1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2 English Standard Version
“What do you want lieutenant,”
asked my battalion commander? My company commander sat there smiling since he
knew. It was 1989 in Kaiserslautern; Federal Republic of Germany and I was in
the 327th Signal Company. I’d found out that a platoon leader
position was opening up at one of our remote signal stations. Unfortunately, it
was being given to a lieutenant that was junior to me, simply because he was
single, and I was married with an infant son. The battalion commander was
concerned that the daily commute would be a burden upon my family. I was
serving as the company supply and maintenance officer; positions that while
important were not leadership positions, and officers need those leadership
positions to thrive and grow in the service. I talked to my commander and
obtained his permission to ask the battalion commander directly. So, I polished
my shoes, put on my dress uniform, and gathered my courage for the talk.
In answer to his question, I
replied, “Sir, I think you should reconsider who you plan to assign to the open
platoon leader position. I think I’ve earned the right to that position.”
“Well,” he said, “I’m concerned
about the commute that will require.”
“Well sir, that is not your
worry, that is my worry. I’m senior to the other lieutenant and have earned the
right to that position.” Skipping all the other small talk involved, I walked
out of that office into the platoon leader’s job, and quite an adventure. The
Maji of Matthew’s gospel took similar risk.
We do not know the details of
their journey, but we can surmise that it took time and resources. A journey of
any length in those days involved risk, significant risk. There were deserts to
cross, mountains to pass, and often brigands to face down. There were financial
considerations as well. A trek of such magnitude would require a substantial
outlay of resources, aside from gold, frankincense, and myrrh. If they came
from the Persian area, they were facing a trek of six months or so. The other
possibilities were of even greater length. Some traditions have them coming all
the way from China! Imagine the length of such a passage. All of this is
speculation, since we do not know the details of their trip; however, no matter
how you think about it, this entailed expense and risk, two things we like to
avoid today. But they did it anyway.
They did this all to visit an
infant. I wonder what they knew. They knew that there was a new king of the
Jews. They knew that a star had announced his arrival, but they did not know
exactly where he was. They had to make a stop in Jerusalem to refine their map.
The Maji make me wonder, what kind of risk am I willing to take? I also wonder,
what have I missed because I was unwilling to listen to God and take risk?
After all, the Maji took risk based on seeing a star rise. Are there stars calling
me out into a greater advent experience that I’m missing?
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