We continue our journey with Artaban, the Other Wise Man, to see what he might teach us about finding God in our times. We have trekked with him from Persia to Babylon where he stopped to help a dying man, and missed his meeting with Casper, Balthazar and Melchoir.
He sets out “over the dreary undulation of the desert, high
upon the back of his camel,” according to author Henry van Dyke. He arrives at
last in Bethlehem. “It was the third day after the three wise men had come to
that place.” He finds the streets deserted. In one home he encounters a young
mother who tells of the visit of “strangers from the Far East.” She tells him
that the family was rumored to have fled to Egypt. As Artaban eats, and the baby
in the house sleeps, there are screams “The soldiers! The soldiers of Herod!
They are killing our children!”
Artaban stands blocking the doorway. When the captain approaches,
he states, “I am all alone…waiting to give this jewel to the prudent captain
who will leave me in peace.” Greedily, the captain takes the offered ruby and
turns the soldiers away.
However, Artaban is devastated. He prays, “I have said a thing that is not, to save the life of a child...I have spent for man that which was meant for God. Shall I ever be worthy to see the face of the King?” He feels guilty for ‘wasting’ the gift he planned for the Messiah, even though his action saved the life of one child.
I wonder how often I think my talents and money and other
gifts must be given directly to the service of God by giving them to some
religious cause? Or, I may think that what I offer is too small. Might there be some use for even the smallest gift?
We hear, “the gifts of God for the people of God,” during
the Eucharist. The simple gifts of bread and wine are made holy in their use. We prefer rules, even if they build walls rather than show love. Once when
the Pharisees confront Jesus because his disciples are picking grain on the
Sabbath, he reminds them of David’s actions centuries before, “He entered
the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the
Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave
some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for
humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of
the sabbath.’ (Mark 2:23-28) God's lawas are for the good and use of humanity, not as a barrier.
Jesus had very little patience with those who want to make their actions look holy by saying they are for God, when neglecting what God, through the prophets, like Micah, says is more important: to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) In Matthew 23, Jesus confronts the Pharisees about this. He asks, You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?...You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former…You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were scrupulous in
following the rules of Torah, sometimes at the expense of truly caring and
loving. We should not be too hard on them. We do the same things when we say
only the properly trained people can do some task at church or when we frown at
a child being too rambunctious in church.
Artaban used the ruby, which he had designated as a gift for
the King, to save the life of a child in Bethlehem. He is afraid the action makes
him unfit to find the King. He forgot that God is in and of all things, whether
precious by human reckoning or worthless. The gift God most wants is a humble
and contrite heart—a lesson Jonah learns in the Hebrew Scripture reading on
Sunday (Jonah 3:1-5, 10). Even the people of Ninevah are forgiven when they
repent because of Jonah’s preaching. No one and no thing is outside of God.
What do I name as God’s and try to protect at all costs?
Who do I think is not good enough to serve God, or be loved
by God?
