Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12; Numbers 22; Matthew 6:21 Series: 2021
Launching a ‘Reset’ series for 2021, the sermon uses the familiar fix of resetting a frozen computer to invite a fresh look at our lives. Reading the Magi’s visit (Matthew 2:1-12), it contrasts Herod’s insecure, appearance-driven palace with the humble Bethlehem stable where Christ is truly at the center. Herod, propped up by Rome and a scarcity mindset, hides his rotting heart behind gold and grand projects, while Mary and Joseph, having nothing to lose and nothing to prove, simply welcome Jesus and the Magi. Listeners are urged to identify the true center of their home, to prayerfully examine one room at a time whether its objects draw them toward or away from God, and to stop ‘Heroding’—to let go of proving themselves and let the Christ child reset their home.
Illustrations: reset-the-computer, herod-warlord-temple, balaam-and-the-donkey, keeping-up-with-the-joneses, marie-kondo-sparking-joy, hobby-lobby-spending, pandemic-year-at-home
January 3
Reset Your House
Matthew 2:1-12
I was privileged to grow up with personal computers in the house. I remember an Apple IIe. I remember playing on it as a child, as well as an early Macintosh when it first came out a few years later. One of the things about computers, no matter how old or how new, is that they sometimes get stuck. They get stuck. They freeze, and you have to reset them. Oftentimes, it is important to do it even if you don’t know why. The second step on almost every solution page. That is, if you google what is going wrong with your computer, all the genius bar folks will ask you if you reset it. Just reset it. Don’t ask why. Just reset it. Don’t have any ego about it. Don’t try and understand why. Just reset it. It is usually good, with computers and with routers, to preemptively reset it. Not to ask why, just to do it and everything will run much smoother. It is pretty easy to reset a computer or reset a phone, it is a lot harder to reset our lives. We can’t just close our eyes and then everything becomes different. We can’t just go back to factory settings for our house or our marriage or for the lives of our children. You can’t blink and then go back. There is no going back in time. The mistakes that we made in the past, we can’t go back to them. But a new year offers us a new opportunity to see and look at where we are. To find the opportunities that can be reset.
Reset is a word that has taken on a lot of meaning with technology but it is a simple English word. I set the table. Something happens. I reset the table. I set it again. So for the next few weeks we are going to talk about reseting all aspects of our lives, from our bodies to our souls to our world. God offers us this opportunity because our lives are not set in stone. The past does not predict our future and the entrance of the Holy Spirit in our lives can do amazing things. And so today we are going to start by resetting our home. It may be strange to talk about resetting our home as we read this text about the wise men, the Magi, coming to find the baby Jesus. They visit two homes on their journey. The palace of Herod, King of Judea. And the Bethlehem stable, the way-station of Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus.
Most of us hope that our homes look more like a palace than a stable. No offense to Mary and Joseph, but that isn’t where they wanted to stay anyway. The problem with Herod is not that he lived in a palace (King Solomon lived in a palace and was honored by God). Herod thought himself as the King of the Jews but the Jews did not see him in that way. He was basically a warlord. His father had been an ally of Julius Caesar and Herod and his brother were named tetrarchs, which was a form of Roman government that allowed multiple people to hold the same authority. Eventually, Herod was able to consolidate power due to his good relationship with Marc Antony and then with Caesar Augustus. Herod’s family were converts to Judaism but Herod wanted to prove himself to the people by rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem and by building many other great projects across the land to, in today’s words, modernize the country. The problem with great projects, though, is that they cost money and money came from the people via taxes, and the people were none-to-pleased to pay high taxes for projects that they never even asked for. Even the rebuilding of the Temple was controversial with some saying only the Messiah can do that and Herod was obviously not the Messiah. (This controversy still exists today in the nation of Israel concerning the question of rebuilding the Temple.)
So Herod has this temple built on the backs of the people and Magi come from the East. Herod doesn’t ask them to come but they come to him because they had seen a star and they assume that they new king would be connected to the old king. This whole affair hearkens back to the Book of Numbers where Balak, king of the Moabites, is angry about the Hebrew people coming from Egypt to the Holy Land so he calls for a mage of the East to come and curse the Hebrew people. He sends for Balaam who comes. But God send’s an angel to Balaam so that he would instead bless the Hebrew people. At first, Balaam doesn’t see the angel but his donkey does. The wise man, Balaam, doesn’t see the messenger of God, but the donkey does. Fast forward to Herod’s time. The wise men now see the messenger of God (the star) but the king does not. The king imagines a rival who will take his throne. Herod has a scarcity mindset. And like most scarcity mindsets, he is overly concerned with appearances. Herod is deeply insecure about his authority because he knows that it is not his own: it all comes from Rome. With the snap of his fingers, Caesar could have Herod’s line extinguished. The Legions would move in and another puppet would sit on the throne.
The appearances, the fine purple cloth and gold and rooms and servants cover over an insecure heart. Perfumes and fine scents cover up the smell of rot.
The magi found no palace or gold or purple in Bethlehem. They found a man and a woman. They found a child. They found an unimportant place. They found unimportant people. They found a baby lying where animals feed. At the center of it all, though, they found a king.
And so we get to our own homes. Part of reseting our homes is clarifying for each of us what the center of our home is. What is the location of privilege in your home? I am not necessarily talking about redecorating, but it may be? What is the centerpiece of your home? Is it is a piece of furniture or art? Is the centerpiece your stability, your authority, your wisdom? Are you going to protect the center of your home like Herod? Are you going to defend it no matter the cost? How can we make God the center of our home? And how can we take the opportunity that 2021 affords us to reset our home so that the Christ child is at the center of who we are.
Our homes are not just the places or the things. Our home is not just our address or the capital assets of our address. Our home is who we are and what we do. Herod was afraid of losing everything. He built bigger and bigger afraid others would see his weakness. Mary and Joseph had nothing to lose. They knew that they were undeserving of God’s Grace, as well, that they did not have to prove anything. They welcomed Jesus. They welcomed the Magi. They received gifts. As well, when news of danger came, they responded and fled.
Jesus says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be. As well, there is the old American saying, your home is where your heart is. My friends, this past year, we have all spent way too much time at home. It has been a lot.
Your life does not have to revolve around who you were last year, or who you were when you moved. Your life does not need to revolve around everything you did before. You don’t need to go through the motions just because they are there. You don’t need to keep up with the Jones’s or the Herod’s or the Caesars
You are free to receive the gift of new life. You are free to change everything. What does that look like?
It starts with prayer. It starts with thinking through your home now, why it is how it is, and what are steps you can take. God doesn’t want to overwhelm you but give you the grace to try something new. Start with a room.
Go home today. Or if you are watching us online, stay home. Pick a room in your house. Look at the objects there, the objects on the wall. The tables and chairs. Why is it there? Who is it for? Don’t start chucking things. Talk to your spouse or parents or roommates, but think about it. Pray about it. I am not talking about sparking joy like Marie Kondo. Does it draw you towards God or away from God?
What is important to remember is that I’m not just talking about crosses or other obviously religious objects. Herod probably had a lot of awesome Menoras in his palace because he was more concerned about what people thought about him than what God thought. Reseting your house is not about spending $300 bucks at Hobby Lobby. God doesn’t want you to paint over anything in order to hide it.
God loves you. There is not a mess in your life that God has not seen and still loved you. Herod tried to hide from himself. Mary did not. That is what it ultimately comes down to. You don’t have to hide from who you are as a child of God. Not at church. Not at work. Not at school. Not in your home. And anything in your life you may be ashamed of, God is here for you to reset it.
May you start afresh. May you see yourself afresh. Let go of proving yourself. Let go of Heroding and may this year bring you hope.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.