The Star and the Temple

“ And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? ”

Why do you come to Church? There may be many reasons, for many people have a different experience of Church from one another. If you go to different churches, you can see in one a great sound system and full band. In another, a careful preacher making 5 points about his topic, all beginning with the letter P. In another, singing and dancing and swaying and rocking, clapping and raising of hands. In another, unknown languages, ecstatic utterances, prophecies shouted out from the congregation. In another, happy testimonies being given by one and all. In another, an angry minister bringing down God's wrath on the heads of his sinful audience. In this church: is it the magnificence of the music—well, not for the 8 am service, surely—or the quiet formality of the liturgy, the sense of a fitting quality in this approach to worshiping God, or my sterling sermons, the food at coffee hour, the age and beauty of the building, or is it the gymnastics of having to get up, kneel down, sit, and get up again, over and over? Why do you come to Church?

Many eyes looked at the heavens in the days, weeks, months and years preceding the birth of the Christ child. All saw the same things, but not all got the same message from the signs they saw. For that one group of wise men, the magi of the Persian East, one convergence of planets, then another, and another caused them to watch with keenest interest what sign might come next. A small nova, very distant and almost unrecorded in astrological history, bloomed in the night sky from March of 5 BC and for 70 days afterward. These men, watching and waiting for God's finger to indicate His major activities among men, saw what they were waiting and watching for. Their perusals of many prophecies brought them to a very old one, spoken by Balaam the Moabite, over the children of Israel as they fled from Egypt. “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel… Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion...” Numbers 24:17-19 From this fragment of Jewish scripture, the magi knew they were seeking the King of Israel sent from God. Following the sign to Israel, they traveled to the court of Herod in Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem and found the infant Jesus. These foreigners are the first recorded people to actually worship Jesus Christ.

Simeon, an old but very spiritual Jewish man, prayed and fasted and sought for God's consolation on Israel, long enthralled by foreign empires, now crushed under the weight of Imperial Rome. In seeking God's Face, Simeon was rewarded with a promise that his eyes would see the Messiah before he died. Eager to find this word's fulfillment, he waited day and night at the gates of God's Temple, watching those who entered, waiting for God to signify to him which of these it was. He didn't know if he was watching for a grown man, or a child, or what it would look like, rich or poor, high born or unknown. A small family walked into the Temple, with every indication of poverty and humility, a man and a woman carrying a bundle: a baby 40 days old. They looked around nervously, as humble and simple folk unaccustomed to such splendor, wanting to do the right thing and not make a foolish mistake. But the old man's eyes saw and his spiritual ears heard —“That one.” He walked over to them, not entirely under his own power, and he looked on Him for whom he had waited all his life. As his eyes asked the holy couple, his hands reached out for the bundle of Life in Mary's arms. He held the Lord Messiah, “What's His Name?” “ Jesus .” “Of course!” and then the Holy Spirit through the old man proclaimed: “Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart In peace, according to Thy word; For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, A light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel.” As he returned the baby Jesus to His astonished parents, he added: “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:29-35 So also, before they had left Simeon standing there, a prophetess, Anna, 84 years old and long widowed, ran to them and proclaimed the same things.

Twelve years later, when Jesus had come of age for such things, he traveled with Mary and Joseph to the Temple in Jerusalem for the Passover. In such proximity to the Temple of His Father, Jesus couldn't resist this place devoted to Him in His eternal Godhead. He entered easily and found those who studied the inscribed words, the ancient prophecies, looking for signs of Messiah, debating who He might be. It intrigued the young boy that they should so debate His coming, and yet with Him standing right there, these wise old men seemed unable to apprehend Him. They would have discounted his very presence, obviously a simple country kid without refinement, except that in His high clear voice He asked them a question. The question brought light into the room, and had great depth of wisdom. One of them answered roughly a trite and obvious answer. And the young Voice spoke again, revisiting His subject, building on the weakness of the answer given, and a kind of astonished debate began. His questions and the old men's obviously inadequate answers showed them, slowly, where the answers really lay. They entered a dialog with Him, and hours passed by. Meals were brought, some slept at times, others pressed Him further, and the interrogation of the Son of God in God's own Temple pursued lines of thought they had all forgotten or dismissed. It was like following a vein of precious gold: a fever was on them to get it all. Jesus would nap on a pile of cloaks, and then rise, wash, eat and begin again. The dialog lasted three days and nights, until Mary and Joseph discovered Him there, tried to scold Him for they had lost Him and worried themselves sick all that time. He was confused at this, and He asked them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house and about His business?” Luke 2:49

Why do you come to Church? Is your searching for holy things like those who saw the night sky and dismissed those uncommon events as just more lights, signifying nothing? Millions saw the sky that brought the magi thousands of miles west, but they didn't consider the signs and didn't go anywhere. Not one inhabitant of Jerusalem, not one priest of the Temple, followed the magi to Bethlehem to see what the star showed them.

Is your hope for a better future like all those who came and went in the Temple courts, making expected sacrifices, doing the religious thing, waiting for nothing, expecting no changes, having no particular hope or even believing that God was interested in His people any more. The crowds bustling by, rubbed shoulders with Joseph and his young bride, and walked on, never seeing Him, not apprehending that This was the God they were coming to worship. Imagine the irony of that: here was the Son of God coming for the first time into His Temple, and hundreds of worshipers missed the event entirely.

Is your religious life tied up in a familiar argument or debate, the way it's always been done, the orthodox or catholic or traditional line, even to the exclusion of a personal encounter with the Living Christ Who might enter into your thoughts unbidden, tap you on the shoulder and say in your ear: “You know, this is My House, and your offering is a sacrifice to Me. That little light up there is a symbol of My Star that led the magi to Me. I'm here if you want to understand these things, and end the debate in your mind. If you're ready to know Me, and not just know about Me, I actually inhabit the praises of my people.”

We come to Church seeking, but is it in the spirit of Christ's promise: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 Why would He say that if it wasn't true? Do we seek too low for our answer? Christ said: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” Luke 17:33 We can't expect customary answers when we want an encounter with the Living God. He said “the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” John 4:23

Why come to Church, if it's not to find God here? King David sang: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple… I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” Psalm 27:4-8 Isaiah wrote: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord… So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: …and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55:6-13

Why come to Church, if not to encounter a Living, Present, and Holy God who has something for you to do? If we come to just sit and listen and consider things that we might profit by, we come still asleep with the rest of the consumer world. The star will shine and we will miss it. The Lord will come into His Holy Temple and we'll be looking the other way. God is here . Even strangers sense it. Why come to Church except that He is calling you to His Presence and wants to do business with you today?

Do the religious observance, by all means. Joseph and Mary made the sacrifice of doves, and ate their Passover in Jerusalem. But the real work of the Holy Spirit was an old man's life being fulfilled in a moment, as he held the baby Messiah; and the purpose of the elders' age-old debate was answered when a boy wandered in and asked them a piercing question. What does God want you for here in His Church today? Won't He want you here again? Why come to Church, except to seek and find Him here, doing His Father's work in His House, and in your life? PFH+