“What star are you following?”
Matthew 2:1-12 (January 7, 2024)
Welcome to Epiphany. Actually, it’s the day after Epiphany, which falls every year on January 6th. Today represents the end of the Christmas season. We have one final burst of energy, singing carols, enjoying decorations – banners, greenery and candles – celebrating the light of God that has come into the world through the birth of Jesus. 
Today we tell a magnificent story about some wise men from the East who followed a star, leading them to Bethlehem and a newborn king.
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https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57077 [retrieved December 29, 2023]. Original source: Lauren Wright Pittman, http://www.lewpstudio.com/." width="179" height="95" />There has always been some debate in our house about what ornament is appropriate for the top of the Christmas tree. Should it be an angel or a star? Lindsay’s family always placed an angel at the top of the tree. In my family, however, we followed a different tradition. Our tree always had a bright star, lifted high, shining its light.
This year, for the first time in forty years, we have an angel on top. It’s very small, because we have a Charlie Brown tree. It can’t support the weight of the star. (Besides that, the lights on our poor star have burnt out!)
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The wise men, or Magi, were great observers of the skies. They studied the constellations and believed that heaven and earth were linked together. Happenings in the stars were portents or signs of momentous things happening here on earth.
These men were not of Jewish faith. They were Gentiles, perhaps Zoroastrians, from the modern day area of Iran, as some have speculated.Do you find it strange that foreigners, outsiders, could have insight into the birth Christ? 
But God is God of all people, don’t you know? – the whole creation!
Here we have people from another part of the world making a long and arduous journey, following a star to greet a king born in a tiny Judean village. This king, though Jewish by birth, will be for all the people. So here we have even Gentiles rejoicing!
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They followed a star.
Last winter, Lindsay and I were in Waskesiu. Parks Canada had a program in the evening, so we went down to the lake, where there were bales of straw set in a circle, with a fire to keep us warm. The leader handed out a star chart, and helped us to identify some of the constellations. She told us stories that circulated among indigenous people about the stars and their interactions with humanity.
There’s a universal appeal to this. Our planet earth is set in the midst of stars, and so they appear in some form to everyone, wherever we may be.
I’m reminded of enslaved people in America who had a song called “Follow The Drinking Gourd.” That was their name for the Big Dipper. If you line up the two stars at the end of the dipper they point to a third star, the North Star, around which all the others appear to move.
The North Star was a guide for them. It promised to lead them on a journey to the northern states and across the border to Canada where they hoped to find their freedom.
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What star of promise have you followed? How did you first discover the light of God?
Did you have family, or friends, or a community to guide you? I remember my mom reading me Bible stories at bedtime. That is one way.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Polaris_DSS.png" width="285" height="36" />But the wise men show us there are many ways. They looked to the stars to discover an order and meaning to the universe. And when they saw an anomaly – an object in the sky never seen before – they were compelled to pursue it. Why else would they journey so long and far? They were compelled.
In my experience, there is something powerful at work here: The activity of God’s Holy Spirit, leading us ever closer to the life of Christ.
It was St. Augustine who developed the idea of God’s prevenient grace – God’s grace that works in our lives before we know anything about it. The Spirit of God stirs in our hearts, awakening our desire, drawing us to the light of Christ.
So what brought you to Jesus? Was it someone you knew? Was it the sheer wonder of being alive here on God’s good earth? Was it curiosity? Was it some desperate need – for hope or forgiveness? Was it the beautiful life that Jesus lived, and the wish that you might live it too? Did you stumble into Jesus quite by accident, or so you thought?
What was the star that led you to him?
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And now, tell me this: Is that star still shining? I ask because sometimes our faith can begin with enthusiasm, then become lost in all the myriad stars of the sky.
I notice that sometimes at night when I’m looking up at the stars of heaven. Something will catch my attention for a split second, out the corner of my eye. But when I try to look directly at it, it disappears.
Here’s a scientific explanation for that: There are two kinds of light receptors in our retinas: One helps us to see in colour. The other enables us to detect very faint light. Looking to one side allows us to see those blinking stars, which we might otherwise miss.[1]
What star are you following? What do you see? What has captured your attention? What is compelling you forward on your journey?
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It’s interesting how we’ve come to use that word “star” to describe all sorts of things. We speak of “rising stars” in the world of sports, and theatre, and business and academia.
At eighteen years old, Connor Bedard is seen as a rising star in the hockey world. This rookie player, and former Regina Pat, was the number 1 pick in the 2023 draft. He has recently emerged as the youngest player ever selected for an NHL All-Star Game. Eighteen years old and he’s already a star![2]
What star are you following? A political star, a literary star? A technological star? Who or what captures your attention, and motivates your journey? What do you find compelling?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Connor_Bedard_rookie_closeup.jpg" width="186" height="46" />And now, listen: Do any of these stars draw us closer to Jesus?
A good indication of this might be how you spend your time. So take a moment now and think about that. How do you fill your days? Does any of it bring you closer to Jesus?
Or consider this: How are you spending your treasure – your precious gold and frankincense and myrrh? Who do you bow down to? What is the object of your devotion?
I wonder if these questions might make us a little bit uncomfortable?
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The wise men arrive in Jerusalem with some questions of their own. “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”
“We observed his star.” But no one in Jerusalem has observed a thing. “We have seen its rising in the East.” But they know nothing about it. “We have come to pay him homage.”
And now Herod gets a little antsy. “Pay homage to whom? Aren’t I the king?” He flies into panic mode and calls all his religious officials together to inquire where the Messiah will be born.
“In Bethlehem,” they tell him. But Herod is in no mood to welcome this Messiah. Herod, you see, is following a different star: The star of power and wealth and status, which he will not relinquish. The star he follows has no room for Jesus. The star he follows is threatened by Jesus.
“Go find him,” he tells the wise men, “Let me know when you do.” And now instead of a star, we see a dark and terrible shadow fall upon the land and its inhabitants. Because, in a fit of fury, he will order all the children in Bethlehem, two years old and under, to be killed.
Does the star we follow take us closer to Jesus? Or does it lead us farther away?
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What star do you follow?
Some time ago, I heard an interview with a pilot from World War Two. He flew many dangerous missions. He said the mark of a really good pilot is the ability, when instruments fail, to navigate by the stars. He always got his plane and the crew he carried back to base.
The stars can tell you where you are, and point in the direction you need to go. They can guide your journey home. It’s a skill not so familiar to our modern world.
What star are you following? As we enter this new year, may the star that points to Jesus lead us on our journey. And, at the end of all things, may it guide us to our home. Amen.
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[1] https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-can-you-see-faint-stars-better-if-you-dont-look-directly-at-them, Accessed January. 5, 2024.
[2] https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nhl/he-shouldnt-be-an-all-star-this-year-nhl-fans-divided-over-connor-bedards-all-star-game-selection-representing-chicago-blackhawks/ar-AA1munk6, Accessed January 5, 2024.