The Christmas Journey

This advent I did a week-long devotional plan with a good friend of mine. We don’t usually read the Bible together, but he had sent me an invite, and with the pandemic and the fact that we’re on opposite sides of the country I thought it would be a good idea and an opportunity for the two of us to connect each morning, if even briefly. The readings were pretty short, and it provided an outlet to explore the implications of Jesus’ coming. The final day of the plan was focused on the magi as they journeyed to Judea in hopes of finding Christ. My friend pointed out that, like the wise men, Christians spend their entire lives wandering, searching for God. I’ve been thinking about this ever since reading his thoughts, and I believe he’s right. God is elusive, and there’s always something new that he has to show us. This means that we must have the mentality of wanderers as we look for God at work in the world around us, willing to be surprised by finding him in the places that we least expect, such as a manger in the small town of Bethlehem.

There is something transformational about wandering. As a person is uprooted and placed in an unfamiliar environment and separated from primary relationships, identity, safety, and security are all compromised and threatened. We resist this urge or calling to leave our homes. However, this is the type of lifestyle that God calls us to. Some will go willingly, such as Abraham when he sets off from Ur. Others will desire to go back to the place where they were more secure, such as the Israelites who wanted to return to Egypt while in the desert. Some will even understand that they don’t have control over their lives and will seek to praise God in the place that they find themselves, such as Daniel living in exile in Babylon. The Bible is full of examples of people who live as strangers in a foreign land, and Jesus calls us to this same vision as he bids us to come and follow him. Paul even reinforces this message by writing that all Christians are called to live as citizens of heaven, unattached to the things of this world. Saint Ignatius helps us to understand this even more fully through his definition of indifference. We are called to serve and be present to this world, but our identity and hope is found in Jesus alone.

The idea of identity and how it’s formed is difficult to grasp. Even within the church, though our identity should be rooted in Christ, we are each different. We don’t want to minimize the diversity found within the body. Unlike the various Disney narratives, I don’t believe that identity can be found inside each of us and separate from others, as though our hearts can lead us to discover who we really are. Rather, I understand identity as being based on the various relationships in a person’s life, which are placed within a cultural backdrop. If this is correct then wandering presents an opportunity to leave the things that distract us from what’s mistaken as identity. We leave our wealth, comfort, and homes in search of something better. We will never find ourselves through our belongings or even accomplishments. Wandering challenges us to leave the trappings of life and pursue the thing that matters more than ourselves, and we will be surprised to discover that when we find Jesus we also find ourselves.

Today is Christmas Eve, and we approach the birth of Jesus. Though the magi don’t actually show up until later in Jesus’ life, they are intricately woven into the Christmas narrative, so let’s turn our focus back on them. these were people from the east, outsiders to YHWH’s covenant. They read the stars, which told them of Jesus’ birth–there must have been signs throughout all of creation that proclaimed his arrival. Yet, it seems like the Messiah’s birth was missed by all of Israel except for the shepherds. The magi, with their three gifts fit for royalty, travelled so far to meet this new king. After what was undoubtedly a long journey, they met the boy they longed to see and then faced the task of going back the way that that they had come. Their journey did not come to an end until they returned to their families, surely full of wonderful stories of all that they had seen.

The life of a wanderer is marked by at least three attributes: lack of certainty, lack of power, and lack of comfort. The truth is that our home is not here, at least not quite yet, as we long for the day when Jesus returns. In the meantime, we are in constant pursuit of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. Both are elusive, and neither can be fully grasped, so we search and we follow. Like the wise men, we often end our journey at the same place where we started, but we are not the same. Our time on the road, searching for the one thing that we need, has forever changed us. May we be reminded this Christmas season that we are not our nationality, political affiliation, race, gender, or any other thing that sets us apart. These things are important; however, they are not supreme. Rather, as Christians we ultimately belong to Jesus, and this calling requires us to follow the same light that guided the wise men more than two thousand years ago.