MATTHEW 2:1-12

[1] Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying,

[2] "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."
[3] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
[4] and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
[5] They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
[6] `And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will govern my people Israel.'"
[7] Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared;

[8] and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."
[9] When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.
[10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy;
[11] and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
[12] And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

So, here we are nine days into the New Year. That’s 202 hours which equals 12,120 minutes, or if you want to be even more precise it means we’ve already gone through 727,200 ticks of the clock.   With that in mind I was just wondering. Have you broken any of your New Year’s Eve resolutions yet? 

It happens. Maybe you vowed to go on a diet but then you just couldn’t help yourself when you gobbled down that big piece of chocolate cake.  Maybe you promised someone that you would stop smoking but then you experienced a nicotine fit and had a cigarette when no one was looking.  Or maybe you decided that you were going to be a little more frugal with your money but then you saw that snazzy new iPad and before you knew it the credit card was out of your wallet.

If you’ve already broken a resolution for the New Year I wouldn’t worry too much about it.  The statistics suggest that when it comes to New Year’s resolutions we’re a lot like Ed McMahon.  Ed McMahon, the former Tonight Show announcer, once offered these words of advice. He said, “Don’t worry about keeping those New Year’s resolutions.  You only have to deal with them until the end of February and then you can give them up for Lent.”  Then there’s the smoker who said, “When it comes to smoking quitting isn’t hard at all.  I’ve done it a million times.”

Sometimes no matter how much you want to change something you just can’t do it.  Maybe that’s why so many people have found comfort over the years in the words to the Serenity Prayer.  The prayer was written back in the 1930’s by a Protestant theologian by the name of Reinhold Niebuhr.   

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the wise men said a prayer like that just before they left Bethlehem.  That’s because when you come right down to it  the wise men were in a no win situation.  Poor Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar. They knew that Herod was up to no good.  “And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod they departed to their own country by another way.”  They knew that Herod was up to no good but there was nothing they could do about it.  They couldn’t go back to Herod and reason with him because that would have put their lives in danger.  They also couldn’t go back and warn Mary and Joseph because that would have put their lives and the life of their new born child in danger.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for the wise men?  Put yourself in their shoes.  You’re afraid that Herod might come after you.  You’re worried that Herod might go after the baby and you’re feeling guilty because you there isn’t anything you can do to warn Joseph and Mary.  So, what do you do? You take all of those thoughts and emotions and you do the only thing you can do.  You put your trust in God and depart to your own country by another way.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Sometimes you have to accept the fact that there are things you j can’t change; battles that you’re not going to win; dreams that aren’t going to come true.  There are going to be times when you feel the same way a nun felt when she got tired of hearing the Lord’s name taken in vain.   That sin was a constant problem at a construction project next to the convent where the nun lived.  One day the nun decided to do something about it.  She decided to take her lunch over to the construction site and spend some time with the workers.  When she got there she sat down and asked the workers, “Do any of you know Jesus Christ?”  The workers looked at each other with confusion.  Finally one of the workers looked up to the scaffolding and shouted, “Does anyone up there know Jesus Christ?”    The foreman on the scaffolding shook his head and said, “No.  Why do you ask?”   “Because,” the worker shouted, “His wife’s here with his lunch.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if you can think of a time when you tried to change something or help someone change and you eventually realized that it just wasn’t going to happen.  Maybe you’re dealing with a situation like that right now.  

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Anyone who is familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous will tell you that they have a saying.  According to the saying sometimes you have to simply “Let go and let God.”   Sometimes though it isn’t easy to let go and let God.  That because when you do that you might feel guilty. You might feel like you failed.  You might feel like you let someone down.  It also means you have to admit that you’re really not in control and you have to trust that God will take care of things.

That can be scary; especially if you’re like the guy who fell off a cliff one day while hiking in the mountains.  While he was falling he managed to grab hold of a bush that was growing out of the side of the cliff.  As he hung there dangling above the rocks below he started to call for help.  After a couple of minutes the man heard a sound. When he shouted “Who’s there?” a booming voice replied, “It’s God.”  “Is that really you God?” the man shouted. “Yes,” the voice replied.  “That’s great,” the man shouted.  “Then please help me before I fall.”  There was a pause and then the voice said, “Do you trust me?”  “Yes, yes, of course I trust you,” the man shouted.  “Please hurry.”  “Very good,” the voice said.  “If you trust me, then let go.”  The man looked down at the rocks below, then looked up and shouted, “Is there anyone else up there?”

It isn’t always easy to let go and let God. That’s why it’s so important to keep working on your faith day in and day out.  When you do that your relationship will be stronger and it will make it easier to let go and let God.  Maybe this will help as well.  Take another look at the Epiphany story and you’ll see that God is always two steps ahead of us.  It was God who led the wise men to Bethlehem.  It was God who warned the wise men not to go back to Herod and it was God who also warned Joseph to take Mary and the child and flee to Egypt.   Here’s something else to ponder.  How did Joseph get the money he needed to go to Egypt?  After all Joseph didn’t even have enough money to get a room when they got to Bethlehem.  If Joseph had had enough money the innkeeper would have found them a room.  Joseph didn’t have any money though which is why Mary had to give birth to God’s only begotten Son in that stable.  So, how did Joseph get the money he needed to get to Egypt? Oh wait.  Don’t forget about the gifts; the gifts that the wise men brought; the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Those were expensive gifts and those were the gifts that gave Joseph the money to get to Egypt.  Was that just a coincidence?  Or is that evidence of a God who was two steps ahead of Herod, evidence of a God who can be trusted?  

I don’t need to tell you what I think.  I don’t need to tell you what I know. God’s wisdom and grace is always at work in ways that we can’t even begin to imagine.  The more you see that and the more you believe that the more you’ll be able to let go and let God.  You’ll be able to live a life like the one described in the Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

January 9, 2011 – Epiphany Sunday