Hope and faith go hand in hand

I

t might seem odd to still be talking about something that most people associate with Christmas, yet The Magi (the wise people from the East in the Christmas story) don’t actually belong in the Christmas story. Rather, they belong to a season called Epiphany (old Christmas Day) which started on Jan. 6.

Many of us know the story. A star appears; a group of magi (tradition tells us there were three of them: Balthasar of Arabia, Melchior of Persia, and Gasper of India) follow that star; they arrive at Mary and Joseph’s house sometime after they’ve returned home and before Jesus turns two years old; they present Mary with three gifts; and they return home via a different path. On the surface, it really does seem like the stuff of Hollywood and hallmark. It’s so perfectly… well, Christmas.

The challenge is what’s lurking behind this familiar story. There are themes of hope, risk taking, civil disobedience, trust, awe, wonder and commitment to name just a few. Maybe that’s one reason why the story is typically shared on the first Sunday of a new year.

Perhaps more so this year than others, I’ve found a deep sense of connection with this story. It seems to resonate deep in my soul and has stuck with me. The themes I mentioned are common themes in scripture and yet current themes too.

Risk taking is nothing new. We take risks all the time, yet not all risks are equal. Some are planned and calculated. Driving a car is a risk, traveling by airplane is a risk, crossing the street is a risk, yet we take those because we have some sense of the amount of risk and what the outcome will be. The Magi had more hope than predictable outcome. They hoped to arrive, hoped nothing bad would happen en-route, that the star really meant something, that they would find the one they sought. That’s huge risk. I can only imagine what their families would have said in response to the news of an impending trip with no known destination. It’s certainly not how I plan my vacations.

Maybe that’s why the story has stayed with me. The Magi didn’t know where they were going to end up, yet they trusted that God was leading them somewhere, calling them even, to leave behind what was known and familiar, what had served them well in the past, and take a risk, a leap of faith. I find our culture is so insistent on having all the facts, that it’s hard for us to take a leap of faith.

We need to know. We need to have proof. We need concrete evidence before taking action, yet that’s not the story of The Magi. They take a huge risk, especially disobeying Herod (the government of the day) and return home via another route, yet that risk was based in hope.

When I look around I wonder what it is we’re hopeful for that would cause us to risk everything? Have we become so comfortable that we’ve actually become spiritually risk avoidant? We know people need help. We know people are hungry. We know people need affordable housing. We know people need a living wage, yet we don’t take the risk of making the changes needed to address these issues. Is it because we lack the hope of The Magi? Their hope spurned them to action, what does our hope do?

It’s still very early in 2018 so I don’t have any answers. If anything, the longer I think about it the more questions I have.

The one thing I know I can place my hope in is my faith community because it’s a place where questions are welcomed and encouraged. It’s a place where a living faith defines who we are, alongside inclusive fellowship and joyful service.

I don’t know what 2018 will bring, yet in hope I’m willing to take the risk and follow the Spirit of God into the bold unknown, even if I’m only being led by a star and a dream.