I probably should refrain from using this stereotype, but it would seem that the Wise Men, like a number of men I know, did not like to ask for directions. They went to Jerusalem, only to discover that they were in the wrong place. They were supposed to be in Bethlehem, nine miles to the south. The Wise Men had come all that way, following a star across miles of trackless desert, and in the end, they were off by nine miles. I wonder if they shared this news with their wives when they returned home?
From Jerusalem to Bethlehem… nine miles. But it was a journey that involved more than mileage. Jerusalem – a center of power and prestige; all the important people are there, all-important events happen there, all roads lead there. So of course the Wise Men go there. Where else would one expect to find a king? Then there was Bethlehem. Bethlehem – a dusty place, a rural place, unnoticed and unpretentious; a place that wouldn’t know what to do with gold, frankincense and myrrh. But the Wise Men learn that here is where they must go. And, amazingly, that is exactly what they do. In the words of Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, “It is amazing that the wise men do not resist this alternative, but go on to the village. Rather than hesitate or resist, they reorganize their wealth and learning, and reorient themselves and their lives around a baby with no credentials.”
Jerusalem was safe. Jerusalem was security. Jerusalem was power and wealth as the world measures power and wealth. Everyone assumed the future looked a lot like Jerusalem. But when they arrived there, the Wise Men realized they were off by nine miles. By choosing to travel those hard, demanding miles to Bethlehem, they chose a new future, an unexpected future, a future marked, not by arrogant power and political ambition, not by security and prosperity, but by caring and vulnerability and neighborliness; in Brueggemann’s words, “a modest future with spears turned into pruning hooks and swords into plowshares.”
As we reflect on our future as a community of faith, let’s not be afraid to look in unexpected places and to consider unanticipated alternatives. Choosing the easy way, the safe way, the expected way may not get us where we want to go. It just might involve a nine-mile trip…and a very different way home.
Return to Top of Page
