Step Out and Walk by Faith

Matthew, Chapter 2. It says here: “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and after assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. And after assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he asked them, ‘Where was the Christ to be born?’

“They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’ Then Herod secretly called the Magi and diligently ascertained from them the time when the star had appeared. And sending them to Bethlehem, he said, ‘Go there and inquire diligently about the child, and when you find Him, let me know so that I too may go and worship Him.’

“After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star they had seen in the East went before them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy, and upon entering the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and falling down, they worshiped Him. And opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But having been warned by revelation in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their country by another route.”

May the Lord bless His Holy Word. Amen.

Forgive me if I take off my jacket; it is hot. This jacket and this sweater make a deadly combination. All right, brothers and sisters. This week I was thinking about these Magi. In my mind, I spent time trying, as it were, to put myself in their minds and understand how they felt and what drove them to make this journey. Because the truth is that it is something very mysterious.

Scripture does not tell us much about how they knew what that star was about, or that a king was going to be born, or what that king meant. It does not give us many details; the only thing it tells us is that these Magi came from the East and asked, “Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? For we have seen His star in the East.”

Another thing—I want to clarify this here—when it says a star, I know that those who study astronomy and a little science know that a star is something gigantic; the sun, which is not an overly large star, is billions of times larger than the Earth, for example. And astronomically speaking, this account of a star does not make a great deal of sense. I believe, rather, that the word used here as “star” refers to a luminous object, let us say, which pointed in a certain direction and which they could interpret in some way to determine where that beam might reach.

So do not dwell too much on it; do not waste too much time trying to discover how this could happen scientifically… The Bible is not all that interested in solving those scientific problems for you. When you get to Heaven, ask Father God, and He will tell you exactly how it happened. You will be able to watch the recording, the video, and then you will understand perfectly how it happened.

But what interests me is pointing out that process, and I imagine how uncertain that journey was. They came from the East, and many people think they came from Iran, from the region of ancient Babylon where Daniel had been held captive and the Israelites had been captives for many years. And those people had to make a journey that was not like today, when you take a plane and get there in—you know—from Iran to Israel, I imagine that, what is more, today you can travel in a rocket from Iran to Israel. It would have been a few minutes, perhaps a few hours at most, but a journey in those days was something very terrible, very dangerous as well, and very uncertain. Those men had probably never been to that place.

What I was thinking about this week was… journeys. God always takes us through journeys in the Christian life, and those journeys require faith on our part. These men were not sure of all the details. They had a few ideas they had received from God, but evidently, from the questions they ask when they arrive there, they did not have the whole story.

God did not tell them, “Here is a Google Map, or MapQuest, or a GPS” to get there. They had to keep watching, and I do not know whether they used the scientific instruments of their time to perhaps plot some coordinates and perhaps see the angle of that heavenly body, or whatever it was, in order to locate it. But they had to exercise faith all along the way.

That reminds me, brothers and sisters, that God often sends us on journeys and expeditions and does not tell us all the details, and we simply have to embark on a path of faith: launch out in the name of the Lord and believe that He will open the way step by step.

You know, this matter of journeys is not limited to these men who made this journey; in the Bible, there are many journeys that God tells people to undertake. And He does not give them all the details of the journey, but simply gives them a few basic things and tells them, “Now start walking, and along the way I will provide you with all the details.”

Let me make a parenthetical remark.

First, what I want to do is dispel some myths, some false beliefs about these men. That will be very good for you and for those who still do not know this—the brothers and sisters watching us over the Internet—so that we may know a little more: Who really were these men, these three Wise Men? First of all, there were not three of them. No one knows how many there were, okay? Are we clear on that?

If you read your Bible—remember this, because it is very important, okay?—there are a great many things that tradition inserts into it. If you read it, it does not say how many there were, all right? Their names were not Melchior—what is it?—Caspar and Balthazar. It does not say what their names were, okay? Please, all of that is tradition.

What is more, there were not two white men and one little Black man there; that was not true either. There was no such thing. Rather, they were simply… I think there would have had to be more than three, probably, because these men were more of a tribe. It is believed that they were a special tribe of priests, a priestly tribe in Iran. So a delegation of them probably came.

They were not kings; that was something else. The three Wise Men were not kings. Abandon that idea; nothing here says they were kings. They were probably priestly scientists. In Babylon, as in the Western world up until the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, science and theology were together. Everything was mixed together. It was only in the modern world that this separation between science and religion occurred, until today they are like two completely different branches.

In those days, men investigated spiritual things. Perhaps they were astrologers. They observed the heavenly bodies; that is very likely: “We have seen His star in the firmament.”

In Babylon, people studied the stars, the heavenly bodies, and signs. We cannot go deeply into the mysteries involved. But these men were scientists, philosophers, and religious priests; they were a mixture of things, but they were not kings. Rather, they were priestly people, scientific people who investigated these things and who, in the course of investigating them, probably came upon this sign, which they were able to understand and discern. And in His mercy, God provided them with light, and He wanted them to go and worship His Son.

Nor were they magicians in the sense in which we understand the word. Do not picture people with magic wands, okay? Performing magic tricks or putting on a hat and pulling rabbits out of it. These people were not magicians in that sense. Because they were magi, we think that… no. The word “Magi” comes from the original Greek word “magoi,” which is said to be a translation of an Iranian, Iraqi, Babylonian, somewhat Persian word that meant people such as “wise people,” priestly people, people who investigated spiritual things.

And I believe these men were seekers of the truth, and I believe that this is why God touched them and spoke to them about His Son. Because they were eager to know more about God. The only light they had was their occult traditions, the heavenly bodies, and that sort of thing. But they were searching; they wanted to know the truth, and God spoke to them. And He spoke to them in terms they understood, and from there, I imagine, a process began that led them to the child Jesus. And even after they returned to their homeland, I believe that process must have continued.

Who knows how they then came to truly understand who this being was? They were converted and went on their way, but I do not believe they became great theologians. I do not believe they got to read the Epistles of the Apostle Paul or that sort of thing. This tells me something, namely that God—God reveals Himself to the person who is seeking Him, to the person who truly has an open heart and desires to know. And that encourages us to have, you know, the desire to know God, because God reveals Himself when we seek Him, even though we have errors and all of that.

It is important for us to understand that salvation and the revelation of God do not depend on perfect knowledge, on having all our theology correct, and on… God looks at our heart. We do not have to be perfect in our walk; rather, God sees the desire of our heart, the desire to know Him better, the desire to please Him, and the sometimes clumsy efforts we make.

And the Lord is willing to meet us where we are and, from there, guide us little by little toward a better knowledge of Him. But what He wants is for us to begin the journey, to begin where we are and as we are, and He will guide us to the perfect place where His Son is perfectly revealed. It is a journey, it is a voyage, and the most important thing we have to do is begin that journey.

This idea that these men returned to their country and did not possess all knowledge—what is more, Mary, Jesus’ mother, did not know specifically who her son was. It was a journey. Even when Jesus was already a man, His brothers and His mother still thought He was crazy when He announced that He was the Son of God or began to preach. What is more, I believe that Jesus always spoke, as it were, in quotation marks, in parentheses, in mysteries and parables, about His true nature.

His mother and His brothers did not understand correctly. When Jesus was a child, it says that Mary saw certain things and treasured them in her heart. She was always, as it were, speculating. She herself, who had received the archangel’s word, did not have all the theology about her Son completely clear. I believe that she never understood—what we understand today—she did not understand it one hundred percent. I believe we have much more light than Mary had. Imagine: she carried Him in her womb, and we understand more than she did.

I believe this idea as well, regarding these Magi, that they did not have perfect knowledge and that God was leading them toward greater knowledge, invites us to be very careful about how we treat people who do not believe as we do, okay? I believe we must be convinced of what the Word says: that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.

For me, that is firm and certain. We have to preach the Gospel; we have to proclaim the Word. You know all of that; I am not questioning it. But I am saying that wise is the person who leaves a little room in his theology for the mystery of God. God reveals Himself to whomever He wants and however He wants, and I believe that one day we are going to get to heaven and find people there wearing turbans and strange things, and we are going to be surprised. We are going to say, “What is this person doing here?” God will say, “No, I invited him—so what?”

You will simply have to say, “Amen, Lord. You know what You are doing.” Now, let us not get ourselves into those messes; I do not have to be… The only thing I have learned in my life is to leave room for a God who is mysterious and sovereign, and He knows what He is doing. Now, I believe what the Bible says and what I know, and I preach the Gospel and preach Christ, and people need to know Jesus. But God reveals Himself to people however He wants.

Right now, for example, in the Middle East, many Arabs say that the Lord is appearing to people everywhere in dreams. Many people are being converted through dreams and revelations, directly. Because the Arab world is so closed to the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord appears directly to people so that they may be converted.

Do you remember the story when these men approached Jesus and said, “Lord, there are some people over there who are preaching the Gospel, and they do not have evangelical membership cards. They are not Methodists; they are not Lutherans. We already investigated them: they are not Baptists, they are not Pentecostals, and they are preaching. And we are the ones who hold the evangelism franchise.”

And what did the Lord say? “Leave them alone, because no one calls Me Lord and can say anything bad about Me or deny Me. So leave them be; do not start persecuting them or anything like that.” And that is what we sometimes do: “Ah! Because they do not believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then they are no longer…” Hey! Settle down; God knows what He is doing. Give people time. God leads them little by little.

We have to be careful and allow the Lord to reveal himself little by little, to make his purpose known in the lives of others, and we have to give them room. There are many things we could… I’m going to start wrapping this up.

But there are other things I see concerning these men that are very important, concerning these journeys of faith on which we have to launch out, and the Lord does not tell us all the details; rather, he reveals details to us as we take steps of faith and begin to walk. Then, as we walk, he reveals what he wants, and we should not wait until we have the entire map laid out and all the details.

The Christian life, brothers and sisters, is a life of walking by faith, believing that the Lord will give us instructions as we go along.

It is important, brothers and sisters, for us to understand that when God calls us to do something great in our lives—and a journey might be buying a house, starting a business, entering into a romantic relationship, choosing a profession to study, deciding which of three universities we will attend, going on a missionary trip, choosing a church, deciding to study theology at a seminary instead of pursuing a secular degree, starting an English class or an English course—there are many things in our lives. Beginning a romantic relationship in order to marry someone.

All these things presuppose uncertainty about the future, and no one guarantees us that the decision will be one hundred percent perfect. But you know what? I believe that if our hearts are noble and we are seeking to please God, and we have inquired, prayed, sought counsel, examined ourselves, searched the Word of God, and we are still sure—or at least believe—that this is indeed from God, and we are sincere, then let us launch out in the name of the Lord.

And let us believe, then, that along the way God will guide us as he guided these men, and that he will give us light as we walk, and that nothing that happens on that journey will ultimately be destructive.

We may make mistakes, we may sin, we may come to a dead end and have to back up and look for another way out, we may offend someone, there may be loss along the way, or we may make a decision that makes the journey take longer. But, brothers and sisters, God uses all those things for his glory and for our blessing, because we will always be learning something.

Out of that entire process, God will always bring glory, honor, and blessing, and he will be glorified through the energy released by our efforts on the journey as we seek his perfect will. There is no loss for the children of God; in other words, you do not lose. God recycles everything you release to him; God recycles it and turns it into glory and honor for his name.

That is why I believe that, as Christians, we must have great faith. We have to undertake things in the name of the Lord; we have to be bold. Live a creative life in the name of the Lord.

I believe that, of all human beings, the Christian has the greatest right to climb onto the tightrope, balancing pole in hand, and begin walking that path of faith, believing that God will provide. Because I know there is a safety net beneath us. If you fall, all you are going to do is—boing, boing—bounce on the net, pick up your pole again, go to the ladder, and climb back up onto the… keep going. You will never crack your head open because the Lord will be there. “For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways—the Word says—so that your foot will not strike a stone.”

Launch out on a journey in the name of the Lord. If God has told you, “Look, there is the star,” follow the star, launch out, walk by faith, and dare to do it. You are like Don Quixote; go in search of your destiny. Let us live creative lives. “Go from your country and your kindred,” he says, “to a land that I will show you.”

We have to know that God is Lord and that, when we come to a dead end because of a mistake, the Lord will be there to tell us, “Hey! Take this route, go this way, and I will lead you.” Because he is glorified, because he has to be the one who gets the glory, not us, okay?

So I want to invite you to do this: trust your God; trust the Lord. Even though you do not have everything clear.

This is a tremendously complicated narrative. We could spend hours here talking about Herod and the question and how the people react in Jerusalem and Herod’s desire to kill the child and the dangers the wise men faced and a thousand things we do not have time to elucidate. And there were these men—I was about to say these three men, but there weren’t three—these men, and they are caught up in this whole thing, and…

What would have happened if God had not revealed to them that they should not go back to Herod? Herod might have killed the child and killed them as well. But God delivered them; he revealed himself to them through a dream. So understand this: God will be with you wherever you are, throughout that entire process. God will be with you.

This morning I was thinking, Why couldn’t God be a little more considerate toward us, and why didn’t he save that snow for Monday or Tuesday? Why does he have to let it fall on Saturday night? You know? And I say, wow! The truth is that there is so much mystery in life. Why does a child in a Christian family die at two years old, when they are in love with and adore that child, and then the Lord takes him away?

Why does an accident happen and a noble, good person crashes and dies, and why, when we are serving the Lord, does financial failure strike and we lose the house even though we prayed that the Lord would not take it away? You know? That is the Christian life. It is a journey filled with situations, but God is in everything, because God was evidently in this.

What we can do on the journey of faith is take steps of faith, even if it rains, thunders, or the wind blows; even if giants come; even if there are accidents, divorces, lost homes, or unexpected illnesses. Keep taking one step of faith after another, because God knows every detail; God knows the journey.

One day you will see Christ exactly as you need to see him; you will see him face-to-face, and all the details of the journey will be left behind. Nothing you did or did not do will matter anymore. Then you will see as God sees you. One day you will know as you are known. In the meantime, launch out on the journey. Amen?

Amen.

Let us begin the journey. Amen. Let us begin the journey of faith and continue on that journey, because God cares very much that we make that journey. Amen?

Father, thank you. Thank you for your Word; thank you for your invitation to embark upon the journey of faith. Father, how good it is to know that you are so merciful! So loving, so good, so beautifully patient with us! It gives me great joy to know that I do not need to have everything ironed out, know all the details, and have everything properly arranged, because you are merciful. You are a good God, and you look at the desires of our hearts.

I bless my brothers and sisters, and I ask you to be with each one of us, and may our journey bring you joy. Yes, Lord, may it bring you delight as you look down from heaven and see us walking here on Earth.