Christmas Reflections On House Church, Changing Paradigms and The Journey of The Magi

By R. Maurice Smith
Written and Posted 12-15-06
The Parousia Network 2006

One of the seminal literary figures of the 20th century was T. S. Eliot. Born in 1888 he studied at Harvard and Oxford and
eventually won the Nobel Prize for Literature early in his career. But he was an unfulfilled soul who saw the vanity of
contemporary life. His search for meaning led him through Hinduism and Buddhism, and finally to Christianity. In 1927 he
converted to Christianity. In the same year he penned a poem entitled "The Journey of the Magi" which came to be regarded
as autobiographical of Eliot himself. In it he described the search of the Magi for the Christ child as seen and narrated through
the eyes of one of the Magi.
The Journey of the Magi
by T.S. Eliot
"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The snow was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Eliot has used the story of the Magi to make a point - how difficult and painful it is to be confronted with a radical change of
paradigms. A change of paradigm often, if not usually, feels like death - our death, because we hold to the old paradigm so
tenaciously. Dying to self and our traditional ways of doing things (what I am referring to here as paradigms) is a painful
process, which most people spend their lives trying to avoid.
Reflecting on Eliots poem this Christmas season, I found myself thinking about how the various groups of people involved
in the Christmas story responded to the radical change of paradigm which confronted them in the birth of Christ. I hope my
thoughts and reflections will stimulate you to think about how we in the house church (or simple church, or whatever moniker
you are operating under) movement are understanding and responding to the dramatic shift in spiritual paradigms which is
taking place today. The nativity stories are found in Matthew 2:1-12 (the Magi), and Luke 2:1-20 (the shepherds & angels).
For the sake of space Ill let you read them on your own. I want to talk briefly about those five groups of people who were
involved
The Magi - Often referred to as wise men or kings in Christmas tradition, the Magi were, in fact, an hereditary Zoroastrian
priesthood, often wielding great religious and political power in the Median, Babylonian, Persian and Parthian empires (right
up to the time of Christ). During Israels Babylonian captivity Daniel, as a reward for services rendered and in recognition of
his profound spiritual gifts, was promoted by the King to the position of Chief of the Magi. As such, Daniel was in a unique
position to impart to the magi the prophecies of a coming Messiah (which they remembered, passed on and studied for the
next 500 years). But as D.W. Jayne points out, the visit of the magi wasnt simply a courtesy call from old friends. In the world
of the first century the Magi functioned in both a priestly and a governmental role. The early church father Tertullians
description of them as wellnigh kings (fere reges) is close to the truth. They were, in the words of Jayne, a group of PersianParthian king makers. Jayne goes on to describe how their visit might have been perceived: In Jerusalem the sudden
appearance of the Magi, probably traveling in force with all imaginable oriental pomp, and accompanied by adequate cavalry
escort to insure their safe penetration of Roman territory, certainly alarmed Herod and the populace of Jerusalem, as is
recorded by Matthew. It would seem as if these Magi were attempting to perpetrate a border incident which could bring swift
reprisal from Parthian armies. Their request of Herod regarding him who has been born king of the Jews was a calculated
insult to him who had contrived and bribed his way into that office. These Magi, strangers to the Kingdom of God yet spiritually
perceptive, saw the signs better than anyone else and somehow understood that a profound change of paradigms was
underway. Although their understanding was somewhat flawed due to reasons unique to their own situations, they took the
time and the considerable risk of traveling great distances to confirm what they already suspected - that a sign in the heavens
signaled the fulfillment of great prophecies and portended profound changes here on earth. The paradigms of this world were
about to change. The magi understood. Do we?
The Political Establishment - The story of the Magi leads to the story of the existing political/power structure as embodied
in Caesar Augustus and Herod the Great. We can safely say that Caesar Augustus (real name Octavian, the adopted son
of Julius Caesar) had no idea that a simple decree to enumerate his empire (i.e., probably to prepare accurate tax rolls) would
set the stage for the fulfilment of biblical prophecy and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The heathen rage and the
princes of men devise a vain thing, but God uses the wrath of men to praise Him, simply because He so seldom gets their
active cooperation. Caesar was clueless as to Gods dealings (in other words, situation unchanged in 2000 years), although
Augustus probably eventually received reports of the Magi and their visit to Jerusalem. What Augustus Caesar could not know
(although the Magi probably suspected) was that among the many prophecies being fulfilled that Christmas night was one
which declared that the kingdoms of this world would one day become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ (see Daniel
2:31-45).
The paradigms of this world had profoundly changed due not to events in the halls of power but due to events in a stable, and
Caesar Augustus was clueless, reminding us once again that profound change seldom originates in the seats of political
power. When the powers-that-be finally do become aware of a profound change of paradigms they resist it, even violently,
just as Herod the Great did. Herod the Great was many things, but a naive political fool was not one of them. His 35+ year
rule over the Jews of Judea was coming to an end. He would be dead in a few short years. His hold on power was slipping
and the visit of the Magi confirmed what he already feared - that his paradigm of power was being challenged. The paradigm
was indeed changing, beyond Herods ability to resist or stop it, but he was still willing to extract a terrible price from those
around him in a vain attempt to maintain what could not be maintained. In that respect, was Herod all that much different from
us? He fought and resisted what God was doing because it threatened everything he had spent his life to build and achieve.
Dont we do the same?
The Religious Establishment - Like the Magi, for some 500 years the religious establishment of Israel had known and
studied the prophecies of a coming Messiah. But during those same intervening years they had also become experts in
answering obscure religious questions and turning the 613 requirements of the Law into more than 5,000 religious
requirements which held the people of God in practical bondage. They had all the right answers to all the wrong questions.
In addition, the Pharisees who controlled the synagogues and the Sadducees who controlled the temple & the governing
Sanhedrin, along with the scribes who served both, had made their accommodation with the prevailing power of Rome. The
prevailing religious establishment was in no mood for anything that might upset their carefully crafted status quo. The result

was spiritual stagnation, religious legalism and blindness even to new stars in the sky announcing the messiahs birth. When
the Magi arrived looking for a king, Herod gathered together the religious establishment and began to inquire of them where
the Christ was to be born. They had an immediate answer: "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet.
They, too, had probably seen the new star in the sky. They, too, like all Jerusalem, had probably learned of the visit of the
Magi searching for a new-born king. But despite knowing all the correct religious answers, they lacked the passion, the
curiosity or the spiritual integrity to make the short 5-mile journey to nearby Bethlehem to discover if The Desire of Ages had
indeed finally arrived. Is our religious establishment (ourselves included) much different today? Profound, God-breathed
changes in our spiritual paradigms are underway. And yet, isnt much, if not most, of the church today bogged down in giving
warmed over answers to questions which few in our post-Christian post Modern culture are even asking? And are we in the
house church movement doing anything substantially different than the religious establishment around us, other than changing
our meeting place and taking over the local Starbucks?
The Shepherds - Throughout Scripture God has a fascinating love for shepherds. Many notable biblical saints were
shepherds. The children of Israel were shepherds in the land of Goshen. Moses was a shepherd in the land of Midian. David
was a shepherd, as was the prophet Amos. And it is the image of the good shepherd which Jesus used to describe himself
in John 10:11 & 14. God seems to be partial toward shepherds. But as well as being a biblical and honorable occupation, it
is also a dirty one. It was, for the most part, rugged outdoors work. Shepherds lived with their sheep 24/7. And before long
they began to smell like their sheep. For reasons both practical and snobbish, this made them social outcasts to be
numbered among the least of these. There are many aspects of Gods economy and dealings which I dont understand
(thats an understatement). For example, why didnt the angels appear to Caesar or Herod? Why didnt they appear to the
religious leaders? That would have been interesting since the Pharisees believed in angels but the Sadducees did not (would
such a visitation have ended their intra-mural theological rivalry or have simply fed the fire of controversy? Hmmm). Why
shepherds? Perhaps it was because God wanted to ignite a spiritual fire in the minds of ordinary men - the least of these and ignite a revolution, a spiritual wildfire. He didnt particularly want to bless either religious or political institutions, which often
pride themselves in their ability to put out wildfires, lest they get out of control and threaten existing structures & paradigms.
Religious leaders (and their secular counterparts) often walk in a sense of entitlement which says God owes us an
epiphany, after all, were leaders. Yet for some reason God seems to have a heart for the least among us who walk in no
such sense of entitlement. Interesting that the Shepherds did not disappoint. They can be counted among the few who had
the personal curiosity and spiritual integrity to leave their comfort zones and make the trip into Bethlehem to actually see what
God was doing. And for their efforts they received the blessing: And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God
for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
Joseph & Mary - Its difficult to think or write any new ideas concerning these two ordinary people (essentially a carpenter
and a peasant girl) called upon by the God of their fathers through angelic messengers to play a role in this divine drama that
the most learned religious leader would have found impossible. Nothing in their religious background could have prepared
them for what God now called upon them to do. Could the Pharisaical Judaism of the Synagogues prepare Mary to willingly
and joyously accept the role of an unwed-mother-to-be in a culture where such behaviour was punishable by the religious
establishment with death by stoning? Or could it prepare Joseph for his divine call to obedience in marrying Mary and
embracing a lifetime of questions, rumors and enuendos regarding Marys faithfulness or Jesus legitimacy? It is safe to say
that the comfortable religious paradigm in which they, their friends and their families had spent their lives thus far was now
being shaken to its very foundation as they were now visited by angels and commanded by God to take steps of faith and
obedience outside of any religious box they had ever known. The shaking of our religious paradigms today is in small what
theirs must have been in large. God is once again calling His people out of their comfortable religious boxes. Are you prepared
to respond in faith and obedience, knowing that if you do so your world will profoundly change and that you will probably never
be able to go back to what you knew before. Changing paradigms have a way of doing that to us.
The Inn Keeper - One of my first jobs after seminary when Gale & I moved to Spokane was at a local airport hotel. Yep, I was
an inn keeper. Well, actually, I was a desk clerk on the 3-to-11 pm shift. Late one November evening an elderly gentleman
came to the desk looking somewhat disheveled and asking for a room. He explained to me that he had no money or credit
cards, but did have a Money Market Account draft book and asked if we could accept that in payment (our general policy
was no, because such accounts at that time were unreliable). He told me that he had just had eye surgery (one of his eyes
was bandaged) and was to catch flight to go and be with his family for the holidays the following day. The rest of the staff
urged me to say no - bad risk. But, as the manager on duty at the time, I decided in favor of taking a risk and giving him a
room. It was just the right thing to do, I felt. I got him settled in his room, my shift ended and I went home. The next morning
I received an early morning phone call from the hotel staff announcing (even celebrating) that the bookkeeper had called the
bank and the check was good. Word of my risky good deed had spread. When I went to work later that day I was gently chided
by the general manager (a good fellow) for placing the hotel at risk, but the tone of his voice and the expression on his face
told me we had done the right thing. I have occasionally thought of that elderly gentleman over the years, even musing as to
whether he was an angel unaware (with a bank account?!) who had paid us a visit and tested all of our hearts. In the Gospel
account, Luke simply tells us that Mary gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a
manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. We should neither vilify nor idolize the inn keeper (or inn keepers)
who turned Joseph and Mary away. They werent heartless or cruel people. They were probably just a family business run

by ordinary people trying to earn a living, and they were full to capacity (even overflowing) for the evening. How could they
know that God Himself was homeless that night at their door, that Angels stood ready to proclaim a birth, that Magi from the
east would soon be arriving in search of a King and that political and religious paradigms would be forever changed by events
that would now take place in a cattle stall within earshot of a babys cry. What a night to be an inn keeper and to have no
room! Allow me to use this story to stretch the boundaries of your paradigm. The message of the house church movement
is similar and profound. God wants to visit your house. Are you prepared to have your paradigm radically changed? Are you
ready to invite Him in?
Conclusion & Personal Application
Where are you in this season of significant paradigm shift in Gods dealings in and through His church today? Do you see a
reflection of yourself in the mirror of the five groups of people who participated in the Christmas drama? I would dare to say
that, in the midst of this present shaking of existing religious paradigms, there are many believers who feel somewhat like the
Magi of T.S. Eliots poem:
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
If you are one of those who are no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation then allow me to make a suggestion during
this Christmas season. Take some time to get alone and stand as an involved observer at the manger of Christ. Consider the
participants in this divine drama as it unfolds around you. And ask yourself some simple questions. If I had been at the stable
that Christmas night, what would my response have been to the paradigm change unfolding before me? How is my paradigm
being shaken, challenged and changed today by Gods unfolding plan for the Ages. And how is my response different from
(and hopefully better than) the responses of those around me?
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:1014)
Joyeux Nol
Maurice Smith
Christmastide, 2009