“Let It Shine” (Matthew 2:1-12)
- The Epiphany of the Lord -
Transformation
Suppose the most vicious criminal lives with Jesus in the prison for
three months. Who do you think will be transformed between the two? Yes, the
answer is obvious: “the criminal.” And now suppose we live with Jesus for three
months. Who will be transformed? The answer is “us.” My question is, “Have we
experienced transformation?” If not, either we are stronger than the most
vicious criminal, or we have never lived with Jesus. Today we celebrate the
Epiphany of our Lord. Epiphany means “manifestation.” This is the day when our
Lord Jesus Christ was revealed to the Gentiles. The theme of this week’s
lectionary passages is “light.” Jesus is the light of the world. We, as followers
of Jesus, are called to be the light of the world. In today’s scripture,
Matthew contrasts the main characters how they responded to the manifestation
of Jesus Christ and confronts us with a summons to personal decision.
“Almost” Christian vs. “Altogether” Christian
In Matthew 2 we meet three kinds of people. The first kind is the
people who do not want to worship Jesus and deeply threatened by Him. “Hostility.”
This group is represented by King Herod. The second kind is the people who
simply do nothing about Jesus. They are not interested. “Indifference.” This
group is represented by the chief priests and scribes. The third kind is the
people who diligently seek and worship Christ. This group is represented by the
Magi. “True worshippers.” There would be several ways to approach today’s
passage, but this morning I will compare and contrast mainly between the second
group and the third group. They have in common that they are believers,
God-fearers. In today’s term, they are “Christians.” But there is a crucial difference
between the two: the transformed heart as a result of loving relationship
with Christ. John Wesley made a distinction between these two types of
Christians: Almost Christians vs. Altogether Christians.
The “Almost” Christian
Who are then the Almost Christians? They are the people who have a
form of godliness but deny its power (2Tim 3:5). In today’s scripture the religious
leaders had a form of godliness. They did fasting, had both private and public
prayer, and followed all religious traditions. They also had good biblical
knowledge. So, when King Herod asked about where the Messiah would be born. Immediately, they knew the answer and recited
Micah 5:2. Then, why not go with the Magi? Because they were not interested in
the arrival of the Savior. They were contented with their present state. They
did not need a Savior! In John 5:39-42, Jesus said, “You diligently study the
Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are
the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life…
I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.”
Almost Christians may have good scriptural knowledge and affirm its teaching. But
their hearts have never been transformed by the love of God. Their motive
for doing all religious duties is to avoid punishment!
In his sermon, the Almost Christian, Wesley confessed that he
did make every effort to avoid all evil, do good to all men, and practice all
both private and public means of grace (fasting, prayer, visit, almsgiving,
etc.), and he did all this in sincerity to please God. However, he said, “Yet
my own conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that all this time I was
but ‘almost a Christian.’”[1]
Pastor Michael Horton, in his book Christless Christianity, “In short,
the spirituality of American is Christian in name only…We embrace preferences
rather than truth. We seek comfort rather than growth…We
have enthroned ourselves as the final arbiters of righteousness, the ultimate
rulers of our own experience and destiny.” Many of us fall under this category,
“Almost Christian.” We see God’s sign, but we don’t want to go there. We hear
God’s message, but we don’t want to change patterns of our lives because then
we need to give up our preferences and comfort. We find ourselves in the religious
leaders!
The “Altogether” Christian
Our next question is, what does it mean by being altogether a
Christian? The most distinctive feature of the altogether Christians is “LOVE”:
The love of God and the love of neighbor. Their hearts are transformed, melt,
molded by the love of God. Romans 5:5 says, “God’s love has been poured
out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” They have
truly experienced this personally. Not as a religious duty, nor to avoid
punishment, they love to worship because they do love God with all their hearts,
all their souls, and all their strength! In today’s passage the Magi were the
gentiles. Many biblical scholars believe that they were probably from Babylon
As I was meditating on 1 Corinthian 13, the chapter of love, during
the week, it was interpreted in a new way: Almost Christians vs. Altogether
Christians
ž vv. 1-3: Almost Christians speak with human eloquence
and angelic ecstasy, but they don’t have love. They speak God’s word with
power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day. They
have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps. But they don’t have
love. They even give away everything that they have and hand over their own
bodies to feel good about what they’ve done, but they don’t have love.
ž vv. 4-7: Altogether Christians are patient. They care
more for others than for self. They don’t want what they don’t have. They don’t
strut, don’t have a swelled head, don’t force themselves on others, are not always
"me first," don’t fly off the handle, don’t keep score of the sins of
others, don't revel when others grovel, take pleasure in the flowering of
truth, put up with anything, trust God always, always look for the best, never
look back, but keep going to the end![2]
Are you almost a Christian, or altogether a Christian? We have a tendency to see outward religious duties as the measure of
spiritual growth. However, much more important questions we must ask ourselves
are these: Is the love of God poured out richly in my heart? Do I desire
nothing but God? Do I love God with all my heart? Am I happy in God? Is God my
glory and my delight? Do I love my neighbor, every person, even my enemies,
even the enemies of God as myself? Does the Holy Spirit bear witness with my
spirit, that I am a child of God?
The Pineapple Story[3]
Let me tell you one story, called, “the pineapple story.” It is a
story about how a missionary to Dutch New Guinea becomes from almost Christian
to Altogether Christian. One day the missionary decided to plant some
pineapples (100 plants). They were rare and valuable to the natives. He bought
them from another mission station. It took about three years to yield
pineapples. He couldn’t wait! However, when the pineapples got ripe, the missionary
couple didn’t get anything. The natives stole every one! The missionary god
mad. “No pineapples, no clinic!” he said. And he cut out the clinic that his
wife was running. The natives kept begging. He couldn’t stand and had to
reopen. But when the missionary couple opened the clinic, the natives started
stealing the pineapples again. He felt bad again! This time he cut out the
trade store instead. There he was providing matches, salt, fish hooks, and
things like that. The natives went back to their jungle houses. So he decided
to open the store again. Then, the natives started stealing the pineapples
again. This time he brought a German Shepherd. It did work for the time being.
-> He had the same result as closing the store. People didn’t come. He didn’t
have a chance to tell about Jesus and learn their language.
One Sunday the missionary attended a church service and heard a
lesson, “We must give everything we own to God.” After the service, he went out
to his pineapple garden. He prayed, “Lord, see these pineapple bushes? I have
fought to have the fruit from them. I have claimed them as my own. I have
stood up for my rights. It is all wrong, and I realize that now. I have to give
them all to You. From now on, if You want me to eat any of Your pineapples,
fine. If not, then that is fine too. Amen.” The natives kept stealing the
pineapples just like before. But he didn’t say anything but just kept praying
and trusting God to take care of it His Way. One day they finally came to him
and said “Too-wan (foreigner), you have become a Christian, haven’t you? Because
you don’t get angry anymore when we steal your pineapples.” He answered, “The
pineapples don’t belong to me anymore. I have given the garden to God.” They
answered, “To God?” They were afraid that they were stealing from God. And they
stopped stealing. Then, the missionary couple was able to enjoy the fresh
pineapples! And they shared the pineapples with them. Soon many of the natives
decided to become Christians. For years, he had tried hard to evangelize them.
But it didn’t work. But when God transformed his heart, he began to change
theirs too. The most powerful message is our lives. When we are transformed by
God’s love, the people around us will be transformed.
From Almost to Altogether
As I started the new year, I prayed for the church and the family
members. “Lord, I want to be your faithful servant. How may I help your people?”
God answered, “All you have to do is to love them.” The Bible says that we have
the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us (Rom
5:5). Do you love God? Then, let us love our neighbor. Let us love each other.
Let us be the man of love and the woman of love at home, at work, at church, in
the community and wherever we go to every person in the world. My prayer is
that we may all experience what it is to be not almost only, but altogether
Christians! Let me close with 1 Corinthian 13:13: “But for right now, until
that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that
consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And
the best of the three is love” (MSG). Amen.
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