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In the past year, there have been a number of writings out there about the long-standing FBI Director throughout most of the 20th Century, J. Edgar Hoover.
An interesting fact about Hoover is early in his life, he thought about becoming a minister before circumstances led him to study law, leading to his eventual career in the organization that would become the FBI.
Hoover could never quite get away from faith though. He wrote many articles for the magazine Christianity Today, primarily connected with his anti-communist work. He cultivated relationships with clergy of many denominations. He even held prayer services and retreats for the G-Men, short for Government-Men, who worked for him at the FBI.
Hoover expected his G-Men to live up to a certain image. He thought this image, an image he felt was lock-step with American and Christian values, would help save the country from the scourge of Communism. This image was that of a muscular Christian, the kind that depicts Jesus with freshly toned abs on the Cross. This was a Christianity of strength and might. It was a Christianity that was all about winning.
Hoover felt the government was necessary for showcasing important aspects of Faith. He believed this so strongly that he would brand any clergy that disagreed with him as a dissident at best, a communist at worst. He even resorted to black mail, most famously with the The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., feeling his FBI status merited such a response.
There were many who turned to Hoover in his day for guidance. Like him, they thought his status gave him wisdom. They were wrong.
This isn’t the first time people have gone to those in power for religious understanding. We see this all the way back to the Magi, who we hear of in our Gospel reading today.
The Magi, or Wise Men, were purveyors of knowledge back in their day. They came from lands beyond Israel, yet their studies helped them recognize a star, one belonging to the King of the Jews as they understood it.
As they followed the star to give gifts and honor to the One to whom it led, they went to the most logical place to find a king. They went to the palace of King Herod the Great.
Who they were really looking for was the Messiah, and Herod had no idea where to find Him. He did, however, know who to speak to that would.
But this idea of a rival in power made Herod fearful. He decided to use the Magi to find out where this Messiah was so that he could kill Him. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about those who spoke out against him ever again.
Hoover and Herod were a lot alike. They were desperately trying to hold on to their power. They didn’t accept that others could be right and they could be wrong. They couldn’t fully grasp that when it came to Faith, they did not hold all the answers.
Most of all, they believed that real power came from strength. The Messiah proves both of them wrong.
Jesus wasn’t born to wealth or political might. Jesus was born in poverty, in the full weakness of being human. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, and as we see with Jesus’ Incarnation, the Power of God “is made perfect in weakness.”
Thankfully, the Wise Men were open to that message and this Truth. They knew who it was they were honoring. It didn’t matter His humble status. Here was Jesus the Messiah before them. They gave Him the gifts they set out to give.
The openness of the Magi extends further. They remained attentive and listening to God. When an angel comes to them in a dream and tells them not to return to Herod, they hear and obey. They take a different path home so that Herod will not harm the baby Messiah.
The Wise Men could not have done this if they hadn’t been open to hearing where God was really speaking from. They realized it was not from the palace, the place of political power. It was not from the Herods or Hoovers of this world who would have us think that true faith comes from strength and power or that any action taken by these powerful few is justified. God instead speaks to us from the place of utter weakness, as was the case for God-Incarnate in the form of Baby Jesus, born to poverty and lowliness. If we are to call ourselves followers of Jesus, we must also listen and realize that true power lies not in strength, but in the form of the lowly Christ Child.