Isaiah 60: 1-6

Matthew 2: 1-14

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning and a blessed happy new year to each and every one of you.

We're beginning our series of sermons today on questions people ask, and I've got some wonderful ones from you. I'd like us to begin with this rather challenging and controversial question, an excellent question it is. One of our friends writes, "I believe that people of all faiths are children of God, not living in sin. True?"

Well, the first thing I'd like to say about this question is the spirit in which it is asked. I like to look at a question and ask, "Hmm, what is the spirit that underlies this question?" And it is a beautiful spirit indeed. Don't you get the feeling that the person who is asking is a person of deep caring, and a person who wants to reach out to others, even to those who have religious expressions we don't quite understand? I say that spirit comes from somewhere, and I say it's the Holy Spirit.

I believe that all people are children of God and not living in sin, true? This is a big and important question, my friends. It is a question of international significance. It is a question that makes the news all the time. President Bush was on a trip in a foreign country not long ago, and he made a statement that I believe was right from his heart. I believe it was not written from a speech writer. I believe it came directly from him. He said, "Well, I believe that Christians and Muslims all worship the same God." To that I say, "Bravo, Mr. President."

But it saddened my heart to learn that the leader of a major American denomination criticized the President. This person, who was supposed to be a friend to the President, whose denomination supports him very strongly, quickly made a press statement that said, "The President is wrong. He should remember that he is just commander-in-chief, not theologian-in-chief." I'm glad this religious leader wasn't a Methodist. What a sad statement!

And it happened again. Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England, was about to deliver an important speech to the United Kingdom . He gathered together with his advisers to go over the speech. Tony Blair writes his own material. Did you know that? He doesn't have a staff of speechwriters. What you hear is directly from him. But he does go over it with his staff and advisers. He said to his advisers, "I want to close this speech with the words, ‘God bless you.'"

There was a furor in the room incomparable to any other issues. They said, "You must not do that!" And he said, "Why? I want to." Tony Blair is a dedicated, practicing Christian. He said, "I want to bless the people." The representative of a major religion said, "But we don't pray to the same god as ___ do." Blair said, "Yes, you do. There's only one God." The religious leader said, "No, no we don't."

Blair delivered the speech and capitulated to his advisers. But I'm told that the speech ended weak and without conviction. But I've heard Tony Blair since, and I've heard him with a strong "God bless you" at the end of his speeches.

It's a matter of international significance, and it's a matter that each of us needs to deal with. What you'll hear from the pulpit today is the perspective of my own heart on this question.  There is one power and one presence in all the universe: God the Good, Omnipotent. And Jesus taught us about the parenthood of God. He said when you pray, pray "our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." So let's accept those two basic premises as Christians. There is one power. It is God. There is one God, and God is Father of us all.

And so, I would like to tell you a little story, a parable if you will. Once there was a father who had many children. The father was very, very good. He loved all his children, and he was very kind. He had two children in particular that I want to tell you about today. One's name was Leonardo, and the other's name was Simon. Simon and Leonardo had one thing in common. They both wanted to please their father. They knew that their father liked art and drawings, so both Leonardo and Simon made drawings for their father.

Now, Leonardo was named for a famous artist, and when Leonardo drew, the drawings seemed to leap off the page. The horses seemed to be running at you. You could see distance in the hills. If Leonardo drew a cone, the cone went all around. If Leonardo drew a face, the face looked as if it could talk. He was an excellent, natural-born artist. He drew pictures for his father.

Simon, well, Simon's last name could have been Stickman, because Simon just drew little line drawings. You could tell if the face was smiling, but if Simon drew a horse, you couldn't tell if it was a horse or a dog. And if Simon drew a cone, you couldn't really tell if it was a cone or a triangle.

Well, you get the idea. They both presented their drawings to their father. Their father looked at them and said, "Oh, Leonardo, what an artist you are! You have all these techniques right. My word, what beautiful work you do." And then the father looked at Simon's, and he said, "Simon, I love your work, too. In a wonderful way, I see your sincerity and your devotion shining through your pictures. Thank you, both of you, for your pictures."

Simon and Leonardo started to bicker. Leonardo said, "Simon, those drawings are hopeless. Look how simplistic they are. Look how primitive they are. Surely they can't please our father."

Simon was angry, and he said, "Leonardo, look at your stuff. It's so snobbish. How could anyone be pleased with that? It has no soul. What do you call that?"

"Simon, how could anyone like those stick drawings?"

"I draw six times a day, Leonardo. You draw when you feel like it."

"I will not hang your pictures in my home, Simon."

"You won't? I'll tell you what. I won't hang your pictures in my home either. And furthermore, I won't let your pictures hang up in any public places. I won't let anybody sing your songs. I won't let anybody put your pictures up anywhere. How about that?"

"Well, Simon, who would put your pictures up anywhere? Who could like that?"

Simon was so angry, he said, "Leonardo, I am going to break your crayons. I'm going to smash your canvases. I'm going to ruin your paints."

Leonardo said, "Maybe we don't have the same parents. How could my father like your pictures?"

And Simon said, "Maybe you're right. Maybe we don't have the same parents." And they turned their backs to each other.

Up at the father's house, the father had his face in his hands and he was crying, weeping, saying, "No, no, no. this isn't the way. They have me all wrong. They shouldn't be fighting. I love them so." He called for his eldest son, named Emmanuel. He called him Manuel. "Manuel, come here," he said. Manuel entered his father's presence and he said, "Manuel, look what's happening with Simon. Look what's happening with Leo. This is terrible. What shall we do?"

Manuel said, "Father, do you want to send me?"

And the father said, "Yes, Manuel, you go. You go, and talk to them, and tell them what I'm really like and show them who I really am. Manuel, I've known you forever. You know me well. Go and tell them. You're like them."

Manuel said, "I'll go, Father." Manuel visited Leo and said, "Leo, I've come to talk with you a little bit."

And Leo said, "Greetings, Manuel, greetings. I've admired you for so long. You're my hero. You know, you're number one to me."

"Thank you, Leo," said Manuel.

"But before you get into it, Manuel," said Leo, "can you do something about Simon?"

And Manuel said, "Leo, we've been over this before. It's not for me to do something about Simon. It's that you need to treat Simon as you would like to be treated. I'm glad you admire me, Leo, but isn't it best if we are respectful and courteous and understanding and accepting?"

"I know, I know," said Leo, "but can't you do something about him?"

"Leo, Leo, love him like a neighbor." Sometimes Leo listened to him, and sometimes he did not.

Manuel went to Simon. Simon wasn't so sure about Manuel. "You're Leo's friend. He claims you. I don't know if I trust you."

And Manuel said, "Oh, Simon, you are so loved. You are so loved by our father."

"I don't know," said Simon. "I just don't know." Manuel had to leave suddenly. Leo and Simon continued to bicker on and off over the years. And then one day Leo wanted a cup of coffee and went into a café. The café was crowded. There was only one seat. The people in the café didn't care much about drawing or painting. The people in the café didn't seem to talk much about making gifts for their heavenly father. There was only one seat, and wouldn't you know it? The other person at the table was Simon.

Leo sat down, and they looked at each other. Leo said, "So." Simon said, "So." Simon said, "You know something, Leo? I've always admired your work. You have such grace and talent. Your cones go around. You have perspective. I've admired it. I can't do it quite the way you can."

"I'm glad you said something, Simon," said Leo. "I've always admired your work, too. There is a strength in your lines. There is a sincerity that I really like."

Simon said, "Um, Leo, do you happen to have a little picture I could hang in my home?"

"Why thank you, Simon." Leo had never felt quite so honored. And he happened to have a picture in his pocket. "You know, Simon, I'd like to study your pictures. I'd like to have it before me. I admire your discipline, the strength of your lines, your dedication to your art. Do you have a picture I could hang?"

Simon said, "I draw six times a day. I happen to have one." Leo took it home to hang in his home.

A bridge was starting to take shape between Leonardo and Simon. You could always tell their pictures apart, that's for sure. Though each still had a hard time understanding how their father could like the other, they somehow took Manuel's ideas to heart. They started to relax and not think so much about what divided them. What started out as a grudging tolerance was turning into good-natured respect for each other.

And little by little, though their drawings were never quite the same, Simon's pictures got a little more sophisticated, and Leo's pictures got a little more dedicated and straight-forward and simple. They came to realize that the best world was a world where they could live with a feeling of peace and gentle respect for one another as they drew their pictures for their father.

They lived together in peace, and the father looked at them and was pleased. God loves you. I do, too. Amen.