In a hundred different ways, we are getting ready for Christmas.
The Mistletoe Mart. The Instrumental Ensemble.
Advent candles lit.. Carols sung.
At home, boxes are pulled out of the attic or closet.
Decorations are put in their assigned places.
Stockings are hung. The tree is trimmed.
Christmas is coming.
But…

Here is what is different for you and for me.
This morning, instead of being at the store or on the sidelines of a sports field or in PJs at the kitchen table with your newspaper or tablet and a cup of coffee, you are here.
In church.
During Advent.
With each other.
And because of where you are and because of who we are and because the world in which we live seems so far from the promises of Christmas and the world which God intends that process of getting ready takes on a different and deeper and more nuanced meaning. Hanging in the air alongside everything else we do to get ready for Christmas –  the decorations and the gifts and the holiday cheer – there is the question asked of Herod by the Magi.
“Where is he? Where can we find him?”
And, because I believe the Bible is not just about then, but also about now.
And, not just about them, but also about you and me.
That age old question asked by the Magi of Herod is now our question. Meant for today and for the complicated and challenging times in which we live of refugees fleeing and racial slurs spray painted on churches and students harassed because they are Hispanic. Or, Asian. Or, Indian. Or Muslim. In the clutter and confusion and uncertainty of the moment, as we get ready for Christmas, where and how do you look for Jesus?

So, back to the Bible for a moment and the story of the Magi.
Behind the part of the story we read and know…
Wise men with gifts. Following a star. Searching for a new born king.
Is that untold story of the never ending journey.
From wherever it was where they started from to God only knows where?
They didn’t. They just kept going.
And, how many times, I wonder, as they made their way from place to place had they asked their question before they finally found their way to Herod?

Maybe something of that is the same for us.
Maybe there is only the searching from wherever we’ve been to wherever we are and then  taking that next step to God only knows where relentlessly asking the question over and over and over again as we do our best to find our way. As I thought about the question, I found myself remembering the quote by Rainer Maria Rilke. “Live the questions now. Then perhaps, someday in the far future…you will live your way into the answer.” Maybe something of what I am suggesting this morning about finding our way to that something more about Christmas is something like that.
Ask the question.
Live the question.
Even if there doesn’t seem to be an answer in the moment you ask it.
Where is he?
Where might I find Jesus?

Here is what I know…at least for myself.
There is no magic formula or step by step guide.
There is no one way. No one place.
Only a desire to ask the question and to do my best to keep my eyes open that I might catch a glimpse of that glimmer of light and hope in the midst of the darkness and so turn towards it. Only the hope that in the midst of the uncertainty and chaos I might see some spark of courage and compassion and then do my best to nurture and encourage it. Only that I might hold onto Jesus’ radical insistence that God’s Kingdom come is not meant for some distant day, but for here and now and that God’s dream for tomorrow is found in the seeds we plant today.

So, what about this? Are you willing to try?
When you are standing in the line at the grocery store, ask the question.
Where is Jesus?
When you walk into work tomorrow, ask the question.
Where is Jesus?
When you swallow hard at the headlines in the news or find tears in your eyes, ask the question. Where is Jesus?
When you add your prayer for Christmas to the hallway windows, ask the question.
Where is Jesus?
When you take a Christmas Gift Star or stop by the Dove Tree, ask the question.
Where is Jesus?
As you wrap the gifts you will give to those you love the most, ask the question.
Where is Jesus?
As you meet the stranger. Encounter the other, ask the question.
Where is Jesus?

If we do…
If you do…
Maybe we will find our way.