"Fear Doesn't Stop Us" (January 6, 2026 Sermon)

Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Texts: Matthew 2:1-12, 16-18

A star rises over a troubled world and we’re left with a choice: move the way fear moves, or let love lead us down another road. We follow Matthew’s story of the Magi and Herod to explore how power panics, how people brace for the fallout, and how a quiet act of reverence can become a bold act of resistance. The journey isn’t neat or sentimental; it’s about holding fear and curiosity together long enough to see where the light actually points.

We dig into what the text says—and what tradition added—about the Magi’s number, status, and gender, opening space to imagine women among these border-crossing seekers. That reframe draws a line back to the women of Exodus who defied Pharaoh and preserved life, and forward to anyone who chooses truth over intimidation today. When the Magi kneel before a vulnerable child and then refuse to return to Herod, they model a way of faith that honors the holy and rejects complicity.

From there, we connect the ancient playbook to our present. Leaders still stoke fear, justify harm as peace, and divide communities to protect power. Jesus’ early life as a refugee confronts that logic, and his ministry shows a different pattern: healing, solidarity, and courage that lets love run wild. With a nudge from Rumi’s “Keep Walking,” we ask practical questions for the new year: Who are today’s Magi crossing borders for love and truth? Who are the Marys at our doors? Where do we need to take another road?

If this reflection helps you see the path a bit clearer, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful sermons, and leave a review with your answer: Which road are you choosing this week?

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Chapters

• 0:00 Opening Prayer And Reading
• 0:30 Magi And Herod Introduced
• 2:28 Why Jerusalem Was Afraid
• 4:16 Rethinking The Magi’s Identity
• 7:30 Defying Empire And Choosing Peace
• 10:20 Parallels To Modern Power And Violence
• 12:25 Love Runs Wild In A New Year
• 13:11 Closing Blessing And Amen

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Let us go to God in prayer. God of the stars, like the Magi, we come to this place searching for you. So today, just like every day, we ask that you would remove any barricades that keep us from your spirit, clear out the distractions, wipe away the doubt, open up our hearts and speak to us through these ancient words. And as you do, we will keep walking. As you do, we will move toward you. With hope we pray. Amen. Our first reading is from the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 through 12 and 16 through 18. In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage. When King Harod when King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him. And calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, and you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who is going to shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod secretly called for the Magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage. When they had heard the king, they set out, and there ahead of them went the star that they had seen in the east, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. Holy wisdom, holy word. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_01: 2:13

Friends, let us pray. O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. In the time of King Herod, the sermon series ends today, and it ends with the same words with which we began back in last month. A frank acknowledgement that Christ is born and Herod still looms large in the text. Silent night has been sung, candles have been lit and raised in defiance during the fourth verse. Shepherds have quaked, glories have streamed from heaven afar, and heavenly hosts have sung Alleluia, and Herod still reigns. From his perch in Jerusalem, far from the peaceful hills of Bethlehem, Herod hears whispers about the birth of a child who he hears will be called the King of the Jews. And the text tells us very clearly that this frightened him. It's comical, really, to think of a big, mighty man like Herod being afraid of a helpless little baby. But Herod probably knew of a particular story about another baby, one who floated down the Nile in a homemade basket. And well, that didn't turn out very well for the man in power in that story. So he's scared, and he lets his fear bring out the worst in him. But the text also says that Herod wasn't the only one who was scared in that moment. Matthew, in this verse that Catherine, this story that Catherine read for us, tells us that all of Jerusalem was also frightened along with him. I'll admit, I've often been very confused about that statement. Why would all of Jerusalem, a subjugated, oppressed Jewish community, also fear the birth of a child who is supposed to be their savior? It doesn't make sense. But if we look closely at the text, it doesn't say that the people of Jerusalem shared Herod's fear. It only said that they were frightened as well. So my theory is that maybe they weren't scared of the baby, but of Herod's likely reaction to this particular baby's birth. Because Herod's over history rarely respond to fear with curiosity, as we've been trying to teach ourselves to do in this sermon series. No, Herod throughout history usually respond with some combination of violence or retaliation or even paranoia. They shoot first and ask questions later. So the people of Jerusalem, I think, were not afraid of Jesus' birth, but the violent response that they knew was likely to follow. And you know what? They weren't wrong. I trust this story is familiar to most of us. We read a portion of it last week as we gathered in the fellowship hall. The Magi are sent by Herod on a mission to investigate the birth of this prophesied child under the laughably false pretense of wanting to pay him homage. Yeah, right. The magi follow their instructions until they don't. They check their charts, they follow the star, and in the end, you and I know that they find the child. And here I want to share two observations that I really hope don't spoil epiphany for everyone. First, the text actually doesn't specify the number of the magi, nor does it call them kings. It's only later on in Christian tradition that the number three is assigned to them. So maybe it's appropriate that we didn't do that particular anthem of the three kings. But also, here's the other thing that kind of threw me for a loop this week. The text also doesn't specify the gender of the Magi. Now hang with me here. The term magi comes from the Greek word magoi, which generally referred to a variety of Zoroastrian mystics, most likely of Persian ethnicity. And since there were at least two of them, the Greek word in Matthew's gospel text is a gender-neutral plural pronoun, and historians have documented the fact that it was well known that both men and women were called Magi in those days. So it is plausible that the magi, whatever their number, two, twenty, who knows, could have been women. Although we don't have textual proof of the gender of the magi, I like to think of them as women because if they were indeed women, it would place them in the company of other women and girls who stood up to men like Herod elsewhere in the Bible. You may remember last summer we did a sermon series on the women and girls of the Hebrew Scripture that are often underrepresented in sermons and in the lore of the church. And you may recall a group of them that saved Moses' hide on more than one occasion before, during, and after his conflicts with Pharaoh. So, although I doubt that the Magi knew that specific story, they certainly embody the rebellious spirit of those women and girls back in Exodus when they choose, after finding the baby Jesus, to blatantly disobey Herod and as the text tells us, return home by another way. Their epiphany, if you will, leads them to literally change course. Instead of allowing fear to help them be complicit in Herod's murderous rage, they hold fear and curiosity together and they give the baby Jesus homage and they decide instead to tread the path of peace. You and I know, as Steve Harvey would frequently say on the radio, the rest of the story. Herod learns of the Magi's disobedience, and he goes on a killing spree. Because Herod throughout history will do all sorts of violent things in the name of peace. Subjugate this group of people, bomb this country, force regime change in the name of democracy. And I was reminded yesterday that both Republicans and Democrats in the Oval Office have done that over the years. Stoke racial tensions, to distract from gross incompetence. Herods over history love to think of themselves as unique and special and innovative when in fact they follow a really old playbook that relies on violence instead of bringing people together to serve one another and to serve the common good of the people who put them into power. And so we stand together in a new year on this January 4th, 2026, on this Epiphany Sunday. And we stand on familiar ground with stark parallels between the violence of those days and the violence that we see right here and now. It may be a new year, but we see a painfully familiar pattern of those in power using fear to drive a wedge between us. But I hope that you and I will not let that happen. Because you and I know the rest of the story. You and I know what Jesus went on to do despite what Herod tried. We know that Jesus survived Herod's murderous rage, although many children in Judea did not. Jesus survived because Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt. Again, that's Matthew trying to remind us about the story of Exodus. They flee to Egypt to escape danger. So Jesus began his life as a refugee. But the story continues. You and I know that Jesus returned and continued to challenge the ways of violence by providing an alternative to one driven by fear run wild. Instead, Jesus shows you and I what it looks like when love runs wild. And that's the work that you and I continue in this new year. As we begin this new year, we affirm that fear will not stop us from letting love run wild here at Guildford Park Presbyterian Church. As we begin a new year, we will join the Magi by going home by another road. You know, some 13th centuries after the Magi went home by another road, another Persian mystic, a poet by the name of Rumi, wrote these words called Keep Walking. Rumi said, Keep walking, though there's no place to get to. Don't try to see through the distances. That's not for human beings. Move within. But don't move the way fear makes you move. Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. Friends, I invite you to be curious with me this day. In this new year, as that Persian poet preached, how will you let the beauty that you love be what you do? How will we, as the church, let the beauty that we love be what we do in this new year? For there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. And there are hundreds of ways for us to kneel and give Jesus homage. And when we rise again to our feet, we can choose to return to the paths of the herodage of the world. Or, like the text says, we can go home by another way by holding curiosity and fear together. So in that spirit, I close this day with the following words from Reverend Dr. Boyung Lee, who I want to give thanks so much of her biblical commentary, undergirded this sermon series. And Dr. Lee, in her reflection for this week, said the following. She said, Who are the magi among us today, those willing to cross borders for truth and for love? Who are the Marys holding the Christ child in fragile arms, waiting for a knock at the door? Who are the Herods, terrified their illegitimate power might be exposed to the light? In the face of fear, let us travel together, let us defy empire, not with swords, but with solidarity. Let us kneel in awe, not before the powerful, but before the powerless Christ, whose birth marks the beginning of God's peace campaign. Let us believe with trembling hope that fear doesn't have the final word. Because fear doesn't stop us. Love leads us forward. In the name of God, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, may all of us God's children say. Amen.