"Directions"
a condensed version of the sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, January 4, 2009 at Union Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Somonauk, Illinois.

PODCAST of "Directions"

The Bible story about the visit of the Magi – Wise men. A familiar part of Christmas – and one that we often talk about a couple of Sundays after Christmas, on Epiphany Sunday.

• Epiphany: The Christian holiday celebrating the visit of the Magi.
• Epiphany: A sudden realization of some extraordinary meaning, essence, or even direction.

I can think of at least 4 directions this morning’s sermon could take:

The Magi – likely from Persia – modern day Iraq. Star-following priests (astrologers) who did not follow any form of the Hebrew religion, but rather Zurvanism -- With its all encompassing creator Zurvan and its good and evil deities Ahura Mazda and Ahriman. I talked about that a little bit last year.

The Gifts: Expensive offerings given to a family in poverty, humbly, by those who enjoyed positions of power. Something like that can reframe our thoughts about charity and giving -- helping all to realize that giving to others should never be about power -- but rather honor and respect. The gifts likely made it possible for Joseph and Mary to flee with Jesus into Egypt where he would be safe. I’ve got this one in the file future years.

Herod: The king who feared for his throne. He didn’t want someone else taking over what he owned and controlled. The Magi and Joseph were both warned in dreams about Herod. Another year, this sermon will be about priorities and selfish desires. Though the themes may creep into today’s sermon, I’m not focusing on Herod today.

New directions: The Magi left for their own country by another road. That’s today’s sermon direction.

The days of being able to tell the joke about men never asking for directions (and have folks laugh) are near over. While not everyone has access to computer directions and GPS navigation, young people growing up today may not yet have, nor will they ever experience stopping at a gas station to ask for directions. Their children almost certainly will not. It seems that where we travel is now determined in advance and mapped out for us. Even the drive with no apparent destination can be, and often is, mapped out by satellite.

When driving with a GPS unit in the car, we usually follow the directions, but when we make turns that the GPS units have not prescribed, they recalculate the route to our destination, offering new roads (and sometimes u-turns) for our journey.

This week’s familiar Bible reading from about the Magi visiting Jesus describes a bit of "dream GPS" that the visitors from the east used to recalculate their return trip home. The last verse of this week’s reading is inspiring a few questions:

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

As we enter this new year – what are our thoughts about the direction of things in our world, country and community?

• Yesterday Israeli army ground forces entered Gaza. What’s another road away from more violence and towards peace?
• In a little more than two weeks we’ll have a new president and for many a hopeful new direction. What positive things will this new direction bring? What challenges will come with it? What kind of road will we travel?

In our faith journey, what roads are we on?

• Do we journey with God only in the bad times?
• Do we journey with God because we want to feel smarter?
• Do we journey with God because we think it’s the best thing to do for appearance sake?
• Do we journey with God out of an indescribable yearning for meaning in our lives?

What would happen if we changed directions?

• What if instead of journeying towards God we tried to journey away?
• Where would God be?
• What if instead of journeying with God for appearances we threw out appearances and journeyed with God with no agenda whatsoever?

If we decide on another road along our faith journey, will the journey become a more fulfilling one?

• Would that road be one that included bringing others along on the journey with us?
• Would it mean leaving some behind?
• Would another road be helpful?
• Would it be harmful?

Or maybe will we experience the need for a u-turn?

• Do we need to stop, survey our journey’s direction and do an about-face?

How about the road our church is on?

• Can we DOUBLE our attendance in worship, Sunday School and midweek ministry on the road we’re on, or do we need another road?
• Is the increase in our giving over the last two years a sign that we’re on the best road – or do we need to be on another road to stabilize our financial picture? Will our current road help us find ways to increase income (pledges, offerings, fundraisers, rentals etc) by about 50% this year?
• What road should we be on in order to take care of our building? How will we journey with God as we raise funds for roof and other repairs before they become much larger ones.
• Are we on a road committed to excellent opportunities for worship, engaging education, vital youth ministry and fully-staffed (every worship service!) nursery care. Do we want to be on that road?

How much do we trust God’s ‘GPS’ in our lives? How do we know God’s directions?

Let us pray.

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