They journeyed far, following a star.
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“Whoever you are and wherever you find yourself on your journey of faith, you are welcome to come to Christ’s table at All Saints Church.”
For half a century, George Regas’ words have defined us as people of many journeys of faith traveling together.
On this day when we hear the story of those who journeyed far following a star, it is good to pause and consider…
What kind of journey are you on?
Sometimes our journey is as tourists. As tourists we journey primarily as consumers of experiences, goods and services. And we choose what we experience and consume based on what we want to get out of the journey.
When I am a tourist, I pay my bills. If something is particularly good, I leave a nice tip or donation. That’s how I cover the expenses for the experiences I am having and ensure they continue for others to enjoy.
Now, being a tourist is awesome.
Some of the best times in my life – visiting the Grand Canyon and New York City; hearing Master Chorale at Disney Concert Hall and seeing Ron Cey waddle up to the plate at Dodger Stadium — have come as a tourist.
And tourists are important parts of communities of faith. In the Gospel, most of the people were tourists. They were the ones in the crowds who came to hear Jesus, to think about his words and see the signs and wonders. They were beloved by God and their encounter with Jesus was real and memorable, and … it did not substantially change what they did or who they were.
Sometimes we journey as tourists.
Sometimes we journey as missionaries. A missionary journeys primarily to work to make things better. To listen to people’s needs and do something to bring love, joy and healing to their lives.
When I journey as a missionary, I still enjoy experiences, but that is not my primary reason for the journey.
As a missionary, I give money because I am a part of building whatever I am doing there and I am committed to that work not being lost and for it continuing for others.
Being a missionary is also wonderful. Some of the deepest senses of accomplishment in my life – working for an NGO in Ghana and Grace Hill Settlement House in St. Louis and Learning Works here in Pasadena — have come from work done out of my desire to serve.
In the Gospel, the missionaries were those who heard Jesus and were inspired to do good works because of him. They were beloved by God and their encounter with Jesus was real and memorable. It changed what they did … if not who they were.
Sometimes we are tourists. Sometimes we are missionaries. And then there are times we journey … as pilgrims.
While a tourist journeys to experience things and a missionary journeys to change things, a pilgrim journeys to be changed.
We can think of the difference in terms of footwear! A tourist wears comfortable shoes. A missionary wears work boots. When we journey as pilgrims, we take our shoes off because we know the ground we are walking on is holy — and we want that which is holy to touch and bring out the holy in us.
When I am a pilgrim, I don’t just meet others or work to help others, I surrender myself and form bonds of kinship with those I encounter, longing for the distinctions of us and them to fall away, giving them power in my life. Their joy becomes my joy. Their pain, my pain. They become a part of me and change who I am. I cannot go back to being the person I was before the journey and no matter how difficult this new life might be, I wouldn’t ever want to – for even though it can be fearful, there is no deeper joy.
When we are pilgrims, we give deeply and without fear or counting the cost because giving doesn’t feel like loss. Giving is deep love and deep joy.
The times in my life I have been a pilgrim, some journeys which I have chosen but other journeys which have chosen me – are the deepest part of who I am. They have changed and continue to change me.
The people I have met on those journeys – Becca Stevens and the women of Thistle Farms in Nashville, Bravely in St. Louis and Moringa Madres in Ajijic, Mexico; the young activists and clergy siblings in Ferguson; our siblings in exile at Men’s Central Jail, CRDF and Twin Towers; the communities I have served as priest both in St. Louis and now here at All Saints Church – their holiness … your holiness has changed me and made me who I am.
They … you are my proof of the existence of the Christ … of God in human form.
It is my greatest joy to give myself as fully as I can to these communities and I cannot imagine my life without them … without you. That is the pilgrim’s journey.
The pilgrim’s journey is a risky one, for we cannot be changed without being vulnerable. We cannot love and be loved that deeply without risking being hurt. And we all have been hurt before. Often it is the journey deep into the heart of that which we fear most – and so often, it is a journey that chooses us or one we will try to avoid. And yet that which we fear is never the destination of the pilgrim’s journey. The pilgrim’s journey always leads through the place of fear to the place of love. It is a journey of surrender to the deepest love there is. And there is nothing else like it.
In the Gospel, the pilgrims were the disciples who answered Jesus’ call of “Follow me.” And the pilgrims were also the Magi, who journeyed far, following a star.
The Magi didn’t just come to see something, and they didn’t just come to do something The Magi came seeking a love that could not help but change them.
And they knew that being changed by that love doesn’t just happen.
They had to leave their places of comfort to be changed by that love.
They had to go through the fear to be changed by that love.
They had to defy a tyrant to be changed by that love.
They had to set aside their power to be changed by that love.
When the Magi finally found the Christ, they took their shoes off because they knew the love they were meeting was holy ground. And then they gave the best of what they had to offer to this love. Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. Themselves.
And why did the Magi give?
The Magi didn’t give because Jesus gave them a bill … or because they believed they would benefit personally from it … or because they were afraid of losing something dear.
The Magi didn’t give because they believed Jesus had made the best case in the competitive marketplace of first-century Galilean philanthropy.
The giving of the Magi wasn’t transactional, it was transformational.
The Magi gave with deep joy because they found something, someone who awakened a voice deep inside them that said “In a world gone mad, THIS LOVE is the only thing I’ve found that makes sense, that has real meaning. I want to be about THIS LOVE. I want to give myself to THIS LOVE. I want to be a part of THIS LOVE and I want THIS LOVE to be a part of me.”
The Magi gave with deep joy, not just their riches but their whole selves because they had found the one who loved them truly as they were and could transform them into all that they were destined to be.
The Magi came to Jesus as pilgrims, shoes off, wanting to be changed. And we know they were changed because the king from whom they had sought wisdom on their journey in, they openly defied on their journey out. Their encounter with God in Christ changed them from respectable ambassadors worthy of a royal audience to outlaw foreigners and a danger to the state.
We come together as tourists, missionaries and pilgrims – and the common denominator we share is love. The transforming, inclusive love of God lived in community. The transforming, inclusive love of God in Christ. It is up to us whether we choose to enjoy it as a tourist, spread it as a missionary or literally be changed into it as a pilgrim. It is the best of who we have been and can be. That is why for more than 136 years, we have come together as All Saints Church. Because through everything the world has thrown at us, we have sought and trusted in the power of God’s love.
We can all be together in the same room like we are right now and not all be on the same type of journey. Some of us are tourists, some missionaries and some pilgrims. And that’s OK. We do great damage to one another when we compare and judge each other’s faith.
We are each where we are right now because of the road we have traveled to get here.
Some of us are tourists, some missionaries and some pilgrims. And one type of journey will often lead into and become another. And whether you live, give and travel in this community as tourist, missionary or pilgrim or even different ones at different times … the love here is for you. You are beloved of God and welcome to come to this table.
And … the history of All Saints Church is that the love that calls us here and binds us together welcomes us as we are but should not leave us as we are. The transforming, inclusive love of God is continually calling us deeper into our own journey. Into a life that embraces all three journeys – a life of experiencing love and working in love and also a life that is transformed by love in ways that only happen when we leave our places of comfort and surrender ourselves to that love.
Your journey is not my journey and my journey is not your journey. And – together we can be amazing and powerful travel companions when each of us helps the other go deeper on the path down which they are called.
So, while it is good and holy for some to be tourists, some missionaries and some pilgrims, let All Saints Church never be a community where we are where we are on that spectrum because we have gotten too comfortable and settled. Because settling is something the church does way too much.
The church settles for being just another tourist destination or missionary organization.
The church settles for being a provider of spiritual goods, services and experiences or one more vehicle for social change.
It is easy to settle for these things because each of them is good. And yet God dreams for us to be called through them to the place where we encounter a love so profound it knocks the shoes off our feet and changes us into the very form of that love. Where what we lay on that table is not just our gifts of bread and wine and our money but ourselves.
Not because we have to or because we fear what will happen if we don’t but because we have found the one who loves us truly as we are and transforms us into all that we are destined to be.
It is a new year, and we will journey far together, following a star.
And together, we will see and hear amazing things.
Together we will do incredible work
And … together we will find so much more.
Together, we will find a love that cannot help but change us. And being changed by that love doesn’t just happen.
We will have to leave our place of comfort to be changed by that love.
We will have to go through the fear to be changed by that love.
We will have to defy a tyrant to be changed by that love.
We will have to take off our shoes and set aside our power to be changed by that love.
The Magi laid their gifts and themselves at the manger because they had discovered the truth that Dr. King would articulate nearly two millennia later when he said “There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for.” … “And until we have discovered something that we will die for, we are not fit to live.”
The Magi gave with deep joy because they found something, someone who awakened a voice deep inside them that said THIS LOVE is that precious thing. “I want to be about THIS LOVE. I want to give myself to THIS LOVE. I want to be a part of THIS LOVE and I want THIS LOVE to be a part of me.”
Together we are journeying far, following a star.
Sometimes we are tourists, sometimes missionaries, sometimes pilgrims. All are beloved by God. And all are continually being called deeper, deeper into the path on which we travel.
Together we are journeying far, following a star.
What kind of journey are we on?
What kind of journey are you on?
Amen.
