most of us can’t have much effect in big, national scandals, but there we can make a difference with God’s help in how you and I use power everyday, with how we think about politics and discuss it, with the priority we place on it vs. the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

In a podcast called Reconstructing Faith, LISTEN TO THIS STAT -

back in 1960, only 5% of Republicans and 4% of Democrats said they would be displeased if their child married someone from the other major party.

more than 50 years later—50% of R and 1/3 of Democrats said they would be somewhat or very unhappy if this happened.

news report from 2018.

the Public Religion Research Institute, Americans are more likely to be unhappy if their kid marries someone from a different political party than if they marry someone from outside their religion.

(say it again) political affiliation matters more than religion.

“Politics has overtaken religion as the primary shaper of identity.”

— Trevin Wax Reconstructing Faith Episode #7

“Politics doesn’t just supersede religion; it is religion.”

— Trevin Wax Reconstructing Faith Episode #7

some of you recognize this in our culture, and some of you are as frustrated as I am with the discourse over it.

some of us are blind to it, unaware—like a fish in water who says “what’s water?”

this focus on politics... is a more of a scandal of the heart—that we can put so much hope and passion in earthly politics rather than God’s kingdom—Jesus and the Gospel.

and...

I actually believe this passage in Matthew.

helps us begin the conversation today and contains a horrible scandal and challenges the scandal of our hearts and politics.

Let me read it

Matthew 2:1–23 (NIV)

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem (these are the wise men we depict in our Nativity scenes)

2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?

We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

(when the king ain’t happy, nobody’s happy!)

4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

(that’s the book of Micah)

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child.

As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

(now my translation adds in the Greek— “Liar, Liar, pants on fire...”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

11 On coming to the house (based on that word—it is possible that Jesus is 1 or 2 years old), they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

(btw—we often think there are 3 wise men because of 3 gifts—but the text doesn’t say)

12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.

Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,

15 where he stayed until the death of Herod.

And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (from Hosea)

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,

23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.

So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

so how do we have hope in the midst of a world of politics.

how are we to think and wrestle with politics.

BECAUSE...This passage brings up a ruler-King Herod (aka Herod the Great from history).

He was named King of the territory of Judea by the Roman Senate.

He was wealthy, gifted, shrewd politically, known for his great famine relief projects and building efforts.

but he loved power...

He was a violent ruler, even for his time.

He killed many members of his court, and even his own family to make sure he stayed in power.

b/c he was not a 100% royal line—many Jews didn’t think he should be in office.

so he was especially paranoid, violent.

he learns of the star—from the magi or wise men—it was thought that a new bright light in the sky was the birth of a new king.

and so these magi—really astronomers and astrologers who served in faraway courts from other lands like Persia.

asked about the King of the Jews.

and when you are the king, it’s disturbing to learn there is a new king—who may have more right to the throne than you do.

so he inquires—learns it’s in Bethlehem—sends the wise men on their way.

they find the child and worship the child.

they do not tell Herod—b/c God works in a dream

and Herod responds furiously ordering the death of baby boys 2 and under—probably 20 - 30 boys died during that time.

Jesus, Joseph and Mary are on the run fleeing— (btw—Jesus knows what it is like to be a refugee) to Egypt—and then back to finally Nazareth.

Not really a clean-cut, silent peaceful passage.

It’s not sanitized.

and it confronts us with some realities of politics.

how are we to think about politics and power amidst this sad story...

Hope and the Scandal of Politics:

God’s kingdom includes all kinds of people (man’s kingdom often doesn’t!)

think about this…when we think of our kingdoms on earth politically—around the world, various countries and kingdoms, often their citizens are made up predominantly of one ethnicity or a couple of them.

Where are you from?

“I am from Haiti.

I am from Japan.

I am from Bulgaria.”

and politics works—part of the goal at its best is to protect the citizens of that country, provide for them, have human flourishing.

but think about the kingdom of God—it is not confined to one ethnicity or tribe or tongue, or nation (we saw that in Revelation); it’s multi-cultural; multi-ethnic.

it transcends all the boundaries that our human kingdom put up.

and this passage shows that—how?

you have these magi, specialists in interpreting dreams, astrology, magic, books thought to contain mysterious reference to the future.

and they are not from Israel.