Fully Engaged Wise Men
Jan 3, 2010
The whole Christmas event wraps up on the 12th day with the coming of the Wise Men from the east to worship this newborn king. We know the story. An unusual star shone in the night sky. These purveyors of the celestial bodies immediately recognized this to be quite unusual. It was so unusual that they set out on a journey to discover its meaning. Please note that they did not know what it meant. They did not know where their search would lead them. They did not know how long that journey would be. This star in the sky so took them that they dropped everything else in order to discover the reason behind this phenomenon. They were focused on their mission.
As we begin a New Year we are focusing our attention on these January Sundays being Fully Engaged as Christians. Our weekly themes are Fully Engaged: In our Walk with God, In our Church, With our Friends, and In our Community. Encompassing our focus this month is the power of a committed life.
What does it mean to be fully engaged? It means being completely focused, in the zone, functioning on all cylinders, when everything seems to fall in place and go your way. Can you remember a time when you had this experience? Maybe it was at work and you were closing a deal. Or on the golf course and every shot was your best. Perhaps you were giving a presentation and you were on top of your game. You had all the charts and all the stats. For every question thrown you way you had the answer. Maybe you were working on a project around the house and before you knew it the sun was setting and you were almost finished.
How does it feel to be ‘in the zone’ and fully engaged with what you are focused on? Exciting, gratifying, energizing, confident, fulfilling, stimulating, empowering, enjoyable, rewarding, et al. There is no feeling like being fully engaged in what you are doing. Isn’t that much better than the opposite experience? Here’s the good news: you can have these same feelings in your Christian walk.
After the Wise Men found Jesus and presented Him with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they were ready to go home. Look at verse 12, “Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” As we know Herod’s motives for finding this newborn king was to kill him not to worship Him.
Many of us live defeated Christian lives and our experience following Jesus is more down than up. The story of these Magi is that there is a different road we can travel with Jesus. Maybe it is because we are not fully engaged with Jesus. Our experience is half-hearted, full of competing priorities, with little direction. It is like being tossed back and forth by the waves of life, as life controls us rather than us controlling our lives.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 as a lead in to his great description of love, “Let me show you a more excellent way.” Hebrews 12:2, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith….” The Bible tells us that there are 2 roads we can travel: one road makes sense by all reason and logic and it seems right, but the end is destruction. The other road, more straight and narrow, leads to life. Jesus tells us, “And this is the judgment, men love darkness more than light because their deeds are evil.”
The Wise Men, seeing Jesus and being warned, went home a different way. The different way of living is the whole meaning of the Bethlehem event—that we can live a different life.
When you see Jesus you cannot the same old road again. Life is different because we are not the same. And when you are fully engaged in your walk with Jesus, life is indescribable.
This is not something we can do ourselves because it is not in us. It can happen because Jesus was born to die on the cross and to give His life as a ransom for you and me. He died so that you and I can life for time and for eternity. It is by Christ living in and through us that we can be fully engaged and living “in the zone.”